Hope - Part One (3) Hope Springs Into Different Things

1 Corinthians 13:13 - "So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

1) Hope Springs into Being Prepared

Hope is not a dead thing. It is not a "latch-on". We don't say we hope in something without actually hoping in it.  We don't hope in something if we know it is not real, or if it is going to fail. We have an expectation of victory. We believe in something only because we know it will be successful. 

I want to look at this verse again:

1 Peter 3:14-16 - "But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame."

Notice that this doesn't mean we need to get into a theological debate with everyone we meet - this is for people who ask. God makes people willing to listen to the "reason for the hope that is in you". We're not supposed to thump people over the head with our Bibles, no matter how fun it is, or how satisfying a sound it makes. (Just in case it's not evident, that right there is some dry humour. Don't kill me.)

Notice how honouring Christ as holy comes first? We need our hearts right before God before we can even begin to try to be prepared. It's...preparation for the preparation. Prepreparation. 

What does it mean to be prepared in hope? 

Psalm 42:5 - "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation"

Psalm 42:11 - "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God."

The difference between being prepared in hope and having false hope is in one word: shall. 

The author of this Psalm says that he shall again praise him. The Psalmist has the view that God will save him.  How different would those verses look if it said "I might again praise him"? That would change the meaning entirely. We don't hope in things (or Beings) because they might help us. 

Being prepared in hope means having confidence. Not in yourself, but in God. 

Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

What helps to prepare our hope? Something people wouldn't consider at first: Suffering. 

Romans 5:1-5 - "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love  has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 - "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."

We hope for unseen, eternal things. Things that we cannot even begin to imagine: Eternal life with God. Perfect fellowship. Sinlessness. We are prepared through suffering, and we are prepared as we are purified. 

2) Hope Springs Into Being Purified

1 John 3:3 - "And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure."

I very often consider myself as a sinner. I know what I am, and that is a wretch so vile and putrid that I even hate myself. When I look into the deepest pits of sin in me, I want to crawl away and hide in some remote and uninhabited place. I want to be alone to suffer, not the right type of suffering but the wrong type.  

I shouldn't stop there, though. I am a wretch, but I am a treasure. This person that I both hate and adore is loved with the right love by the Right Lover. God sees me as I am and loves me anyway. God sees the worst of me and says "I died for you". God fills the deepest pits in me with His righteousness, His precious righteousness that was poured out at such a price. 

God died for me. God died for you. What should we do with this knowledge? Take it and be done? Or does it lead to something else? 

Knowing that Christ died in order that I might live is such a knowledge! It fills me with hope that is inexplicable. Through Christ I am reconciled - through Christ I am an heir of God. Through Christ I may now spend eternity with God, being able to worship Him without an indwelling of sin! 

God doesn't leave it at dying for us. He wants a relationship with His people. He wants us to turn from sin, and seek His face. We seek Him through suffering and through joy. Through peace and war. I'm reading a book by Francis Schaeffer called "The God Who is There" (which is an excellent book which everyone in the whole world should read RIGHT NOW), and from the title alone you can guess what it's about. God is there, He is not hiding from us, expecting us to find our own way. No. He is sovereignly and lovingly directing us right from day one. To me, that is quite encouraging. It gives me great hope. 

Titus 2:11-14 - "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works."

Hope leads to purification. The grace of God trains us to renounce "ungodliness and worldly passions..." 

Do you see? Hope is not solitary. Hope stems from faith, faith in a God Who is there and Who is purifying us! As we move forward in our lives, the Holy Spirit is at work in us. Jesus our blessed Hope (and the only Source of True Hope) is purifying us. As He purifies us, we should prepare. (This is where the "faith and good works" discussion could fit nicely. If you want to see my take on that, look at my post about "Faith Alone" by R.C. Sproul.)

We're in a process. God is "at work" in us, right now. 

1 Thessalonians 2:13 - "And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers."

Hebrews 13:20-21 - "Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen."

Have a look at this passage:

Romans 8:31-38 - "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Here are the statements of hope I find in this short passage of Scripture:

1) God is for us.

2) God justifies.

3) Christ died for us.

4) Christ is interceding for us.

5) Nothing will separate us from the love of Christ. 

We might read the above passage and say, wait a minute. It's talking about a lot of bad things. It's talking about us being killed and persecuted, going into famine, going under the sword, all kinds of nasty stuff! How can it bring hope? 

But look again, because none of that nasty stuff is bigger than God. This is what is outlined. No matter what may happen to us on this earth, God is for us. No matter who may condemn us, God is the One Who justifies. No matter what charge is brought against us, we know that Christ died for us. 

The final two are the most powerful. Right now, in Heaven, at this very moment, Christ is interceding for us. Our Lord and Saviour is praying for us! The question is, what is our response? Do I sit here and think "Oh, that's nice", or do I seek to glorify God in all I do? Do I seek to go out into the world proclaiming the name of Christ to all who will hear? What am I here on earth for if not to serve my King and my God?? 

The final point. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. That not only fills me with hope, but peace as well. Jesus loves me. It's true. He loves me so deeply that nothing can break that love. I cannot be separated from Him, not by anything. He loves me, and He is at work in me, sanctifying and purifying me. He is chipping away the cords of sin. He is replacing those cords with cords of His holiness. 

Feeling hopeful yet? ;)

(Part One over! I hope (grin) these posts were an encouragement, but I'd like to remind you that the greatest source of hope is the one given to us by God. The whole Scripture is a story of hope.)

Hope - Part One: (2) We Have Hope Through the Encouragement of the Scriptures

1 Corinthians 13:13 "So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; 

but the greatest of these is love."

Romans 15:4 - "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."

Hope is an interesting thing, isn't it? There are so many places that it springs up - so many sources of hope in our lives. We are hopeful creatures. Even as small children we hope for things. 

There is one source of hope that is constant, unwavering, and perfectly right. That is the Word of God - the Scriptures.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 - "All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work."

God inspired men to write the Bible. This means that the Bible is God's letter to us - it is a letter of hope, and for one main reason: because it is a letter about Christ. (See? This is why this is #2. I think...sometimes.) 

Read:  1 Peter 2:6 - "For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”" 

That is quite a statement to put your hope in. Whoever believes in Christ will not find out at the end that they were wrong. God has promised and His promises cannot be broken. 

Numbers 23:19 - "God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?"

Often we do not turn to the Scriptures enough. We think we can handle things on our own, make our own choices by our own strength - well, what strength do we honestly have? Apart from God, our strength is naught. 

A lot of people seem to think that you need to have some kind of "emotional experience" - a feeling - in order to connect with God. Not so. God has provided a way for us to know Him personally. Don't lay your Bible aside and read a book about how to find God. God is not hiding. 

Psalm 78:5-8 - "He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God."

God did not inspire the Scriptures for His own sake - He doesn't need an external source in order to remember His deeds. He did it for us. Because we are fickle - we forget. 

If you take the time to read Psalm 119, you will see that it fits in quite well with hoping in the Scriptures.  I will post these three verses here:

Psalm 119:74 - "Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice, because I have hoped in your word."

Psalm 119:81 - "My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in  your word." 

Psalm 119:114 - "You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word." 

We read in God's Word about things that have not yet happened - God tells us they are going to happen. We are going to live with Him someday. We are going to be made perfect. We are going to be able to praise Him as we desire to, without the desire to sin barring our way. 

Romans 8:25 - "But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."

Wait with patience for the promises of God. He is faithful. 

Colossians 1:21-23 - "And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, a doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister."

Don't lose hope! Don't shift. Jesus will do what He says He will do. 

So, where's the so what in all of this? So we have hope in the Scriptures as being the faithful Word of God. We have hope that they are Truth and that what God says in His Word is what will happen for us. So what? 

1 Peter 3:15 - "but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,"

I'm going to quote myself. These questions are from the Outline I did of 1 Peter: 

How can we be prepared without a mind that is both humble and prepared for action? 

How can those outside of the faith see a difference in us unless our conduct is honourable? 

How can they see the hope that is in us unless we trust Christ the Lord completely?

The real question is, how can we prepare ourselves for when someone asks us for a reason for the hope that is in us? Preparation comes from one place: Scripture. 

So, children, here's the moral for today. Read the Scriptures. Meditate on them. Memorize God's Word to you, because the closer you have them the better use they will be. The more you know of the promises of God, the more you know of the Attributes of God, the more your hope will grow and strengthen to the point that nothing on Earth or in Heaven could possibly break it. Don't forsake the hope that is so ready to be yours. 

Hope - Part One: (1) Christ is Our Hope

I find that the more I think about doing this trilogy of blogs, the longer they get. I think I have to redo "Faith" - make it more readable. From now on I'm going to split these posts into three parts. I'll be reposting Faith exactly the moment I get to it.  :-) Which will be someday, eventually. Hopefully. (Ar ar ar...I kill me.)

As I said, Hope will consist of three parts. Each part will be either one post or separated points. I'll outline them here just to give you a preliminary view of how my brain works.

~

Part One: 

1) Christ is Our Hope

2) We have hope through the encouragement of the Scriptures (Romans 15:4)

3) Hope springs into different things - being prepared, being purified

Part Two:

4) Hope is a mindset (1Thess. 5:8)

5) Hope is concrete through the Spirit

6) Our hope is not for earthly things, but eternal things. 

Part Three:

7) God is a God of hope

8) Our faith and hope are in God

9) Our hope is not unanswered - God has plans to fulfil our hopes

~

1 Corinthians 13:13 "So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; 

but the greatest of these is love."

1) Christ Is Our Hope

1 Timothy 1:1 - "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope..."

It seems fitting to me that this is number one. Especially in light of the time of year, when our thoughts are drawn to the moment Christ entered the world as a human being - when He came to earth to ultimately die for us. He came as a weak little baby, dependent for life upon another. 

"He was created of a mother whom He created. He was carried by hands that He formed. He cried in the manger in wordless infancy, He the Word, without whom all human eloquence is mute." - Augustine

I'm reminded of the song "Mary, Did You Know". Did she know Christ was the hope of the world? 

Luke 1:26-35 - "In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”  But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God."

I think Mary did know that the Child she was carrying was the hope of the world. When Mary is with Elizabeth and she prays to God, praising Him, it speaks so clearly of the hope she felt:

Luke 1:46-55 - "And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.

For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for he who is mighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

And his mercy is for those who fear him

from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm;

he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;

he has brought down the mighty from their thrones

and exalted those of humble estate;

he has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy,

as he spoke to our fathers,

to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”" 

It was God's plan all along that Christ should be our hope. Christ is not our hope by accident, but on purpose. He planned it that way from the dawn of time.  Christ is the one God promised Adam and Eve when He said "He shall crush the serpent's head..." Adam and Eve were cursed because of their sinful disobedience, but there was hope right from the beginning. 

Let me put it this way: Christ is not only our hope, but He is our only hope. Without Christ being Who He is, without Christ doing what He did, we would still be dead in our trespasses and sins - we would all be enemies of God and destined for hell and eternal punishment. 

But Christ! Christ came down to die in order that we would be reconciled. You know the song: "In Christ alone my hope is found, He is my light, my strength, my song..."

Christ alone. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand...there is no other possible route to Heaven. Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life - and He is our only hope. 

Psalm 71:5 "For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth."

We can each say that verse personally. It means the same to us as every other who utters it. Christ is our hope - Christ is my hope. Personally, mine. He is the hope for all of the world - the hope for all nations. 

Matthew 12:18-21 - “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,

my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.

I will put my Spirit upon him,

and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

He will not quarrel or cry aloud,

nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;

a bruised reed he will not break,

and a smoldering wick he will not quench,

until he brings justice to victory;

and in his name the Gentiles will hope.”

We have the hope of salvation through Christ. His atoning death on the cross paid the price for all our sin. There is yet another way that Christ is our hope. 

Titus 2:11-14 - "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works."

First, Jesus came to bring salvation. Second, Christ is going to come back! This is the hope we now have. Jesus will come back and purify us - we are His possessions! He is going to claim us! He has redeemed us! Praise the Lord! 

1 Peter 1:3-5 - "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."

Our hope is living through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. So, basically, our hope is going to be living as long as Christ is living. What a marvellous thought. Hope is sometimes a very fragile thing - let your hope be strengthened by knowing that Christ guards it. What Christ guards will never be lost. 

As Charles Spurgeon said: "Without Christ there is no hope." Similarly, with Christ is eternal, full hope. Be encouraged. Hope in Christ. He is worthy. 

Song of the Week

Yeah, I'm trying to get back into regular posts. It's beginning to happen...

How Many Kings

by Downhere

Follow the star to a place unexpected

Would you believe after all we’ve projected

A child in a manger

Lowly and small, the weakest of all

Unlikeliness hero, wrapped in his mothers shawl

Just a child

Is this who we’ve waited for?

Cause how many kings, stepped down from their thrones?

How many lords have abandoned their homes?

How many greats have become the least for me?

How many Gods have poured out their hearts

To romance a world that has torn all apart?

How many fathers gave up their sons for me?

Bringing our gifts for the newborn savior

All that we have whether costly or meek

Because we believe

Gold for his honor and frankincense for his pleasure

And myrrh for the cross he’ll suffer

Do you believe, is this who we’ve waited for?

it’s who we’ve waited for

How many kings, stepped down from their thrones?

How many lords have abandoned their homes?

How many greats have become the least for me?

How many Gods have poured out their hearts

To romance a world that has torn all apart?

How many fathers gave up their sons for me?

Only one did that for me

All for me

All for you

All for me

All for you

Real Life

...As of right now, I am working on about 5 different blog posts. Each of them requires a bit of study, and right now they're each about 50% done...I think. 

Last night I thought of this and just had to post it. So I'm laying aside all those other posts for a time to get this out of my brain. 

We often talk about "in real life..." don't we? We talk about how things are going to happen and how we want them to happen - what we do and what we want to do - some of it is real, and some of it is dreams. 

...But what is our real life as Christians? 

Called to More

2 Timothy 1:8-9 "Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,"

It says here we have a holy calling. Before the foundation of the world, God gave us a holy calling in Christ Jesus. 

Ephesians 4

Ephesians 4 is really the ground work for this post. I want to focus on the latter half of the chapter (verses 17 - 32):

"The New Life"

"Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ! - assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."

Do you see that? Our "new self"; our former manner of life is to be put off - this earthly life is not our "real" life! 

Pay attention to this: 

Colossians 3:1 - "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." 

Our life is hidden with Christ - our real life is in Heaven, where Christ is. What a beautiful thought! Don't you agree? Our salvation can never be lost, because it is kept in the safest place imaginable - with Christ, in God. 

What is the response to such assurance? 

1 Peter 2:16 - "Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God."

2 Corinthians 5:20 - "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."

We are servants and ambassadors for Christ - God works through us on this earth to bring the message of salvation to all. This is why we are told to "go out into the world". Not that we will save people, but that God will save them through us. We are His instruments - His letter to a dying world. 

2 Corinthians 3:3  - "And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts."

So, here's the question: Are we doing what Christ has commanded us to do? Are we proclaiming His name to all nations, no matter the consequences? Are we standing up for Christ in a day and age where doing just that is not that popular? 

Are we living our real life? 

Meander With Me Through My Mind

Oh my, you're in for the most boring ride of your life.

I have a blogging notebook now. The first page is filled with ideas and titles to blogs of the future. Now if only I could take the title or idea and morph it into something actually readable here, we'd all be set.

Only problem is, my groove is thrown off. Unfortunately I cannot toss anyone out of the window. I think that's a little bit unfair - but then none of our windows are big enough. And breaking them is not an option, because Dad paid a lot of money for those babies. They keep us warm in the winter - battling back the cold fearlessly. I love you, windows.

Actually, that's the problem with me. The windows in my room are not new and beautiful. They are old and holey. Not holy, as in sacred, but holey, as in gappy. But I like that. I like the fresh air and the chill. The chill of the air in my room is what helps me get to sleep, because I can warm up - sad for me, I can't cool down. If it's hot, I'm uncomfortable. This past summer was nice, because it had only a couple of really hot nights. But there have been summers go by that were hot every night - I became an insomniac the summer of my 14th birthday. Yay for me. That's something I would love to do again. (No. Not really.)

What, wait. That was six years ago!??? Sheesh.

I wonder sometimes where the years have gone. (Hey, is that a song?) They've just sped past - I'm not looking forward to the days in the future. Adeena says they go even faster, and Mom says they go even even faster.

I'm hungry. I'll be back after breakfast.

I'm eating my breakfast now.

It's good, sort of. I don't really have a liking for eggs. But they're food.

Well, I can't spend anymore time here. Maybe reading this will make you more patient for the posts that I actually think about. This was just random thoughts as they went flashing through my brain.

To help this post not be a complete failure, here's an excellent song for you to listen to. It's called "Great Are You" by Downhere. LISTEN TO IT.

Song of the Week

This will make you laugh, but it has a good message too. "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me..."

Lyrics:

Well if I come across a little bit distant
It's just because I am
Things just seem to feel a little bit different
You understand
Believe it or not but life is not apparently
About me anyways
But I have met the One who really is worthy
So let me say

So long, self
Well, it's been fun, but I have found somebody else
So long, self
There's just no room for two
So you are gonna have to move
So long, self
Don't take this wrong but you are wrong for me, farewell
Oh well, goodbye, don't cry
So long, self

Stop right there because I know what you're thinking
But no we can't be friends
And even though I know your heart is breaking
This has to end
And come to think of it the blame for all of this
Simply falls on me
For wanting something more in life than all of this
Can't you see

Don't feel so bad (don't feel so bad)
There'll be better days (there'll be better days)
Don't go away mad (but by all means)
Just go away, go away