Here's to Hope!!..Cheers!!!

People rose and praise began to spill from their hearts.

Praise changes you, and it is serious business!
Praise is willful !!
We must not wait....on our emotions to praise and thank the only One, who can change our situation.
He longs to move in our lives.

Sometimes we praise with arms held high...
Sometimes with heads bowed and in perfect stillness, we praise Him...
But, always, always...with our very lives...we shall speak...
And He sees,
and He hears..
and when we get serious about praising Him...
He gets excited about blessing us.

The praise we willingly give Him,...moves our eyes...
...from our self....to the cross
...and..
...from the cross.....to hope.

Our pitiful lives CAN be resurrected from the deadness and apathy that has invaded our souls.
But we must first, seek Him and His mercy..

Our hearts once broken can then restored.
Here we have hope..
All things made new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Beginning again..
The cries of our hearts are carried to the Father on wings of praise.
Here, our hearts are laid bare...our intention is known...
We fall sweetly at the mercy of our Maker...

Praise to the only God...who can !
Praise Him and thank Him for you are fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14)
You have purpose!
For at the heart of praise you can hope yet again!

May our Praise be fit for a King,
He hears more than words...
He hears more than sound...
Our hearts and intentions are as incense,.....rising before His throne..

Remember gladly, that...Praise is serious business.....and it will change you, when you decide to willfully spill it from your heart!!!

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 
Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity...." Jeremiah 29:11-14a

His Mercy Remains..

It's funny how a song will get into your mind...and replay itself to the point of where it is almost audible.This morning I am hearing these words ringing through my mind.

"A thousand times I've failed, still your mercy remains.."

http://youtu.be/HNBqKWpIpnI

He seems to remind us that regardless of us...HE is still Who He is!!

Sometimes, I feel like a walking disaster..I'm unfocused and distracted and wandering through my days..Other days are quite the opposite....when much has been accomplished and I have that sense of ease, in a day well spent.

The days of purpose..more often than not, begin with a time of purposeful prayer.
This IS a discipline,.....my flesh often rallies against even a few moments with Him.

In Acts 2:42, Paul speaks about the devotion and discipline of the early church..

"And 'they' devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer"

They, meaning the church
The 'church' meaning me and you...(you are part of His family, and can rightly be called church when you surrender your life to Him in sweet obedience)

The 4th hallmark in this list is prayer, (aka; calling out to Christ). Prayer is absolutely essential in recognizing His mercy. Prayer rallies our spirit to fight the flesh!!!

Regardless, of where we are, His mercy remains...Just like the early believers we too,.. must choose to be devoted'..

When we cry out to Him..He wraps His loving arms around us and sets us on solid ground, careful to gently face us in the direction we need to be facing..

Daily choose... to set a course of discipline for your life...His mercy remains...

"The Others"

                                                        
I have been thinking this morning about the 'church'. I am not thinking about the building. I am thinking on the people and remembering a scripture....


"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

Galatians 4:28

For some reason, when I awoke this morning...I could hear this phrase. 'God is a God of second chances'.
It is a nice way to start the day.

It is good to remember that His mercies are new every morning, because, they are.

It is our blessing that His mercies are 'not' new every week, or once a month, for we need them daily.
Isn't it interesting that He reminds us that His mercies are new at the start of our day? I think that is because, after we rest, morning is often when we realize the slate is clean.

So, as we circle back around, let's begin again, with these thoughts in mind.
He is taking us to a place of reflection.

I am thinking about the people in my life, that are different than me.
(who comes to your mind?)
 

It is a fact of life, that we are all different really. But, I am thinking about the condition of my heart and the lens that "I see" others through. 

If God is a God of second chances, and His mercies are new every morning. Why is it, so hard to remember that we are all "one in Christ Jesus".

I think it is because, sometimes we forget where we have come from. We forget that we are broken, that past the sweet perfume, nice suits and shiny Oxfords or torn shoes and ragged jeans, lies the sinner. 
It is by His Grace that any of us should approach Him.

It begins here in this moment.  A simple recognition that I am not who I think I am...
and neither are they..
..(remember, the ones God brought to your mind earlier)..
Instead we are His, as are they...saved by grace, redeemed by His Son, and seen through the lens of hope, forgiveness, and love.

Let us receive His grace and offer others His grace as well.
The slate is clean, He is a God of second chances.
Circle back around...and by His mercy, begin again.

"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus"
 Philippians 1:6