urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:emb899 emb899 emb899 2008-11-11T17:39:40Z urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:emb899:22566 2008-11-11T17:39:40Z 2008-11-11T17:39:40Z We're on our way<br />can't you see it in our face<br />there is a statement we must make<br />and a journey we must take <br />across the land<br />we're all joining in the band<br />doing everything we can<br />to follow Him the Great I Am<br /><br />So take me up<br />take me higher<br />take my will and<br />take my life<br />take my hands and I will fly <br />and learn to soar<br />through the tears<br />with our fears<br />through the clouds <br />and when it clears<br />they will see in us<br />the glory of the Lord<br /><br />We're on our way<br />we have passed from grace to grace<br />we know the risks that we must take<br />to show the difference we can make<br />we are young<br />we are strong and will hold on<br />and when the final song is sung<br />we'll see the victory we have won<br /><br />So take me up<br />take me higher<br />take my will and <br />take my life<br />take my hands and I will fly<br />and learn to soar<br />through the tears<br />with our fears <br />through the clouds <br />and when it clears<br />they will see in us<br />the glory of the Lord<br /><br />they will see in us<br />the glory of the Lord urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:emb899:22374 2008-11-07T22:36:22Z 2008-11-07T22:36:22Z <a target="_blank" href="http://www.fightfoca.com/" mce_href="http://www.fightfoca.com/"><img src="http://www.fightfoca.com/btn-FightFOCA-Ad-01.png" mce_src="http://www.fightfoca.com/wp-content/themes/blank3/images/btn-FightFOCA-Ad-01.png" border="0" width="200" height="297" /></a> urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:emb899:21770 2008-10-28T19:51:42Z 2008-10-28T19:51:42Z <lj-embed id="2" /> urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:emb899:18780 2007-04-27T16:39:58Z 2007-04-27T16:39:58Z I like to think this is what God's saying to us. <br /><br />You Are Loved (Don't Give Up) by Josh Groban<br /><br />Don't give up<br />It's just the weight of the world<br />When your heart's heavy I<br />I will lift it for you<br /><br />Don't give up<br />Because you want to be heard<br />If silence keeps you I<br />I will break it for you<br /><br />Everybody wants to be understood<br />Well I can hear you<br /><br />Everybody wants to be loved<br />Don't give up<br /><br />Because you are loved<br /><br />Don't give up<br />It's just the hurt that you hide<br />When you're lost inside I<br />I'll be there to find you<br /><br />Don't give up<br />Because you want to burn bright<br />If darkness blinds you I<br />I will shine to guide you<br /><br />Everybody wants to be understood<br />Well I can hear you<br /><br />Everybody needs to be loved<br />Don't give up<br /><br />Because...you are loved<br /><br />Don't give up<br />It's just the weight of the world<br /><br />Don't give up<br />Everyone needs to be loved<br /><br />You are loved urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:emb899:18156 2007-03-23T14:21:53Z 2007-03-23T14:21:53Z How do you find your cumulative GPA? urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:emb899:17701 2007-03-22T21:32:59Z 2007-03-22T21:32:59Z <object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Dw2T5OOG0R4"></param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Dw2T5OOG0R4" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" allowScriptAccess="never"></embed> </object> <br>Can't wait!!! urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:emb899:16452 2007-02-27T16:51:17Z 2007-02-27T16:51:17Z “Everyone says to me, “Trust God”. That’s easy for them to say. I believe in God and that He created the universe and human beings and I even think He knows me intimately, but what do you mean, 'Trust God'? Trust Him with what? To do what? I understand that when I pray and ask God to help me, I hope that He hears me and I hope that maybe He’ll see things my way…and maybe grant me what I ask Him…but I learned long ago…that He doesn’t always answer me, so I don’t expect too much from Him. Trust God? I’m trying. I’m really trying. It’s just very hard.”<br /><br />Trusting in God is one of the hardest things to do as a Christian.<br />Life seems like a mystery and as we observe life around us…sometimes we wonder if God is even involved with us at all. It’s not easy to believe and trust Him with everything going on with us.<br />Is He REALLY listening?<br />We want to believe in Him, but why is it so hard?<br /><br />Trusting in God is vital to our spiritual lives, yet our faith is so weak. If we only knew the amazing way that the Lord would open up to us if we would just open up to Him in belief. And the Lord has done an interesting thing…the more we trust in Him…the more He rewards us and reveals Himself to us. But when we doubt Him and don’t have faith, nothing ever happens. He doesn’t try to prove Himself or surprise us with a revelation to show us that we’re wrong.<br />You see the point is…it’s all up to you.<br />If you don’t believe that God will do much for you…<br />then guess what…He pretty much won’t.<br />You’re life will likely stay the same old way for a long time.<br />But if you trust in God to come and make your life new…<br />be ready for Him to come in like gang busters.<br />It’s very exciting.<br />Do you want to see miracles? You need to believe in miracles.<br />Do you want to see God move in your life.<br />You have to trust Him to move in your life.<br />It is simple…yet very, very hard.<br />God asks the hardest thing from us…to suspend our common sense, close our eyes to everything around us, put aside our knowledge of earthly reality and logic…and TRUST HIM.<br />Yes, trust Him to be REAL!<br /><br />“WELL, I’VE TRIED IT AND NOTHING HAPPENS!”<br /><br />Well guess what? Something is happening.<br />God wants to see if you will still trust Him even if your prayers don’t turn out the way you want. He is trying to help us grow in our faith, and in order to do that He continues to raise the bar little bits at a time. As we grow spiritually, He asks us to believe more, and when things become difficult…He wants us to believe EVEN MORE.<br />God is not a genie or Santa Claus. He really can’t be manipulated to do just anything you want. There is no formula, or button you can push for God to perform tricks for you. Many prayers require submission, humility and obedience. And most prayers can only be answered when we participate and become active in our situation rather than just waiting for something to happen. Yes, God wants us to get off our butt.<br /><br />You see, He has His plans and we have ours and they are usually VERY different. God DOES have a mind of His own, and of course we are disappointed when we don’t receive the answers we are looking for. But do we still believe? Do we doubt Him? Do we doubt ourselves?<br /><br />After a prayer seemed to go unanswered…did you decide that God could not be trusted after all and gave up, having doubts again? God wants you to trust Him and keep on trusting Him. He may not have answered your prayer right away and He may never answer your prayers the way you want, but do you still believe and trust Him to do what is best?<br /><br />This is the key: Belief and trust...and keep on trusting regardless of what is going on around you, even if things seem hopeless.<br />But God is real and is very aware of what is going on with you,<br />and He knows that most of the time you doubt Him.<br />But He does desire that you take that one leap of faith to trust Him with your life. And when you take that leap, He is finally able to wrap His arms around you. Jesus asks us to have faith as a little child.<br />But as adults, our past disappointments have corrupted us.<br />We need to go back to that place where we have unquestioning faith and believe as a child. And what does that mean? It means you have to:<br /><br />Relinquish your mind’s control over all situations.<br />Take your hands off and let go of your fear & unbelief.<br />Stop trying to figure things out.<br />TRUST GOD TO WORK<br /><br />The hardest thing for us to do is release our faith.<br />When we truly trust the Lord with our hearts, we finally give Him permission and freedom to minister to us without us getting in His way.<br />He won’t force anything on us. But we must let go completely.<br />By NOT trusting Him…we are retaining our control over our situations.<br />But because of our limits as human beings, we really have no control anyway. Rather than telling God exactly what you think you need for yourself, ask Him to do what is best for you (Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done) and trust that whatever happens is what He wants for you for this time, and follow the Holy Spirit’s leading.<br />God wants to give you a full and abundant life, but He only asks for you to believe in Him. The Lord can then make you the person He wants you to be, a person of true faith. Trust Him to be REAL! urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:emb899:16298 2007-02-23T20:34:03Z 2007-02-23T20:34:03Z <a href="http://www.quizyourfriends.com/quizpage.php?quizname=070223153048-785173&">http://www.quizyourfriends.com/quizpage.php?quizname=070223153048-785173&</a> urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:emb899:15884 2007-02-23T16:00:53Z 2007-02-23T16:00:53Z I'm OK and I'm On My Way!<br />by Joyce Meyer<br /><br />How many times have you heard the expression, "Nobody's perfect"? We use and hear this expression almost every day. But it's true—I'm not perfect, you're not perfect, nobody's perfect. Hopefully though, we are all getting better, on our way to perfection. The important thing to remember is that even though we're not yet perfect we're still OK. Just because we haven't yet arrived doesn't mean that we're not on our way.<br /><br />It's true that most of us still have a long way to go. I used to get discouraged about how far I had to go, and it seemed like I was reminded of it every day, even every hour. I carried a constant sense of failure, a feeling that I just was not what I needed to be, that I was not doing good enough, that I should try harder—and yet when I did try harder, I only failed again.<br /><br />I have now adopted a new attitude: "I'm not where I need to be, but thank God I am not where I used to be; I'm OK, and I'm on my way!" I now know with all my heart that God is not angry with me just because I have not yet arrived. He is pleased that I am pressing on, staying on the path. If you and I will just "keep on keeping on," God will be pleased with our progress.<br /><br />Keep walking the walk by taking one step at a time. This is an important thing to remember. It is true that we have to keep pressing on, but thank God we don't have to hate and reject ourselves while we are trying to get to our destination.<br /><br />If I invited you to take a walk, you would think I was crazy if I became angry after the first few steps because we had not yet arrived at our destination. We can understand ordinary things like this, and yet we have a difficult time understanding that God expects it to take some time for us to grow spiritually.<br /><br />We don't think there is something wrong with one-year old children because they cannot walk perfectly. They fall down frequently, but we pick them up, love them, bandage them if necessary, and keep working with them. Surely our awesome God can do even more for us than we do for our children.<br /><br />This process is always difficult. Growing and learning is never easy. But the changes make us a better person. We begin to think differently, then we begin to talk differently, and finally we begin to act differently. This is a process that develops in stages, and we must always remember that while it is taking place we can have the attitude, "I'm OK, and I'm on my way!"<br /><br />Enjoy yourself while you are changing. Enjoy where you are on the way to where you are going. Enjoy the journey! Don't waste all of your "now time" trying to rush into the future. Remember, tomorrow will have troubles of its own (Matthew 6:34).<br /><br />Today you may be wrestling with a bad temper and thinking if you could just get freedom in that area, everything would be all right. The thing is, you may have forgotten that God will then reveal something else that needs to be dealt with, and you will be back in the same frame of mind again, thinking, "If only I didn't have this problem, I could be happy." We must learn to look at these things in a new way.<br /><br />We can be free to believe that we are indeed OK and on our way—not perfected yet, but pressing on. We can be free to enjoy life, enjoy God, and enjoy ourselves.