Can’t Live Without

Just no other way really is there?

Do It Anyway

I got this poem off my ex-wife’s Facebook of all things! It is something I have to take to heart for sure and just wanted to share it with you all!

Mother Teresa wrote this poem –

People are often unreasonable,
illogical and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind,
people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful,
you will win some false friends and true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank,
people may cheat you;
Be honest anyway.

What you spend years building,
someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness,
they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today,
people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have,
and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis,
it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

Read more at Mother Teresa Poem : Do It Anyway

Stained Glass You

 

“‘People are like stained glass windows: they sparkle and shine when the sun’s out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is light within.’ – Elizabeth Kubler-Ross”

The Value of Myth

Oh how true this is …

“The Value of myth is that it takes all the things you know and restores to them the rich significance which has been hidden by the veil of familiarity.”

~C.S. Lewis

A lot of times we get so caught up in life that things get so mundane and we forget about the truly wonderful and beautiful. An example would be the first time you met your lover, how enchanting she was … four kids ago. We need to find the time to weigh the value of truth and myth. It doesn’t take long to find the truth wanting. You know its probably really true! Maybe she is really that special!

 

Picture:

http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&section=&global=1&q=myth#/d31o4wd

Christian Atlases

A pair of quotes from Brennan Manning I would like to share …

“God’s love is based on nothing, and the fact that it is based on nothing makes us secure. Were it based on anything we do, and that “anything” were to collapse, then God’s love would crumble as well. But with the God of Jesus no such thing can possibly happen. People who realize this can live freely and to the fullest. Remember Atlas, who carries Brennan Manning the whole world? We have Christian Atlases who mistakenly carry the burden of trying to deserve God’s love. Even the mere watching of this lifestyle is depressing. I’d like to say to Atlas: ‘Put that globe down and dance on it. That’s why God made it.’ And to the weary Christian Atlases: “Lay down your load and build your life on God’s love.” We don’t have to earn this love; neither do we have to support it. It is a free gift. Jesus calls out: “Come to me, all you Atlases who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you.”

“The saved sinner is prostrate in adoration, lost in wonder and praise. He knows repentance is not what we do in order to earn forgiveness; it is what we do because we have been forgiven. It serves as an expression of gratitude rather than an effort to earn forgiveness. Thus the sequence of forgiveness and then repentance, rather than repentance and then forgiveness, is crucial for understanding the gospel of grace.”

Amen!

Blow the Rest Away

Friendship is the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weight thoughts nor measure words, but pouring all right out just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful friendly hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of comfort, blow the rest away.”

~Arab Proverb, quoted in H. L. Roush, Jesus Loves Me, (Roush, 1978)

A God Who Can Kick IT!

Just some thoughts …

I cruise around a lot of Christian sites from time to time and this observation has struck me of late … God in general seems to be pictured as, for lack of a better word at the moment, “nice.” There seems to be a want for a God that provides but not one really who meddles in our lives. A God who protects but never demands, never judges, keeps His distance … This nice God doesn’t seem to say much but greeting card slogans. Sheesh! A God who is basically a wimp!

But the fact of the matter is God is not just nice. God is a consuming fire! Although He cares for the sparrow, the fragile, the hurt, He just isn’t all that pampering. God’s main business isn’t getting us the best parking spaces at the mall or otherwise make us nice and comfy. His main business is making us holy which requires the niceness …. And sternness of our God.

Let me share this verse from Exodus 20:20, “Do not be afraid, God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.” Do not be afraid … Only a God we fear, and yet not be afraid of can make our hearts burn with a passion. The God who truly is, who seeks after you and me is far more loving and comforting than the “nice” God depicted seemingly everywhere. He is also more fierce and fearsome than this “scorekeeper” God of those who threaten us with damnation with every misstep and misthought. His anger is not just irritability … Its the distillation of His justice, His hatred of evil.

This is what we want, even demand from a good God. A God who can kick tush and maybe even spank our own when necessary… A nice, kindly old man type of god could never drive us to our knees in desperate prayer. He could never set us up on our feet in fierce determination ready to roll. A nice god could never inspire fervent worship, awe or sacrifice. The nice god is someone easy to dismiss unless we want or need something. How can we possibly explain a God that has His Son die a cruel, bloody death for us with a picture like that? God demands all … In Hebrews it says its a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Yet the thing more dangerous than that is to NOT fall into His hands! God may not be all sweetness and fluff … But He is good!

Just wanted to throw this out there …

Take Time

Take time to think;

It is the source of power.

Take time to read;

It is the foundation of wisdom.

Take time to play;

It is the secret of staying young.

Take time to be quiet;

It is the opportunity to seek God.

Take time to be aware;

It is the opportunity to help others.

Take time to love and be loved;

It is God’s greatest gift.

Take time to laugh;

It is the music of the soul.

Take time to be friendly;

It is the road to happiness.

Take time to dream;

It is what the future is made of.

Take time to pray;

It is the greatest power on earth.

–Author Unknown

Beauty of the Butterfly

We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.

~Maya Angelou

endure the darkness

“I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars.”