Gratitude Of Praise

 All my words fall short, I got nothing new, How could I express All my gratitude? I could sing these songs, As I often do But every song must end And You never do So I throw up my hands And praise You again and again, 'Cause all that I have is a hallelujah, Hallelujah And I know it's not much

But I've nothing else fit for a King, Except for a heart singing hallelujah, Hallelujah, I've got one response, I've got just one move With my arm stretched wide, I will worship You, So I throw up my hands And praise You again and again, 'Cause all that I have is a hallelujah, Hallelujah And I know it's not much But I've nothing else fit for a King, Except for a heart singing hallelujah, Hallelujah, So come on, my soul, Oh, don't you get shy on me, Lift up your song, 'Cause you've got a lion inside of those lungs, Get up and praise the Lord, Oh come on, my soul, Oh, don't you get shy on me, Lift up your song, 'Cause you've got a lion inside of those lungs, Get up and praise the Lord. 

Everywhere I go on this road, high and low, Where I go, I go with You, There's a city that calls me by name, There's a city that calls me by name, Yes, as I run this race I am cheered by the saints, There's a city that calls me by name, There's a future that runs through my veins, There's a future that runs through my veins And there's nothing on earth that could stand in the way, There's a future that runs through my veins, Everywhere I go on this road, high and low, Where I go, I go with You, So I won't be afraid, this my hope, come what may, Where I go, I go with You, Where I go, I go with You, There's a Spirit I cannot contain, There's a Spirit I cannot contain, The same power that raised Jesus up from the grave, The same Spirit I cannot contain, Everywhere I go on this road, high and low, Where I go, I go with You, So I won't be afraid, this my hope, come what may, Where I go, I go with You, Where I go, I go with You, Breath upon these bones, Your fire in my soul, Your kingdom is my home And I don't walk alone, Everywhere I go on this road, high and low, Where I go, I go with You.

Some days I'm holding strong, Some days I'm barely hanging on, Some days, some days, some days.

Psalm 118 verse 24: The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad.

James 1 verse 17:  Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Ephesians 1 verse 16: I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.

Hebrews 12 verse 28:  Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,

Romans 8 verse 28: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose.

Matthew 6 verse 21 says: For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Acts 24 verse 3:  Everywhere and in every way, most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with profound gratitude.

In every scripture we see how God wants us to have Gratitude in our hearts, we see how God wants us to walk humbly with Him and in every song we see the same thing, some days it's hard to have our hearts filled with Gratitude but God is with us everywhere we go and we know that we can sing with a Gratitude of Praise in knowing that God will handle our situations that we come across in life because we know that our God is Faithful and True.

Let us remember this as we go about our week and know that God will never give up on us.

Connected In Christ

Faith is Like Wifi It's Invisible But It Has The Power To Connect You To What You Need.

Prayer The Strongest Wireless Connection.

God Is My Wireless Provider.

God Is Like A Strong Signal Available To Everyone And The Only Password Is Jesus. Get Connected.

Hebrews 11 verse 6 says: And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Mark 11 verse 24 says: Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Psalm 54 verse 4 says: Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.

John 14 verse 6 says: Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

In all of this we see how God can give us the Faith, to overcome obstacles. We see how when we be still and know, that in prayer and supplication we will be provided in what we need cause God is our Provider. We see how we don't always need a strong internet connection, because we realize that God is already like that, because we are deeply connected to Him.

Our Bible is what can give us the Hope we need, the Faith we need, The encouragement we need in order to grow, and we can pray that God shows us the way into other's hearts in order to let us see how we can honor him in the way we should go.

Continually throughout every scripture we see all these things, and the only passwords we need in our life is Jesus and Prayer, because without those what would we have?

Well, we would have despair and we would believe the lies of the Enemy.

The Enemy would love to steal, kill and destroy, but God comes to give us life so that we have it abundantly and to the full.

Let us remember all these things as we go about our weeks and let us share the Good News.

Our Purpose In Christ

 Who are we as children of God? Who are we called to be? Are we like David, who was a man and is a man after God's own heart? Are we like Joshua who was brave and fought a battle? Are we warriors living for Christ? All questions to ask ourselves as we discover in scripture tonight what our purpose in Christ is.

Proverbs 16 verse 9 says: In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.

Matthew 28 verse 19-20 says:  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Ephesians 1 verse 11-14 says: In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

Romans 8 verse 28 says: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Jeremiah 29 verse 11 says: For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you but to give you a hope and a future.

Isaiah 43 verse 7 says: Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

Proverbs 19 verse 21: Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

Ephesians 3 verse 11 says: According to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

In everything we see how our purpose which is a plan, is found in Christ. We think we sometimes have that figured out. Remember the reflection questions? Well, you see who we are as children of God are disciples who have a purpose to serve. Who we are called to be are His children, honoring Him in the plan that He continues to reveal to us. We are brave, but sometimes it's okay not to be brave and it's ok to not have things all figured out. While we may be warriors living for Christ, we are also warriors who have different strengths and weaknesses. We may not always have what the rest of our purpose in Christ is, but here's the thing, God doesn't want us to have it all figured out.

God would want us to surrender it to Him, we may not know what the future holds but we know who holds the future, and in a song by Matthew West called Future Looks Good says:

I don't know what the future holds but I know who holds my future, Bad news on the TV, bad news on my phone, I got bad news all around me, yeah, it won't leave me alone, So, ask me why I got this smile upon my face, Well, the good news is the bad news don't get the final say, I don't know what the future holds but I know who holds my future, I don't know where the road may go but I know who makes a way, Ain't no fire, ain't no storm gonna steal my hallelujah, I don't know what the future holds but with you the future looks good, Good, good, so good, The future looks good, Good, good, so good, Well, I don't have all thе answers, ain't much I've understood But I know I sеrve a God who's working all things for the good, So, when I need a soul reminder that You still do great things, I just look over my shoulder and see how far you've carried me And I say I don't know what the future holds but I know who holds my future, I don't know where the road may go but I know who makes a way, Ain't no fire, ain't no storm gonna steal my hallelujah, I don't know what the future holds but with you the future looks good.

Let us remember that as we are in Christ and let us remember that there is purpose for our pain, purpose for the plan, purpose for those who seek Christ in the most difficult and wonderful times, but as always let us go and tell everyone about God and how God will never give up on any of us because He loves us all. 

Let us also go out and be someone who even if we think we know the purpose we think we are supposed to have in Christ, God is truly the only one that knows our purpose in Him because He has a plan for all of us.

When Things May Seem Not So Easy

 Have you ever wondered if a task was going to seem easy to you? Have you ever thought that some things that seem so simple in life are the easiest things to do but then you realize it might not be?

Well, when we think things seem easy without even beginning to think that things may not seem so easy, we can start to think and maybe even start to make ourselves believe that we will have things in life that are easy even when they may seem not so easy to begin with.

You see, God didn't call His Disciples or us to have a life that was easy or live in a life that is just going to be easy.

Many things may see easy but they are not so easy to do with tasks that become hard.

It's like riding a bike for an example, it's one of those things that you think is going to be easy but it turns up being not so easy to do.

Does that mean you give up on riding a bike? No, you keep trying and persevere to allow yourself to try.

Where would we be if things were easy? Where would we be if things seemed not so easy and were just difficult in life?

 Let's look at scriptures that talk about this subject because I feel like in any circumstance we shouldn't take things for granted so easily as things that might get taken for granted may not seem so easy at all.

Ephesians 2 verse 9 says: not by works, so that no one can boast.

What does this scripture look like to you? For me, it looks like when we feel like we can easily take something for granted that is when we begin to realize that things may not seem so easy or come so easily because without Christ we would have nothing and with Him, we have everything.

Romans 5 verse 8 says: But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. To me this scripture means that we see how God has demonstrated His Love and while were still Sinners, He sent His Son to die on the cross to be forgiven. It also means for me that in order to receive Christ's unfailing love we need to accept it and be open to it because without His Love what would we have? Would we have the Enemy telling us lies in how that God's Love doesn't come to us? Think about that for a moment. Think of what it would look like if God's Love wasn't in our life.

James 1 verse 2-4 says: Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

We see here that God is Faithful and True in what He does. We see how God can give us what we need, and how no matter what we can grow further and deeper with Him in knowledge while not lacking in anything because God will give us the strength we need to overcome.

See things may seem easy and sometimes life can be simple but then we begin to see how things may not seem so easy and that's when we rely on God for Wisdom and for Truth.

We even begin to see in John 16 verse 33 that God shows us what it is like to go through something but with a peace while we go through trials and tribulations and gives us the opprotunity to take heart because He has overcome the world.

Faith it makes it possible, not easy. 

We need to keep things simple and not let Satan complicate things for us.

The will of God will never take you to where the Grace of God will not protect You.

God did not say it would be easy, but He did say He'd be with you.

''He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.''

When we finally look at these quotes, especially the last one, we see how when things may seem not so easy because they are not, we begin to understand what God is doing to bring these things to completion in our life and show us that with just a little Faith, we can come a long way and with just a little Hope we can have that seed planted deep into our Heart for Him and because of that, we can begin to see that what we do for Him is what He wants for us. No matter what we are facing in life, God holds this entire world in His Hands and He has a plan set in place or even set in stone, and it's our job to continue to serve Humbly for Him.

I want to end on this last lyric from Casting Crown's song called Anything But Easy: I can see the path You've chosen, we both know where this is going, I'm afraid of how your story is gonna end And this scared as I am, I know this could be my last chance, To stand between You and forever's, yeah, It will be easy to talk about the weather, It will be easy to look beyond the wave, But I love You too much to not say something, Without the truth my love means nothing, Sometimes love is anything but easy, Anything but easy.

I wanted to end on that lyric to show just when we think something is easy, it's anything but that.