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

06-06-13 Take Away My Difficulties

Psalm 55:22 "Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken."

The Lord Jesus says that we can cast our cares on Him - our difficulties - our problems - our issues and He will sustain us. But doesn't it seem like sometimes, we go to throw the difficulties down at His feet and they stick to our hands like some kind of goo that stretches and comes straight back to our hands? 

Why is that? 

1 - We don't really want to let it go as we've become quite accustomed to it.

2 - We are afraid to deal with the pain it may cause.

3 - We don't think He will really take it away.

4 - We feel unworthiness and shame and just want to hide it.

5 - It doesn't want to let go of us, until we tell it to go.

You could probably list a few others.

So, let me explain why I chose to list those above.

Regarding 1 - It's like a captive not wanting to leave a captor because it's all they've ever known.  The Lord wants to show us what that difficulty really looks like in His eyes and then show us how much more HE has to offer.

Regarding 2 - Some difficulties are quite painful - and they will stay that way until they are dealt with. They come up - we bury them. They come back up - we bury them again... they will just keep coming up until we come to the place where we're sick and tired of being sick and tired. The Lord knows how to deal with pain, and He is a Gentle-Healer. He's waiting to take the difficulty and deal with the 'roots' that may accompany it.

Regarding 3 - We don't believe that He does what He says He will do. We may lack faith, we may have seen Him not do what we've asked in the past. But by faith, we need to believe that He is doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves... and maybe literally picture putting that difficulty into His hands.

Regarding 4 - If the difficulty is something that we've initiated or was initiated against us, we may be shame.  If it's something that we've given to Him over and over and over again, we may feel unworthy to come before Him AGAIN. But He forgives each time we ask - when we truly want to repent for our unbelief and for agreeing with shame and unworthiness.  He then clothes us with Honor and Righteousness.

Regarding 5 - God sets us free from our enemies, not our friends. If there is a demonic entity behind the difficulty, then we need to tell it to get the heck out and away from us, in the Name of Jesus. That we are no longer going to listen to it - agree with it - be friends with it. Whom the Son sets free, is free indeed! John 8:36

Lastly, and I didn't list it above, but at times the difficulty doesn't go away - because we're meant to go through it - leaning on the Lord's strength and mercy and grace.... leaning on our support system... not withdrawing. Sometimes we may feel like we're going around the same mountain... and we are.  But it's more like a spiral - we start at the bottom and we go around, but we're also going higher and closer to the top. We are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus! Romans 8:37

So, when I pray this prayer, I pray "Lord, take away the difficulties that you know I can't handle or keep them from me - and give me the grace and strength to go through the difficulties that you know I can handle.

The end of this sentence in the prayer says, "So that victory over them may bear witness of Your Power, Your Love and Your Way of Life to those I would help.  We overcome by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony! Revelation 12:11   ---- So that we may bring glory to God and bless others with Who He is!!

How exciting is that!

So, let's begin to look at our difficulties in a new Light - and ourselves as the overcomers that we are!

Overcome - Desperation Band 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sjYWrpNoCs

06-05-13 Bondage of Self

Colossians 3:5-10 "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator."

Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Your will... - AA Third Step Prayer.

Actually, that's what I'm doing this week - breaking down the 3rd Step Prayer. In a nutshell, it's giving our lives over to God.

Again, here we are asking the Lord to take away the junk inside of us to make more room for Him to fill. 

The prayer asks the Lord to relieve us of the bondage to self. There are probably many more ways we can be in bondage to ourselves.  How about self-protection, self-hatred, selfishness - for starters? God can't release us of them until we're ready to let them go.

Once we're ready to let them go, then the Lord is over-ready to take them away and help us to put on a new 'robe of righteousness'. We don't need all that clutter in our lives - it just makes us weighed down and weary.

Then Jesus comes in and fills us with good things, like love and purity, cleanness and wholeness, faithfulness and calmness.  

The thing is, we need to stop picking up the same thing over and over again. We shed the robe of righteousness and exchange it back for the chains of bondage to our own desires and wants. If we want to better do His will in our lives, to know His will for our lives, then we need to be very close to Jesus. Once we start to heed the voice of self, then we are on a slippery slope down the slide of sin, which leads to despair.... and our separation from hearing the voice of the Lord.

Let's all continue to shed the old rags and to keep on the Royal Robe of Righteousness that Jesus has given us.

06-04-13 Do and Build

Psalm 139:23-24 "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

Galatians 5:22-23 "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."

Another part of the prayer I pray in the morning is for the Lord to take my life and do with my and build with me what He will.

Do you ever notice that we ask the Lord in song or in verse or in just talking to Him to search us, know us, test us with our anxious thoughts; to see if there is any sin in us and to lead us.... but the HE ACTUALLY DOES IT???

If you are anything like me when He starts messing around with that heart area, I'm like, "God, WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" I was going to tone that down a bit, but that's really what I and I think others actually think or say.  He comes back and says, "Only what you asked me to".  Oh, really?? Like I asked you to bring all this junk from the past back up into my life - like I really asked to be turned inside out to where my heart doesn't even feel like it's where it supposed to be physically!!  I asked for that?? He says, "Fortunately, yes." 

I get mad at Him! Like He's doing something to me and exposing my vulnerabilities and defenses and self-protection.... oh, well.... I guess He is.... and well, He's right, I asked Him out of my love for Him and my desire to give Him more of me so can have more of Him to do just that.

WHAT WAS I THINKING?????? 

I was thinking about Jesus and how much He gave for me, and how much I want to love Him in the same way He loves me.

To build with me and to do with me - in me - what He wills. I think of letting Him lead my day and to build in me the fruit of the Spirit. To build in me love towards others and myself - joy, that is my strength - peace, that guards my heart and my mind - forbearance, patience with people around me who act like... well, you know - kindness, doing something nice for someone, even smiling - goodness, having a purity of thought and deed - faithfulness, know Jesus is our center and following His Voice alone - gentleness, showing compassion to those who need it, but also learning to be gentle in reproof - self-control or temperance (don't particularly like the word self-control - it implies we are doing it ourselves, when in fact we need Jesus for everything), keeping ourselves through the power of the Holy Spirit away from sin and doing what's not sinful in moderation.

Just my belief of what He wants to build in us... along with the various gifts He wants to pour out on us. When we act in accordance with the Spirit, nothing can harm us. Think about it.

Search Me - Know Me - Travis Cottrell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ4dVPPmUWc

06-01-13 Giving Our Lives To God

Romans 12:1-3 "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

So, I was talking with the Lord this morning. One of the lines I pray daily is that I give myself, offer myself to God - as a living sacrifice - to be holy and pleasing to Him and for Him to do and build with me as He will.

I immediately thought, 'This isn't going to work'. Why? I'm not holy - I'm far from being holy.  Not just feeling like I wasn't holy - but that I wasn't holy enough even be offering myself as a sacrifice to our Father. 

I pray that part of a prayer every day... the rest of the parts I'll explain the rest of the week. I ask Him to burn off the dross and the fat for a sweet smelling aroma (oh, how I wish that could be true in the physical also ;)). But I've been very guarded for approximately the last day. Just happens whenever the Lord does what I ask (i.e., burns off the dross and fat) - it doesn't set well - like it's so unnatural to let the Lord into those places where the dross and the fat are. Am I talking to myself here??

If I'm not open, then how in the world can I let Him do in me and build with me as He wills? I took it by faith that at least I was talking with Him and continued on with my prayer. That is, after He said, "Do you think you need to be wholly holy in order to offer yourself to me? Because, you know, from My standpoint, I'm seeing you already as holy in my sight. The dross and fat that has been burned away already has revealed some holes that need filled and patched; some wounds that need to be healed; some forgiveness that needs to be given; some sin that needs to be made rid of. But I have seen in the past that even those are beautiful in my sight when you have given them over to Me.... a sweet-smelling aroma of freedom and my songs of deliverance go forth. What is still bothering you, I see as the same way. Don't be afraid to go where I lead. Peace, be still. You are Mine."

Our true act of worship is to offer ourselves to God - not conforming to the world and its 'programming', but being transformed in our minds by the Word of God and the Power of Holy Spirit. Only then can we know what God's good, please and perfect will is for us, maybe not for our whole lives, but for that day, that hour, that minute.

Many Blessing of peace, grace and mercy to you. Let's all keep moving ahead to have open hearts before the Lord.... let His peace overtake the anxiety and fear of letting Him in to heal the broken places.

I Offer My Life To You - Don Moen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-JJg-8qPso   Lord, please let this be so in our lives.