Songs on my mind today

Brooke Fraser
SHADOWFEET


Walking, stumbling on these shadowfeet
Toward home, a land that I've never seen
I am changing
Less and less asleep
Made of different stuff than when I began
And I have sensed it all along
Fast approaching is the day

When the world has fallen out from under me
I'll be found in you, still standing
When the sky rolls up and mountains fall on their knees
When time and space are through
I'll be found in you

There's distraction buzzing in my head
Saying in the shadows it's easier to stay
But I've heard rumours of true reality
Whispers of a well-lit way

When the world has fallen out from under me
I'll be found in you, still standing
When the sky rolls up and mountains fall on their knees
When time and space are through
I'll be found in you

You make all things new

When the world has fallen out from under me
I'll be found in you, still standing
When the sky rolls up and mountains fall on their knees
When time and space are through
I'll be found in you

When the world has fallen out from under me
I'll be found in you, still standing
Every fear and accusation under my feet
When time and space are through
I'll be found in you
When time and space are through
I'll be found in you
When time and space are through
I'll be found in you


Addison Road
HOPE NOW

If everything comes down to love
Then just what am I afraid of
When I call out Your name
Something inside awakes in my soul
How quickly I forget I'm Yours

(PRE-CHORUS)
I'm not my own
I've been carried by You
All my life

(CHORUS)
Everything rides on hope now
Everything rides on faith somehow
When the world has broken me down
This love sets me free

When my life is like a storm
Rising waters all I want is the shore
You say I'll be ok and
Make it through the rain
You are my shelter from the storm

(CHORUS)
And everything rides on hope now
And everything rides on faith somehow
When the world has broken me down
This love sets me free

You've become my hearts desire
I will sing Your praises higher
Cause Your love sets me free
Your love sets me free
Your love sets me free

(PRE-CHORUS)
I'm not my own
I've been carried by You
All my life

(CHORUS)
Everything rides on hope now
Everything rides on faith somehow
When the world has broken me down
This love sets me free

This love sets me free
Your love sets me free
This love sets me free
Your love sets me free
Your love sets me free
Your love sets me free

Where's the Swiffer when you need it?

Wow, I really need to dust this place off...the deal is, I haven't written a while, not on the blog and not IRL.

I have been working off and on, mostly on since 2006. Alot has happened during this time and I just haven't been as faithful to writing as I once was.

But I hope to get back to writing, I certainly have been studying and reading and listening to good teaching.

Keep watching for updates...I'm sure I'll write something soon!

I had a "But God" moment when I heard this song

I updated "my playlist" today

I'd love to put all my newly downloaded songs on here....but I'm sure there's some sort of copyrights laws about that...

Here is an oldie but a goodie:

BE NEAR

You are all
Big and small
Beautiful
And wonderful
To trust in grace through faith But I'm asking to taste
For dark is light to You
Depths are height to You
Far is near
But Lord I need to hear from You

Be near O God
Be near O God of us
Your nearness
Is to us our good

Your fullness is mine
Revelation divine
But O to taste
To know much more than a page
To feel Your embrace
For dark is light to You
Depths are height to You
Far is near
But Lord I need to hear from You

Be near O God
Be near O God of us
Your nearness
Is to us our good

By Shane and Shane

Stagnant Waters

Not much has changed from my last post....I still feel stagnant. Surrounded by mosquito infested water. I guess there's not much comparision between a mosquito and a lion but what came to mind immediately was:

The advesary is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. (I peter 5:8)

Thats kinda like a game of Mother may I, right? The advesary has to have your permission to devour. Seems like these days I've given out alot of permission. **SIGH**

How does one get that back?

Back to I Peter....

6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,

7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

8 Be sober, be vigilant; your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

10 But the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, will perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

Looks like a path one can follow....

Humble Yourself.
Cast Your Care.
Be Sober Greek Word: Nepho

to be sober, to be calm and collected in spirit
to be temperate, dispassionate, circumspect

Be Vigilant. Dictionary: keenly watchful
Resist.
Be Steadfast. Dictionary: strong, firm, immovable, solid, hard, rigid

I like what the greek has to say about this word being used in a bad sense:
"cruel, stiff, stubborn, hard" thats descriptive of steadfast in a bad way.

And then the best two words (in this case three) in the bible.

But God.
Thank God for the "but Gods" in the bible, in my life....otherwise I'd be pretty hopeless.

Climate Change

The climate changes here quite frequently, the old adage about Texas weather is if you don't like it just wait 15 minutes...it'll change.

This summer has been "off". Normally our summers are scorchers. 100+ degrees. Who of us can forget the summer of 1980? Who still has the T-Shirt? But this summer has been lacking in heat. Its rained and rained and rained. What was once a land in drought, has become flooded.

Our lakes are full, our streams streaming, our rivers flowing, yet I feel stagnant. I feel like I can't get enough water, although over all that I survey, we're at flood level.

I started off "the summer" with the intention of getting all the uncomplete bible studies completed. Starting with the ones I had purchased most recently and work my way back. The good news is, I got that one done. I loved it. I was on the mountain with God. The bad news is, not a one since has been touched. They are still collecting dust.

I did a summer study at church with kept the fires going with a little kindling, but that's about it. Its as if the passion of the blazing sun of summer was gone and so was my Passion for the Blazing Son. No, I've misspoken. My passion isn't gone, its under the water somewhere. Or the rain waters washed it down stream. Maybe what I need is a search team....rescuers! (hey isn't that a Disney movie??)

Anyway, what i need is a place to dry it off, to get in from the weather, to enjoy a cup of tea and begin the process of being reacquainted with Gods Word....with God. The pages of my prayer journal have been empty for too long. So I sit here...at the computer.....wondering what to say, yet being filled with so many things.

Thirsty in a flooded land. The opposite of one of my favorite Psalms.


Psalm 63
A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.

1 O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.

2 I have seen you in the sanctuaryand beheld your power and your glory.
3 Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
6 On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.
7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.
8 My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.
9 They who seek my life will be destroyed; they will go down to the depths of the earth.
10 They will be given over to the sword and become food for jackals.
11 But the king will rejoice in God; all who swear by God's name will praise him, while the mouths of liars will be silenced.

Maybe not so opposite. My soul feels like a desert land. Dry and in need of water.
I like it that its titled: A Psalm of David, while he was in the desert of Judah.


Judah meaning Praised, Celebrated. That's fitting. Wow, God never stops surprising me with His Word.

In the Desert of Praise. That's the key really. Praising. Praise Him and raise up out of the pit. Praise Him and be filled. Be satisfied.

There is a song we used to sing at church about this Psalm.

You are my God I seek You
my soul thrists for you
you are my God I seek you
my flesh faints for you

*in a dry and weary land
you are my wateryou are my water*

you are my God i need you
you have been my help
you are my God i need you
let joyful lips sing

*in a dry and weary land you are my water
you are my water*

your steadfast love is better than life
your steadfast love is better than life

Does any of this make sense, I don't know, its just where I'm at today.

Stress Management

I got this in my email today and its worth passing on!

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?" Answers called out ranged from 8 to 12 ounces.

The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it.

If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem.
If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm.
If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance.
In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, As the burden becomes increasingly heavy, We won't be able to carry on.

When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden. So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow." Here are some great ways of dealing with the burdens of life:

* Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue .
* Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
* Always read stuff that will make you look good for you may die in the middle of it.
* Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.
* If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
* If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
* It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
* Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.
* Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
* The second mouse gets the cheese.
* When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
* Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
*Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
*A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

I am my Mothers Daughter, but I am my Fathers Child

I recently spoke at a ladies event, these are my notes:

I am my mothers DD, although I act more like my grandmother, I am my mothers DD. I look like her, I sound a lot like her, I used to think a lot like her too, until I came to the realization that I am my Fathers Child. Yes I am a product the past, but the past is not my product. It is not who I am. It doesn’t have to produce in my life what it has produced in the lives of my ancestors. Deut. 30 God says I have called heaven and earth against you as witnesses and I have set before you LIFE and DEATH, CHOOSE LIFE! So that YOU and YOUR descendants my live!!

I grew up in a household of fear. Fear everything, Trust No one and if God existed, He was out to get me! Its been a long journey, but one I’d like to share with you today. Out of the fear and into faith.

It has been said that there are no more than four generations on the earth at one time.

Try it for yourself. Example.

My example. Kids, Me, Mom. Kids, Husband, His Mother, Her Mother. Who has five??
With that in mind lets get to our text.

Exodus 20. The 10 commandments. People put a lot of emphasis on the 10, when there are in fact 613. Thank God for justification huh! But these we consider to be “the important ones”. I’m discussing Commandment #2 tonight.

INIQUITY = That’s a better word than sin. Sins are forgiven, iniquity is more like lingering consequences for sin. Some call is generations curses, some call is sick cycles, some call it dysfunction, God calls is iniquity.

Lets talk about MY generations….

Gr. Gma Married alcoholic, remarried an alcoholic (prohibition), illness and depression. Sent children to church, no legacy of Christ
G’ma Married an alcoholic, remarried an alcoholic, was an alcoholic, depression and illness, did not send her children to church and left no legacy of Christ
Mom married an alcoholic, remarried an alcoholic, is an alcoholic, depression and illness, she got saved in 1980 and made her children attend church faithfully. Read them the bible every day at breakfast. My parents left me a legacy of faith…bring up a child….will not depart.
Me married, remarried (neither are alcoholics) I am not an alcoholic, I do not live a live of illness or depression. I attend church, my children attend church. My college age son attends church by himself, without any coercion on my part!

What happened? What changed? I chose life! I changed my focus. Because I wanted to live…I wanted my children to live. Not in a bubble, not in fear, not afraid of God. I had to decide to DO something different. I wanted something different so I had to do something different. I had to change my view of God and see him for who he really is And I have to change my view of me and stop seeing myself thru the eyes of others.

How did that happen. Well I had to make Gods voice louder than any of the others in my head. Read the bible, study the bible, meditate on the word, apply it to my life.

One of the stories I read made an impact on my life, its the story of Ruth.

Moab was considered a "cursed" of Lot, and his two daughters They hid out in the mountains after Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed they were the only people left alive; the daughters got their father drunk on two successive nights and each had sex with him, they became pregnant by him. One of the children born out of this incest was named Moab. His descendants were the Moabites. Ruth,was a Moabite. The mentality of all the Moabite people was distorted by idolatry. A society that had very little value for life and family.

SOUNDS LIKE A NATION WE ALL KNOW AND LOVE. I saw this done recently and I’ll do this experiment for you today….speaking of the US. Take out some money and look at it as I read Psalm 115.

Idol Worship. Ruth was familiar with Idols All of these things (idol worship, child sacrifices, death of her family, her husband, her father in law) had an impact on her. Shaped her, thoughts, her words her actions. There was something great about Ruth - she rose above her past. She had an ability to look at her past and present and say "I want no more of this. I want something better. I want something more."

I recognized I had the same ability. I was a child of the Most High God and I had the same ability as Ruth. I wanted no more fear, no more depression, no more illness, no more victim mentality. I kept reading….

After the death of the men in this family, Naomi (her mother in law) heard that the famine was over (was no more) in Bethlehem, and she decided to return home. She began her journey with both her Daughters in law by her side, but along the way, she stopped and told them to turn around and go back to Moab - to return to their people and their gods. One daughter in law agreed. But Ruth loved Naomi and "clung to her" DAW-BAK To Cleave (Ruth 1:14) Naomi told them "I am going to a place that is unfamiliar to you, go back to your traditions and customs."Ruth said "INTREAT ME not to leave you...." Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God. Where you die, I will die,And there will I be buried. The LORD do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me.”

Ruth recognized that she had already experienced her past, and she didn't like it. She made a choice. Her tomorrow didn't have to look like her yesterday. Many people today base on their ending on their beginning. They do it to themselves and they do it to others. Based on my beginnings, I should be fearing for my life to be talking to you today! The MOST important thing is life is where you finish!

God does not use your past to determine your future....SO WHY SHOULD YOU?? I had to stop doing that. I had to stop consulting with my past. I had to stop using it as the barometer for life. I had to make a decision to LEAVE and CLEAVE.

Leave and Cleave Its a biblical principle that applies to every part of your life. You must leave your past and cleave to what God has for you today. Cleave means …. To Cleave means to adhere closely, to stick, to remain faithful to follow ones principles despite persecution. Leave yesterday and cleave to today.Leave your failures and cleave to Gods Promises.Leave your old sin and cleave to the forgiveness God gives you.

God had a plan and a purpose for Ruth....Ruth married her Kinsman Redeemer Boaz and Ruth gave birth to Obed, Obed was the father of Jesse, Jesse is the father of David, David is the direct bloodline of Jesus! Which means Ruth is the direct bloodline of Jesus. Ruth - who was marred, scarred, stained, tainted, distorted and warped by her environment - lived out her life in greatness!!8 God will do in your life too what he did with Ruth!

You must allow God to do His work, His changing in you. You must be willing to disconnect from your past and move toward the presence of greatness in your future.The truth is You are not final product of a fatal beginning. The wagging of tongues DO NOT change Gods Mind or Change His Purpose for you. God doesn’t form His opinion of you based on anything other than HIS thoughts. Jer 29:11 I know the thoughts that I think towards you. You ARE who God says YOU ARE!

And God says you are loved with an everlasting love (Jer. 31:3), you are purchased with a preciousness (I cor 6:20). You are justified (rom 3:24, Romans 5:1,9, Rom 8:30, rom 10:10, I cor 6:11, Titus 3:7) you are righteous. Not self righteous, you have right standing (rom 1:17, rom 3:21-22, rom 4, rom 10, rom 14:17, eph 4:24, eph 5:9, eph 6:14, II tim 3:16, Do you know what that means? A condition acceptable to God. God says you can succeed. God says you have a future that is a blessing and fulfilling and eternally rewarding. God loves you completely. God knows you completely, everything you have done, haven't done, will do, will say, think....and he loves you completely, wholey, created you and chooses to be in relationship with you.

To walk that out we have to make choice….remember Deut. 30 . 1) Go back to how you always do things. Go back to your customs and traditions and past. OR.... 2) Go to a place you have never been to create something you've never had....we can choose life.

God says, he’s doing a new thing…forget the former things…do not dwell on the past. Isaiah 43

Jesus said: DWELL IN ME! John 15
To dwell means to live or to continue in a given condition or state

Paul said ONE THING I do…ONE THING…forgetting what is behind and STRAINING toward what is ahead I PRESS ON toward the goal…..

Something else Paul say just above that in Chapter 3 vs. 10-14
10[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [[a]which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope]
11That if possible I may attain to the [[b]spiritual and moral] resurrection [that lifts me] out from among the dead [even while in the body].
12Not that I have now attained [this ideal], or have already been made perfect, but I press on to lay hold of (grasp) and make my own, that for which Christ Jesus (the Messiah) has laid hold of me and made me His own.
13I do not consider, brethren, that I have captured and made it my own [yet]; but one thing I do [it is my one aspiration]: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
14I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward.

It is up to us to Press on….toward a supreme and heavenly goal. Not the goals of others, but Gods purpose and plan for our life.


Yes its true, I am my Mothers Daughter, But I am my Fathers Child. I don't know anything about traveling pants, but I know we are part of a sisterhood of the Most High God. Who calls us by our name, not by our shame. We are to wear our crowns with confidence and leave a legacy of Christ for the next 999 Generations!!

Scripture Study Ps 51:6

Surely you desire truth in the inward parts, you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

I'm working on a bible study that really really makes you dig into WOG. Of course you probably don't have to do it as much as I do, but you know me....constantly searching for the meaning of WOG and making it personal.

SURELY: Firmly, without missing, undoubtedly, certainly, without fail.

DESIRE: Long for, a longing, a craving as for something that brings satisfaction

TRUTH: Agreement with a standard or original. (this was was a few down on the list of definitions, but I thought it stood out as what God meant, agreement with the original, the maker!)

INWARD PARTS: Hidden Recesses, farthest inward, most intimate and secret.

TEACH: To impart knowledge

WISDOM: Knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgement as to action.

INMOST PLACE: Synonym of INWARD PARTS.

So lets review:

Without FAIL, God longs, craves for our most intimate secrets, in order to impart the knowledge of what is true and right coulple with the judgement to act on that knowledge into the hidden recesses of our hearts and minds and spirit.

How I got out - Part Two

Recently I have been in a pit. I went back to the pit I decorated so nicely and got so comfortable in. I threw a pity party, I invited all my old friends.

Poor pitiful (me)
Neglected (me)
Abandoned (me)
Bad mom (me)
Bad wife (me)
Undeserving (me)
Ugly (me)
Abused (me)
God doesn't love (me)
Depressed (me)

And the devil for entertainment. He told me what a stupid person I am and if it weren't for me so many of these things wouldn't be true. I've done so many bad things that God doesn't love me and never will. I won't make it into heaven, I'm not good enough. While I sat in the corner of my pit crying, he heaped piles of condemnation on my head.

Good Times
Good Times

There have been times in my life where this has gone on for days and days. The wailing the crying, you know the ugly cry. You know what I mean...you know.

The kind of day where you eat left over easter candy and feel guilty because it reminds you of how you deserve hell. And the devil does another dance for you; so to get your mind off that you eat a bag of chips and wash it down with a 2 liter soda? You know what I mean.

Then your kids come home from school and your cranky from all the carbs and you have a headache so you snap at them and then the devil comes in and does another dance for you.

Good Times.
Good Times.

Somewhere between the candy and the chips though this time, I snapped out of it. I wiped my tears decided NO MORE!

God doesn't look at my past to determine my future and why should I! What was I doing looking at the past anyway? And HOW did I get in this pit?? Ugh!! Its decorated poorly anyway and there's not enough light in here! Its dark and damp and cold. And hmmmm......In God there is no darkness.. AT ALL!

Wait a minute!! This is not where I belong!! How did this shovel get in my hand??

JESUS!! I need you!! And he appears....gives me His hand and I'm out.

I put on some praise music and raised up the Name of my Lord.

I am reminded again....

I am not what I went thru
I am not what happened to me
I am not what they say about me
My experience is not who I am
I am not defined by my circumstances.

I am chosen by You, my Father. (Eph. 1:4)
I am holy and without blame. (Eph. 1:4)
I am Your child according to the good pleasure of Your will. (Eph. 1:5)
I am accepted in the Beloved. (Eph. 1:6)
I am redeemed through the blood of Jesus. (Eph. 1:7)
I am saved by Your grace. (Eph. 2:5)
I am Your workmanship. (Eph. 2:10)
I am a new creation. (Eph. 2:15)
I am strengthened with might by Your Spirit. (Eph. 3:16)
I am rooted and grounded in love. (Eph. 3:17)
I am light in You. (Eph. 5:8)
I walk circumspectly. (Eph. 5:15)
I am filled with the Spirit. (Eph. 5:18)
I am more than a conqueror. (Rom. 8:37)
I am an overcomer. (Rev. 12:11)
I am Your righteousness in Christ Jesus. (1 Cor. 1:30)
I am healed. (1 Pet. 2:24)
I am free. (John 8:36)
I am salt. (Matt. 5:13)
I am consecrated. (1 Cor. 6:11 amp)
I am sanctified. (1 Cor. 6:11)
I am victorious. (1 John 5:4)
Everything You say about me is true, Lord.



Take the shackles off my feet
So I can dance I just wanna praise Ya
Just wanna praise
You You broke the chains
Now I can lift my hands
And I'm gonna praise You

Some truths about relationships:

1) If a person wants you, nothing can keep them away; if they don't want you, nothing can make them stay.

2) STOP making excuses for people and their behavior.

3) STOP trying to change yourselves for a relationship that's not meant to be.

4) Don't settle

5) Don't stay because you think things will get better, you'll only be mad at yourself a year from now when things are not "better".

6) The only person you can control in a relationship is you.

7) Maintain boundaries in how people treat you, if something bothers you, speak up!

8) You cannot change people's behavior, change comes from within.

9) Never let another person define who you are.

10) People will only treat you the way you ALLOW them to treat you.

11) Compromise is a two way street, you shouldn't be doing all the bending.