Glory | life: acoustic & amplified

Archive for the category “Glory”

25 Jul 2014

You know me

You are a creation of God unequaled anywhere in the universe…. Thank Him for yourself and then for all the rest of His glorious handiwork.
–Norman Vincent Peale

But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
– Matthew 10:30

“Every human has four endowments — self-awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom… The power to choose, to respond, to change.”

— Stephen R. Covey

O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men. For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (‭Psalms‬ ‭139‬:‭1-24‬ KJV)

Posted in awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, confidence, Faith, find art at pinterest, Glory, Gospel, Gratitude, intimacy, Life, Love, Prayer, Relationships, soul and spirit, Tenderness, thankfulness, Trust, truth, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

24 Jul 2014

safety vs. joy

That our God would only be safe if He were dead.

But He is the Living Word and His Word is a flashing, double-edged sword and He doesn’t write Himself into neat five-point outlines but He is like the wind — and He speaks in parables that subvert and poetry that ignites and metaphors that jolt and there is nothing safe or small or stiff about Him.

That’s what I am thinking as I scrub smudge marks off cupboards, try to wash away all these marks. Thinking what the Beaver said of Aslan:“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver.“Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

There is nothing safe about the Christ who rent the veins and the veil to save us — He is Divine and He is Dangerous and He is Detonating. He is no tame lion.

What did Randy Alcorn say and in the most Scriptural sense? “It’s dangerous faith in our untamed Savior that leads us to the joy we crave.“

And what the world desperately needs is more dangerous disciples of an unsafe God.

He is wholly unsafe and He’s the untame lion whose claws tear into the scales of my thick sins and the ripping away of everything filthy dragon can feel like a burning right through to the heart. I need His perfectly dangerous ways.

Real love is never safe.

Because grace is a dangerous thing and too often those who speak the most about grace are the most graceless of all.

I am just beginning to learn it and see it painfully in me: The modern-day Pharisees focus on avoiding sin and not on ardently loving our Savior.

What all us Pharisees need to experience is this: Ardent love for your Savior is the most direct path of sin avoidance.

What all us Pharisees need to experience is the mystery of the whole of holy Scripture and real crazy love.

“The holy wild is always pervaded with mystery,” writes Mark Buchanan.

Maybe faith isn’t as much formula as the mystery of being drawn to, surrendering to, the overwhelming love and will of the most dangerous Reality in all the universe?
– Ann Voskamp
read full blog at http://www.aholy experience.com

On this day of your life I believe God wants you to know…

…that safety is not the thing you should look for in the
future. Joy is what you should look for.

Security and joy may not come in the same package.
They can…but they also cannot.
There is no guarantee.

If your primary concern is a guarantee of security,
you may never experience the truest joys of life.
This is not a suggestion that you become reckless,
but it is an invitation to at least become daring.

Neale Donald Walsh
http://www.nealedonaldwalsch.com

Posted in action, Adventure, awareness, courage, Faith, find art at pinterest, fun, Glory, Gospel, grace, Gratitude, Letting Go, Life, Love, Miracles, music, mystery, Passion, power, soul and spirit, Trust, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

23 Jul 2014

there will be miracles

I don’t want another Raven!
(even tho I’m so grateful for all of them, don’t get me wrong)
I don’t want more manna,
or water out of rocks –
spoken to
or struck in desperation –
I don’t want another temp job
regardless of pay
or qualification.
I want my life’s work.
My soul sustaining work.
My love song to the world work.
I don’t want to look back with sad eyes to the
‘What if’s’,
trying not to turn into a pillar of salt,
or Rip Van Winkle,
dreaming of the ocean,
springtime in Connecticut,
apple trees
and dandelion wishes.
I’ve cleared the past,
scoured the memories,
returned the hooks,
and the books.
Burned the bridges,
learned the lessons well,
made room for the new,
the view,
the unlimited possibility
of today.
I don’t want a fan,
someone to control me,
abuse me,
or a man to take care of me.
I want a life partner.
A co-builder of eternal structures.
A co-architect of a life full of goodness,
truth,
kindness
and sharing.
I don’t want to sit still any longer.
I don’t want to let another important day go by.
my patience has been monumental,
my obedience marathon,
My testing long and brutal.
I’m ready,
I’m so very ready.
and so I ask –
for no more stop gaps,
no more ravens,
no more small or large miracles in this particular arena of wilderness.
God, take me forward
into new battles,
new playing grounds,
new levels of faith.
allow me to step forward
today,
this very moment if it pleases You,
into my work,
into Your will and work.
As in all things,
Your will be done
here in me on earth
as it is in heaven.
today
and everyday
may it be so

Amy Lloyd
7/22/14

there is enough loveliness, enough beauty, enough peace, enough love in this world — enough food in this world – if we would just share?
– Ann Voskamp

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Blessing, Career, Change, Choice, commitment, courage, create, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Glory, Gospel, grace, Gratitude, Letting Go, Life, Love, mystery, Passion, Patience, Prayer, Relationships, soul and spirit, strength, success, thankfulness, Thoughts, time, Today, Trust, truth, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

21 Jul 2014

visitation

The Hummingbird comes when it seems that what needs to be done is impossible. It teaches how to find joy in any circumstance.”
– Hummingbird totem via Crystal-Cure.com

Last night I opened my door and received an amazing gift. A small grey hummingbird was drinking from my hanging flower basket. Completely surprised, my heart started beating fast. The little visitor stopped and came towards me, which startled me a little, and I moved a bit backward. He stopped and looked at me, like he knew my thrill and also my fear, and he flew away.

It was a truly wonderful gift and I posted it on facebook. My friend, Tina Michaels, commented and told me that a Hummingbird is a harbinger of joy.

Wow! I have been seeking God about my joy, asking for my joy to be full for the past few weeks!

I Googled it to find out more and found this quote from Steven Farmer’s book, Power Animals, to see what the appearance of this guide meant for me at this moment.

“Know that the only true prison you have is your belief in your limitations. Let them go, and experience the abundance of love and opportunity that’s all around. It only takes a willingness to see it, taste it, and feel it.”

“The Hummingbird is the only bird that can fly backwards. This is a reminder that the past can’t be changed but the past can teach lessons. The Hummingbird comes when it seems that what needs to be done is impossible. It teaches how to find joy in any circumstance.” – Hummingbird totem via Crystal-Cure.com

Posted in attitude, awareness, beauty, Blessing, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Glory, Hope, Joy, mystery, nature, Smile, soul and spirit, thankfulness, Trust, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

18 Jul 2014

What is to give light must endure burning. – Victor Frankl

The wheat behind the orchard’s come into full head. It’s turning itself into pure gold. Things like this actually do become possible in the surrender.

Maybe just —Surrendering to time and what comes lets miraculous things happen.

Time unfolds that too: Never have I lived with anything as bewildering my own soul.

There is faith that in the midst of the setbacks, God is setting up everything for the comeback of your joy.

Who knows what tomorrow brings, what the sky will have blow in? Who knows what questions will rise like unexpected storm clouds, what questions will still remain? The yield always only comes in the yield.

The Farmer nods toward the fields in the thickening dark, “We’re all just living in a sea of faith.”

And for days afterwards, when I feel like I am drowning in questions and news and life, it rings me, like the answering song of the surrendered wind chimes—

That is all — we are all just living in a sea of faith.
– Ann Voskamp
read full post at http://www.aholyexperience.com

What happens in the burn
when we are slowly dying
in the blaze of life’s most trying circumstances?
When our expectations go unfulfilled,
and everything we ever loved
is taken away?
What will we allow the fire to teach us?
What will we hold onto?
What will we let go of?
When the fire finally burns out
and someone blows the ashes
away from our remains.
Will they find light?
Will they find gold?

AL 4/19/13

Posted in awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Change, Choice, dark, Faith, find art at pinterest, Glory, Growth, light, mystery, Passion, soul and spirit, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

15 Jul 2014

I gotz good people who go with me

This face is all I have, worn and lived in
And lines below my eyes are like old friends
And this old hearts’ been beaten up
And my ragged soul has had things rough
And this face is all I have, worn and lived in

The fairest they can fall bored in believing
Something to achieve, this peaceful feeling
After all these tears are only true
And your silver spoons can’t dig up my roots
And this face is all I have, worn and lived in

Worn and lived in
Through the tides of time
Worn and lived in
This face of mine
And I kept believing, the reflection on the wall
Who needs to be the fairest of them all

I never looked like you, cool and streamlined
I have this honesty that grows with time
And when cracks appear they suit me fine
Like a good old dog you won’t hear me whine
And this face is all I have, worn and lived in

Worn and lived in
Through the tides of time
Worn and lived in
This face of mine
And I kept believing the reflection on the wall
Who needs to be the fairest of them all

Sins and lies, they take the place of truth and answers
You can trade a glance and call it second sight
You cannot buy sympathetic mirrors
And honesty is an answer you cannot find

And I kept believing the reflection on the wall
Who needs to be the fairest of them all

This face is all I have, worn and lived in
And lines below my eyes are like old friends
And this old hearts’ been beaten up
And my ragged soul has had things rough
This face is all I have, worn and lived in
And this face is all I have, worn and lived in
– Willie Nelson

Posted in beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, find art at pinterest, friendship, fun, Glory, Gratitude, Happiness, healing, home, inspiration, intimacy, Joy, kindness, laugh, Life, Love, People, Relationships, Respect, soul and spirit, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

09 Jul 2014

doing what’s right

Life is a chance to do things your way; not the cheapest way, not the most popular way, and not how others think you should.

And a very, very, very precious chance, at that.

Got chills?
The Universe
http://www.tut.com

Dearly Beloved,

Grace and Peace to you.

A sower went out to sow.
Some seeds fell on the path…
and the birds came and ate them up.
Other seeds fell on rocky ground…
and they withered away.
Other seeds fell among thorns…
and the thorns grew up and choked them.

Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain—
some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
—Matthew 13.3-8

God is the sower and you are the soil.
The Word finds its fertile places,
and grows in you.

God is the sower and you are the seed.
You are given to the world.
Though it may seem fruitless,
there will be a rich harvest.

You are the sower and love is the seed.
Though it seems wasted,
love will bear fruit.

Be patient, and trust.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
http://www.unfoldinglight.net

Posted in attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Choice, confidence, courage, determination, Faith, find art at pinterest, Glory, Gospel, soul and spirit, strength, Trust, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

28 Jun 2014

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. – I Corinthians 1:27

The society in which we live suggests in countless ways that the way to go is up. Making it to the top, entering the limelight, breaking the record – that’s what draws attention, gets us on the front page of the newspaper, and offers us the rewards of money and fame.

The way of Jesus is radically different. It is the way not of upward mobility but of downward mobility. It is going to the bottom, staying behind the sets, and choosing the last place! Why is the way of Jesus worth choosing? Because it is the way to the Kingdom, the way Jesus took, and the way that brings everlasting life.

– Henri Nouwen
http://www.henrinouwen.org

Posted in attitude, awareness, Beliefs, Change, Choice, Faith, find art at pinterest, Glory, Gospel, Letting Go, Life, mystery, perceptions, soul and spirit, Uncategorized, Vulnerability, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

05 Jun 2014

God waits inside

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem. Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.
Psalms 51:1-19 KJV

Posted in attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Change, Choice, determination, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Glory, Gospel, Letting Go, Life, Love, soul and spirit, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

31 May 2014

how is it then that we’ve come to imagine that Christianity consists primarily in what we do for God?

The gospel is absurd and the life of Jesus meaningless unless we believe that He lived, died and rose again with but one purpose in mind: to make brand new creations. Not to make people with better morals, but to create a community of prophets and professional lovers, men and women who would surrender to the mystery of the fire of the Spirit that burns within, who would live in ever greater fidelity to the omnipresent Word of God, who would enter into the center of it all, the very heart and mystery of Christ, into the center of the flame that consumes, purifies, and sets everything aglow with peace, joy, boldness, and extravagant, furious love. This, my friends, is what it really means to be a Christian. Our religion never begins with what we do for God. It always starts with what God has done for us, the great and wondrous things that God dreamed of and achieved for us in Christ Jesus.
– Brennan Manning
the furious longing of God

Posted in awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Blessing, Faith, find art at pinterest, Glory, Gospel, grace, Gratitude, healing, truth, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

life: acoustic & amplified

poetry, quotes & thoughts about life

Archive for the category “Glory”

You know me

safety vs. joy

there will be miracles

visitation

What is to give light must endure burning. – Victor Frankl

I gotz good people who go with me

doing what’s right

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. – I Corinthians 1:27

God waits inside

how is it then that we’ve come to imagine that Christianity consists primarily in what we do for God?

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