Broken Hallelujah

With my love and my sadness
I come before You Lord
My heart’s in a thousand pieces
Maybe even more

Yet I trust in this moment
You’re with me somehow
And You’ve always been faithful
So Lord even now

When all that I can sing
Is a broken hallelujah
When my only offering
Is shattered praise
Still a song of adoration
Will rise up from these ruins
I will worship You and give You thanks
Even when my only praise
Is a broken hallelujah

Oh Father, You have given
Much more than I deserve
And I have felt Your hand of blessing
On me at every turn

How could I doubt Your goodness
Your wisdom, Your grace
So Lord hear my heart
In this painful place

Hallelujah
I lift my voice
Your Spirit moves
I raise my hands
I reach for You

From South to North

So much have happened since Friday 11-11-11 @ 11:11...it seems like the time just flew by in a super speed, and I did not even have time to capture the moment. I am sitting here, savoring the night in the north, as I am used to...alone, and lonely, wondering how the south is...how the pines are...cherishing the memories and reliving them in my heart. Little by little, one by one.
I have lost it last week. It was hard - to live a dream for a moment, to breathe, to have what you hoped for, to hold, to feel and to touch...to use all of your senses to see the 3-D image instead of 2-D image, to taste, to smell...to be reassured that it is not just a vision of heart, but the fact it is real, it lives within me...and then, to die all over again, to fake smiles while inside of you your heart is crushed into pieces...one would wonder if this was ever necessary...I have lost it.
Now living in silence, I long for the word. I hope for a message being sent through the minds...I wonder if it comes...I am sitting here, ready to share, ready to pray...waiting and hoping that things have not changed, hoping that love still prevails...that love still lives. I miss you, North Carolina, and I love you!

Beyond the limits

I was trying to have a devotional evening with my son. As per our assistant pastor's advice, and to help my teenager manage his "teenage" problems and become a better person, he was asked to do study on the Book of Proverbs. So we started yesterday. Chapter 1, verses 1-20. It went wonderfully. He read all the verses, he asked questions, he wrote down  the moral. It was a great discussion. I was looking forward to do this again today, BUT! My teenager decided to be uncooperative. And I almost lost it. He knows my limits, and he will push me until I break. Then I yell at him, and scold him telling him he lost his last chance.
And so it happened tonight. He was being too "smart" and he was giving me an attitude. So I told him he needs to go to bed before I would start being nasty. I told him he is wasting his life by choosing what's wrong, and there will be no more chances to improve his character other that the one he just wasted. And this would imply to basically everything. If the teachers give him "another" chance, he should grab it, because there will soon be no more "another" type of chances....you snooze you loose...and this is how life is when you become an adult. I sent him to bed and I was angry and disappointed that my own son refuses to listen to something that he really should listen to.
Sometimes I feel, he will never be as I am...the way I think or the way I see things...but then, I realize I was not any better at his age. I was lost. I knew nothing. I guess it all comes with years. Our experience comes out of our life lessons...Then it dawned on me. I gotta go beyond the limit. There is no limit for a mom. Moms don't give up. I knew I had to do this with him. I called him back stating: "If tomorrow I had an accident I died, you would feel really bad about not being able to talk to me tonight. You would really regret that you threw the chance away to be with me. I know you love me, and I know you probably felt sorry, but you were just too proud to apologize." And I invited him to do the devotion. And we did. And it went fine though he was tired a bit. But he did try.
I don't know how much sank tonight. And with an ADHD kid you never know how much is being retained. But I do know he is a multi-tasker. And I do know how his brain operates. For two reasons - I was ADHD myself, and he is my son.
So do go beyond the limits, step out of boundaries, take the chance and do not give up. It is worth it. Life is short.

A Prayer for a Stranger

Psalm 22:24
For he has not despised or disdainedthe suffering of the afflicted one;he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.




I am sad today. My heart is hurting.... An unspoken prayer request goes out to you, my unknown reader, if you come across this page, and if you are willing to spare a couple of minutes for the power of prayer, please pray for a stranger. You never know when it will come back to you.
I prayed for an unknown crossing guard. Those ladies and gentlemen deserve our respect. They are volunteers, i. e. no one pays them for what they do. Not a dime. They do not ever expect anything back, yet - every morning from 6:30 till 9:30, you will see them stand at the intersections in front of the schools, waiting for the students, safely walking them to the other side. I was moved with this man's compassion and caring heart for the middle school students as he was walking across a very, very busy intersection. He takes the leap of faith stepping into the busy morning traffic, hoping the drivers will honor his request. The sign is up and the cars freeze...only for a moment. He walks fast, though you can count several Xs on his back...he is determined, he is focused. He does the job.
I prayed for him today. I do not know his name, I just know the face. A face of an unknown ordinary hero. Today I saw Jesus in him, and I said my prayer.
So please pray for me or any unknown stranger that crosses your life, whether you happen just to glance at him/her....or whether it is just a face you see everyday...you never know when that prayer will come back to you transformed into your blessing.

God is my perfect GPS

As hard as it gets I try to walk again...fighting the pain and the decision I think was a right thing to do...? I still don't have a clear answer to that. Today is day 3 and it already feels like eternity. It feels like hell itself not being able to hear from my best friend...how do I do this? When we talked I did not need to blog, because all of my thoughts and prayers were directed to my friend. It was a comfort. I knew all my prayers requests were being prayed for. How do I do this now, not having my friend, my soulmate in my life? I direct my eyes up, I pray to Jesus for His ultimate comfort, and for reassurance that I did the right thing. Or maybe for the sign that I should go back? I am so uncertain of this...but this is what I chose to do. I need not to make any decisions in my life without God in it. I do not want to make any mistakes. I know I need God's blessings in everything I do. I need the power of Holy Spirit. I failed many times trying to do things on my own in my life, threfore, I SURRENDER! Now...Lord please take the wheel. Stear my boat. I can set the sails, I know I can...but please don't let me navigate. I need you to do that...and I am here praying for this...God is my perfect GPS!!! Lord please comfort me...I miss my friend...and it hurts so much!

The inside opposites

Hi blog, I am here again...having a date with my inner "me". Taking to myself, and even answering myself. Only tonight is different. There are unspoken prayer requests in my heart, and I am dealing with immense pain. This pain has completely taken over my entire existence, and I am left in darkness, doubts, and solitude. I am giving God all the broken pieces of my totally drained heart. I am begging for healing. I am praying for erasing my memories. I am asking for comfort. YET, I am also living in hopes, having great faith, and thinking that impossible will become possible one day. How do we absorb pain and hold on to hope? How can two scenarios be happening in my heart at the same time? I am dying inside and I am getting up again to live. I wanna scream "I love you" and then I wanna just be silent...I wanna run to you and then I stop...How do I live when I want to die? Where does the pain end and love starts? Where does the love end and pain starts? I am on the border line. I cannot move. I am a tightrope walker. Stunned. I do not want to walk in fear of losing balance and falling. I freeze. Does that make any sense? How do we deal with the inside opposites...? When we are almost ready to make a move and yet something is holding us back? How do we live on after leaving someone when there is nothing to live for? Maybe we should not have ever left?
Someone once said: "Where you used to be, there is a hole in the world, which I find myself constantly walking around in the daytime, and falling in at night.  I miss you like hell." 
Maybe this is what is wrong...?

Deciding Questionable Things for Christians

http://www.born2serve.org/home/?p=564

Vertical relationships

God does all things well.

In the book of Exodus God teaches Israeli people not only Moral Law, but also Civil Law and Ceremonial Law. When presenting the Ten Commandments it is no surprise that the first four focus on RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD...

the Ten Commandments of GOD - Gods Law
King James Bible Version

---

the 10 Commandments From The King James Version Exodus 20 Ex 20:1 And God spake all these words, saying, Ex 20:2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of Bondage.
Commandment 1:
Thou shalt have no other gods before ME.
Commandment 2:
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments
Commandment 3:
Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Commandment 4:
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Ex 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
Ex 20:10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
Ex 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

If we are able to maintain the first four, we are taking care of the most essential part in our lives - the relationship with God. The Vertical Relationship, so much more important than the horizontal relationship between us and our friends, family members, neighbors, enemies....
The first four are the clue to keep the rest going easy. With them comes a great deal of understanding of what God had planned for us. 


Commandment 5:
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee
Comandment 6:
Thou shalt not kill.
Commandment 7:
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Commandment 8:
Thou shalt not steal.
Commandment 9:
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Commandment 10:
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's 

Reading those I realize I have sinned. I am sinning. Over and over, and it does not stop there...we are imperfect. Yet, we are redeemed. We are taken care of. We will go to heaven thank so perfect Blood of Christ shed for our Salvation. We are in (parentheses)...we are protected by God. Our faith is what makes us different. The outsiders will have to face Tribulation. 
Same with Israeli people...they did not get to Canaan because they were good people. The Bible says they were stubborn people, yet God loved them, and it was because of wickedness of others. God wiped them out because they were wicked. God's people were protected.

God does all things well...don't you think? 

Don't think and drive?

So I almost ran the red light last Friday...this is something I have always been afraid of doing. While driving I tend to "think" too much...there I was again, my thoughts drifting away for the reason that there was something on my mind that day, I could not really focus on anything at all. As I was driving on Main Rd. I never realized speeding up to 50 mph on a barely 1/4 mile stretch before the next traffic light which turned I-don't-even-know-when red.
I discovered that in the last second avoiding a massive crash into another car. I stepped on my break, foot on the floor, ABS crunching under my toes, tires squealing and smoking, skid marks behind me, people staring at me...and me, myself scared to death, running a cold sweat on my back, embarrassed, humiliated and mostly guilty feeling...

What have I almost done? I was so mad at myself...but at the same time soooo thankful to God...I knew I just clipped the angel's wings...but God is so good. He protects His people.

Thank you Lord! Thank you!! Thank you!!! Thank you!!!! I kept repeating as I went on and paid more attention suddenly realizing the possible consequences...
No thinking when driving, I mean no "deep" thinking...or better yet, stay focused ON driving...not on other things no matter how painful, important, romantic, scary they are...when you are driving YOU BETTER THINK OF DRIVING DEFENSIVELY....otherwise, stay home, moron! 

End of story. Good night.

Let go, let God...

So how do we let go off something we really care about?
How do we let go off things that mean the world to us?
How do we let go off feelings?
How do we let go off love?
It is easy to say, easy to give as an advice...but very hard to do.
I had to let go today, and I still am not fully prepared for this. I am still processing. In this turmoil of feelings and emotions, where my brain is trying to step in and make a point, I am learning as well.
Letting go means absolutely. Unconditionally. No exceptions.
If you are trying to let go off something God tells you to (and trust me you know it is what He wants you to do, not to mention the fact that your own consciousness is telling you that), you must do it. No matter how much you care, no matter how much it means to you, no matter how much you feel about it, no matter how much you love it.
Letting go MEANS LETTING GO!
Surrender.
Let God mend your heart if you give him all the broken pieces. He can do that. Trust me.
I am sitting here in silence as I am trying to absorb it.
I am waiting for God's Spirit to talk to me.
I am waiting.
I can't wait God starts mending me up.
I am all broken up.
I wanna be new.
Letting go means LETTING GOD in.
An invitation.
Allowing the Lord come to your life, using you the way He wants, so you can take the full benefit.
It will all be good at the end.
By letting God control our lives we are no losers. We have no clue what plans God has, but we sure know God's plans are perfect.
By allowing Him to step in we are up to a new adventure. We don't need to know...let us be surprised.
We are going to be renewed in Him.
So I am here...slowly surrendering my "thing" I had to let go...and letting the God come in, quietly...
I trust Him completely.
I have the hope.
I have the faith.
Love will come. In its right time, in its perfect timing. Not being one minute late.


Let go....Let God.

Stand Still...........Listen

I was listening to our pastor last Sunday, and I must say I love when he preaches. He just glows :) if you know what I mean. There is passion for Christ in his heart, and he hits it right on the target. I know for sure, Holy Spirit comes through instantly as he speaks, and you could hear a pin drop.

So he was speaking about how this world got so busy, and self-centered, and how we are forgetting the basics, and now how we battle the stress, failure, and confusion...how we face daily challenges, obstacles in lives, conflicts in our relationships, confusion, hysteria and last but not least the fear. 

He spoke about how we try to handle the situation our way, how we try to solve all of our problems, and how we complain of not knowing what to do or where to start...

What really got stuck in my mind were the words..........STAND STILL............LISTEN.......When the life gets hard on you, and you don't know what to do, where to start, how to proceed, just STAND STILL, and LISTEN...let the God speak to you through HOLY SPIRIT....in that loud silence, His word sounds so clear, and you will see clearly, you will know exactly what to do. God wants to be in control, God cares for you, so........STAND STILL..........LISTEN!

Lessons

There are times in our lives when we just wish we could take ourselves and bring us back in time in order to avoid the inevitable, a mistake, a failure, or an embarrassing situation. I used to wish that as well. Recently, however, I discovered that I actually do not want to go back and re-live the moment for the simple reason: I would miss an opportunity to learn the lesson.

You see lessons are important. They are a part of our life. They start the very moment we are born and they never end. I used to laugh at my teacher stating "You will be learners all your lives." Back then I had obviously no clue what she meant. I do now, and it did not take 6 years in a university to figure that one out.

Lessons were taught by Jesus through parables, and most of them are still a tough one to understand, or grasp by many of His followers, including myself. I try to pay a close attention to all Sunday School classes, and to everything that is said during the service, yet, I myself struggle. I fall. I am brought down in shame. I learn from people around me, and I am very much disgusted with myself. The pride I have in me, the idea of being so good = such a good person, vanishes instantly in the moment I learn my lesson.

I learned my bitter lesson this past Friday. And I am very much ashamed of myself again. I am so much disappointed in myself that I have no clue how to undo this. I thought of the time and if it would be any good to move back and fix things, but no.In this case, I needed my lesson. I needed to be reminded that it is not only me who has issues; it is not only me who struggles; it is not only me who is down...there are many others in much worse situation, and I was just being a spoiled and whiny about something unessential...I needed my attention.

Now, sitting here, in loneliness of the night, I realize how foolish people get, and yes, now it pertains to me especially. How foolish of us, discontent, complaining and non-stop dissatisfied people. We are daily missing so much on how wonderful things are around us. We are missing on each second of our lives, not noticing the simple beauties of our surroundings that God has given us. On little details, such as a gust of fresh spring air on our faces, star struck sky at night, the fact we got up again this morning, a sweet taste of pear or a divine sound of music...we are fools to complain if we are healthy, if we have food on our plates every day, if we have a bed to rest in safely at night.

So I am here, pledging, I love my lessons, and I do not want to take the time back. I messed up, and past cannot be undone, nevertheless, I am given a chance to do it right next time.

Light Up the Sky - The Afters - Worship Video with lyrics

He speaks

     I have never seen God, nor I have ever heard him with my own ears. I have not felt his touch. How many times I wished God just sat with me down, when I needed Him, when I needed to make a really important decision. How many times I said "He doesn't hear me when I need Him..."I always believed in God, but I was not sure if I heard His voice., or if He heard mine. I saw people praying with their eyes closed, their faces so deeply engaged, they seemed so much involved, but when I prayed I did not feel that, and I did not know why. I tried closing my eyes, covering up my face, and feeling "something" holly, but nothing ever came.

     I did not know how is that He speaks until now. I have finally figured that out. He speaks to me through music. I know it might sound a bit loony, but I just discovered that when I play my iPod Christian songs, or when I hear a nice tune of a hymn in church, I get this feeling all over my body I can't explain what it is. My heart starts pounding faster, my mind is so focused, my eyes see things we do not normally notice, and inside of me, in the middle of this emotional confusion, a feeling is created. A feeling no one can ever understand.

I played the iPod today with the song from Natalie Grant "The Real Me" while I was driving, and suddenly I felt the touch of Holy Spirit on my heart, I looked up and the sky seemed to be unusually beautiful, the winter skyline so pure, the tree tops, the snow hills and thousands of flickering street lights in the Valley Forge, just like scattered diamonds all over the place at the foot hills of Appalachian Mountains...I also realized I was thinking in English. As a second language learner, it has happened. I catch myself actually using my second language when I pray, and I've finally got it...He does speak...

     God talks to us. He finds the way to do that, and if we open up and listen, we are able to hear. Not the way humans do, the way that involves your heart. That is how I know He speaks. It pierces through you in most wonderful way. Your mind is not even able to pick up all these words, and emotions that are gathering inside of you...so all I was able to do was just letting the tears of joy stream down my face, thinking how much I love Him. I always wondered why I was gifted in Music. I played the piano professionally, I was very successful, I was so good that every song I listened to on the radio, every tune I heard, I was able to reproduce without notes on the piano. I had the perfect pitch. Yet, I did not know that this gift came from God. I was using it all these years, but the knowledge was not fully appreciated. God given talent. Selfishly nurtured within my own pride.

    As my advice, if you are still not sure if He listens, all I can say is open up to Him, let it all go through you. Let it all fill you up, let him unveil you, and you loosen up the grip, you will see, feel, hear, smell or taste the way you have never did. He does speak...

Why we should believe the bible...

I have never read the bible until this past year. I did not know how to read the bible. I used to listen to the Gospel at church, but in a catholic church you only hear certain verses, repeatedly through out the year, then it repeats. I used to watch the Jesus movie thinking I knew the bible, but actually I did not. And I still do not know the bible...I am still learning. But since I started going to a baptist church, I started actually reading the bible. Under a proper guidance. 

As an amateur, such as myself, you cannot start reading the bible on your own hoping to understand it along the way. I started with the book of Job, but I got so lost it in, without understanding the context that I gave up. I started attending the Sunday School, and voila :) it went so much easier...it is much better for you, if you study under a guidance of a pastor in the beginning...but anyway, what I want to write about is a summary of what our last session was...Why we should believe the bible...

1.

Isaiah 40:8 (KJV)

 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

It is written in the bible, and the bible is the Word of God in a written form. There are so many references, and cross references, there are so many verses. I do not need any extra evidence that this book is the truth. But there are many skeptics who do not believe, and who need the proof. Well in that case....

  2. Presenting the facts and the numbers:

•  Bible was translated to many languages, there is no other book translated to as many languages as the bible.

Bible translations, worldwide

Number	Statistic
6,900	Approximate number of languages spoken in the world today
1,300	Number of translations to new languages currently in progress
1,185	Number of languages the New Testament has been translated to
451	Number of languages the Bible (Protestant Canon) has been translated to

The source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible

• There are more than 24,000 partial and complete manuscript copies of the New Testament.
  These manuscript copies are very ancient and they are available for inspection now.
  There are also some 86,000 quotations from the early church fathers and several thousand Lectionaries (church-service books containing Scripture quotations used in the early centuries of Christianity).
  Bottom line: the New Testament has an overwhelming amount of evidence supporting its reliability. 
• No other book is even a close second to the Bible on either the number or early dating of the copies. The average secular work from antiquity survives on only a handful of manuscripts; the New Testament boasts thousands.
• Most of the manuscript variations concern matters of spelling, word order, tenses, and the like; no single doctrine is affected by them in any way.
• By comparing the manuscript support for the Bible with manuscript support for other ancient documents and books, it becomes overwhelmingly clear that no other ancient piece of literature can stand up to the Bible. Manuscript support for the Bible is unparalleled!
• No other book is even a close second to the Bible on either the number or early dating of the copies. The average secular work from antiquity survives on only a handful of manuscripts; the New Testament boasts thousands.
• The Dead Sea Scrolls prove the accuracy of the transmission of the Bible.In fact, in these scrolls discovered at Qumran in 1947, we have Old Testament manuscripts that date about a thousand years earlier (150 B.C.) than the other Old Testament manuscripts then in our possession (which dated to A.D. 900).The significant thing is that when one compares the two sets of manuscripts, it is clear that they are essentially the same, with very few changes.The fact that manuscripts separated by a thousand years are essentially the same indicates the incredible accuracy of the Old Testament's manuscript transmission.
• From manuscript discoveries like the Dead Sea Scrolls, Christians have undeniable evidence that today's Old Testament Scripture, for all practical purposes, is exactly the same as it was when originally inspired by God and recorded in the Bible.
• Combine this with the massive amount of manuscript evidence we have for the New Testament, and it is clear that the Christian Bible is a trustworthy and reliable book. 
• The Dead Sea Scrolls prove that the copyists of biblical manuscripts took great care in going about their work.These copyists knew they were duplicating God's Word, so they went to incredible lengths to prevent error from creeping into their work.The scribes carefully counted every line, word, syllable, and letter to ensure accuracy. 

More information here.

And  more useful links if you are still in doubts, but be prepared to read...you cannot just say I do not believe the bible if you did not read enough to prove otherwise:

http://www.debate.org.uk/topics/history/bib-qur/bibmanu.htm

http://agards-bible-timeline.com/q10_bible-facts.html

http://www.preachingpoints.com/2010/04/can-we-trust-the-bible/

http://www.amazingbible.org/Documents/Bible_Desk/bible_statistics.htm

It's remarkable how many critics refer to their "list" of contradictions when they reject the Bible, but have never read the Bible itself. Of course, if the Bible does contain inaccuracies, it would show that those parts of scripture could not have come from a Divine source. However, it's very convenient to accuse the Bible of errors and contradictions, but it's a different matter to prove it.

It is important we understand that times surely were different back couple thousands ago, and it is very hard to understand the ways people lived that long ago. We cannot assume that without any proper study of History we will understand everything easily. Some historians still try to study and understand the life of long ago, and yet they are still not certain about many things. 

The Old Testament reflects life prior to Christ coming to earth to teach us more, clarify and extend the knowledge. Our brain capacity is not even capable of understanding the way God thinks, but Jesus, though he spoke in parables, taught many great lessons, and He indeed had many listeners and followers. Why do you think people loved listening to Him? He knew how to explain things, he knew how to make people understand the words of God, He was the Master Teacher.

It is just like the children at school are learning first simple additions, then they learn subtractions, multiplication and division...later on in high school they come to algebra and many more step-ups, complex math problems involving deeper thinking.

So was the New Testament. A step up from the Old Testament. Confirmation and understanding of the Truth.

Some examples of this and how to approach it:

http://www.greatcom.org/resources/toughquestions/tq6/tq6d.htm

http://healing.about.com/library/uc_terror_0109.htmhttp://www.allabouttruth.org/bible-contradictions.htm

3. 

Bible conservation....God protects the bible. Over all these years the bible has not changed, has not been destroyed, has not been altered. 

more here.

4.

The ultimate comfort....I don't know about you, but I know the bible has an answer to my every question, to my every doubt. It provides great words of wisdom, comfort and even entertainment. There are wonderful verses that apply to every situation in our daily life. There is no other book that can do that. 

 Just a few examples:

• when in love read:  

Genesis 29:20
So Jacob worked seven years to pay for Rachel. But his love for her was so strong that it seemed to him but a few days. (NLT)

Proverbs 5:19
A loving doe, a graceful deer—may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love. (NIV)

Proverbs 10:12
Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs. (NIV)

Proverbs 13:24
Those who love their children care enough to discipline them. (NLT)

Proverbs 15:17
A bowl of vegetables with someone you love is better than steak with someone you hate. (NLT)

Proverbs 17:9
Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends. (NLT)

Proverbs 17:17
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. (NIV)

• when you are sad, lonely and heartbroken read:

Isaiah 41:10
Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. (NLT)

Isaiah 43:2
When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. (NLT)

Isaiah 49:13
Sing for joy, O heavens! Rejoice, O earth! Burst into song, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on them in their suffering. (NLT)

Lamentations 3:22-26; 31-32
For the Lord does not abandon anyone forever. Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion according to the greatness of his unfailing love." (NLT)

 

• When you loose a loved one read:

Psalm 10:17 

 LORD, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them. (NLT) 

Psalm 18:28
You light a lamp for me. The LORD, my God, lights up my darkness. (NLT) 

Psalm 34:18
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. (NLT)Psalm 23:4
Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. (NLT) 

Bible is there for every situation.

There are many links on web, here is one I also like to use:

http://encouragingbiblequotes.com/versesprgenerala.html

In conclusion, the bible truly is the Book of books. As far as me, I believe. As a dear friend of mine states: "10 out of 10 people die, and everyone has an expiration date." I want to be in heaven. I want to live for ever. It should be the reason enough to believe...rather than to think that there is "nothing" after we pass.

Think~exist!

Learning to digest the spiritual food

I am not a person of New Year's resolutions. I have done this, but I have failed this. So I am contemplating on past, living present and looking out for future on a short term basis. I did decide to do one thing though. It is not that the New Year 2011 should be the starting point, it is just because I opened the Daily Bread booklet with today's date, that made me think of it.

The article is called "Eat fast, pay less" and the analogy was that sometimes we tend to fast-read through the bible passage since we already know it. Instead, we should stop, read slowly and "digest the spiritual food". Reading the bible without reflecting is like eating without chewing. 

Ponder on it, contemplate on it!...I know, I am the right case here. I want to know and read the bible, but it gets so overwhelming sometimes, I don't know where to start, I don't know how to interpret. I wish I had some guidance in it.

So, I decided to read less, and digest more. Maybe it is all about slowing down. It is about the quality more than about the quantity. One can read dozen of scriptures, but if none reaches the heart, the whole concept was missed, while one simple verse can open your mind, touch your heart, and you can live off of it for a long time.
Here it is then...Psalm 119:15 "I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways."

"Spending time in mediation,

Hiding Scripture in our heart,

Works in us a transformation

So from sin we can depart." - Sper