Friday, September 11, 2009

Heaven Is The Face - Steven Curtis Chapman.

A truly beautiful song.





Lyrics:

Heaven is the face of a little girl
With dark brown eyes
That disappear when she smiles.
Heaven is the place
Where she calls my name
Says, “Daddy please come play with me for awhile.”

God, I know, it’s all of this and so much more,
But God, You know, that this is what I’m aching for.
God, you know, I just can’t see beyond the door.
So right now…

Heaven is the sound of her breathing deep,
Lying on my chest, falling fast asleep while I sing.
And Heaven is the weight of her in my arms,
Being there to keep her safe from harm while she dreams

And God, I know, it’s all of this and so much more,
But God, You know, that this is what I’m longing for
God, you know, I just can’t see beyond the door.

But in my mind’s eye I can see a place
Where Your glory fills every empty space.
All the cancer is gone,
Every mouth is fed,
And there’s no one left in the orphans’ bed.
Every lonely heart finds their one true love,
And there’s no more goodbye,
And no more not enough,
And there’s no more enemy (no more).

Heaven is a sweet, maple syrup kiss
And a thousand other little things I miss with her gone.
Heaven is the place where she takes my hand
And leads me to You,
And we both run into Your arms.

Oh God, I know, it’s so much more than I can dream.
It’s far beyond anything I can conceive.
So God, You know, I’m trusting You until I see
Heaven in the face of my little girl,
Heaven in the face of my little girl.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Let It Go - Tenth Avenue North.

This song has been tugging at the heartstrings for a while and has been in my head for about a week. I'll let the lyrics speak for itself:

I've been holding on so tight
Look at these knuckles they've gone white
From fighting for who I want to be
I'm just trying to find security

You say let it go
You say let it go
You say life is waiting for the one's who lose control
You say you will be everything I need
You say if I lose my life it's then I'll find my soul
You say let it go

Well it's hard enough to hear
Harder still to move beyond this fear
We know there's nothing I can bring
So tell me what do you want from me?

You say let it go
You say let it go
You say life is waiting for the one's who lose control
You say you will be everything I need
You say if I lose my life it's then I'll find my soul
You say let it go

What do I love what do I hate
What will I lose what will I gain
How do I save my soul?

What if I bend what if I break
What will it cost what will it take
For you to save my soul

You say let it go
You say let it go
You say life is waiting for the one's who lose control
You say you will be everything I need
You say if I lose my life it's then I'll find my soul
You say let it go

Behind the Song (ala jesusfreakhideout.com):
“The Bible says some really strange things and one of those things is when Jesus basically appeals to the people and he says, ‘You don’t want to lose your life, do you? Well lose it and then you’ll find it.’ It’s a very strange sort of argument that Jesus makes, but ‘Let It Go’ is a song about struggling to let go of being the captain of my own ship, of my own faith, which I think we all struggle with. A line in the chorus says, ‘Life is waiting for the ones who lose control.’ It’s a call to say, ‘Man, if only I would really trust God, I would have far fewer aneurisms and stress than I put on myself.’” - Mike Donehey (Tenth Avenue North)

Read Matthew 8:18-22 and see if these words are similar. In my MacArthur Study Bible (NASB), the commentary for verse 22 states, "Let the world (spiritually dead) take care of mundane things." Powerful stuff in my eyes

Monday, September 7, 2009

Goodbyes and Apologies.

Yesterday was my last day at home. I'm back in Toronto now. For the most part, settled in. Only one problem, I forgot my MacBook charger at home...FAIL!!! So I'm gonna have to ask a couple of peeps to see if I can use their charger. Good thing I know a couple of people.

I said goodbyes to most of the people I wanted to, although some weren't proper. I finally got the chance to meet up with some of the kids I was hanging out with at Junior High summer camp. It was alot of fun. I even said hello to people that I thought disliked me. I guess not.

To the people I didn't say goodbye to, my apologies. I probably didn't even tell you I was leaving or we didn't have time to meet up. I'm sorry.

I also am writing this to apologize to those I did wrong to or hurt over the course of the summer. You probably won't be reading this anyways, but I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being a jerk and I'm sorry for speaking up when I wasn't supposed to. I did acts selfishly instead of selflessly.

This summer, I ended relationships, but also started some new ones. I even rekindled some friendships that were slipping away.

It's all in the Lord's time. Trust Him. Completely. You won't be disappointed.

Goodbyes are hard. Especially when you have to say it to someone you love.

Friday, September 4, 2009

A Journal Entry. (9.2.09) - Direction

Taken from my spiritual journal:

One thing that I've been asking God for this summer is direction. Direction to where
I want God wants me to go in life. This summer raised questions and uncertainties in my life like school, relationships, and work. I feel today the Lord reassured me that he has a plan for me and that everything is under His control. Not mine. Three different passages from three different sources were shown to me today:
The first was shown to me by my friend Simon. Matthew 6:25-34.The passage sums up to say, "Do not worry. You mean SO MUCH to God. He WILL provide for you." I looked at it thinking okay, God will provide me with finances, a loving wife (Hey I'm only 19, but yeah I think about it), and food and shelter.


The next verse was sent to me through a Twitter text message (follow @ DailyVerseTweet for Bible verses on your Twitter). The verse of the day was Numbers 23:19. I put that verse into my own words: God doesn't lie. Sure, God may delay a promise, but He will still keep it to the very end. God reveals truth through His Word. Does it not say in the Bible that He WILL provide? I don't know when, how much, or what, but I do know it will happen. I have yet to see or hear of a broken promise from God.


The last verse was BibleGateway's Verse of the Day for September 3rd (I wrote my journal past midnight which is why I got the September 3rd verse). It was Isaiah 48:17. The Lord will lead me to where He wants me to go. He will lead me to a job, a woman fit for my standards, and He will give me the necessities needed for daily living.


How do I know that? It says so in the Bible. The Bible is His Word and His Word is the truth. As our Father, God cares for us so much. He WILL provide in ways more than you think. Maybe you're just oblivious to it. Maybe my future wife is already a friend of mine. I don't know, but God does.


Where does it say in the Bible that God cares for us? Many places, but here are a few that stand out: John 3:16, 1 Peter 5:7, Luke 12:6-7.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Spiritual Conversations.

I have found that sharing your faith with another person, believer or non-believer feels really good. I had a talk with a good friend just a couple minutes ago and we both were expressing our faith through music played on the guitar, through scripture verses that came up in our heads, and even the things that the Lord has been showing us this summer. I love to talk about something that I love and I think my friend might actually get in trouble because he stayed out past what he told his parents he would :/. Anyways...God is awesome and (as David Crowder*Band says) "We'll shout it out loud from the rooftops. We won't be quiet. We've fallen for You hard and we can't stop. We won't deny it."

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[Ephesians 5:19-20]

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Desire to Sin or Sinful Desires?

a quote I saw at church a while ago...
"People sin because they want something, and they're afraid that being good won't get it for them." - Barbara Brown Taylor

...reminded me of a bible verse:
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.
[James 4:1-3]

You Are Everything - Phil Wickham.

I was up til 4AM listening to worship music again. I stumbled across such a beautiful song by Phil Wickham entitled "You Are Everything." Basically the title speaks for itself. Phil Wickham is an awesome singer and his love for Christ speaks through this song.


Jesus, You're my everything
My heart beats for You
Filled with power and mystery
Lord, I thirst for You
You are everything
You are everything

Lord, You are beautiful
Awesome and wonderful
I give You all of my life
Lord, You're the song I sing
Perfect in everything
I give You all of my life
For You are everything

You're the stone I rest upon
I find peace in You
I love You Lord with all my heart
I place my hope in You
For You are everything
You are everything