John 1

Hello.

I'm kinda busy and tired, but everytime I read something so revolutionary that it blows my mind from Scripture, I just HAVE to share it! So here I am.

Please, please go read John 1. Here's the link, even! :]

Goodness, as I read it, it was like truth over truth... sweet holiness over mercy, sweaping my heart to be so overwhelmed that I don't even know what words to say.

There was one verse that says, "For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace."

MMM.

Life has felt like that lately. Tonight, anyway. Grace upon grace.

That's what I pray for you today, friend. :]

Till next time,
Ash the (Graced) Dreamer

Psalm 23

Sometimes, when I'm kinda tired, I read the Psalms for my personal Bible study (not sure why, because it usually takes longer to do that, and it makes me think more, and the whole point was that they were shorter, so I could get to bed faster, lol). So I'm kinda sleepy right now, so instead of reading Acts 12 (or at least part of it), I read Psalm 23. And it really hit me. Especially the part of my life I'm in right now. :)

Anywho, so I decided to share it with you! :)

Psalm 23:

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. (NASB)

:)

Anyway, hope that was as refreshing to you as it was to me!!!! :)

the Lord has made Himself known...

mmmm....

i just ran across these words in Psalm 9, and i just had to write them down. people's opinions and popularity aside. Here are these words:

"For the needy will not always be forgotten; the Lord has made Himself known." that's basically the first line of verses 18 and 16 (in that order). mmmm... how powerful is that?

"For the needy will not always be forgotten." How much is that needed in today's society?

i remember this one quote from this Christian comedian/singer, who was talking about his favorite Bible verse (which says, "It has come to pass.") He talks about how cancer and aging and the horror on this earth have come to pass. "It has not come to STAY, it has come to PASS!" i remember he said. "you eighteen-year-old jocks with muscles in your earlobes! enjoy it! it has come to pass!"

mmmm... but in all seriousness, what are you supposed to say to a seven-year-old little girl who has been molested by her uncle? or the girl who thought she was in love, only to find that he had married her for her money, and took half of it--and all her heart--with him when he filed for divorce two days after the honeymoon ended? or the teenager dying of cancer? or the single mother raising three children on a waitressing job?

my pastor preached about this today, and how we're supposed to have grattitude, and how it didn't make sense to be grateful when so much is wrong in the world. and then he suggested that these trials come so we can praise God. and i believe with all of my heart that trials bring us closer to God if we let it, but i really don't believe that God is just looking for trials to put us through, just so he can see if we're good little lab rats and we've been conditioned properly!!!! and that's what it sounded like my pastor was saying today. and all i could think of was NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! stop it! stop saying that! stop breaking their hearts! these single mothers, and grandmothers dying of cancer, and divorcees, and parents stretched so thin financially that they don't know where their meals are coming from for tomorrow... they don't need to hear that this has come to see if they are faithful! they don't need to hear that the God they claim to follow isn't right by their side, coaching them through this!

i believe that God tests us, lets us go through the fire draw us closer to Him, but the part my pastor failed to mention that God goes right through the fire with us, that Jesus has PRAYED for us, and that He holds onto us and holds us up as much as we let Him!

"For the needy will not always be forgotten..."

i love this chorus in this song by one of my favorite bands, tenth avenue north, which goes like this:

And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

"The Lord has made Himself known."

mmmm... :)

the frustrations of a dreamer...

6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.

11 The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.

Isaiah 58:6-11, NIV

i've just been really thinking about these verses--and their meaning--a lot lately. with signing up to be a part of mocha club, and just hearing about what has gone on over there, and then there are these ER episodes where carter and luka go over to africa to volunteer... some of that footage is just gut-wrenching, heart-searing, life-changing drama, and it has had my stomach churning for almost two hours to do something for those people, to show them the love of Jesus, to show them the face of love... i wish i could do more than $7 a month to change the world... i still feel so helpless... but still, what can i do? how can i help so many people when i am only one, and so much is already expected of me, with school and work and chores? that's not what is important--impacting lives for eternity is!!!!! but i feel so tied down!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!