I'm not quite sure what to write, I'm just appalled at how easily I let things in my life steal the peace that God has promised me. It really doesn't take much to make me panic and want to jump into a hole and stop trusting God. We're so flaky, why does God put up with us?

Here are a few things I need to remember:

Deuteronomy 31:6
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."

Deuteronomy 31:8
The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD , "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Matthew 6:33
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

1 Peter 3:15
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect..

There are so many more things I need to remember, those are just a few...

God will never leave or forsake me. Never. Not even for a second. I'm His forever and He is mine. I HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR if I'm in His hands. In fact God tells me to be strong and courageous, and why shouldn't I be if He is with me. Not only is He with me, He's even gone before me. All those things I fear, all the future possibilities I worry about, all those things I get anxious about, He knows. He's been there already and prepared a path for me.

He has plans for me. Plans not to harm me but to prosper me, plans to give me HOPE and a FUTURE. Whatever plans I think I have, or whatever I think my future holds can't compare to the amazing things that God has planned. God knows me better than I know myself, so His plans will ALWAYS be better.

I try to hold onto all kinds of things and I'm always going to fail when I take things into my own hands and try and make sure everything works out the way I want. I need to just SEEK HIM. That's the point of why we're here, to find Jesus and to follow Him. I REALLY need to keep that in my heart and mind and not forget it.

"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord" - I fail every day at this. I'm always taking my eyes off Him, when He's all I need.

Make Him first in your life. He will NEVER let you down, He will NEVER let you go. He has amazing plans for you and don't worry! He's been before you and prepared the way. Cool huh!?

Lamp unto my feet
Light unto my path
It is You
Jesus, It is You

This treasure that I hold
More than finest gold
It is You
Jesus, It is You

With all my heart
With all my soul
I live to worship You
And praise forevermore
Praise forevermore

Lord everyday
I need You more
On wings of Heaven I will soar
With You

You take my broken ness
And call me to yourself
There You stand
Heal me in Your hand

Trade it for the Joy of the Lord.

I'm trading my sorrow,
I'm trading my shame,
I'm laying them down for the joy of the Lord,
I'm trading my sickness,
I'm trading my pain,
I'm laying them down for the joy of the Lord,

so we say
Yes Lord yes Lord yes yes Lord,
Yes Lord yes Lord yes yes Lord
Yes Lord yes Lord yes yes Lord amen,

I am pressed but not crushed,
Persecuted not abandoned,
Struck down but not destroyed,
I am blessed beyond the curse for his promise will endure,
Cause His joy gonna be my strength,
Though the sorrow may last for the night,
But His joy comes with the morning,

I'm trading my sorrows,
I'm trading my shame,
I'm laying them down for the joy of the Lord,
I'm trading my sickness,
I'm trading my pain,
I'm laying them down for the joy of the Lord,

So we say,
Yes Lord yes Lord yes yes Lord,
Yes Lord yes Lord yes yes Lord
Yes Lord yes Lord yes yes Lord amen,

I am pressed but not crushed,
Persecuted not abandoned,
Struck down but not destroyed,
I am blessed beyond the curse,
For his promise will endure,
Cause His joy gonna be my strength,
Though the sorrow may last for the night,
But His joy comes with the morning,

I'm trading my sorrows,
I'm trading my shame,
I'm laying them down for the joy of the Lord,
I'm trading my sickness,
I'm trading my pain,
I'm laying them down for the joy of the Lord

The more I think about it the more I see that out situation, outlook, emotional state and position are upto us. God has SET US FREE! We're like animals that we're in a cage for years. Then the cage was removed but we still don't move from the area we were captive to, we stay in the cage, even though it's been removed.

God wants us to learn to live in the freedom He has given us. The freedom He has bought for us. YOU ARE FREE! LIVE IN THAT FREEDOM!

Whatever you think is captivating you right now..give it to God, He's already set you free from it. Nothing can hold you, YOU ARE A SON OR DAUGHTER OF THE KING OF KINGS. Know that you are free and live a life of freedom. Let the Joy of the Lord be your strength and when you start to feel trapped, depressed, anxious, whatever....then TRADE IT for the Joy of the Lord. It's God's promise to you.

I think that we all need to get hold of the fact that 'The Joy of the Lord is our Strength'.

Why don't you go and get hold of that RIGHT NOW PEOPLE!

Darnit. Today blogger broke and lost a post.

Sometimes blogger I love you, sometimes Blogger you suck.

This morning while driving to work, I 'missed' somewhere, somewhere I hadn't been for quite a while. It was a slightly bizarre feeling as the place I was missing was a particular section of Liberty City in the video game 'Grand Theft Auto 3'.

I can't help thinking that at one point last year I was playing that game far too much.

While text messaging today my predictive text has presented me with some rather cool words by mistake..due to my poor typing...or is that texting..well..anyway. Here they are, i'll keep you informed of future exciting and unusual words.

Hag
Hemp
Soil
Folds
Hebo
Melog

update:
Thongit
Vignel
Midam
Colin

Jenn is down under in Oz doing amazing work for God. Everyone should support her with prayers, money and exciting gift packages! This is what she's doing.

Oh MacTavish is dead and his brother don't know it,
His brother is dead and MacTavish don't know it.
They're both of them dead, and they're in the same bed,
And neither one knows that the other is dead.

Kind of ironic really, though why were they in the same bed? What did they die of? Was it a highly contagious disease or a hereditary defect?

I hate the way these little details are never cleared up. Like in the film Mannequin. It's so magical when she turns into a human being but did she have a national security number? What about all the paperwork that means you're alive? Who did that?

hmm?

The Doomed Friendship.

Cat meets dog
they had a laugh
out on the pavement
or indeed, the side walk
they partook in lively dialogue
regarding the price of fish
and the scarce availability of decent marrowbone
enjoying their companionship, until..
the local species police came along
informing the pair their friendship was improper
dog hates cat
cat hates dog
have you not seen such a cartoon?
now, move along and chase each other!
For pities sake!
stop playing with peoples expectations!
quadrupeds like you two make me sick!

The End.

Jeremiah 3v14 - 15

"Return, faithless people," declares the LORD , "for I am your husband. I will choose you-one from a town and two from a clan-and bring you to Zion. Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding.

Ode to the foolish moon.

Oh sweet moon
moon in the night sky
how glowing you are
how ethereal
but why are you made of cheese?
what madness is that?
will the mice not eat thy?
the rats devour your innards?
Why are you not made of a sensible material?
like rock or metal?
Or plastic! That cleans up well!
Get a life moon..sort yourself out!
Get with the program and stop this foolishness!
Shame you can't be more like the sun!

Selah.

If it happens to be your birthday today: Happy Birthday.
If not, then please disregard this post.
Thanks.

My laptop is not happy. If you want to pray for the health of my laptop, well...it wouldn't do any harm.

[Listening to: Destiny - Zero 7 - Simple Things (02:25)]

Oh great. Now you can see what I'm listening too.

Life isn't all about being Happy. If happiness is your primary goal in life then you will be miserable a lot of the time.

Life is about Jesus. It's about finding Him, getting to know Him and doing what He created you to do.

While spell checking this post, the spell checker didn't recognize the word 'Jesus'. As I didn't want to change 'Jesus' to 'j'accuse' or 'Jigsaw', I had to click 'Ignore'.

I must admit I felt a little guilty about ignoring Jesus. Then I felt even more guilty as I realized I ignore Him quite a lot of the time anyway.

It's amazing how spell checking can be so convicting!

Here are a few wise sayings:

When all is said and done, a lot more is said than done.
The road is long, with many a winding turn.
At the end of the day, it's night.
Three bags of sparrows is going to be a whole load of trouble, set them free and let your soul be your anchor.

Oh my word. Life. What's it all about eh?

Lessons, that's what. Lessons, failing, learning. Figuring yourself out. Figuring other people out. Bleh.

What a game. What a funny old game life is.

Life = Funny old game.

Funny funny funny.

Or often not very funny at all. Then, the next moment, funny.

The thing is...what is the thing? heh? What is it? I ask you..do you know? Have you got the answer?

Only Smarties have the answer.

Oh well...at least the rabbits seem to have things under control. Bless their little fluffy ears...and Hamsters.