Getting Beyond Your Daily Life and Into God’s Plan

Getting Beyond Your Daily Life and Into God’s Plan

Galaxies- Owl City

What an awesome song! Listen to the song and read the lyrics. I love how OC has a way of taking the ordinary things around them and putting them into songs that awaken their hearts!


Call back the cap-com,

Tick off the time-bomb,

Let felicity fly!

Armour the airlock,

Blanket the bedrock,

And kiss the planet goodbye!



Dear god I was terribly lost

When the galaxies crossed

And the sun went dark!

But dear God you're the only North star I would follow this far..



Fight back the flight deck

Bring on the breakneck

cue the solar eclipse

summit the sunset

Dubtail the dragnet

and blow your backbone to bits



Dear God I was terribly lost

when the galaxies crossed

and the sun went dark.

But dear god you're the only North star I would follow this far.



Oh telescope, keep an eye on my only hope

Lest I blink and be swept off the narrow road

Hercules you've got nothing to say to me cause you're not the guiding light that I need.



For He is the saving grace of the galaxies ! ( x2 )



Dear God I was terribly lost when the galaxies crossed and the sun went dark

But dear God you're the only North star I would follow this far

The Wedding Prayer

The Wedding Prayer

Create in us a love, O Lord.

An eternal love …

Your love.

A love that forgives

any failure,

spans

any distance,

withstands

any tempest.

Create in us a love, O Lord.

A new love.

A fresh love.

A love with the tenderness

of a lamb,

the grandeur

of a mountain,

the strength

of a lion.

And make us one. Intimately one.

As you made a hundred colors into one sunset,

A thousand cedars into one forest,

and countless stars into one galaxy …

make our two hearts as

one,

Father, forever …

that you may be praised, Father,

forever.

From Shaped by God (original title: On the Anvil)

Copyright (Tyndale House, 1985, 2002) Max Lucado

________________________________________

Alternative Paths- 30 Day Challenge

Alternative Paths by Jonathan Fields


When good is near you, when you have life in yourself, it is not by any known or accustomed way; you shall not discern the foot-prints of any other; you shall not see the face of man; you shall not hear any name; the way, the thought, the good, shall be wholly strange and new. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

The world buzzes about goals and visions. Focus. Create a vivid picture of exactly where you want to go. Dream big, then don’t let anything or anyone stop you. The problem, as Daniel Gilbert wrote in Stumbling Upon Happiness, is that we’re horrible at forecasting how we’ll really feel 10 or 20 years from now – once we’ve gotten what we dreamed of. Often, we get there only to say, “That’s not what I thought it would be,” and ask, “What now?” Ambition is good. Blind ambition is not. It blocks out not only distraction, but the many opportunities that might take you off course but that may also lead you in a new direction. Consistent daily action is only a virtue when bundled with a willingness to remain open to the unknown. In this exercise, look at your current quest and ask, “What alternative opportunities, interpretations and paths am I not seeing?” They’re always there, but you’ve got to choose to see them.

(Author: Jonathan Fields)

I've never been the type of person, to seek out the unknown. I do when I am told to or called to, but I often do not do that of my own choosing. I wonder what it would be like if I truly did explore my passions. Could it lead to my ultimate dream ending with a final destination of my passions being in line with God's passions? It often surprises me when I do something out of the blue. Jamaica, is a good example of this. It has surprised me both times that I have been to the most rural parts of Jamaica that I followed through with it despite my fears. But, it has also somehow surprised me that it is here where I know that my passions truly were in line with God's passions. My passions for traveling, meeting people, combating poverty, encouraging neighbors, and doing hard manual labor were all tied into this one trip.

For the future (5-20 years)my dream would be to be able to have accomplished these things:
- Get married; have a family- big or small
- Visit Sydney, Australia for longer than a week's vacation
- Learn from/intern at Hillsong Church
- Be a pastor of a church
- Get a doctorate in relational leadership

- Go to Princeton Seminary

- Be a part time missionary- that partners a foreign 3rd world church with an American church

- Visit a little girl named Wenddy in the Dominican Republic

If there are alternative paths that I am not seeing, my eyes will have to be opened. But, I look forward to what faith brings: Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1)

New 30day Challenge

I started a few days late, but I think this is an awesome challenge. This challenge causes individuals to "look within" as Aristotle once said.

There will be an agreement in whatever variety of actions, so they be each honest and natural in their hour. – Ralph Waldo Emerson




What would you say to the person you were five years ago? What will you say to the person you’ll be in five years?

5 years ago, I would have been a "tweenager." I would say to my 14 year old self that I love the passion and the fire that I have for Christ as I laid down my purposes, my plans, and my life. That passion radiated off of me onto other people. To the 24 year old, I would say, are you still living with that passion and fire for Christ, if so, what have you done to externalize that passion?

He always knew...from the beginning

As I was reading Galatians 3 today, I came across the words "The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed(v16). Then, I remembered from NT class that the word seed is very important here because later on it declares that "Scripture does not say 'and to seeds,' meaning many people, but 'and to your seed,' meaning one person who is Christ." The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his lineage that would lead to Christ! There is a law and a promise, but Scripture tells us it is not either/or, but rather "the law was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come" (v19).

This chapter found all the way in the NT is based on a pending promise all the way in Genesis. My prof once stated that he believed Genesis 12:1-3 is the "hinge of the Bible" because the New Covenant and promises fold out of this promise to Abraham: The descendants and the nations would be blessed. "All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you!" (Gen. 12:3) No wonder why! Christ is the seed. All people will be blessed for those that truly believe in Christ!

It is incredible to think that God planned this all along even in Genesis when we are just beginning to learn what happened from the beginning of humanity's time. Genesis 12 is right after Genesis 11, right? We all know that Genesis 11 is when the Tower of Babel incident occurred. They were trying to "fix things" on their own by "making a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth" (Gen. 11:4). Babel was a human initiative, the wrong way. Abraham's promise was a divine initiative, the right way and a significant moment of God's initiation.

Who would have thought that by Genesis 12, God was already proclaiming, "No, no, I have a better plan because Christ is coming soon! Christ is the Seed, and He is a part of Abraham's lineage!" What Good News found all the way in the Old Testament.

God truly was knowing and destining as Romans 8 says, all the way from the beginning.

I Lift My Hands

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyYWWKJt-Hs


I Lift My Hands- Chris Tomlin

Be still, there is a healer
His love is deeper than the sea
His mercy, it is unfailing
His arms are a fortress for the weak

Let faith arise
Let faith arise

I lift my hands to believe again
You are my refuge, You are my strength
As I pour out my heart, these things I remember
You are faithful, God, forever

Be still, there is a river
[ From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/c/chris-tomlin-lyrics/i-lift-my-hands-lyrics.html ]
That flows from Calvary's tree
A fountain for the thirsty
Pure grace that washes over me

So let faith arise
Let faith arise
Open my eyes
Open my eyes

I lift my hands to believe again
You are my refuge, You are my strength
As I pour out my heart, these things I remember
You are faithful, God
You are faithful, God, forever