You Never Let Go

"When clouds veil the sun, and disaster comes

Oh, my soul, oh, my soul

When waters rise, and hope takes flight

Oh, my soul, oh, my soul

Ever faithful, ever true

You, I know, You never let go

You never let go,

You never let go,

You never let go, You never let go,

You never let go

When clouds brought rain, and disaster came

Oh, my soul, oh, my soul

When waters rose, and hope had flown,

Oh, my soul, oh, my soul

Ever faithful, ever true

You I know, You never let go

You never let go

You never let go

You never let go, You never let go,

You never let go

Oh, my soul overflows

Oh, what Love, oh, what Love

Oh, my soul fills with Hope

Perfect Love that never lets go

In Joy and Pain, in sun and rain

You're the same, You never let go

In Joy and Pain, sun and rain

You're the same, You never let go

You never let go, You never let go."

- David Crowder

Pray for Japan

Is your heart breaking? A catastrophic earthquake has struck Japan.


Please, pray for the people of Japan...

Prayer Request

"He hath never failed thee yet.

Never will His Love forget.

O fret not thyself, not let

Thy heart be troubled,

Neither let it be afraid."

- Amy Carmichael 

My heart is heavy today...reminders of the Sovereignty of God fill my heart, but I pray for her, who is suffering. O God, let it not be so!

Praying for little Jonah...

Jesus, Love of My Soul

Jesus, lover of my soul, Let me to Thy bosom fly, While the nearer waters roll, While the tempest still is high. Hide me, O my Savior, hide, Till the storm of life is past; Safe into the haven guide; Oh, receive my soul at last. Other refuge have I none, Hangs my helpless soul on Thee; Leave, ah! leave me not alone, Still support and comfort me. All my trust on Thee is stayed, All my help from Thee I bring; Cover my defenseless head With the shadow of Thy wing. Wilt Thou not regard my call? Wilt Thou not accept my prayer? Lo! I sink, I faint, I fall— Lo! on Thee I cast my care. Reach me out Thy gracious hand! While I of Thy strength receive, Hoping against hope I stand, Dying, and behold, I live. Thou, O Christ, art all I want, More than all in Thee I find; Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, Heal the sick, and lead the blind. Just and holy is Thy Name, Source of all true righteousness; Thou art evermore the same, Thou art full of truth and grace. Plenteous grace with Thee is found, Grace to cover all my sin; Let the healing streams abound; Make and keep me pure within. Thou of life the fountain art, Freely let me take of Thee; Spring Thou up within my heart; Rise to all eternity. - Charles Wesley

The Growth of Patience in the Soul

"O LORD my God, patience is very necessary for me (Hebrews 10:36), as I plainly see, for many things in this life do happen against us. For whatever plans I shall make for my own peace, my life cannot be without war and pain. (Job 7:1)"

"It is so, My son. But My will is that you seek not that peace that is void of temptation, or which feels nothing contrary. But rather think that you have found peace, when you are tested with sundry tribulations (James 1:2), and tried in many crosses.

Do you think that the men of this world suffer nothing, or but a  little? Not so shall you find it, even if you ask those who enjoy the greatest delights. But you will say, 'They have many delights and follow their own wills, therefore they do not weigh their own afflictions.' Be it so - that they do have whatever they will; but how long do  you think it will last? Behold, even "as smoke is driven away...so let the wicked perish at presence of God" (Psalm 68:2), and there shall be no memory of their past joys! Yea, even while they are alive, they do not rest in them without bitterness, and weariness, and fear. For from the selfsame thing in which they imagine their delight to be, often the receive the penalty of sorrow. Justly are they dealt with, because inordinately they seek and follow after delights, they enjoy them not without shame and bitterness. Oh, how brief, how false, how inordinate and filthy, are all those pleasures! Yet so drunken and blind are men that they understand it not; but like dumb animals, for the poor enjoyment of this corruptible life, they gain the death of the soul.

"Therefore, My son, go not after lusts, but refrain from your own will. "Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give you the desires of thine heart." (Psalm 37:4) For if you desire true delight and to be comforted, behold, in all the contempt of all worldly things, and in the cutting off of all base delights, shall be your blessing, and abundant consolation shall be given to you. And the more you withdraw yourself from the solace of all other creatures, so much sweeter and more powerful consolation shall you find in Me.

But at first, you shall not be without some sadness, and the toil of conflict, attain unto these. In you way shall stand inbred habit, but by better habit shall it be entirely overcome. The flesh shall murmur against you; but with fervency of Spirit shall it be bridled. The old Serpent shall sting and irritate you, but by prayer he shall be put to flight. Moreover also, by useful labor shall his approach be barred."

- Thomas a Kempis, (1380-1471 A.D.) "The Imitation of Christ."

Not Cool

This is not cool...it's cold. It's freezing. Freezing rain to be specific.

No, it's not funny.

I cannot wait for winter to be over. I will keep living in denial and claiming that it's not really winter, which is very hard to do when there is giant winter storm bearing down claiming adjectives such as, "massive", "historic", "crippling", and "horrific". So by 7 PM tonight we should be covered in freezing rain, followed by sleet slathering everything in an inch of deadly ice, destroying power lines and making roads impassable death traps. Then we will get a 12-18 inches of snow, just to top everything off like a layer of mockingly fluffy meringue.

So if there are no posts in the next few days, it's because I'm huddled over a fire trying to stay alive along with my family with no electricity in 8 degrees F.

Ohhhhhhh!!! I'm sorry God, but I hate winter!!!

Egypt and Lebanon

Egypt's capital is up in flames  in political, bloody riots against the thirty-year reign of President Mubarak.

Lebanon's government has been overturned in a coup d'etat by the terrorist group, Hezbollah.

Tunisia and Yemen are both dealing with riots this month as well.

The Arab world is in terror.

All of this on the news this week and this morning. The newscasters voices' are tense and ominous when reporting the violence on the streets of Cairo...the video footage horrendous. The State Department says it is "monitoring this situation", and are gravely concerned, considering that Egypt is "our strongest ally in the Arab world," and the first Arab world to "make peace" with Israel.

And yet none of it is a surprise.

"And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight, each against each other and each against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom;and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out...The LORD has mingled in her a spirit of confusion, and they will make Egypt stagger in all her deeds as a drunken man staggers..." Isaiah 19:2-3, 14

"Ah, stubborn children," declares the LORD, "who carry out a plan, but not mine, who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin; who set out to go down to Egypt without asking for my direction, to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!...Egypt's help is worthless and empty; therefore I have called her, 'Rahab who sits still.'" Isaiah 30:1-3,7

"Behold! You are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh, king of Egypt to all who trust him!" Isaiah 36:6

"The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is confounded and withers away..." Isaiah 33:9

"He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe, and Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One." Isaiah 10:34

 Please join me in prayer for our brothers and sisters in Christ scattered throughout the Middle East, who are caught in the middle of this spiritual and political strife. May they be strengthened to be Salt and Light of Christ. May they be protected by His shield; and reminded of His promises of a beautiful future.

"Is it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest." Isaiah 29:17

"In that day, there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD at it's border. It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the LORD because of oppressors, He will send them a Savior and a Defender and deliver them. And the LORD will make Himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day...In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria [Iraq], and Assyria will come into Egypt...In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the Earth, whom the LORD of hosts has blessed saying, 'Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.'" Isaiah 19:19-21;23-24

"I will whistle for them and gather them in, for I have redeemed them, and they shall be as many as before. Though I scattered them among the nations, yet in far countries they shall remember me, and with their children they shall live and return. I will bring them home from the land of Egypt, and gather them from Assyria and I will bring them to the land of Gilead and Lebanon, till there is no room for them...I will make them strong in the LORD, and they shall walk in His name," declares the LORD." Zechariah 10:8-10;12

The LORD Sovereign is in control. All will be well.

For Troubled Hearts

"For troubles hearts we pray.

The grievousness of war

Has driven JOY away,

And sun, and moon, and star.

Console the sore distressed,

The wounded bound in pain,

The broken, for whom rest

May never be again.

Like bells at evening time

Let words of healing come,

Till, led by that clear chime,

They find themselves at Home."

- Amy Carmichael

An inexplicable uneasiness throws a shadow across my mind and spirit today - and has been growing stronger. Different burdens I received this past week, from different revelations of how the Enemy is at work within the Church, and among so-called Christians, planted this dark seed - which has quickly bloomed. Reminders of unconfessed sin are forefront on my heart, but a dark pain threatens from another source...and I wonder what it means. What is the Enemy about? What is this the eve of? Who is in the thick of spiritual battle out there, and it desperate for allies in prayer? Why the resistance in me at the thought of prayer? What are all these lessons and information I have learned this week building to? What will the Great Vanquisher accomplish through this and how can I give Him the glory?

Will you join me in prayer?

"Do not be grieved, for the JOY of the LORD is your STRENGTH." Nehemiah 8:10b

"Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you, when my HEART is faint. Lead me to the ROCK THAT IS HIGHER THAN I." Psalm 61:1-2

"REJOICE ALWAYS, PRAY WITHOUT CEASING, give THANKS in ALL circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus FOR YOU." I Thessalonians 5:16-18

"Finally, be STRONG in the LORD and the POWER OF HIS MIGHT." Ephesians 6:10

"May you be STRENGTHENED with ALL POWER, according to His GLORIOUS MIGHT, with ALL endurance, and patience with JOY, giving THANKS to the Father, who has qualified YOU to share in the INHERITANCE OF THE SAINTS IN LIGHT. He has DELIVERED us from the domain of Darkness and TRANSFERRED us to the Kingdom of His Beloved Son, in whom we have REDEMPTION, THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS." Colossians 1:11-14

O Love!

O Love that wilt not let me go, I rest my weary soul in thee; I give thee back the life I owe, That in thine ocean depths its flow May richer, fuller be. O light that followest all my way, I yield my flickering torch to thee; My heart restores its borrowed ray, That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day May brighter, fairer be. O Joy that seekest me through pain, I cannot close my heart to thee; I trace the rainbow through the rain, And feel the promise is not vain, That morn shall tearless be. O Cross that liftest up my head, I dare not ask to fly from thee; I lay in dust life’s glory dead, And from the ground there blossoms red Life that shall endless be.

Praying for Asia Bibi

Voice of the Martyrs Ministry has done an awe-inspiring job of supporting those being imprisoned for their Christian faith around the world. They send out daily Prisoner Alerts, to whoever is willing to recieve them, so that the Church can better fulfill their role in praying and supporting those in bonds. (Hebrews 13:3)

Often the stories are unknown and not widely told - that is, where the mainstream media is concerned. However, Asia Bibi's story has attracted a large amount of internationl attention. You can read more of her story here.

Please join me and thousands of other Christians around the world as we lift up our sister in Christ.

"Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him shall I confess also before my Father, which is in Heaven." Matthew 10:32

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation onto everyone that believes..." Romans 1:16

"He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away off all the earth: for the LORD has spoken it." Isaiah 25:8

I'm Prayin for You

Let's never forget to pray for the men of God in our lives and our brothers in Christ around the world. Satan is always at work - so must we be.