bippity bop bop (5)

[brinny]

A Pit Stop Called Encouragement, Part I

I John 2:12-14

"I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one."

Wisdom for the Heart

 

[brinny]

Give Me Jesus.

Give Me Jesus! (Rev. Billy Graham/Fernando Ortega) - YouTube

Give Me Jesus
(Fernando Ortega)​

In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
Give me Jesus

Give me Jesus, give me Jesus
You can have all this world
But give me Jesus

And when I am alone
Oh and when I am alone
And when I am alone
Give me Jesus

Give me Jesus, give me Jesus
You can have all this world
But give me Jesus

And when I come to die
Oh and when I come to die
And when I come to die
Give me Jesus

Give me Jesus, give me Jesus
You can have all this world
You can have all this world
You can have all this world
But give me Jesus​

 

[brinny]

This prayer was prayed over the air by Jason Padgett of BBN Radio today. Praying in agreement with him:

Prayer for the Nation for 3-12-2014
1 John 4:13-21

HEAVENLY FATHER, WE GLADLY PROCLAIM THIS TESTIMONY: THAT JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD SENT INTO THE WORLD TO BE OUR SAVIOR! WHAT HOPE THERE IS IN THIS GREAT TRUTH--HOPE THAT BRINGS CONFIDENCE--HOPE THAT GIVES US CALM AND COMPLETE ASSURANCE THAT EVEN THOUGH WE DON’T SEE CLEARLY YOUR PLANS AND YOUR PURPOSES FOR US AND FOR OUR NATION, WE KNOW THAT YOU LOVE AND CARE FOR US! WE KNOW THAT WE CAN TRUST IN YOU NO MATTER WHAT TAKES PLACE IN THE WORLD AROUND US. THERE IS NO EVIL THAT CAN OVERWHELM THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST; THERE IS NO EARTHLY POWER THAT CAN OVERCOME YOUR MIGHT; THERE IS NO SCHEME OF MAN THAT CAN SURPASS YOUR PERFECT WISDOM; AND THERE IS NO THREAT OF TERROR OR VIOLENCE THAT CAN SHAKE OUR CONFIDENCE IN YOU. YOUR PERFECT LOVE CASTS OUT ALL FEAR--ALL TERROR. WE NEED YOU IN AMERICA, FATHER, TO DO A WORK IN OUR HEARTS--IN THE HEARTS OF CHRISTIANS AND IN OUR LEADERS. TURN US BACK TO YOU. HUMBLE US UNDER YOUR MIGHTY HAND.

WE PRAY TODAY, FATHER, FOR THE MANY WHO ARE STILL ACTIVELY INVESTIGATING AND SEARCHING FOR THE MISSING MALAYSIAN AIRCRAFT--INCLUDING AGENCIES FROM THE U-S. WE PRAY THAT YOU WILL COMFORT THE GRIEF-STRICKEN FAMILIES AND LOVED ONES OF THOSE PRESUMED LOST. WE PRAY THAT CHRISTIANS DURING THIS TIME WILL BE ABLE TO SHARE THE BLESSED HOPE THAT CHRIST OFFERS TO HURTING.

WE ALSO PRAY THAT THE UNFOLDING SECESSION MOVEMENT IN THE CRIMEAN PENINSULA WILL NOT ESCALATE FURTHER INTO VIOLENCE AND BLOODSHED. AS PEOPLE OF UKRAINE AND EASTERN EUROPE GRAPPLE WITH SHIFTING POWERS, WE PRAY FOR YOU TO OVERSEE AND INFLUENCE OUTCOMES. PLEASE GUIDE U-S DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS TO EFFECT A PEACEFUL RESOLUTION BETWEEN RUSSIA AND UKRAINE.

LORD, THE SITUATION IN VENEZUELA IS ALSO ALARMING TO US AS THE POLITICAL RHETORIC HEIGHTENS AND EXPANDS THE DIVIDE BETWEEN THE U-S AND OTHER NATIONS. WE ASK, FATHER, THAT YOU WILL GUIDE AND INFLUENCE PRESIDENT OBAMA, VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN, SECRETARY KERRY AND OTHERS INVOLVED IN OUR FOREIGN POLICY DEVELOPMENTS WITH YOUR WISDOM AS THEY SORT THROUGH OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH VENEZUELA AND OTHER COUNTRIES.

FATHER, ONCE AGAIN, WE RECOGNIZE OUR LIMITED ABILITIES AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF THE INSURMOUNTABLE PROBLEMS IN OUR WORLD. WE CANNOT DO WITHOUT YOUR STRENGTH, WITHOUT YOUR GRACE, WITHOUT YOUR WISDOM. WORK IN US TO ACCOMPLISH YOUR PURPOSES AND BE GLORIFIED IN THE UNITED STATES WE PRAY. WE DO SO, LOVINGLY, HUMBLY AND CONFIDENTLY IN THE NAME OF JESUS. AMEN.

 

[brinny]

Tubthumping (I Get Knocked Down) Lyrics - YouTube

 

[brinny]

He surely is my Anchor, through every storm. And through every storm i will hold onto Him. He is my Anchor. He is my Hope.

A friend just sent this to me. And it's only in God's inexplicable timing that it came at this particular time.


Anchor - Hillsong Live (New 2013 Album) Best Worship Song with Lyrics - YouTube

Anchor

I have this hope
As an anchor for my soul
Through every storm
I will hold to You

With endless love
All my fear is swept away
In everything
I will trust in You

There is hope in the promise of the cross
You gave everything to save the world You love
And this hope is an anchor for my soul
Our God will stand
Unshakeable

Unchanging One
You who was and is to come
Your promise sure
You will not let go

Your Name is higher
Your Name is greater
All my hope is in You

Your word unfailing
Your promise unshaken
All my hope is in You​

 

[brinny]

Man Of Sorrows - Hillsong Live (New 2013 Album Glorious Ruins) Worship Song with Lyrics - YouTube

Man of Sorrows

VERSE 1
Man of sorrows Lamb of God
By His own betrayed
The sin of man and wrath of God
Has been on Jesus laid

VERSE 2
Silent as He stood accused
Beaten mocked and scorned
Bowing to the Father's will
He wore a crown of thorns

VERSE 3
Oh the nails that tore His flesh
The sword that pierced His side
The tree that bore the innocent
Our Saviour crucified

CHORUS
Oh that rugged cross my salvation
Where Your love poured out over me
Now my soul cries out Hallelujah
Praise and honour unto Thee

VERSE 4
Sent of heaven God's own Son
To purchase and redeem
And reconcile the very ones
Who nailed Him to that tree

BRIDGE
Now my debt is paid
It is paid in full
By the precious blood
That my Jesus spilled

Now the curse of sin
Has no hold on me
Whom the Son sets free
Oh is free indeed

VERSE 5
See the stone is rolled away
Behold the empty tomb
Hallelujah God be praised
He's risen from the grave​

 

[brinny]

"For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand, Who says to you, "Do not fear, I will help you." Isaiah 41:13​

Dallas Holm - He Knew Me Then - YouTube

He Knew Me Then

He knew me then, He knows me now,
And He died for me.
He loved me then, and He loves me now,
Oh, how can it be?
He saw my face, He knew the place that
I would be today.
He knew me then, He knows me now,
And He loves me.

Some people say, that He died one day,
But that was long ago.
Well, I'm sure that He was a very good man,
But me He did not know.
Well, listen, my friend, what I say is true
That He knew me and He sure knew you.
He knew you then, He knows you now,
And He loves you.

He knew you then, He knows you now
And He died for you.
He loved you then and He loves you now-
Oh, I know it's true.
He saw your face, He knew the place
That you would be today.
He knew you then, He knows you now,
And He loves you.

He knew us then
He knows us now,
And He loves us still somehow.​

 

[brinny]

RISE AGAIN - DALLAS HOLM - YouTube

Rise Again
(Dallas Holm)

Go ahead, drive the nails in my hands
Laugh at me where you stand
Go ahead, and say it isn't me
The day will come, when you will see!


(CHORUS):
'Cause I'll rise again
Ain't no power on earth can tie me down
Yes, I'll rise again
Death can't keep me in the ground!


Go ahead, and mock my name
My love for you is still the same
Go ahead, and bury me
But very soon I will be free!


(CHORUS):
'Cause I'll rise again
Ain't no power on earth can tie me down
Yes, I'll rise again
Death can't keep me in the ground!


(INSTRUMENTAL BRIDGE)


Go ahead, and say I'm dead and gone
But you will see that you were wrong
Go ahead, try to hide the Son
But all will see that I'm the One!


(CHORUS II):
'Cause I'll Come again
Ain't no power on earth can keep me back
Yes, I'll come again
Come to take my people back​

 

[brinny]

Prayer, to me, is taking my whole heart, mind, and soul to God, like in this quote, as God, in His inexplicable grace, "sorts it all out, keeps what is worth keeping, and with the breath of kindness, blows the rest away":

Oh, the comfort --
The inexpressible comfort of feeling
safe with a person,
Having neither to weigh thoughts,
Nor measure words -- but pouring them
All right out -- just as they are --
Chaff and grain together --
Certain that a faithful hand will
Take and sift them --
Keep what is worth keeping --
and with the breath of kindness
Blow the rest away.

~Dinah Maria (Mulock) Craik

 

[brinny]

know what IRRITATES me?

when someone "second guesses" an apostle or one of the men of God in the Bible....

Oooookay......yeah, the guy stumbled, or Peter got scared and started to sink....

Oooookay.....and YOU'RE gonna show them the right thing to do, eh? After all, YOU'VE walked in his shoes, right?

Didn't you ferget sumthin'? Go back and study their COMPLETE stories, their testimonies.

Then answer THIS question:

They died, HOW?

 

[brinny]

10-year-old sings gospel song to overcome kidnapper in Atlanta - NY Daily News

This is the song he was singing over and over:

Hezekiah Walker New Video "Every Praise" - YouTube

 

[brinny]

It's a testimony of how God raises beauty, and life, and hope, and promise, from ashes. A testimony of how God snatches a precious one from the jaws of death and destruction. It's one of the most fer-real and precious testimonies i've ever seen/heard...

Lacey Sturm's Story - YouTube

 

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Are You Training In Ephesians 6:12? It's Spiritual Warfare That We Fight! - YouTube

 

[brinny]

I was reading the Book of Job again today....

...and i realized that Job's lamentations here in Chapter 30 remind me of the "heart" behind the lyrics in a song (I'll Praise You In This Storm"), especially verse 25:

"Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor?" ~Job 30:25

I realized even more clearly that Job's visitor's did not hear a word Job said. This added insult to an already direly suffering and wounded Job who found no rest for his body, mind, and soul, day and night. These visitors were not only not "hearing" Job, they were persecuting him, accusing him, lying about him, and in addition pronouncing "curses" on him.

When Job describes how he was received in the town square, he was describing how everyone genuinely loved him and honored him for the genuine kindness, mercy, and compassion he had on all he met, and how he defended the defenseless, and spoke up for those who could not speak up for themselves. He was just and wise and was a defender of the oppressed. He was loved, and that is why he was shown honor from everyone. It was from their hearts. He was a well-beloved and thus a well-received man.

There's a scene in "To Kill A Mockingbird" where the main character, a lawyer, took on the case and the defense of a man who was unjustly accused of something and would've been scapegoated because of the color of his skin. The lawyer, Atticus Finch, is leaving the court room, and as he does, the onlookers in the upper level of the courtroom rise to their feet. He had won the hearts of those who stood and it's because He stood for justice when no one else would.

Yes, it effects us all deeply when someone stands for justice, defends the defenseless and speaks up for the oppressed. And thus, we rise to our feet in respect.

Same with why Job was so loved and honored and why all would rise to their feet in his presence.

To Kill a Mockingbird (8/10) Movie CLIP - Your Father's Passing (1962) HD - YouTube

 

[brinny]

There's a thread with this theme (sin) here on CF, and this response by this CF member (Tangible) in this thread put it so well and shed Light on a subject that many stumble over, debate over, and get side-tracked over.

We are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners. The sinful part of us, our flesh that bears the image of Adam, is an integral part of our physical bodies that cannot be disciplined, tamed or educated out of being a sinner. You may reduce the instance of some obvious sins, but if you are still alive you are still a sinner.

Our hope is in the Lord, not in our flesh. When we each finally receive the wages of our sin and our body dies our soul is separated from our dead flesh and enters the presence of God. At the resurrection God will raise our bodies from the dead, no longer sinful, created once again in the image of God - in the image of Christ, the firstborn from the dead.

Only in the resurrection will we be complete, a unity of body and soul, and yet without sin, living in the presence of God eternally, world without end.

Alleluia! Amen.

Amen.

 

[brinny]

Great men of God have "wrestled" with God in prayer throughout Biblical history and even in more modern times.

After Jacob "wrestled" with God all night, God allowed him to prevail, and He re-named him "Israel".

"When prayer has become secondary, or incidental, it has lost its power. Those who are conspicuously men of prayer are those who use prayer as they use food, or air, or light, or money." ~M.E. Andross

"There is no power like that of prevailing prayer, of Abraham pleading for Sodom, Jacob wrestling in the stillness of the night, Moses standing in the breach, Hannah intoxicated with sorrow, David heartbroken with remorse and grief, Jesus in sweat of blood. Add to this list from the records of the church your personal observation and experience, and always there is the cost of passion unto blood. Such prayer prevails. It turns ordinary mortals into men of power. It brings power. It brings fire. It brings rain. It brings life. It brings God." Samuel Chadwick

"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." ~James 5:16

 

[brinny]

...and at the moment they're tearing me up.....cuz the words are ringing true for me....

Rob just shared his Youtube video where he sang this song with the Pastor's son. And as i listened to first piano chords, and then the singing began, a dam just broke loose....I can't describe why this version gripped me the way it did, it just did...the Holy Spirit was moooooving through this ministering.

All You've ever wanted - 4/20/2014 - YouTube

All You've Ever Wanted

I just looked up today
And realized how far away I am from where You are
You gave me life worth dying for
But between the altar and the door
I bought the lies that promised more
And here I go again

Lord, I know I let You down
But somehow, I will make You proud
I'll turn this sinking ship around
And make it back to You

But all my deeds and my good name
Are just dirty rags that tear and strain
To cover all my guilty stains
That You already washed away

(‘Cause) All You've ever wanted, all You've ever wanted
All You've ever wanted was my heart
Freedom's arms are open, my chains have all been broken
Relentless love has called me from the start
And all You wanted was my heart

I was chasing healing when I'd been made well
I was fighting battles when You conquered hell
Living free but from a prison cell
Lord, I lay it down today

So I'll stop living off of how I feel
And start standing on Your truth revealed
Jesus is my strength, my shield
And He will never fail me

No more chains, I've been set free
No more fighting battles You've won for me
Now in Christ, I stand complete​

 

[brinny]

I actually heard the instrumental version but this is the closest i could find. THe song is called "Sing To The Father"....how glorious is THAT? WE SHOULD sing praises to our Father with glad hearts, overflowing with praise and worship. I'm going to look everywhere until i find the instrumental version of it...until then, i'll listen and contemplate to this version. The lyrics are just gloriously glorying of our Father. He's our FATHER, and YES we should DELIGHT in singing to Him, for He DELIGHTS in us. He makes my heart GLAD. Yes, i will sing to Him. Amen.

Sing to the Father - Maranatha! Music - YouTube

 

[brinny]

This morning God sent a very persistent dove to me....

so i'm watching something on tv thinkin' how much these distraught peoples need God and His grace, and feeling particularly sad, when i heard it, coming from outside, and quite close by. It was the sound of a dove. At first i didn't pay any attention, but it persisted and was kinda loud. Sooooooo i go to the window, and didn't see it, but still there was the sound of the dove, very near and loud. Soooooo i HAD to see where this dove was.....i go outside and look up on the outside of all my windows...nothing....soooo i look up in the tree branches. And there it was, wait a minute, TWO of them. THe other one joined the first and they sat together on the branch. Then they flew away.

So i go inside. And in a minute or so i hear a dove again. i looked out the window and there it was, on a branch right outside my window. It looked directly at me for a brief time and then it flew over to my window sill and again, looked at me. i said good morning to this beautiful creature our Creator had made and said what a glorious Creator we have. She flew away, but came back a little later, right to my window sill again.

What i realized is that God was ministering to me through His dear creature. The window where the dove came to has a stained glass sun-catcher with the word "Peace" on it.

 

[brinny]

And the words of this song, remind me of how desperately our nation is in need of God's intervention and grace. We are a desperate people and NEED Him DESPERATELY. May this National Day of Prayer be a day when we all cry out to God on behalf of all of us for God's inexplicable grace and forgiveness. Father hear our cries, in the name of Jesus, amen. (((hug)))

Hear Us From Heaven with lyrics - YouTube