07-01-13 Taking a Siesta

Hi everyone.  Thank you for being so faithful in reading and sometimes commenting.  I hope at least some of these blogs have been a help for you.

I've been advised to take a break from blogging for a small period of time.  There are some issues in my life that the Lord has been working on and I need to rest and be with Him for a while.

I would ask for your prayers - for wisdom - for an ability to enter fully into His rest, so that I can hear Him clearly - for His Light to shine in my heart and to root out what's not of Him, so that I may more fully bless Him and others through my life.

So, this isn't 'goodbye'... I will be back.

Blessings my friends!
T

06-28-13 Anxiety - Over-Rated Fear

Philippians 4:6,7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

My husband and I saw a movie the other day called 'After Earth'. How many of you have had the Lord speak to you out of the blue from a source you were previously unaware of?

Well the quote went like this:

"Fear is not real. The only place that fear can exist is in our thoughts of the future. It is a product of our imagination, causing us to fear things that do not at present and may not ever exist. That is near insanity. Do not misunderstand me, danger is very real, but fear is a choice. We are all telling ourselves a story and that day mine changed."

I heard that one 'definition' of fear is 'False Evidence Appearing Real'. Sometimes we grab hold of that false evidence thinking it's real or is going to become real in our lives and wow, does does that produce some anxiety or what?  Or better yet, we don't even have the evidence yet and we're already knowing 'for certain' that a certain thing is going to happen'. REALLY?? 

Now, there is healthy fear. I'm not talking about that. Healthy fear is common sense - don't put your hand on a hot stove burner - don't run after parked cars - things like that. Things that will get you hurt - pretty badly. Fear tells us that there is something wrong. 

So, even unhealthy fear at first seems to be ok. If we're afraid of spiders and one comes down a wall - our first reaction can fear - but what do we do after that first reaction is crucial to what transpires inside of us afterwards.

If the spider happens to be a brown recluse or an overly aggressive animal comes at us, then it can hurt us. If we have a fear of these hurting us, it produces adrenaline and lets off phermones that sometimes certain animals can sense and then they advance. We don't really know if the animal is going to hurt us or the spider, but we envision it happening in the near future - in our imaginations - it's almost a done deal when we allow that fear to overcome us. We may freeze - or we may fight - or we may run. Maybe not the greatest example, but I think it proves the point.

The danger is real, but to allow the fear to get to the point of panic and anxiety is really our choice. Psalm 27 is a great Psalm for this... 

"The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident."

We can change our focus - ground ourselves - let Jesus be our 'Center'. We can learn to stop, focus on Jesus and the Holy Spirit's strength within us. 'Take a knee'... focus on slowing down our breathing, smelling the Spirit around us, allowing the Lord's peace and power to permeate our being. James 4:6-8 says, "But He gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: 'God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble. Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners and purify your hearts you double-minded."

I quoted that scripture in full because it all goes together. If we are proud and will not humble ourselves and focus on Him, submitting ourselves to Him, we are in essence allowing fear to rule over us. But if we humble ourselves before Him- bowing before the Lord of Hosts, focusing on His words of boldness that He is trying to get through to us, looking into His eyes and receiving His strength, submitting our anxieties, cares, fears to Him - the Lord Jesus rules over us and in our hearts becomes our Master once again.  We feel the boldness of God and His love for us enter into that fearful place and banish the fear - the anxiety flees from His presence. But we must believe and not be double-minded. That's the hard part.... but it's a journey.  

We can do this - with God's help. We do NOT have to live under anxiety and fear. I believe I see a crack in the wall in many of our lives regarding this. A small crack is all that's needed in order for the breakthrough to start.

God Bless.... Be strong and Courageous... Do not fear.... The Lord your God is with you wherever you go!

God of Angel Armies - Chris Tomlin (I know... I played this one before, but...)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzIABaImiK4

06-26-13 Don't Be Anxious???

Matthew 6:31-34 "Do not be anxious then, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'With what shall we clothe ourselves?' "For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. "Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Matthew 6:27 "And which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life's span?"

Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. "Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. "For My yoke is easy, and My load is light."

Seems like Matthew records a few things Jesus had said about anxiety...  

The first set of verses literally say, "DO NOT BE ANXIOUS"... yeah, ok - nice. But how? Well, look what we worry about or fear - not having enough of something.  God knows what we need and He is Jehovah-Jireh - our Provider. The only pre-requisite is that we seek Him and His righteousness for our lives. Basically, He's saying, "Why worry about the what if's or how's or whatever's in the future. Stay in the present." And the future doesn't have to be years or days or months down the road, it could be an hour from now.  He's saying LIVE IN THE PRESENT! 

The second set of verses say that we can't usually fix what we're worrying or fearful or anxious about, so why give it more power over ourselves. The Serenity Prayer... God, grant me the SERENITY to ACCEPT THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE... We can ask God to change them, but He usually let's us know the things we can change, whether by conviction or that still, small voice, or sometimes He even does a little tough love to get us to see things. As in pulling the rug out from under us and saying, "oh, I'm sorry - you were standing on that, but it really needs washed."  Well, maybe not in those terms ;)

The third set of verses for most of us is the hardest. Coming to Jesus and letting Him take our care and worries and exchanging them for His rest. Anxiety makes us hyper-vigilant and always on guard. No wonder we can't rest, we're always looking around for what needs to be done or what we haven't done or what we have done or what's going to happen if we don't do something.  

Jesus says, 'Please, my little lambs, come to Me. Let me hold you in my arms and give you rest. I'm not going to put any demands on you that you can't handle - those you do well enough yourself. Let me restore you to child-like faith and trust in Me and My ability and power to take care of you. I won't let you go.'

Rest - Downhere

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaxwhhNxBi8

06-25-13 Anxiety

Psalm 56:3 "When I am afraid, I will put my trust in Thee."

Psalm 121:1-2 "I Will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From whence shall my help come? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth."

Psalm 23:4 "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me."

Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight."

Psalm 46:10 "Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

First of all sorry for my brief respite from blogging.  I was under the weather - or in the the weather, because it felt like a tornado ran through me.  I'm back now :)  So, I hope you are also.

No matter how you look at - straight in the eye, sideways, front or back - anxiety is a monster worse than the one that used to live under my bed... or was that in my closet... or.....

Seriously, though, in this day and age people are increasing going to see their doctor, counselor, psychologist, psychiatrist for help because anxiety breeds anxiety. The more one dwells on the anxiety, the more anxious one gets and it could very well lead to an all-out panic attack when one cannot function without medical attention or friends praying them through it or relaxation techniques (which, by the way - when you're in the middle of high anxiety or a panic attack most of the time relaxing doesn't even enter one's mind.  So, what to do???

These Psalms talk about three aspects of what to do: 

1) Faith

2) Trust

3) Unwinding

Faith - trusting that the Lord has EVERYTHING under control, even ourselves when we submit our body and soul to him. That even though we can't see the light at the end of the tunnel and everything looks dark - or we're in a valley and all we can see is the valley because of the fog covering the high places where we would like to be - our loving Father is in control.

Trust - The world system goes against the grain on this one. Deception permeates our society - we don't know who to believe - even our friends at times. The One Who wrote the Book of Books (i.e. Bible) - he's the One we can trust, because He's the same yesterday, today and forever. He loves us and demonstrated that by sending Jesus, His only Son to die for us - in our place - for our sins. Then He took the keys of death and hell away from lucifer and now ever lives to intercede for us. He even gave us His Holy Spirit to help lead us and guide us. We can trust him. He will never leave us or forsake us, even when we think we're going over the edge of insanity - He has our shirt-tail.

Unwinding - Why is it we always seem to want to strive towards doing things... busy, busy, busy.  'I'm too busy to do be with my friends' - 'I'm missing dinner and family time because I have too much to do at work' - 'I can't have fun or reat because there is just too much to do and not enough hours in the day' (like more hours would actually help...).  We must learn to rest - a hobby, putting on worship music and being in the presence of the Lord, doing things we've always wanted to do --- ''but didn't have time for''.  We have to make time. The alternative is not pretty.  The alternative is worry, anxiety, panic attacks, being hospitalized (worst case).  We have to make time.

Anxiety is a killer. lucifer comes to steal, kill and destroy. If he can't get to us one way, he always has his hand in his bag of tricks. The object to this is to recognize what triggers our anxiety and work on ways to have faith, trust and unwind with the One who holds us in the palm of His hand.

In The Palm of Your Hand - Alison Krauss

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rz07bR9vs4

06-14-13 The 'Poor' Widow?

Mark 12:41-44 "Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

Now why did this portion of scripture pass through my finite brain when I'm writing about a sacrifice of praise? That's what I asked the Lord. It was an easy answer actually... giving our Father a sacrifice of praise isn't just praising Him in song, in dance, in word, but it's in deed also.

The Bible calls the widow 'poor', but I don't see it. In the eyes of the world maybe she wasn't dressed the best, maybe she may have had a certain smell to her, maybe she lived in little more than a shack.  In the Lord's eyes (and mine) she was rich in faith, in faithfulness, in love for God. She was praising Him through giving all she had.

That's all God requires of us. Just everything we have. 

But He gives us everything He has in return. Why do we doubt that so many times that we hold onto what we have with a strong arm and tight grip like a little kid saying to another, "It's MINE!" No, whatever it is, it's not ours - everything we have is from the Lord. David proclaimed in 1 Chronicles "Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand."

We praise Him through even what we may see as the smallest act of kindness and willingness to give everything to Him.  It's a journey (I try to stay away from the word 'process' - it's over-rated)... we don't give Him everything overnight... but a little here and a little there adds up over time. Then He gives us much more that what we've given him here and there.  It's actually a win-win situation for us... if we so choose to follow Him and sacrifice our praise in action.

Take All of Me - Hillsong  .......  But be careful what you ask for ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytpF2MUTTNo&feature=pyv&ad=3594640885&kw=all

06-13-13 Wait. Pray. Receive. Praise

Psalm 40:1-5 "I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him. Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare."

While we are in a 'slimy pit of mud and mire', how many of us can truly say that we waited PATIENTLY for the Lord? How many of us instead kick and scream and look everywhere trying to get out by ourselves - then becoming a bit angry at God or ourselves or others for getting us into this situation in the first place. Maybe then feeling helpless and/or hopeless that the situation is ever going to get any better - especially if we are slowly sinking down deeper into this pit. People walk by - maybe friends, and we don't say anything because we don't think they can help anyway - or we do cry out and they don't hear us. Resigning ourselves to a slow, but sure death, but having just a little flicker of hope somewhere deep inside that God could still come through and take our hand (after He reaches down into the muck and finds it) and pull us up. I don't know if it would be patience, but we wait for SOMETHING to happen one way or the other, but we are pretty sure that the Lord will come. Though we are not sure when that will be or how we even know He will. It's just there.

He washes us off and sets our feet on strong sturdy rock, where we would probably fall down into a heap because of our striving to get out of the pit ourselves has made us exhausted. On the firm rock we slowly regain our strength as we bask in the sun and our bodies relax and become one with peace. The Lord is still with us - maybe sitting beside us with His hand on our head - maybe gently stroking our hair or head. Then we finally get out the words, 'Thank you, Jesus.' We tell Him how much we love Him and adore Him and are grateful for His saving grace, regardless of how we got there. His kindness leads us to repentance - for getting there in the first place or if it wasn't our fault - for our reaction to being in that pit... our unbelief.

What could this pit represent in our lives today? Addiction - food, sex, drugs, alcohol, pornography, computer games - dare I say, FaceBook ;)  ; Despair; Financial Difficulties; Losing a Job, Home, Friends; Death of a dream, or person; Depression.  What could it be for you?

Can we find it in ourselves to wait patiently for the Lord so that He can put a new song in our mouths (instead of the negative song that has been coming out of our mouths? I don't think so. What?? No, I surely can't find it in myself to do that. But God...  God can give us the ability to wait - if we settle down and ask. Salvation will come - He is the One Who will put a new song in our mouths. He is the One Who gives us even the ability to praise Him for lifting us up out of our pits afterwards.

What do we have to do? Wait. Pray. Talk. Ask for Help. Receive Help. Fairly easy compared to trying to kick and scream our way out - frantically grabbing hold of whatever is around only to have it snap. Wait. God will not let His Name be trampled by the enemy - He will exalt His Name... and then we will so that the world may know we serve a good and gracious, loving God.

MY SOUL LONGS FOR YOU - Jesus Culture

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1QzSF_Y9K4

06-12-13 With All Your Heart

Psalm 86:11-13 "Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths, from the realm of the dead."

I remember once when I was in a very low place emotionally and mentally. I sensed the Presence of the Lord and I said, "I have nothing to give You." He replied, "I'll take anything you have." You know, things like my heart, my mind, my will - those 'small' things.

When we're in "those" kinds of places - we pretty much have to go by faith that the Lord is near to the broken-hearted and a crushed spirit He will not destroy (Psalm 34:18). The other alternative is to lean on others' faith around us to help us hold on to hope. It's not just the angels that bear us up so we don't trip over a rock and land on our faces (Psalm 91), it's friends who have the faith to hold us up in prayer and carry us to Jesus' feet. It's Jesus who intercedes for us - saying something like, "Father, Your Daughter (Your Son), My Bride - have mercy on them and extend Your grace and love to them. They really do believe Your promises, but they have not achieved perfection as I have. I know and believe that they are worthy of Your love, they wear the cloak of righteousness purchased by My Blood." Father looks up at that and surrounds us with His glory so that nothing and no one can harm us while we are in that state. Whether it's grief or depression or whatever, He protects us while we are in process of dealing with it with Him.

We don't have to 'feel' anything to praise the Lord. Sometimes we have to step out in faith and do it anyway, remembering what He has done in the past for us by lifting us out of realm of the dead and remembering His promises to us. This is how our divided hearts become undivided - by remembering Who He is and what He has done; so that we honor and revere His Name. Then we can offer that sacrifice of praise, even when we don't feel like it.

Lord, please give us undivided hearts so that we may fear Your Name. Let it be that we worship and praise you in faith when our emotions 'don't feel like it' because You are always worthy of our praise and honor and thanks and worship. Let us praise you will our whole heart, even if our 'whole' heart doesn't seem like much to give - even when we think that there is nothing there to give. Bless those times when we give the 'next to nothing' we have just because You are Who You are. In Jesus' Name. So Be It.

Yet I Will Praise You - Vineyard
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QjlUDAx53c

06-11-13 Between God and a Whale's Stomach

Jonah 2 "From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He said: "In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry. You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’ The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit. “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. “Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’” And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land."

I don't know about you, but when I look read the Word of God... sometimes God surprises me with something I've never seen before. Like today.

When I pulled up verses on offering sacrifices of praise, this whole chapter of Jonah stood out like a billboard to me. Talk about being between a rock and a hard spot (i.e., God being the Rock and the whale being the hard spot). 

Now, can you imagine running from God (well, ok - for some of us it might be pretty easy to imagine that), but you get on a boat and all these bad things happening with the boat, the crew, etc. Now, you know that there's been a tad bit of disobedience on your part - not doing what the Lord had wanted you to do. Therefore, little by little you're getting the picture that what's happening to this 'innocent' crew is your fault.  So, with either great faith that God is going to save you or if He doesn't save you you'll die by the hand of God, you tell the crew that the only way that they can save themselves is to throw you overboard. The crew didn't want to do that, but eventually saw they had no choice if they were to live. So into the drink, Jonah goes.

It's just my opinion, but I think the Lord let Him tread water for a while wondering why he didn't listen to the Lord in the first place. Then again, maybe the Lord was allowing him to get a few last breaths of fresh air... Imagine the fear that rose up in his throat when he realized he was just about to become dinner for a huge whale!  

I noticed something though, what do the very first few words say? "FROM INSIDE THE FISH..." Jonah thanked and praised God in the face of death. Jonah had turned away from God, he was thrown into the ocean (or sea), he was swallowed by a really big fish - which I'm sure did not smell very good with everything rotting around him, he spent 3 days and nights in the dark with who knows what else the whale was eating. He was not in a very good situation. This wasn't a 'save me' prayer, it was a sacrifice of praise in the midst of a gloomy, dark place. He basically was saying, 'God, You're good - You're right, I'm wrong. I'm sorry. I know my place now. I will do what You have asked, but I don't think my way is working very well. You are the Only One Who can rescue me.' Then, he didn't ask, he declared that 'Salvation comes from the Lord.' 

Perfect example of offering a sacrifice of praise to the Lord. I'm sure he wasn't all happy and joyful about his circumstances. I would have been pretty depressed - angry - frustrated. I would have tried to get out until I was too tired to try. I would be wondering at some point if I was going to die or if God was listening.  My emotions definitely would have been astir. But I'm also pretty tenacious. No matter how far down I've been in the past, my spirit would always be holding onto the tiniest thread of hope. Maybe that's what Jonah resolved to do and from there, his faith grew.

I figure if Jonah can praise God in His situation, then I can praise Him in mine.  Our situations and circumstances change - God never changes. He's the same yesterday, today and forever. He is still and always will be God.

Yet I Will Praise You - Vineyard Music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vEjt280PDo

06-10-13 Sacrifice of Praise

Psalm 54 "God, save me by your power. Set me free by your might. God, hear my prayer. Listen to what I’m saying. Strangers are attacking me. Mean people are trying to kill me. They don’t care about God. But I know that God helps me.  The Lord is the one who keeps me going. My enemies tell lies about me. Do to them the evil things they planned against me. God, be faithful and destroy them. I will sacrifice an offering to you just because I choose to. Lord, I will praise your name because it is good. You have saved me from all of my troubles. With my own eyes I have seen you win the battle over my enemies."

Okay, so I'm straying from my usually NIV to the NIV Reader's Version. In writing about the 'sacrifice of praise', this translation goes just a little deeper into what was trying to be conveyed.

This was written at the time when Saul was after David to kill him. He was 'in hiding', but the peoples he was hiding with decided to tell Saul. David launched into this prayer. He asked God to vindicate him, I believe, for two reasons: 1) He had faith that God could and would rescue him, because God had never failed him; and, 2) He would not fight Saul, because Saul was King and therefore, anointed by God. He would not touch God's anointed (1 Samuel 24). He didn't hide because he was afraid. David, afraid? The one who had slain so many people - Goliath being one of them - lions and bears, etc. No, I can't believe he was afraid. He feared God - respected His judgement and revered His ways.

In all of this - the trouble surrounding him, he DECIDED to offer a sacrifice. He CHOSE to praise the Lord because the Lord was GOOD. He knew His God - so He knew He was faithful to do what He had promised to do. He had faith in God's protection and love for him - and He loved God. 

As the years prior had seen witness, God had never failed him. He had probably failed God here and there - but he had seen the hand of God protecting him and giving Him victory over his (and the Lord's enemies - those whom the Lord knew in no way would ever bow down to His Lordship).

Whatever we are going through right now, God will help us... we only need to ask. He has never failed us. We may have been or are in some pretty tight places where we feel a little stuck, or may we're in a bondage of our own making or someone else's. Whatever it may be - I'm sure we can think back to a time when He did make good of His Word and came to rescue us. He will do so again. We only need to reach out to Him... in faith that He will come - that He is here and praise Him regardless of our circumstances, because He is worthy to be praised... not just in the good times, but in the tough times also. He is always God.

Break Every Chain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNAV98bAqng

06-07-13 Your Will Not Mine

Psalm 40:8-11 "I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.” I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, Lord, as you know. I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help. I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness from the great assembly. Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord; may your love and faithfulness always protect me."

The last part of the Third Step Prayer says, "May I do Your will always".  I give it a twist and specify today and always. That keeps in my mind that just for today, I CAN do His Will, not mine.

See, the First Step for you that don't know 12-step addiction recovery language, is to admit we are powerless over our addiction.  Any addiction - drugs, food, alcohol, cigarettes, sex, etc.... 

The Second Step is to 'come to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity'. This is the step where a glimmer of hope enters into our hearts and minds. 

The Third Step is that we 'made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him'. This is the step of surrender.

First, we admit our weakness. Then, we agree to believe that there is something or Someone greater than ourselves that can help us. Then, we surrender ourselves to 'hopefully' that SOMEONE, whom many choose to call Jesus or God.

To turn our wills over to God isn't just a one-time deal.  It's a daily and sometimes spur of the moment deal. It's not doing what we want to do when we know that it is wrong or at least not all the way right... or when we hear that still, small voice inside saying 'do that' or 'don't do that' and we kind of push it off to the side just a little or sometime a lot.

Our souls can be detrimental to our spiritual health. Our minds, wills and emotions can weak havoc if we let them run wild. That is why the Lord gives us His Holy Spirit - so we can have the strength and the wisdom to rein in our souls to conformity with the Word of God.

This is a must for Christians. Why? We are the reflection of what is inside of us.  Now for the shocker..... in 1 John 1 the Bible says that Jesus is the Word of God. if Jesus lives inside of us, then we are the Word of God to others. We are the Good News. 

Today.... this weekend - let's be somebody's Good News. Givers of the Life within us, because no matter how we feel, the Spirit of Jesus is still there to give that Life. We may feel depressed, down and out, whatever - but we can still give Life and Truth to someone who needs it.

Let's get out and show it!

Hands - Jewel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk0bKfC8XSE