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| I
think I miss horseback riding. Today I wanted nothing more than to
feel the gathering of muscles beneath me...bunching and extending. The
rhythm of the beats...one two three four...one two three four...one two
three four...that union of horse and rider mingling into one (if only
for a few moments in time). A simple escape from reality. That second
in time when both of us are above the ground, only to plumet back down
with a thud and continue onwards. Feeling inevitable. The wind of
breaking speed stinging my eyes. With a couple of tears sliding down
my cheeks and a slight smile upon my face...sweat lathering the horse's
flanks, I would slow to a canter and ease everything back down into
reality. It is only then that I would begin to smell the grass and
woods around me. A new awareness and appreciation is born. I'd lean
forewards pat my horse...mutual respect. Complete comfort and
relaxation comes later at the barn when he puts his warm velvet nose up
against my neck and breathes in my scent for several molments...not
even bothering to move. Just knowing. | | |
| I know, it's almost been a year since the last post. It'll probably be another year after this one but I felt the need to post this. Myspacer converter that I am...
Weakness, Temptation, Hope and the Past
I conducted a study of my own recently on human weakness, temptation, hope, and the past
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WEAKNESS:
1. Matthew 26:41 - Be aware of our weaknesses:
"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
2. Romans 6:19- Change what we have inslaved ourselves to. The selling of our weakness to a greater strength:
"I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness."
3. 2 Corinthians 12: 9-11 - We can use our weakness to become a strength by relying on God
"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
4. Hebrews 12: 11-13 -- The seeds of dicipline as a result of our weakness
"11No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
12Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13"Make level paths for your feet,"[a] so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed."
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TEMPTATION:
As a leech goes for an open sore or wound, as will temptation appeal to our weakness.
1. Matthew 26:41 -- Again, a direct link between tempation and weakness
"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
2. Luke 11:14 --Deliver us from temptation (for we can't do it alone)
"Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation."
3. Luke 22:46 --It is when we are sleeping that we are more apt not to be aware of our weakness. It is then that we fall into temptation -->sin
"Why are you sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation."
4. I Timothy 6:9 -- Temptation can be our ruin, our downfall
"People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction."
5. I Corinthians 7: 5 -- The importance of accountability, prayer and self control in battling temptation:
"Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control."
6. James 1:13 --Something I studied earlier this year. God is NOT the author of temptation anymore than he is the author of confusion. God is our salvation and clarity.
"When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone"
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HOPE:
1. Psalm 25:5: God is our hope for deliverence (temptation included)
"Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long."
2. Psalm 71:14 (though we battle sin daily, we should never give in, never lose hope)
"But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more."
3. Jeremiah 29:11 (Despite what sin we have fallen into during the past, we have a future)
"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."
4. Romains 12:12
"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."
My favorite...as everyday is a new day to begin anew spiritually:
5. 2 Corinthians 4:16:
"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day."
6. I Corinthians 10:13--One of my favorite verses in the Bible. God always provides a way our of our temptations. In this we have hope to overcome it:
"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
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Following the rules of temptation, weakness, and hope...what of the past? Let's say that we've already suffered, repented, and changed our ways?
1. Isiah 43:18 "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past."
Focus instead on God who has delivered us from that past:
2. Psalm 34: 4-6
"I sought the LORD, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles."
3. John 5:14 --Stop the past from repeating:
"Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, ..See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you..." | | |
|
Gloves tightly on hands
Chest cavity brazenly exposed
There seems to be an error,
A certain something missing.
Superior Vena cava, check
Right atrium/ left atrium check
Right ventricle/ left ventricle check
Inferior vena cava check
Aorta, checkmate.
Supposedly wrong…
Nothing physically amiss.
Yet, can’t help but feeling
This heart is about as healthy
As a future heart attach.
What an interesting incongruity!
It aches, it seemingly falters,
Skips one beat, two.
And alas! It’s spotless!
Whose to explain this fallibility of nature? | | |
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You see love as something you get,
A stake you made on that horse last week,
The cash flow of welcomed income.
Bidding the next week on the same beast,
Watching as she ran, feeling the life in her heart.
The finality of each step towards the line,
Her neck stretched, her muscles gathered, legs extended,
Sweat slathering her flanks, the wind destined to bring her home.
She was thrust into a destiny beyond her control,
Green yearling, tried early, deception placed on her promise.
Feeling your heart clinching in anticipation,
You sit unbalanced on the edge of your seat.
It’s the final stretch, the final act.
You have seemingly never felt more alive,
The blood quickens it’s course in your veins.
What an amazing spectacle of a creature!
She runs for you and for you alone,
Giving her all, feeling that life in her heart,
That steady flow of purpose.
She was intended to win for you,
You placed your bet that Sunday.
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| What do you do when someone starts to get creepier and creepier over time? Let's say a couple of months.
1. You wait tables on a customer who isn't usually your regular and he asks for you to be his regular from that time onward.
2. He starts talking to you all the time while waiting on you. Leaves a 3$ tip the first time and a 5$ everytime after that (his meal is 6$).
3. Tells you his name and how to spell it. Asks about when you're working next.
4. Shows up at night, while you're working (when he usually only comes in on Sat).
5. Starts calling you at work to see when you're working next or calling just to say "goodbye."
6. Gives you his number.
7. Calls and asks you to have dinner with him sometime.
8. Leaves a 10$ on more than one occasion.
9. Offers to buy your truck.
10. Brings in pink BEDROOM slippers for you to wear.
11. Is in his 30's and is single. | | |
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