Cry for help

 Cry for help

If you ever take the time to read the Psalms you go on a journey through the emotions of the heart of King David.  He goes through the good, the bad and the ugly as far as human emotions can go.  He’s open and honest with God.  In Psalm 25 I want to show you a small passage where he gives us an honest cry for every follower of God.  

Psalm 25:4-7

“Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow.  Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me.  All day long I put my hope in you.  Remember, O Lord, your compassion and unfailing love, which you have shown from long ages past.  Do not remember the rebellious sins of my youth.  Remember me in light of your unfailing love, for you are merciful, O Lord. “

We need to seek God for the right path.  

Your kingdom reigns by Meredith Andrews 

All in all by Charmaine 

Heart’s cry by Steven Curtis Chapman

Inside out by Hillsong 

Restore

 

Restore

 

 

We’ve read and heard Psalm 23 multiple times in our lives and that can be both good and bad.  Sometimes the repetition has made us not think about what it says.  I want to show you my favorite verse in the whole chapter.  It’s a verse I have very often prayed back to God.  The English Standard version translates it this way.  

 

Psalm 23:3

 

“He restores my soul.  He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”

 

 

Restore that’s the key word there.  Some versions actually say refreshes.  So why do I pray this back to God you may ask.  Some of you know I spent 14 years working at call centers.  It was one of the most frustrating and emotional things one can do with their life.  I still hate talking on the phone to anyone other than my wife and family.    I got yelled at, cussed out and verbally abused all in the name of trying to help people.  Customer service is not for everyone.  There were days and nights I would leave work to go home and not listen to music, and I love music.  I got to the point that I could no longer handle the sound of another person. I also on a daily basis got verbally attacked by coworkers making fun of something I wore, said or did because how dare I like anything different than what other people did. Prayer is a place you can go and turn your problems over to God and he wants you to be as honest as you can, and he will restore your soul.  There have been times I have prayed this before bed because I’m so emotionally drained from a day and I have to ask God to restore or refresh my soul when I don’t know how to go on.  I bring up my trauma from call center work for a reason. if anything I have gone through can be used to give someone else hope and point them to God I will try to do so.  I’m a mess but if God can use me to help someone else, I’m willing to be used.  

 

If you skip the music you will have missed part of the message of the blog.  

Cares chorus by Psalty

In the Name of the Lord by Sandi Patty 

Honesty by Margaret Becker 

Keep breathing by Kerrie Roberts

Friend of a wounded heart by Point of Grace

Instructions for life

 

Instructions for life

 

We live in a world where people want to make things that are wrong into what they think is right.  It’s a scary place if you watch the news for any length of time.  We need to get back to the Word of God.

 I want to share with you the words of a song done by Johnny Cash that very much reflects the state of our world today.  

 

You can see it in the movies and the paper and the tv news
Somebody's army is always on the move
There's gonna be a battle the lines have been drawn
They've got guns and tanks and planes

The wells are gone dry and the water is bad and the air is acid rain
There's war after war and rumors of war from the east
There's a rumblin' in the ground and they're talkin' about the beast

Good mothers cry cause the rivers run high
With the blood of too many sons
Some people say peace is on the way
But the worst is still to come

Cause the prophets wrote about it
And Jesus spoke about it
And John got to take a look
And he told us what he saw when it's easy to see
It's goin' by the book
It's goin' by the book

There's armies in the cities and the missiles stand ready for flight
A pale horse rides like the wind across the night
And that rumblin' in the desert like thunder gettin' closer
And the trumpet's gettin' ready to blow
There's gonna be a shout that will wake the dead we better be ready to go

Cause the prophets wrote about it
And Jesus spoke about it
And John got to take a look
And he told us what he saw when it's easy to see
It's goin' by the book
It's goin' by the book

It's goin' by the book
Goin' by the book

 

 King David had some things to say about God’s instructions for our lives.  See we’ve somehow bought into the world’s lies that God’s commands are not for our good.  Open up the Bible and take a better look.

 

 

Psalm 19:7-11

 

“The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul.  The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy making wise the simple.  The commandments of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart.  The commands of the Lord are clear giving insight for living.  Reverence for the Lord is pure, lasting forever.  The laws of the Lord are true; each one is fair.  They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold.  They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb.  They are a warning to your servant, a great reward for those who obey them.”

 

 

Basics of Life by 4 Him 

Going by the Book by Johnny Cash

Back to the blood by Pam Thum

 

Even at night

 

Even at night 

 

Sometimes these blogs start with the simplest of verses.  As some of you know I work nights and often that’s when I’m reading my Bible and working on these things.  God is still active at night.  He never sleeps.  I use my gps often when going places, but I want to share some verses about guiding and nighttime.  Sometimes these blogs can just be simple.  

 

Psalm 16:7-8

 

“I will bless the Lord who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me.  I know the Lord is always with me.  I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.”

 

Even at night.  You can sleep knowing God is watching over you.  Trust him with your problems. 

 

In You alone
Is where I find my comfort
In You alone
You're my only hope
In You alone
My heart has found a resting place
In You alone
In You alone
In You alone
Is a promise I can cling to
In You alone
You're my security
In You alone
My soul has found a dwelling place
Only in You alone

 

 

 

I am on the Rock by Petra 

10,000 reasons by Caleb andKelsey 

You Alone by Kim Hill

 

Mess

 

Mess

 

This is a more personal and harder to write blog and even harder to get myself to do as a video, but it needs to be shared.  

 

I’m a mess.  The guy you see writing these blogs and doing these videos he’s a mess.  I struggle with anger a lot. I often tell inanimate objects to focus and pay attention and quit falling. I heard a pastor one time say men get mad at things and women get mad at people.  I can very much relate.   There are nights like this past Wednesday night where I must stop and pray because I don’t get it right.  I must ask God to calm me down.  I was so upset the other night I was trying to workout to get rid of my frustration about a situation and I stopped in the middle of what I was doing and started praying for God to calm me down.  Been reading this book called Johnny Cash: the Redemption of an American Icon and Mr. Cash goes from one extreme to another and struggles.  He finally learns to seek God’s path.  Some days it’s not easy.  I’ll admit there are times I often relate to the Incredible Hulk.  I don’t like it.  I’m thankful God gives us so many chances at redemption.  Often, I will pray and quote this verse back to God for two reasons.  I need to remember God cares about me and I need to be reminded that when I have a problem, I can run to Him.  

 

1 Peter 5:8

 

“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”

 

The battle for a Christian often is with your sinful nature and wanting to do what God says.  In the book of Romans in chapter 7:14-25 the apostle Paul talks at length about the good he wants to do he doesn’t do and the bad he doesn’t want to do he finds himself doing.  I don’t want to be an angry person and I struggle daily but I need to remember to seek God and get my focus off me and on Him.  The battle for our hearts and minds is mental and spiritual in nature.  Sometimes we must change what we are reading, watching, or listening to.  

 

Ephesians 6:12

 

“For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”

 

We need to put into practice these verses.  

 

Colossians 3:1-4

 

“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of Heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor At God’s right hand.  Think about the things of Heaven, not the things of earth.  For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.  And when Christ, who is your life is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.”  

 

It requires discipline and I’m not there yet I’m still a work in progress.  

 

 

 

All will fade away by Meredith Andrews 

Warrior is a child by Twila Paris

Think twice by Petra

Jekyll and Hyde by Petra 

O the blood

 

O the blood 

 

There’s a song I listen to often that really draws me back to Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.  I think the lyrics need to be shared and read along with part of a passage in Hebrews.  We often take for granted the shedding of blood on the cross for the forgiveness of sin.  This is actually a blog I’ve thought of doing for weeks now.  If you’ve ever watched this as a video you have often heard me say it is a mixture of Christian music and scripture.  To start off with I want to show you in my humble opinion one of the greatest displays of love by God in the whole Bible.  

 

Romans 5:8 

 

“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”

 

There is nothing now or ever that we as humans could do to earn God’s love and without Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross we would have no hope.  

 

John 14:6

 

“Jesus told him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one can come to the father except through me.”  

 

O the blood
Crimson love
Price of life's demand
Shameful sin
Placed on Him
The Hope of every man

O the blood of Jesus washes me
O the blood of Jesus shed for me
What a sacrifice that saved my life
Yes, the blood, it is my victory

Savior Son
Holy One
Slain so I can live
See the Lamb
The great I Am
Who takes away my sin

O the blood of Jesus washes me
O the blood of Jesus shed for me
What a sacrifice that saved my life
Yes, the blood, it is my victory

O the blood of the Lamb
O the blood of the Lamb
O the blood of the Lamb
The precious blood of the Lamb
What a sacrifice
That saved my life
Yes, the blood, it is my victory

O what love
No greater love
Grace, how can it be
That in my sin
Yes, even then
He shed His blood for me

O the blood of Jesus washes me
O the blood of Jesus shed for me
What a sacrifice that saved my life
Yes, the blood, it is my victory
It was a sacrifice that saved my life
Yes, the blood, it is my victory

What can wash away my sins?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

 

Hebrews 9:11-15

 

“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, he entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.  For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?  For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”

 

Jesus paid the price for our sins. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

O the Blood by Selah 

Nothing but the blood by Kelly Parks

Defender by Upper Room

Life to me by ZoeGirl

Lettuce

 

Lettuce 

 

I hate lettuce.  But this is a blog not about lettuce but about something Christians are supposed to let.  Yeah, let a simple 3 letter word that starts a command.  There’s times where I fail at this command.  I need to focus on the “Let” command.  What is it you may ask?  Finally, someone is paying attention.  

 

Colossians 3:16

 

“Let the message about Christ, in all its richness fill your lives.  Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom He gives.  Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.”

 

God gave you an ability to encourage others then you need to do so.  Don’t worry about what others may think because like lettuce their opinions may wilt.  But encourage and do what God has called you to do.

 

 

 

Go light your world by Kathy Troccoli 

One Candle by Geoff Moore and the Distance 

Keep the candle burning by Point of Grace