Praise the LORD!
Praise God in His sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty expanse.
Praise Him according to
His excellent greatness.
Praise Him with trumpet sound;
Praise Him with harp and lyre.
Praise Him with timbrel and dancing;
Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe.
Praise Him with loud cymbals;
Praise Him with resounding cymbals.
Let everything that has breath
praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD!
-Ps. 150
Praise the Lord!!!
And we know that the
Son of God has come,
and has given us understanding
so that we may know
Him who is true; and we
are in Him who is true, in
His Son Jesus Christ.
This is the true God
and eternal life.
-1 John 5:24
Love. Beauty.
If only our frail minds could grasp the full infinitude of the love of God!! Let our souls be awash in the knowledge of His love. Let our hearts dance and sing and glory!
So this morning is going to be interesting. Month-end shipments are upon us here at Cameron Aberdeen and everyone that knows how to close out invoices and ship equipment is either on holiday or in Houston on business…leaving the rest of us running around maniacally and me attempting to ensure everything that should be shipped out is shipped out. Cut-off for the end of the month is today at noon, so at 12:01 today, sighs will be heard all around.
O love the LORD, all you his godly ones!
The LORD preserves the faithful
and fully recompenses the proud doer.
Be strong and let your heart take courage,
all you who hope in the LORD.
-Psalm 31:23-24
And now, boys and girls…it’s go time.
For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived,
enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life
in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.
But when the kindess of God our Saviour appeared,
He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness,
but according to His mercy,
by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour,
so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs
according to the hope of eternal life.
-Titus 3:3-7
The fear of the LORD is
the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of
the Holy One is understanding.
-Proverbs 9:10
If I could only always remember this!! There is a foolishness that masquerades as cleverness and there is a grave that masks itself with the ever sweeter perfume of piety and there is a well-paved path that leads to the gates of hell. And there is a wisdom that looks as folly and there is a grave that is empty and there is a little-trod path that leads to the presence of God Himself.
Oh, for the love of Jesus, who found us when we could not see! Oh for the love of Jesus, who knew us when we did not know Him! Oh for the love of Jesus, who saved us when we could not live! Oh for the love of Jesus, who lifted us when we could not move! Oh for the love of Jesus, who loved us when we could not love! Oh for the love of Jesus!!
Indeed, while following the way
of your judgments, O LORD,
we have waited for you eagerly;
Your name, even Your memory,
is the desire of our souls.
At night my soul longs for You,
indeed, my spirit within me
seeks You diligently…
-Isaiah 26:8-9
Mmm, may it always be so!!
And on another note entirely, having a random late night fish and chips supper with a dear friend while delighting in delicious conversation and heartfelt ponderings and sweet fellowship and joyous contemplations of the goodness of the LORD while sitting under the dancing stars above…total and complete awesomeness.
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ,
if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit,
if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded,
having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.
Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests
but each of you to the interests of the others.
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW,
in heaven and on earth
and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed
—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—
continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,
for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
Do everything without grumbling or arguing,
so that you may become blameless and pure,
children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.
Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky
as you hold firmly to the word of life.
And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ
that I did not run or labor in vain.
But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering
on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith,
I am glad and rejoice with all of you.
So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.
-Philippians 2:1-18
So yeah, couldn’t really cut that short. Beauty? Glory? Inexpressible joy? Yes, yes and a thousand times yes. And I really don’t think I can write any further thoughts on this…so let me just ask y’all to read that again and let yourself be washed in the glory of the Word. Bask in its beauty. Live in its joy. And let’s abide in Jesus. Forever and always. Because despite all that we do to tear away from Jesus, He holds us tight…nothing(not even ourselves!!) can take us from His almighty hand. And that, my dear friends, is joy indeed. Joy inexpressible and full of glory. And we sing!! Oh do we sing!
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin my mother conceived me.
Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,
and in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.
Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Make me to hear joy and gladness,
let the bones which You have broken rejoice.
Hide Your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence
and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
and sustain me with a willing spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors their ways,
and sinners will be converted to You.
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness,
O God, the God of my salvation;
then my tongue will joyfully sing of
Your righteousness. -Psalm 51:5-14
Oh I will sing!!!
Ahh this has been such a sweet day!! Admittedly, I’ve been inside for most of it…but that’s because it’s been grey and gloomy and rainy outside all day long…so I decided it was a perfect day to relax indoors. Had a late night anyway(sweet party times with Aiysha and Sam et al!) so woke up sort of late…(11AM, eek! That’s probably my latest lie in in quite some time!) So after my shower I enjoyed my sweet bacon and coffee breakfast and reading…and for the past few hours I’ve been chilling in my living room and compiling a new iTunes playlist(felt it was time for a new one…and in doing so, realized I had NO “And Can it Be?”. That had to be rectified and so I found a sweet version…in this awesome CD that you all should get – Resolved Music, Vol 1 on Amazon. Great stuff)…so making the playlist took me a while because I kept getting distracted(first by talking to Laura on Gmail…and then Katheryn. So worth it though! *waves to both*). Anyways here’s the playlist I came up with…I’m pretty happy with it. Presenting…”The Homestretch”:
1. Such Great Heights – The Postal Service
2. It’s Beginning to Get to Me – Snow Patrol
3. All of Us – Blindside
4. Ever Dream – Nightwish
5. Dargor Shadowlord of the Black Mountain – Rhapsody of Fire
6. Nothing but the Blood – Jars of Clay
7. Go Hard ft. Tedashii – Lecrae
8. The Prodigal Son Suite – Keith Green
9. Something Beautiful – Needtobreathe
10. Die Alone – Ingrid Michaelson
11. Blackout – Muse
12. Yellow – Coldplay
13. Revelation 5 – Hope Bible Church
14. And Can it Be – The Enfield Hymn Sessions
Good stuff, neh? I’ve been listening to it right now and I am most pleased. I forwent my usual hardcore opening and went a little softer with Postal Service and Snow Patrol opening…but don’t worry, got at least a little power metal awesomeness in there with Nightwish and Rhapsody. I’ve been much enjoying Rhapsody of Fire on the way to work lately – glorious beautiful music(even if Galan’s the only other person I know that agrees!!)
And in other news, tonight having Steven, Maren and Anna over…my 3rd night having people over in four nights!! But this time, Maren and Anna are going to cook apparently, so I can relax a bit. Ooh, I probably should clean the kitchen a bit though before they’re here. Yes, good plan.
And although I think I have more to say, time to run to the store to get some juice for tonight and then prep my place for company. Hope y’all are having a most glorious day!!!
Of good bacon and sweet coffee and loveliness…as I take this amazing Friday morning and glory in the beauty of the day!!! I’ve started a Friday tradition of waking up a bit earlier(around 5-ish instead of 5:30-ish) and making bacon along with coffee…and having a nice extended time to read and relax before I go off to work. And that means I *won’t* be spending much time writing…sorry, I know you all are terribly disappointed. Looking outside the window here as the sky slowly lightens…
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time
are not worthy to be compared with the glory
that is to be revealed to us.
-Romans 8:18
Oh, the depth of the riches
both of the wisdom and knowledge
of God!
How unsearchable are His judgements
and unfathomable His ways!
For ‘Who has known the mind of the LORD,
or who became His counselor?’
Or ‘Who has first given to Him
that it might be paid back to Him again?’
From from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
To Him be the glory forever.
Amen.
-Romans 11:33-36
So yeah, reading Romans 8.5 through 11…and I’ve decided they’re pretty much my favorite chapters right now. So so so amazing. And apparently Paul agreed with me as to the awesomeness of these chapters because the above passage is how he concludes! I want to write more to express my adoration for the Father…but my wonder at His love really can’t be much better stated than in the above verses. Anything I would add would just be rubbish…
Have a most glorious day, y’all!!
Something Weird 