Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Matthew 4:4
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Matthew 5:4
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair ...
2 Corinthians 4:8
With our prayers and God's help, turmoil can be calmed and peace restored. Without God, however, the ways of man are futile.
For God is not the author of confusion but of peace ...
1 Corinthians 14:33
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And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
Romans 8:28
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The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again.
Proverbs 24:16
~*~*~*~*~*~Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
All of our thoughts and prayer are with the survivors of the terrible earthquake in Haiti, for they have lost nearly everything. We, as Americans, are blessed with the money to be used in such natural catastrophes as that, but the people of Haiti have little money and there is not much medical support (especially since a hospital collapsed in the quake). They will need every prayer we can lift to God, and many are on their way down to offer help in this time of need.
Lord, only You know why this destruction has come upon them,
and only You can save them both physically and spiritually.
Let us see how truly blessed we are,
and allow us to pass those blessings on in such a time of need,
all in Your precious name.
Let us put aside our busy schedules and our oh-so-important plans,
allow us to realize that there are other things more important in the world.
We do all this in Your name, for Your glory alone.
Amen.
Love In Christ Always,
Hilary
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
What you're about to read is something one of my best friends wrote. She did an analysis, i guess, on a song called "The New Breed" by Oh, Sleeper. It's a Christian hard core rock band, and you might not like hard core rock, but this song has some good lyrics. So let's let my friend take it away!
"The New Breed.
This is what God has shown me through this song. Feel free to post what you think down in the comments section - I'd love to hear your thoughts!
"Reclaiming thrones, our generations pride,
Sits a conformist ploy to strip what burns inside.
Our bodies yearn to live life endlessly, so now we rise. We rise in mutiny.
We make our stand here between the angels and animals.
We fear nothing here, where we can beat any feat set to keep us crawling.
We're calling you here to give leave to destruction of fear
And stand tall against all who will dare to shake you. Don't let them shake you.
"Stand strong, where I could not, please stand strong"
Oh please, this plea, dear God, let it not from my lips be conceived.
So grip your fist and swing until your knuckles bleed.
If you are the new breed scream, "I am immortal!"
We can't sit quietly because there's more to life than we see.
So if you are the new breed scream, "I am immortal in you!"
This is the call of the new breed.
I want to feel what change your glory brings.
Please teach me life lived fearlessly and I swear I'll make a stand here,
Between the angels and animals and fear nothing.
Here, where I can be more than mortal and fight for a kingdom that answers to no one.
But I just can't breathe without you in the air and I won't, so rip out these lungs...
And for my heart, you can cut it from my chest.
Oh God, if that's what you want, for me to feel life endlessly...
I'll breathe your blood for the rest of my life.
So grip your fist and swing until your knuckles bleed.
If you are the new breed scream, "I am immortal!"
We can't sit quietly because there's more to life than we see.
So if you are the new breed scream, "I am immortal in you!"
We'll be death's dealers, if that's where you lead.
Anchored by glory, we rise in mutiny.
We are the new breed. We are the new breed.
We've come alive and we are moving."
- Oh, Sleeper
Lately this has become one of my favorite songs. Seriously, I cannot describe how much I love this song. It's easily one of my five favorite songs from 2009.
I love music that speaks to me. I love it when I can listen to a song and feel convicted to change the way I live. God really can speak through music - and He CAN speak through metal music. This song is proof.
"Sits a conformist ploy to strip what burns inside"
The devil is trying to steal "what burns inside". That fire that we, as Christians, are supposed to have. We can't let the enemy steal our fire.
"We fear nothing here, where we can beat any feat set to keep us crawling."
The devil wants to keep us down, he wants to keep us "crawling". But, guess what? We have authority over the devil because we have JESUS.
"Stand strong, where I could not, please stand strong"
When we're weak God is strong. When we can't stand in a certain situation - or we feel like we can't - WE CAN. God has given us the strength we need for every single battle that comes our way.
"We can't sit quietly because there's more to life than we see."
This line is one of my favorites.
There's more to this life than having fun. God has put us on this planet to serve Him. While we're here we need to let God use us. We need to bring souls to him. As corny as it sounds, we are on a mission to save the world. There are so many lost people out there and it's OUR job to lead them to Christ. We CAN'T sit quietly. We need to represent.
"Please teach me life lived fearlessly and I swear I'll make a stand here."
We can not live in fear. We need to learn to live fearlessly and let nothing stand in our way of preaching the gospel. When we live without fear we can make a stand for Christ.
"But I just can't breathe without you in the air and I won't, so rip out these lungs, and for my heart, you can cut it from my chest. Oh God, if that's what you want, for me to feel life endlessly, I'll breathe your blood for the rest of my life."
PASSION.
I want passion like that. I want to be where I can genuinly say that if I'm not following God then I want him to rip out my lungs - that I want to DIE if I'm not putting Him first. Those are powerful lyrics. Man.
"Anchored by glory, we rise in mutiny."
Mutiny means "revolt or rebellion against authority." Yes, rebellion against authority. But, guess what? ANCHORED BY GLORY. We're not rising against Christ - we're rising against the world and the things of the world. Christ must be the center of EVERY move we make.
"We are the new breed. We are the new breed. We've come alive and we are moving."
We need to move, and we need to move for Christ.
Make 2010 the year that you stand stronger than ever for Christ. Don't let Satan get you down. You have authority over him. Let God make you strong in your weaknesses. STAND STRONG." ~Lizi~ God Bless! Rach
A new Youtube sensation has hit the web, causing much controversy and piquing the interest of many. The video posted under the name “ORIGINAL VIDEO - DID JESUS GIVE US THE NAME OF THE ANTICHRIST?” has received nearly 300,000 veiws in only 3 months. An anonymous commentator asks, “Did Jesus really reveal the name of the antichrist? I will report the facts – you can decide.” He goes on to say that in Luke 10:18, Jesus says he beheld Satan as lightening falling from the heavens. When translated, lightening is baraq, and the heavens (not in the sense of God’s heaven, but as air or sky) are translated as bamah. To join these two ideas, a conjunction must be used, and they are often joined by the letter “U” or “O”. So, in Hebrew, “lightening from heaven” would be translated as “baraq o bamah”, making the entire verse of Luke 10:18, “And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as baraq o bamah”. Pretty interesting! My dad checked this out in Strong’s dictionary, and both words were truly translated as such, so everything else is a matter of whether or not it is coincidence, and what one will make of it. THIS DOES NOT MEAN that I or the authors believe Obama to be the antichrist, this is simply an interesting video I thought I would share. There are other requirements for the antichrist, however, so this is not in any way a definitive finding. (:
I finally have time to type up my study of Ecclesiastes 2. Sorry it has taken me so long, i just haven't had the time. So here is what i think of Ecclesiastes 2:1-16.
"1 I thought in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good." But that also proved to be meaningless. 2 "Laughter," I said, "is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?" 3 I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives." Ecclesiastes 2:1-3.
Solomon was still down and trying to find the meaning of life. He decided he would try to cheer himself up with all the earthly substances..wine, folly. He didn't just drink wine cause he liked the taste, or as like a tradition. He drank it to get drunk. He tried to forget how unhappy he was by drinking. We see that so much today. People left and right go out and get drunk cause they can't stand their life and for just a little while they can escape the pain.We also see this with the use of drugs and smoking. The cycle of drinking, smoking, or taking drugs is a deadly cycle that in the long run does not help you escape the pain. but actually puts more pain in your life. It also puts pain in the life of the people around you. I looked up the word "folly", i had an idea of what it meant. but i wanted to be sure before i posted it on the web. Here are some of the definitions. "1. want of good sense (meaning lack of good sense) 2.Scandalous crime; sin; specifically, as applied to a woman" The second definition is exactly what i thought of when i thought of folly. To put it plainly, he cheered himself up with sex. He has 700 wives and 300 concubines. That's an insane number. But he was so confused about what the meaning of life was that he just tried everything he could to find the meaning of life. I know i don't ever have to say it...but this is happening all over the world today. Sex today has been belittled, it is something you do when you have the urge. You don't have to be married anymore to have sex, you don't even have to know each other. That is just disgusting. I am a firm believer in sex after marriage. Any sex before is a sin. God created sex to be something special between two people...and two people only...a husband and wife. It is really sad how today people are having sex all the time outside of a marriage. That's not how God designed it. And it's a sin outside of marriage. I could go on and on about this...i'm very strongly convicted on this subject. So i'll just stop here.
Back to Solomon, his drinking of wine and having sex for pleasure was a sin. He was disobeying God's commands. But he didn't know where to find meaning in life, so he indulged himself. but in the end, he realized that drinking and sex were not the meaning of life.
Ok, so i have notes for verses 4-16. But i think i've said enough for one post. So i'll post the rest tomorrow.
I recently came into the possession of a very valuable resource - an in-depth study on the book of Revelations. This is one of my favorite books of the Bible (along with Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, to name a few) due to my fascination with the visions that lay out my future (and yours!). Revelations has come alive in the world around us, and the evidence of the coming of Christ can be seen in politics more than anything. It was initially surprising to me how relevant the Bible is to such topics and how, by studying it, we can see and better understand the events of today. The coming of Christ is nearer than ever, and I hope to be prepared for what it to come - and hopefully, by sharing what I learn with you, you will develop a greater understanding of and appreciation for the book of Revelations!
I will begin posting the eye-opening and riveting details I learn on Monday, February 1. I am looking forward to it!
