FAIRGROUND CAROUSEL Page 49

 I look forward to the day I’m released from this bondage –it’s making me crazy.

Obligations seem to never end! My mind is not clear-my vision is hazy.

I wake up in the morning and I think “Here we go again!”
Instead of seeing new opportunities I wonder “Will it ever end?”

I’m chasing dreams, chasing time. Life keeps exploding forward with this loud ticking!

I want to slow down or just stop-but the clock keeps on insisting…

that I keep going, rushing, moving forward! I want to cover all my bases.

It’s hard! Everyone has needs-including me- I’m waiting for a payday.

I look around seeking comfort.  Is there anyone else who sees this?
I wonder if I’m the only one who has it all wrong-or did we ALL miss it.

The goal that we’ve been called to is spiritual peace- but it makes me too quiet.

I think that if I keep on going, one day, I’ll simply acquire it.

A crowd of people filter in and out of my life-I think that they know me.
I stand right in front of them but their eyes seem blank-as if their mind is not free. 

It seems life is like a fairground carousel-it spins and spins- in a circuit.

Like all the rest of us, I think that if I just stay on the ride it’ll all be worth it.

I chose to buy the ticket for that enticing carousel.
I thought it would be a joyride but it's put me through an earthly hell. 

Charmed with lights, music and mirrors I have been willfully held in prison.

My mind is so distracted, Lord-I have forgotten why you have risen.

An Angel of Light can be a delightful deception-

And the world can be a carnival that throws a nice reception.

This world is a spectical and has made me a puppet.

If I would just step away from all this noise I could hush it.

Lord, you say “Come to me all who are burdened and I will give you rest.”

Help me!  Help my unbelief-for I’m tired of this mess.

Round and round in my mind, I go. It’s nothing but a war!

If I could remember that you’ve overcome this world-I could get out of the muck and mar!

I know this world wants to bury me and has already dug the gravesite.
I know these struggles with moral good and universal evil are battling for my birthright!  

I need clarity to remember the depth and height of your importance.

My soul needs to surrender to your mind-bending omnipotence!

I am a spiritual being with a life full of relevance.

I am cloaked in your righteousness; blessed with an inheritance.

Lord, thank you that I am a foreigner living in all the craziness.

You will change all this in a mere moment-including my temporary inhabitance.

Spiritually retreating out of the gates of hell I am no longer afraid and now waiting in faithful expectation.

Soon, you will release us all from this worldly infestation…

…of pain, worry, fear and strife.

The war-worn carnival is closing; I have a ticket home! You’ve saved my life!

RvH

5/22/15

Relevant Scriptures:

"Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world,
 to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul."
I Peter 2:11

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. “

Matthew 11:28

"Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, 
"I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"
Mark 9:24

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.
 In this world you will have trouble.  But, take heart!
  I have overcome this world.” 
John 16:33

"And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light."
2 Corinthians 11:14

 “Enter through the narrow gate.
 For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction,
 and many enter through it.
 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life,
 and only a few find it.” 

Matthew 7:13-14

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors 
through him who loved us. 
 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, 
neither angels nor demons, 
neither the present note the future, nor any powers, 
neither height nor depth, 
nor anything else in all creation
 will separate us
 from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord."
Romans 8:37-39

"The end of all things is near.  
Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. 
 Above all , love each other deeply, 
because love covers over a multitude of sins."
I Peter 4:7-8

"God did not give us the spirit of fear
 but of power, and love and a sound mind."
II Timothy 1: 7

Song Recommendations:

Edge of My Life

BY:  Manafest

Afterlife
By:  Switchfoot

Unbreakable
By:  Fireflight

Assuming the Existence of a Creator! Page 48

Have you ever seen The Whirlpool Galaxy?  Many of us haven't and if it weren't for modern technology, none of us ever would. 

The Whirlpool Galaxy

The Whirlpool Galaxy is an interacting grand-design spiral galaxy with a Seyfert 2 active galactic nucleus in the constellation Canes Venatici.

 It was the first galaxy to be classified as a spiral galaxy. Wikipedia


Distance to Earth: 23,160,000 light years


Click Wikpedia link to view image!

 Here is the definition of a Light Year:

light year

noun

ASTRONOMY

1. a unit of astronomical distance equivalent to the distance that light travels in one year, which is 9.4607 × 10¹² km (nearly 6 trillion miles)

   
   
   Let's think about that distance for a minute and then marvel that modern science allows us to peer at a galaxy that is so far away from earth that it is almost incomprehensible and then let's baffle over the vastness of what is out beyond our vision and realize we must believe in things we cannot see.  Let's admit that there are places beyond earth and actually beyond our knowledge and understanding that are truly inconceivable!  

Honesty, I enjoy thinking about and writing about things that we cannot see because it opens our minds to the unknown.  For many, God is an unknown.  For all of us God is unseen-except in the recesses of our heart, mind and soul.  Believing in things we cannot see is the catalyst of faith.  Believing by “faith” is the summation of what we do when we believe in something specific but haven’t seen it 1^st hand.  I write this in order to share the following quote about a Creator-whom we cannot see-but none-the-less have great evidence of and, therefore, can have reasonable faith in:

“God intends us to enjoy His creation; that’s why it’s beautiful.  We see His wonders above us, beneath us, all around us, even within us.  We’re encircled by an eye-popping, mind-boggling, awe-inspiring cosmos, which logically implies that there’s a Creator who sees, thinks, and inspires awe. The universe is full of pulsating energy, so it’s Maker must be omnipotent”1 (Omnipotent defined: all-powerful or godlike).  “It appears virtually endless, so He must be eternal.  Because it’s finely calibrated, He must be intelligent.  Since it contains life, He must be personal; and since it’s magnificent, He must be altogether lovely.  Assuming the existence of a Creator isn’t a mindless leap of faith; it’s the most reasonable thing in the universe.”2

I love that last sentence.  Believing in God is "the most reasonable thing in the universe." That makes so much sense to me when you look beyond our visible, material world and into  the vastness of the unseen.  If this is too vast of a viewpoint let's scale back to earth's atmosphere for a moment: the simplest of things like a blue sky with white, billowy clouds should give us pause but, because it’s such an everyday visual, it doesn’t.  Frankly, it should for in them we have been given a vision of the magnificence of God. Why do I say that?  Because the Bible says that:

“The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;

Night after night they display knowledge.

There is no speech or language

Where their voice is not heard.

Their voice goes out into all the earth,

Their words to the ends of the world.”

Psalm 19: 1-4

Song Recommendation:

Architecture

BY:  Jonathan Thulin

1-Robert Morgan; The Heavens Proclaim His Glory; 2010 Thomas Nelson, Inc.

2-Robert Morgan; The Heavens Proclaim His Glory; 2010 Thomas Nelson, Inc.

I'm Changed! Page 47

 God, though you're invisible-

 your eye's pierce my heart as if your sword tore open my chest.

I can't see you…. but my soul knows you're near.

 I know you're compassionate Lord...

yet, I can't loosen the grip that holds this pain so close.

 I wrap myself in it causing constant and purposed torture.

My eyes are down-cast; I can't lift my head, so test me O' Lord and search my heart - for only you can bare to see what keeps itself deep in the recesses of that chamber. 

Lord God, you're invisible….but I know you're near.

This purposed conflict-that is consuming me-was ordained by you and you understand it well.

Tears tell me the revelation of truth will be arriving soon and I'm waiting.

You're waiting too…. waiting for me to lift my head so that you can tell me all you need to- as I seek your face. 

Your Word and my heart tell me that I need to change….

but my mind is telling me that I don't deserve such a simple resolution.

Lord, I'm seeking you….and I know you're near…

for I'm in desperate need for the peace that comes with surrender.

My heartbeat will steady and my mind will turn quiet

 and this bottomless pit of shame will begin to fill with your mercy.

My self-torture will end and then I'll be ready!

You will allow this to be over and I will find the courage to look up and see hope-for the end of shame brings forth nothing else but that. 

You are compassionate Lord…for how else could I make amends with myself…and accept the forgiveness that gives me underserved peace.

Lord, you're near….for I couldn't have worked this out on my own.

Though you're invisible… your presence is so powerful that I couldn't deny

your request.

I accept the revelation of your grace for there simply was no other way. 

You say I am forgiven!   I finally release my burdens and whisper  "Thank God, I am changed!"

RvH

May 22, 2013

http://slack-time.com/music-video-15843-rascal-flatts-changed

Song Recommendation

Changed

By:  Rascal Flatts