Saw this poem on ephesians 6:11-18

"Restraining prayer, we cease to fight;

Prayer makes the Christian armor bright,

And Satan trembles when he sees.

The meanest saint upon his knees."

The hymn I cooked with loool

Was cooking and this hymn came to my head :)
The aurthor is unknow, but whoever wrote it they did a wonderful job, giving us such a great hymn to praise Jesus too :)


The strife is o’er, the battle done;
The victory of life is won;
The song of triumph has begun: Alleluia!

Refrain
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

The powers of death have done their worst;
But Christ their legions hath dispersed;
Let shouts of holy joy outburst: Alleluia!

Refrain
The three sad days are quickly sped;
He rises glorious from the dead;
All glory to our risen Head! Alleluia!

Refrain

He closed the yawning gates of hell;
The bars from heaven’s high portals fell;
Let hymns of praise His triumphs tell! Alleluia!

Refrain

Lord, by the stripes which wounded Thee,From death’s dread sting Thy servants free,That we may live, and sing to Thee: Alleluia!
Refrain

I won’t lie
I will crumble in your arms like clay if u were to ever say,
I am not the person you want me to be

I will break apart because your criticisms stones
Shattering the image of perfection I see when it comes to me and my personality alone
Your words will be knives cutting their way through a forest of hidden pride
And just one word from you, one rebuke, one rejection, will have me feeling exposed
Your words will tear of my cloak of perfection and I will feel lost
Human
Seeing myself for what I am
A weak man, in need of something supernatural to clean him up

Grace is for everyone

So If I’m not the person I want people to see
Then I must be the humble person that allows grace to change me
And that might mean, hearing some rebukes, seeing some flaws
Coming to terms with the fact that that I am not perfect at all
Need to be continuously changed by the word
Pride must bow down
Learn, grow, accept rebukes gracefully
There’s enough grace to change even the worst things about me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faNij71hh7o

My heart's cry these day!

The words are from a long nar­ra­tive poem, “The Brew­ing of So­ma.” It de­scribes Ve­dic priests go­ing in­to the for­est and drink­ing them­selves into a stu­por with a con­coct­ion called “soma.” They try to have a re­li­gious ex­per­i­ence and con­tact the spir­it world. It is af­ter set­ting that scene that Whit­tier draws his les­son: “Dear Lord, and Fa­ther of man­kind, for­give our fool­ish ways…” This hymn is as rel­e­vant to­day as when it was writ­ten. In a mod­ern con­text, it speaks to the drug cul­ture, and those look­ing for an “experience” to prove the re­al­i­ty of God. I love it because even if it's not drinking and all of that, we all have our own flaws and our hearts can with sincerity cry this. Every stanza speaks of something that is so dear to me, cause I do allot of foolish things

---

Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways;
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives Thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise.

In simple trust like theirs who heard,
Beside the Syrian sea,
The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word,
Rise up and follow Thee.

O Sabbath rest by Galilee,
O calm of hills above,
Where Jesus knelt to share with Thee
The silence of eternity,
Interpreted by love!

With that deep hush subduing all
Our words and works that drown
The tender whisper of Thy call,
As noiseless let Thy blessing fall
As fell Thy manna down.

Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.

Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small voice of calm.

Reference: http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/d/e/dearlord.htm

We can

We can all have the warmth in our arms
The glow in our cheeks
The sweet truth on our tongues
But not all of us know this

We can all have the tenderness in our hearts
The twinkle in our eyes
The love in our lives
But not all of us know this

We can all have the riches in our hands
The willingness to listen in our mind
The grace to be gracious in our lives
But not all of us know it

So we use daggers in our mouths
Coldness in our arms
Redness in our eyes
Green eyed in desires

We move with hardness in our heart
Let the unforgiving nature become a statue
Remain unwilling to take sometime out and listen
Just because we are unclear of what love is, and what love means

Yet no matter how bad
Hope still stands
So thou we may not know
The truth is, we can

WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS!

Ok so I was meant to be performing somewhere this week. The poem I wanted to do is called prayer (will put it up soon) so I really wanted to have a wonderful hymn that I know called 'what a friend we have in Jesus' sang during my performance. I was so shocked at the amount of people that did not know this hymn! Made me feel all old loool. I do think it is a British thing, I don't think the hymn is sung much in churches over here. Anyhoo the hymn is a blessing. Filled with such truths. Here are the words and the story let me know if you have ever heard of it. And if you have let me know in what country lool. Loves xxx

The Hymn "What a Friend We Have in Jesus"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B7i2wCqIuE

1. What a friend we have in Jesus,
   All our sins and griefs to bear!
   What a privilege to carry
   Everything to God in prayer!
   Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
   Oh, what needless pain we bear,
   All because we do not carry
   Everything to God in prayer!
2. 
   
3. Have we trials and temptations?
   Is there trouble anywhere?
   We should never be discouraged—
   Take it to the Lord in prayer.
   Can we find a friend so faithful,
   Who will all our sorrows share?
   Jesus knows our every weakness;
   Take it to the Lord in prayer.
4. 
   
5. Are we weak and heavy-laden,
   Cumbered with a load of care?
   Precious Savior, still our refuge—
   Take it to the Lord in prayer.
   Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
   Take it to the Lord in prayer!
   In His arms He’ll take and shield thee,
   Thou wilt find a solace there.
6. 
   
7. Blessed Savior, Thou hast promised
   Thou wilt all our burdens bear;
   May we ever, Lord, be bringing
   All to Thee in earnest prayer.
   Soon in glory bright, unclouded,
   There will be no need for prayer—
   Rapture, praise, and endless worship
   Will be our sweet portion there.

Here's what I found about the writer and the hymn. I did not write this part underneath.

Originally a poem, "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" was never intended by the hymn writer, Joseph Scriven, for publication. Upon learning of his mother's serious illness and was unable to be with her in faraway Dublin, he wrote a letter of comfort enclosing the words of this text. Some time later when he himself was ill, a friend who came to see him chanced to see the poem scribbled on scratch people near his bed. The friend read it with interest and asked if he had written the words. With typical modesty, Scriven replied, "The Lord and I did it between us." In 1869 a small collection of his poems was published. Simply, it was entitled Hymns and Other Verses.

Read more at Suite101: What a Friend We Have in Jesus Hymn History: Words by Joseph Scriven, Music by Charles C. Converse | Suite101.com http://telasiado.suite101.com/what-a-friend-we-have-in-jesus-a57293#ixzz1XIofd7U1

Hymn and prayer make me a channel of your peace

Make me a channel of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let me bring you love;
Where there is injury, your healing pow'r,
And where there's doubt, true faith in you.

2. Make me a channel of your peace:
Where there's despair in life let me bring hope;
Where there is darkness, - only light,
And where there's sadness, ever joy

3. O Spirit, grant that I may never seek
So much to be consolded as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love with all my soul -

.4. Make me a channel of your peace.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
In giving to all that we receive,
And in dying that we're born to eternal life.

Author: A Prayer of St. Francis, written by Johann Sebastian von TempelhoffDate: unknownStory:Most modern hymns are penned by Protestants, but one of the best ones from recent decades comes from a Franciscan named Johann Sebastian von Tempelhoff (1928-1997). Tempelhoff was a prolific singer and songwriter under the name Sebastian Temple. Born in Pretoria, South Africa, he was a Scientologist for a time before he converted to Catholicism.This hymn is based on a traditional prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, though modern scholars usually credit a later Franciscan, Jacopo di Toddi. In English, the prayer reads:Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is darkness, light. Where there is sadness, joy.O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.


Ref http://lyrics.astraweb.com/display/697/hymns..unknown..make_me_a_channel_of_your_peace.html

Notes from a fighting pessimist: love is not always a losing game

I use to agree with Amy. I guess when you go through a rough time in a relationship or with someone you liked you might start thinking that love is a losing game, even if you don't say it out loud. But as I learn to not let my past depict my future, I'm learning that love don't have to be a losing game, nor do I have to consider it as such. Love can be a winning game. Lately I've been learning allot about compatibility. For me that's starting to become very significant when it comes to relationships. Someone said, it is possible to love someone you are not compatible with. And when that happens, because you are incompatible you will find it hard to co-exists together as one. So rather than allowing my emotions alone to tell me he is the one, I hope to look for how compatible we are with together. For me love is no longer a losing game, it can be win win. I am determined to hold on to the class is half full mentality and be ready to work at something rather than expect it to come perfect. Well that's just me. What do you think? Is love a losing game to you? And if so, why?

Love-lust

He said he loved me

I wanted him to love me

Show me how he loved so conditionally

Gave up what was precious to me to not lose him

I chose him

After all, how precious was virginity for the one you loved?

He said he loved me

So we used my body as his daily fix

Sessions upon sessions he got his release

Every frustration that went through his mind during that day, month, week

And me seeking to feel loved by somebody, laid it all down for him

After all, how precious was my body when somebody finally noticed me?

He said he loved me

So I made him my centrality

Ride or die chick that was me

Never accepting the truth that the relationship was about my needs and his

He was always the first

Was not his wife but I willingly submitted to every one of his lust

He controlled my emotions

I depended on his love,

My own personal ecstasy, that what I called our love

Friends that didn’t really know us said he was no good for me

I knew they were just jealous because they didn’t have what we did

See he loved me

And to love him was to give him every part of me

To love him was to try and keep him with my body

To love him was to use lust to bury all my own insecurities

To love him was to do something to get something in return

To love him was to say my friends were all wrong

To love him was to convince myself my body was worth nothing at all

To love him was to accept that virginity means nothing no-more

To love him was to encourage his lust so he would show love

Heck, I wanted it; I wasn’t forced to do it

Yes I wanted him, so I did it to prove it

Many times lust disguises itself as love, rules in our relationships and we don’t know it

We miss it because we don’t even know love to identify it and realize lust is not it

To know love will mean to let go of our needs and see that love truly is

God, he’s love and without him love don’t exist

Until we come to know his love the love we know is selfish

Until we come to know his warmth the warmth we know is worthless

Lust sees what it wants and takes advantage

Love sees what the other person needs first

See love is not selfish

Its patient and kind

Love does not seek to get its own every time

Love does not delight in wrong, so there shouldn’t be a time

When love will tell you if you love me baby you should be willing to prove it with your body then

Love that is not conditional at all

Well one condition and that’s that I remain true to who I am that’s all

Love that have the patience to love me from my face down

Cause ‘loving’ a guy with your legs first hoping he’ll one day wake up and love you enough to look at your face don’t work

Now loving a guy from your face down, and hoping he’ll love you enough to know the person behind the face’s smile might take some time

But at least if he goes go before you get to the legs, you know he’d taken nothing from you but some emotions, some smiles and time

Holding on to the wisdom that the love you need cannot just be found only in a man will make you smile,

And holding onto the truth that your body is not just your own, but a temple designed to honor the lord by waiting till the right time in marriage comes, will keep you strong

Till then be strong and remember that sometimes the best way to say I love you to someone is to say NO, but if you have love-lust him already, sometimes the best way to say I love you, no matter how hard will be to say, lets hang on :)

When I think of where I’ve been

Who I was

What I was in

I truly with a thankful heart

Praise you, my rope, my everything

Cause you met me in a place of need

Saw the need to lift me from sin

Your grace the rope to which I cling

Praise you, my rope,my everything

As you brought me out of darkness

Brought me to life with you, a place of rest

You lift me higher and higher

So my soul praise you, Jesus my righteousness

I hear you bid me come nearer

And you guide me with your love and care

Your rope of grace being lowered down from the heavens forever

To rescue, the rescue, the hope, the way out of the pit of darkness for whosoever

So my friends reach for the rope of grace, and hold on to it

When rescued treasure grace, follow and obey he who lowered it

And thank thee Jesus, thank him our Lord, thank him indeed

For the one that rescued us with the rope of grace, is our hope, the grace we need.