Strength4Fear

Psalms for All Seasons

Life Eternal

Forever, LORD, with You
Your eyes look deep within my soul
Your gaze pours life into my spirit
Your Spirit imparts your love to me
And fills my heart with love for You
A love so sweet and pure
It overflows
Yet causes me to yearn for more
Contentment and joy are mine
Like a fountain of life they grow
Surging forth increasingly
Forever, LORD, with You.

Worthy

Dedicated to Jesus
You alone are worthy
of my desire and my praise.

When darkness falls all around me
My eyes are clouded by sin and iniquity
And hope seems distant, prayers unheard
Feeling insignificant in terms of eternity

Still Your goodness toward me ever flows
I’m cherished as a child of the covenant
Knit in love with others whom He knows
Indwelt by the Spirit’s sweet commandment
Words of grace and truth that will remind me
Flesh and blood aren’t meant to be my enemy
I will trust in You and claim Your might
Knowing then my failures turn to right
In Your mercy glory will surround me
I will praise Your name in eternity
You alone are worthy, worthy, worthy
I will praise Your name in eternity.

When weakness seems to abound in me
My arms are crippled by laziness and apathy
And life feels stagnant, steeped in pain
You remind me of the truth in Your reality
I’m cherished as a child of the covenant
Knit in love with others whom He knows
Indwelt by the Spirit’s sweet commandment
Words of grace and truth that will remind me
Flesh and blood aren’t meant to be my enemy
I will trust in You and claim Your might
Knowing then my failures turn to right
In Your mercy glory will surround me
I will praise Your name in eternity
You alone are worthy, worthy, worthy
I will praise Your name in eternity.

Always in the Light

Lord, we are just children
Snared by our ignorance
Measuring the universe
With feeble tools and foolishness.

Lord, we think we understand
The length of Your creation
The width of Your perfection
The depth of Your heart’s intention.

But all we really need
The Lord will surely provide.
Help us to see clearly, always in the Light
Speaking for You fearlessly, always in the Light.
Walking like You… Lord, what would You do?
Guide our steps plainly, always in the Light.

Lord, we need Your help to focus
Rightly and to accurately weigh
How to use our time and talents
Mightily for You every day.

In the world yet separated
From evil, conceit, mediocrity
Refine us, keep us consecrated
Mindful of spirit and eternity.

But all we really need
The Lord will surely provide.
Help us to see clearly, always in the Light
Speaking for You fearlessly, always in the Light.
Walking like You… Lord, what would You do?
Guide our steps plainly, always in the Light.

Overwhelmed with worldly care
Help us remember You are ever there
Satan with his smoke and mirrors
Cannot withstand the Light of You.

We’re created for Your purpose and plan
Meant to follow those great in faith
Sacrificially giving, courageously living
Transformed by Your love and grace and strength.

And all we really need
The Lord will surely provide.
Help us to see clearly, always in the Light
Speaking for You fearlessly, always in the Light.
Walking like You… Lord, what would You do?
Guide our steps plainly, always in the Light.

Have Compassion: Help Haiti

Haiku for Haiti

skies like blue water
peaceful and calmly watching
the shaking and the breaking

The catastrophic earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12 has resulted in unfathomable chaos and devastation for hundreds of thousands of children and families.

Compassion sponsors and donors serve more than 65,000 children in Haiti. At least a third of them live in the areas that were hardest hit.

The people of Haiti desperately need our help and hope.

Please reach out in the name of Jesus to bring relief, comfort, love and restoration to precious children and families whose lives have been devastated by this crisis.

HOW CAN I HELP?

1. You can provide immediate relief today. Click on the words “Haiti Earthquake” or go to http://bit.ly/HelpHaitiCI.

  • $35 helps provide a relief pack filled with enough food and water to sustain a family for one week.
  • $70 gift helps care for their needs for two weeks.
  • $105 helps provide relief packs filled with enough food and water to sustain two families for two weeks.
  • $210 gift helps care for two families’ needs.
  • $525 helps provide relief packs filled with enough food and water to sustain 10 families for two weeks.
  • $1,050 gift helps care for 10 families’ needs.
  • $1,500 helps rebuild a home.
  • $2,100 helps supply 20 families with the basics for three weeks.

2. You can pray. To see the prayer requests from the Haiti Country Office of Compassion International, click on the words “Pray for Haiti“.

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me” ~ John 17:20-21

3. Spread the word via email, your Facebook account, your blog, or any other means available to you.

Promise of Spring

autumn rain

Pouring autumn rain
Annoyed when “time-savers” don’t work properly
Wasting even more precious time
Efforts lost with no fruit to show.
Thunder rumbles overhead
Deadlines looming
Stripping my branches
For what?

bare and gray

Piercing winds scatter dead leaves
False expectations
Friendships shatter
It’s You and me.
Yet promises stand
Tall, unyielding, strong as an oak
More enduring than time
Or our colorful surroundings.

autumn oak

Prepare for new growth
Once the chaff has blown
And I’m ground to powder
Sifted and refined.
Fill me with Your Spirit
Knead me with Your hands
Once the fire is past
May I burst forth
Renewed and pure as an apple blossom.

apple blossom

Your Love, Oh Lord (Psalm 36)

third day chronology 1

Buy THIRD DAY

YOUR LOVE, OH LORD

From the album 
Chronology 1

by THIRD DAY

(Click to listen)

Your love, oh Lord, reaches to the heavens
Your faithfulness stretches to the sky
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains
Your justice flows like the ocean’s tide

the solid rock

I will lift my voice
To worship You, my King
I will find my strength
In the shadow of your wings

Psalm 73

Buy Barlow Girl

Buy Barlow Girl

Psalm 73 – My God’s Enough
(Click on Title to listen)

From the album Another Journal Entry
By Barlow Girl (featuring Todd Agnew)

I’ve had enough of living life for only me
And reaching just for the things that keep destroying me
So sick of envying the lives of so many I see
Somehow believing that they have what I need

My God’s enough for me
This world has nothing I need
In this whole life I’ve seen
My God’s enough, enough for me
I can’t explain why I suffer though I live for You
Those who deny You they have it better than I do
Cover my eyes now so that my heart can finally see
That in the end only You mean anything

3596530934_8a9ac8f0b1Who have I in heaven but You
Nothing I desire but You
My heart may fail but not You
You are mine forever

My God’s enough for me
This world has nothing I need
In this whole life I’ve seen
My God’s enough, enough for me
I can’t explain why I suffer though I live for You
Those who deny You they have it better than I do
Cover my eyes now so that my heart can finally see
That in the end only You mean anything

Reflection: Psalm 37

2755416906_2b323d07c7
As you see unbelievers prospering and evil ones doing whatever they please, don’t worry about it; they are here today, and gone tomorrow.

Be confident that God is on your side, and invest all your hopes in Him.

Consider the faithfulness of the LORD, and the depth of His love; be assured that you can count on Him.

Dawn’s glory will seem dim beside your righteousness in Christ; like the Son, your justice and mercy will shine. Read the rest of this entry »

Then.

Honesty that beckons fear.

Tracing steps that led me here.

Washed away in strings of years.

There’s no way back.  No way back.

 

Yesterday was not my home.

In Egypt’s desert where I roamed.

As manna’s taste is too well-known.

There’s no way back.  No way back.

the ascent

Urgently pressed, gather my load.

Wrath and fire, the skies unfold.

Left behind, both friends and foes.

There’s no way back.  No way back.

 

Betrayal marks the heated trail.

The bond of blood was made for sale.

Threshing through this fragile bale.

There’s no way back.  No way back.

 

Sweat and blood and tears congealed.

Time slowed down across this field.

Penning new words; fates are sealed.

There’s no way back.  No way back.

freeeee fall

When I arrive where I can stay.

With gold terrain and endless play.

There will be no more talk of this yesterday.

And no way back.  No way back.

Beautiful Savior

Here is another song by one of my favorite songwriters, Stuart Townend.  Casting Crowns featured it on their 2004 release, Live From Atlanta, and the lyrics are below. I pray that this tribute to our Beautiful Savior blesses your heart as much as it has mine.

Read the rest of this entry »

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