Just now, I read this. And I hope sixsteps doesn't mind if I steal it. It's that good:

. . . . Until you become thankful, you will never find joy.

Being thankful is not telling God you appreciate the fact that your life is
not in shambles. If that is the basis of your gratitude, you are on slippery
ground. Every day of your life you face the possibility that a blessing in
your life may be taken away. But blessings are only signs of God’s love. The
real blessing, of course, is the love itself. Whenever we get too attached to
the sign, we lose our grasp on the God who gave it to us. Churches are filled
with widows who can explain this to you. We are not ultimately grateful that
we are still holding our blessings. We are grateful that we are held by God
even when the blessings are slipping through our fingers.

Only when we see this are we able to be truly joyful, because then we have
made God our joy. We still cherish the blessings, but not because we have to
have them. We cherish them because they are our windows into heaven.

Gratitude is our ability to see the grace of God, morning by morning, no
matter what else greets us in the course of the day.

Ultimately, I hold onto the Father, whether in times of abundance or times of naught. It is this common denominator in which a child of the third-world who has barely enough to eat can have the same joy as an individual in the first-world who is surrounded by church friends and family at Christmastime. The common denominator is not what we have, but what we are, that we hav been called to be sons and daughters of God, and to inherit all that He has.

Is that not vast abundance compared to what we could accumulate... whether it be riches, wealth, relationships, confidants, etc.? Holding loosely onto things that are here, whether material possessions or people... that seems to be what we have been called to do.

Perhaps seeking the kingdom of God really is about God Himself. That as we seek Him and all that He desires to do, we become enthralled with Him, and all that He wants to do in our lives, and all that He simply, is. In having a relationship with Him, that is the pinnacle of what we have been created to be, trumping all other relationships, wealth, fame, and anything else that we can have gained. To know Christ ... that is the pinnacle.

It is not genuine consecration to think that we can refuse to be used of God now in order to store up our spiritual power for later use. That is a hopeless mistake. The Spirit of God has set a great many people free from their sin, yet they are experiencing no fullness in their lives— no true sense of freedom. The kind of religious life we see around the world today is entirely different from the vigorous holiness of the life of Jesus Christ. "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one" ( John 17:15 ). We are to be in the world but not of it— to be separated internally, not externally (see John 17:16 ).

We must never allow anything to interfere with the consecration of our spiritual power. Consecration (being dedicated to God’s service) is our part; sanctification (being set apart from sin and being made holy) is God’s part. We must make a deliberate determination to be interested only in what God is interested. The way to make that determination, when faced with a perplexing problem, is to ask yourself, "Is this the kind of thing in which Jesus Christ is interested, or is it something in which the spirit that is diametrically opposed to Jesus is interested?"

Utmost 11.27

According to Uncle Joe, there are three meanings to sanctification (which, is God's part):
- separate, set apart, holy
- to dedicate
- to fill

God, having separated us, and continually making us holy "through and through", while dedicating us to His service, through the enablement of the filling of the Holy Spirit is a beautiful picture of what God says He will do (see 1 Thess 5:23-24). It is comforting, and yet, the hardest part, which we must will to do, is to be, as Oswald puts it, "interested in only in what God is interested in." And this only comes from finding out through scripture and through prayer, really what it is that God is interested in.

For now, it is satisfactory and best to hold onto, with a bit of application to modern-day 2008:

10 This is what the LORD says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 11 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. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. [b] I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."

Isaiah 29:10-14

“…I am going to bring in one more idea, authenticity. We all strive authenticity. The truth is that we live in a superficial society. If authenticity (being real) is the way we all live and breathe everyday and the society we live in is superficial.

Does this mean that superficiality (to a certain extent) is our authenticity?!?!”

It must be shocking to even broach the subject of superficiality as the new authenticity. However, as shocking as it is, I think it’s a valid and marked concern to questions ourselves and what we bring to the table when we commune with the people of God. Although no one likes a sad face or a person who is down, it is precisely for those that need the filling of and the uplifting of the reminders of God’s promises that the Church exists.

This is only, however, scratching the surface. Christ stated that He came here for (Luke 50:30-32), those who need a doctor, and not those who are well. So, why then, do we brush ourselves off and make like everything is okay when we fellowship with fellow brothers and sisters. Why, unless tragedy strikes, do we act okay when it is really not okay? Why, even when sometimes you are having a deep conversation with a brother and sister, do we think twice of asking for prayer, or telling it really how it is?

If Christ claimed that He came to save those who need a doctor, who are we to show up among His body and claim that we do not? When in our innermost places, we are vulnerable, broken and seemingly irreparable, how do we end up going to church on Sunday telling ourselves that we just need a little bit of remedy, nothing big, just a few touchups here and there. And then we gather, we chat, we find out what is going on, and that’s it. “Whew!”, we say, no one heard the truth about our struggles, pain, and sorrow.

I suppose I can go on and on, but it is a scary thing when our authenticity is really superficiality. When (and I’m not talking about discernment of what to share and what not to) we catch ourselves sharing and double-take every little detail that we might talk about, wondering what the person we’re conversing with might think. Or wondering, if they would view us of less of a Christian or role model as a result. A life presented to another falsely is perhaps a life best not presented at all.

15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

James 5:15-16

The Church is a beautiful body of believers. But, the Church is made up of humans who struggle to glorify God. We should not shun Godly confidence, but at the same time, we should not make little of our brokenness and show the world that our God can restore the broken.

Broken and Beautiful - Mark Schultz

There’s a businessman There’s a widowed wife
There’s a smiling face with a shattered life
There’s a teenage girl with a choice to make
It’s crowded here in church today

And the preacher says as the sermon ends
Please close your eyes and bow your heads
Is there anyone in need of prayer
Jesus wants to meet you here
‘cause we all fall short
We all have sinned
But when you let
God’s Grace break in…

(Chorus)
It’s beautiful
Beautiful
Come as you are
Surrender your heart
Broken and beautiful

Well he’d never been to church before
But he came today as a last resort
His world was crashing in
And he was suffocating in his sin

But tears ran down
As hope rushed in
He closed his eyes
Raised his hands
Worshiping the God who can
Bring him back to life again

(Chorus)

Cause there’s nothing more beautiful to God
Than when his sons and daughters come
Broken
Alleluia
Alleluia
Come as you are
Alleluia
Alleluia
Come as you are

(Chorus)

Alleluia
Alleluia
Come as you are
(Come as you are)
Surrender your heart
Broken and beautiful

Alleluia
Alleluia
Come as you are
(Come as you are)
Surrender your heart
Broken and beautiful

But in general, I feel, ever since I started the working life, I have less time to simply ponder and pen thoughts that come to mind. Like one of my friends said, I sometimes wish I could be back in the greco-roman periods where people just sit there on rocks all day, discuss philosophy and life, and record their thoughts. That would be the life.

Alas, this is not the case, and life demands much more than this to make a worthy showing to society. Though I have learned, that often, before God, it is best for our words to remain few. For even in this environment we live in of non-pondering, we found our mouths running out of control many times, and countless words and idioms escaping, for which we have no recovery to shove back in our mouths if we required.

An email sent is an email never recalled. Words said in haste can never be taken back. A joke in the wrong moment can never be moved. No wonder James said the tongue was hard to tame. I wonder, though, if James ever contemplated the use of the tongue without thinking, which perhaps seems to be the modus operandi of these days.

19My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

James 1:18-20

We will seek You first, Lord You will hear our voices
Early in the morning and late in the night
We will sing Your praises
Giving You the glory
Offering our lives to You, a holy sacrifice
May our praise arise as incense
Oh Lord, to You
May our worship be a fragrance
Oh Lord, to You

Challenged yet again to take advantage of the Kairos and time that God has gifted me with, and to leverage it to the maximum. It is for the love of Him and His word that it becomes paramount to establish the time in order to know Him. It is perhaps sad even that such a thought has to come about in order to incite action and response. After all, these are the response to a loving God who has invested in me first of all the revelation of Himself, and all that He desires for me. And all that He desires for the world and His creation. What more can I ask for or desire?

Really, why is it that one would have a desire for anything more than His word, that which satisfies. How can we say that we are satisfied when we have let gather dust the divine revelation of Himself, while we sometimes blindly and aimlessly participate in the work of building His Church and spreading His name? Can such a thing be possible. To not love God’s word and yet do His work?

You're the God of this city
You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation
You Are

Bridge:
For there is no one like our God
There is no one like our God

Chorus 1:
Greater things have yet to come
Great things are still to be done
In this city
Greater things are still to come
And greater things are still to be done here

Verse 2:
You're the Lord of Creation
The Creator of all things
You're the King above all Kings
You Are
You're the strength in our weakness
You're the love to the broken
You're the joy in the sadness
You Are

Chorus 2:
Greater things have yet to come
Great things are still to be done
In this city
Where glory shines from hearts alive
With praise for you and love for you
In this city

Greater things have yet to come
Great things are still to be done
In this city
Greater things are still to come
And greater things are still to be done here

20"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24"Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25"Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."

John 17:20-26

Those who have heard me will no doubt hear that I "God never ceases to blow me away" time and again. After reading this one, I thought, do I look for the 'pie in the sky' miracles on a daily basis, do I look for outpouring of salvation in droves from day to day...

Then I wonder... where does one draw the line between fully knowing and expecting an awesome display of God's power to doing so at the cost and shirking everyday mundane things. Like, how exciting is driving to work...or being at work...or perhaps even going to 'regular' fellowship night. Is it wrong to expect God to move big? Will it diminish everything else that we experience? When does one draw the line between experiencing God Himself vs. the lightning show that He provides. I wonder.

1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.

3 They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”

4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. 5 Then I said:
“O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you. 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.

8 “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’

10 “They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. 11 O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.”

I was cupbearer to the king.

Nehemiah 1

1. 1. You will never learn to pray until you are concerned enough to ask. (v1-3)
2. 2. You will never learn to pray until you are moved enough to weep. (v4)
3. 3. You will never learn to pray until you are honest enough to confess. (v5)
4. 4. You will never learn to pray until you are bold enough to risk. (v10)

May God have mercy on us and propel us to pray, fueled by His promises and His inexplicable and unhindered work in our hearts, when we have laid aside all we have only to become cleansed as a vessel for the furtherance of His glory and kingdom.

“… to those who have no might He increases strength” (Isaiah 40:29 ). God comes and takes us out of our emotionalism, and then our complaining turns into a hymn of praise. The only way to know the strength of God is to take the yoke of Jesus upon us and to learn from Him.

“… the joy of the Lord is your strength” ( Nehemiah 8:10 ). Where do the saints get their joy? If we did not know some Christians well, we might think from just observing them that they have no burdens at all to bear. But we must lift the veil from our eyes. The fact that the peace, light, and joy of God is in them is proof that a burden is there as well. The burden that God places on us squeezes the grapes in our lives and produces the wine, but most of us see only the wine and not the burden. No power on earth or in hell can conquer the Spirit of God living within the human spirit; it creates an inner invincibility.