Taking Joy in everyday!

How many times do we take for granted each day that God gives us to breath and live in his presence here on earth?  We get so caught up with our daily lives that we forget that each day is a precious gift that should never be wasted!  

Today we are going to watch the video 99 ballons where a family was blessed with a beautiful child for 99 days!

http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=c975d005cd2c4d261f7f

After you watch it ask yourself these questions:

Am I living my life fully so that every day is a celebration of life?

Would I find God's lessons and joy even during a hard time like this?

May he bless you today and open the eyes of your heart to wisdom and revelation of HIM!

Are You Thristy?

The religious technocrats of Jesus’ day confronted him with what they believed were the standards of a life pleasing to God. The external life, they argued, the life of ought and duty and service, was what mattered. “You’re dead wrong,” Jesus said. “In fact, you’re just plain dead [whitewashed tombs]. What God cares about is the inner life, the life of the heart” (Matt. 23:25–28). Throughout the Old and New Testaments, the life of the heart is clearly God’s central concern. When the people of Israel fell into a totally external life of ritual and observance, God lamented, “These people . . . honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Isa. 29:13). 

Our heart is the key to the Christian life. 

The apostle Paul informs us that hardness of heart is behind all the addictions and evils of the human race (Rom. 1:21–25). Oswald Chambers writes, “It is by the heart that God is perceived [known] and not by reason . . . so that is what faith is: God perceived by the heart.” This is why God tells us in Proverbs 4:23, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” He knows that to lose heart is to lose everything. Sadly, most of us watch the oil level in our car more carefully than we watch over the life of our heart. 

In one of the greatest invitations ever offered to man, Christ stood up amid the crowds in Jerusalem and said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him” (John 7:37–38). If we aren’t aware of our soul’s deep thirst, his offer means nothing. But, if we will recall, it was from the longing of our hearts that most of us first responded to Jesus. Somehow, years later, we assume he no longer calls to us through the thirst of our heart. 

(The Sacred Romance , 9) 

King Hezekiah

Read 2 Kings 20-In answer to Hezekiah's prayer, the Lord extends his life.

INSIGHT
Hezekiah's contribution to our lives is probably very great. We read of his zeal for the house of Jehovah and for the worship of Jehovah and of his strict adherence to the Davidic traditions (2 Chronicles 29:3-19; 20-27; 30). His delight is in the Word of Jehovah. In 2 Chronicles 31:21, we read of the "work" which Hezekiah began "in the law and in the commandment." Apparently he formed a guild of men for this devout literary work. These "men of Hezekiah" evidently included Isaiah (2 Kings 19:2) and also had a hand in shaping the book of Proverbs (Proverbs 25:1). What a contribution this ancient one has made to our lives today!

PRAYER
The Lord's dominion is forever, and we can praise Him that He never changes:
Sing to Him a new song; 
Play skillfully with a shout of joy. 
For the word of the Lord is right, 
And all His work is done in truth. 
He loves righteousness and justice; 
The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord (Psalm 33:3-5).

Pause for personal praise and thanksgiving. 

Pray this confession to the Lord as you seek to keep your life free from sin:
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Make me hear joy and gladness, 
That the bones You have broken may rejoice.
Hide Your face from my sins, 
And blot out all my iniquities (Psalm 51:7-9).

Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind. 

Now pray this affirmation to the Lord:
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, 
where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 
but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, 
where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal"
(Matthew 6:19-20).

As you make your requests known to the Lord, include:

• Greater love for others
• The work of missions in Australia
• Your activities for the day

Offer this closing prayer to the Lord:
May the God of all grace, who called us 
to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, 
after you have suffered a while, perfect, 
establish, strengthen, and settle you. 
To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. 
Amen (1 Peter 5:10-11).