Thankful Thursday: Immortality.

I've got news for you, ladies and gentlemen. You are immortal.

It is short sighted to think of life in only biological terms. Expand your vision. Work with me here. Take a moment and think beyond breathing, think beyond your body. You have spirit and soul. Now, there are people who believe life ends with biological death...that's not the version i'm going with, so we won't even address it.

I was watching this documentary the other day, that for the most part was close to batty, but i digress. This priest guy said something that made me stop and think. We are immortal. There is no way a person can well, vanquish himself completely. A person may for whatever reasons decide to end it to escape from life...but then the soul lives on...

And this is where we ponder the consequences. We are immortal and with this comes great responsibility. It would be quite the field day on earth if we weren't actually immortal. People could run amok doing whatever they pleased and off themselves and be free. But it isn't quite like that, is it?

Life on earth is but one form of existence. We have these biological bodies that house our spirits and souls while we are on earth...No one knows quite what happens when this stage is over, but me, i know it continues. There are other forms of existence, and how they'll be is not independent of our actions here on earth. We will not only answer for our deeds here, but they will determine the fate of our immortal souls...which we cannot destroy or escape from. Let that sink in for a bit...Some people see death as an escape from their hardships here on earth...but this really isn't the final frontier...maybe the human body can be peeled away...but you can't peel anything away from your soul. It is what it is.

I am thankful for life

I am thankful for God

I am thankful for His faithfulness

I am thankful for His mercies

I am thankful for God's love

I am thankful for His attentiveness

I am thankful for the amazing pleasant surprises He puts in my life

I am thankful for Uni

I am thankful for my friends...i have some truly amazing ones that didn't become part of my life by mere coincidence

I am thankful for laughter

I am thankful for family

I am thankful for relationships

I am thankful for love

I am thankful for prayer

I am thankful for growth

I am thankful for God's guidance

I am thankful for favour and blessings

I am thankful for His word

I am thankful for wisdom

I am thankful for patience

I am thankful for who He's  moulding me into

I am thankful for compassion

I am thankful for people who are not indifferent

I am thankful for kindness

I am thankful for God's Will and His perfect plan

I am thankful for support

I am thankful for humour

I am thankful for understanding

I am thankful for inspiration

I am thankful!

Thankful Thursday : Knockoffs.

Colossians 2:8
New International Version (©1984)
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

New Living Translation (©2007)
Don't let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ

HI! so this one has been on my mind since last week. It's the one that presented itself to me as the post to be written...and i nodded, and i didn't write it down..and i forgot...and i felt all guilty in church on Sunday, but God reminded me, so YAY!

Even now, i thought for a second that maybe this wasn't it afterall? that it wasn't so wow maybe and that perhaps i should think of something else to write..(probably because i've walked around with it for a week and it's not so fresh to me :P)...but then something said to start this off with a Bible verse..with the actual one, and not a paraphrase...and i'm glad i did. It reminded me why this is important, why this is relevant. The words aren't much, but they are perfect, spot on.

I got three different versions as you can read, you know...so..nothing is missed in subtext or context.

We have a lot of new-agey stuff around us, don't we? a lot of "love" and "widsom" and "spiritual" directions thrown at us. A lot of "contemporary" and "modern" views have arrived with a bang to uproot this antiquity of a religion we have around Christ. They tell us that our approach is not relevant to today's world, to today's views. That it has been left in the past and need to chill ouuuuut duuuuude and move into the present, to have a shot at the future. To lose all those silly moral principles and rules that are really just a burden. This is the new philosophy that is thrown at us these days in one form or the other.

A couple of minutes ago i was watching this show that i'm currently rather addicted to, and after one girl said it was against her understanding of things to live together before marriage, some other girl commented that she basically has archaic views on things and that sort of take on things isn't modern or contemporary.

It made me pause, really. So, out with morals and principles and the fact that they are based on something...and in with frivolous non-principles and non-stands because hey, they are HIP! yes, we are all aware that they are silly and bring no good or respect..but who really cares? we are contemporary here!

So back to knockoffs. I've been told that a good knockoff is rather difficult to tell apart from the original to the untrained eye. It looks like gucci, smells like leather, and the salesperson in that not half dodgy store said it was original...and at such a reasonable price! so you buy it, and you're all happy...but somewhere at the back of your mind, questions are raised..you think, oh whatever and carry on...but then at some point, that point always comes...that someone with the right eye spots your knockoff and calls you out on it...and then, well boohoo...well, i wouldn't know..i don't own expensive handbags or their knockoffs...but you get the general point.

It's this...it looks good, it seems to have come from a credible place, the material isn't exactly screaming cheap..yes the price seemed a bit inadequate..but hey! this is good for you..you don't ask questions but you're saving quite a bit, and even if it miiiight have questionable authenticity...you feel like you'd be able to bluff your way through 98% of the time..no biggie..bargain! Until you're in the company of people who you KNOW have originals..and then the squirming begins..

LOL..how much you learn from TV...wussup Ugly Betty!

Now to tie this analogy to life. There are a lot of philosophies and teachings out there these days that provide comfort for us. They seem like a bargain..all the good stuff and half the work, and in the places they make us squirm, we close our eyes and find ways to justify it, bluffing our way through. The teachings seem to come from credible people, it sure sounds good, and a lot of it sounds like the real deal...But somehow, we have this part of us that holds the philosophy up to Christ and see that yeah perhaps it's not the entire real deal..but we are as quick to snatch it away and continue bluffing our way among the people who have knockoffs as well. this is the arena in which we, with our modern philosophies feel comfortable. This is the relaxed zone because somewhere inside, people are going, yeah, well we're all messing up..no need to be around them goody goodies with their original bags because well, the knockoffs are so glaringly obvious in their presence.

The shortcomings of philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ are glaringly obvious in the light of Christ. The way morning light makes you question your evaluation of people's aesthetics the night before...

And another very simple thing...even if the knockoff is practically impossible to differentiate from the original upon sight, after touching...there is one thing that you cannot deny. It just isn't the original. It just isn't. By it's very nature, it is fake. It lacks authenticity.

Do not be led astray by empty philosophies and human traditions, no matter how delicious and enticing and easy and convinient they might sound. Run to God for answers if you have too many questions. He is patient, and believe me, He LOVES providing answers and peace of mind and explaining...if only you'll turn to Him and be patient...

I am thankful for life

I am thankful for God

I am thankful for Love

I am thankful for His patience

I am thankful for inspiration

I am thankful for prayer

I am thankful for Babym..and his prophetic ways :P

I am thankful for wisdom

I am thankful for lessons learned, for scar tissue, and for who i am now

I am thankful for my family

I am thankful for my relationship with God

I am thankful for understanding

I am thankful for revelations

I am thankful for peace

I am thankful for listening

I am thankful for Uni and how God blesses this area of my life

I am thankful for learning

I am thankful for the lovely play i got to see this week

I am thankful for emotions

I am thankful for awareness

I am thankful for words

I am thankful for memories

I am thankful for hope

I am thankful for growth

I am thankful for Church

I am thankful for being led

I am thankful for His perfect plan

I am thankful that He teaches me to love me

I am thankful for vulnerability...i guess..lol e no easy

I am thankful for friends

i am thankful for fooooood!

I am thankful for His word

I am thankful for devotional time

I am thankful for His faithfulness

I am thankful for His patience

I am thankful that He is LOVE

I am thankful for His hand in my life and the work He has been doing, and is doing..

i am so very thankful!

Thankful Thursday: Grace

I have no explanation as to why forgiveness and grace have been the dominating topics...but i figure...there's never too much of that...

The area that comes to mind for today's topic is this visualisation i got in church last Sunday. The pastor was talking about how Jesus calls us to forgive, to turn the other cheek, to go the extra mile with people. To extend grace to others, essentially.

Not because they deserve it, not because you HAVE to do it..but because you choose to, because you CHOOSE to offer grace instead of punishment.

The law was an eye for an eye. No one said it was "unfair"...but an eye for an eye will leave everyone blind. Jesus, in a time when that was the default rule (which is pretty fair if you think about it..at least nobody will be getting killed in a fit of rage over a scratch) asked that people turn the other cheek. That they choose to end the hurt. That they say...you know what...fuggedabout it, just carry on...no you don't have to poke your own eye out..because let's face it, a lot of the time..apart from satisfaction that the other person suffers as we did, there is nothing to be gained...and somehow, catching your thrills from someone suffering like you...well...it appeals to our basic human instinct, i won't like...but we are called to be more. How can we be more, how can we move higher, closer to God, if we are gripping on to base instincts so intently?

Now the visualisation. Think about your problems, hurts, pains,worries, anxieties, things that need to be done like a heap. Like, there's a pile of them just there. Or a bucket, or a cage, or...wherever you choose to keep all the things that are your burdens to bear. Done that? okay, now imagine that everyone has one too. Some have more, some have less...Now, imagine that you have to carry it about. Everyone, just carrying their pile of issues about. Weighing on them, backs bent, doubled over over the weight of them. Stopping to set them down and wipe their brow. You, me, that guy over there.

Now, one of these people does you wrong. What this means that it is in your power (legally too!) to add something to their pile. To add a weight to their burden. They deserve this.

But adding to it isn't going to lighten your own load. Even if they are mean unapologetic...you can choose to not add that weight. You can find compassion within you and say you know what? forget it...you have a ton of things as it is..i can afford to not add to it...go ahead and sort those ones out..i'll waive this..i'll show you grace. I'll have mercy.

Everybody has a whole lot of their own issues. We have the power to not add to their burdens. It doesn't mean they don't deserve it...it means you have compassion, it shows your love...it is obeying God...and i'm sure of it that our eyes and hearts will be opened in whole new ways...I can't say i've tried this out and it's true and tested...but i do know that this is the picture God has challenged me with...

I am thankful for life

I am thankful for God

I am thankful for the relationship i have with Him

I am thankful for His faithfulness

I am thankful for Grace

I am thankful for forgiveness

I am thankful for family

I am thankful for the amazing friends i have...wooo L.P

I am thankful for the Quackington. I have no words. I just know that her in my life is something God specifically designed. She lifts my soul, just in time, in the way my spirit needs...time and time again..and when we talk, i am inspired...that is beyond proof that God is in this relationship ^_^

I am thankful for music

I am thankful for my godmother...went to fashionweek yesterday, what what! pleasant evening...God looks out for me...totally brightened my mood

I am thankful that He cares

I am thankful for friendships, relationships

I am thankful that He is enough

I am thankful for words

I am thankful for kindness

I am thankful for His abundant blessings

I am thankful that He equips and prepares me for who i'm meant to be and where i'm meant to be

I am thankful for Love

I am thankful that NOTHING is impossible for God

I am thankful for praise and worship music

btw, The Stand by Hillsong United is playing.....!!!! this song!

I am thankful for my sisters, and how blessed i am to have them. They are perfect. Ideal. I couldn't ask for better. They are wise, they are full of love, they are kind..and i am beyond blessed to have been blessed by them

I am thankful for Uni..like joke like play...2 months..

SO I"LL STAND WITH ARMS HIGH AND HEART ABANDONED, IN AWE OF THE ONE WHO GAVE IT ALL! I'LL STAND MY SOUL, LORD, TO YOU SURRENDERED, ALL I AM IS YOURS'!
what? this song is amaz!

I am thankful for His patience

I am thankful that life is such an adventure

I am thankful for...souls...that they search, that their thirst is satisfied in God.

I am thankful for this week

I am thankful for Joy

I am thankful!!!!

p.s...forgive, extend grace, find compassion within you...

Thankful Thursday: He is relentless.

The Lover of my soul, my redeemer, my father, friend, comforter, God is relentless. And my heart is is His.

I know i cannot begin to grasp the intensity of His love. I understand it in snatches, and even then, very sadly, am quick to..not forget, but shift it to the background, not be aware of it as it deserves. If i could grasp how much God loves me, if you could grasp HOW MUCH He loves you, you'll be walking about delirious. It would make your head spin, your heart rate increase, the butterflies in your stomach would go beserk and you would weep for joy.

His love is overwhelming, humbling.

I know this because He not only says this, proclaims this, not only has He proven this in an act that would in a sensible world be considered once and for all, He keeps showing us His love over and over again. His mercies are new every morning, His love is unending. And not just that He loves us and has told us and that should be enough. He demonstrates it in every area of my life.

Especially when i don't deserve it. I doubt there are times when i do deserve it though...to deserve it would mean to earn it...and i know that the amount of times i fall short will cancel that merit out a million times over. I'm not trying to sound oh woe-is-me sinner...not at all. He has redeemed me, and i'm not flinging myself at His feet in any fatalistic sense of it. If i do so, it is only out of awe and thankfulness that compels me to do nothing but that.

I know i mess up. I know that i fall. I fall when i have no objective reason to. I fall when i know better. I disobey, not because i don't hear the Holy spirit, i disobey when i hear him loud and clear. I put my "interests" which i know are futile, before obedience. I am not perfect. He provides me with all the help i need, and still i mess up. I am not about to clamber up on a pedestal and pretend like i have it together.

But then He gives me Grace. He forgives me. He forgives me when it seems like i already know not to make those mistakes. He forgives me and sets me right. He forgives me and puts me on the right path. He carries on like nothing happened. Even the consequences i bring upon myself, He gets me through. That's a love i'm not sure i can grasp entirely...i start..and it overwhelms me.

He leads me, He guides me, He speaks to me...especially when i'm all out humanly undeserving....His ways are not are ways.

I am thankful for this song playing on Jango - How He Loves by David Crowder band

I am thankful for Life

I am thankful for this book He has lead me to about religion...It's not a coincidence how the questions that have been on my mind are being answered in the most acute way...ask me what sent me to ask for it in the library, i dunno at all :P

I am thankful for God

I am thankful for His word

I am thankful for wisdom

I am thankful for the thirst for wisdom

I am thankful that He satisfies this thirst

I am thankful for His love

I am thankful for His patience

I am thankful for Grace

I am thankful for praise music

I am thankful that He blesses my Uni experience mahn...it is not by my might...because being honest, i could work harder...

I am thankful for the story of Jonah. I've said this before, but i'll say it again. It is a story that reassures me. It is a story that comforts me, that reminds me that God will not deem you useless and throw you away. He will fulfill His will for you. Especially if you are called. When you are called, you cannot ask that cup to pass. You can hibernate, you can run away, you can hide, but He is patient, and He will find you, and He will remove the rock you are hiding under and equip you for the purpose He has anointed you. I broke down over this revelation when i read Isaiah 62:10...one would think it's a verse i've read a hundred times....But that is the beauty of God's communication, isn't it? You cannot run away. You cannot pretend you don't understand what He has asked of you. You have an obligation. It is an honour.

I am thankful for my family

I am thankful for my friends. I am thoroughly blessed to have them in my life.

I am thankful for God's care

I am thankful that God...is Love...i know it sounds redundant given that i have been thankful for His love...but this is different. He IS Love...

I am thankful for inspiration

I am thankful for soul

I am thankful for the mysteries of life and death

I am thankful for the world

I am thankful for...the desire for God...the pull, the thirst which He satisfies

I am thankful for communication

I am thankful for understanding

I am thankful for obedience

I am thankful for forgiveness

I am thankful for relationships

I am thankful for happiness

I am thankful for new...friendships? acquaintances? i love meeting people in unusual ways...and God keeps indulging me :P

I am thankful for support

I am thankful for reflection

I am thankful for prayer

I am thankful for that which we cannot see

I am thankful for good

I am thankful for kindness

I am thankful for His Will

I am thankful for His plan for my life

I am thankful for everything that has brought me here

I am thankful for books

I am thankful for...being able to see the picture of my life, the connection between events, choices..it's pretty cool to look at that from the side

I am thankful for growth..

I am thankful!