I was just reading in Isaiah and was encouraged by these verses...
it got me thinking about the picture that someone had over simplechurch of the pipes and the water system in Vancouver. Also, the theme of "new songs" and "new life" came to mind while reading this..

Isaiah 41: 18-19

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how WIDE and LONG and HIGH and DEEP is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Isaiah 61:1:

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to PROCLAIM FREEDOM for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.

A song by Paul Baloche....

In the name of the Father
In the name of the Son
In the name of the Spirit
Lord we've come

We're gathered together
To lift up Your name
To call on our savior
To fall on Your grace

In the name of the Father
In the name of the Son
In the name of the Spirit
Lord we've come

We're gathered together
To lift up Your name
To call on our savior
To fall on Your grace

Hear the joyful sound of our offering
As your saints bow down, as your people sing
We will rise with You, lifted on Your wings
And the world will see that

"With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that OUR GOD may count you worthy of his calling, and that by HIS power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith."

I have had this picture come to mind a little while back, that I just keep thinking about. I pictured a little girl crying in front of the Lord because she was filthy. Her little dress was muddy and ripped and her face also had dirt on it. But then Jesus smiles at her and comes over to her and wipes her tears and face. He takes off her soiled clothing and puts a new white nightie on her. She is calmed by this and comforted by the Father as he holds her.

God has been teaching and reminding and revealing many things. One thing he keeps reminding me of, is the fact that HE is the Lord and NO ONE else. I was just reading one of Andy's blogs about David recognizing the Lord as King. It is so so true. I noticed how lately I have become more anxious about life and how I have in some ways been striving to protect myself and prepare for the future. So when I read the blog I was hit by this and once again reminded of who is REALLY in control and sovereign over all things.

I was reading a Psalm last night before going to bed and was hit by one of the verses.

Psalm 26:5-6:

He humbles those who dwell on high, he lays the lofty city low; he levels it to the ground and casts it down to the dust. Feet trample it down--the feet of the oppressed, the footsteps of the poor.

This verse seems to keep coming up, so i thought i'd actually put it OUT THERE in the blogosphere...

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

As i was doing my billy blanks workout in the basement of my house, i was struck with a picture. There is a part of the workout where the leader, billy, warns you that the AMPED UP portion is coming around the corner. it's the part of the workout that you dread and at the same time get excited by. your body is aching as you put everything you have into this small section of intense excercising. It made me think of those moments in movies where you know something BIG is going to happen and the main character's face says it all. That character KNOWS the next second, day, week, etc.