Abundant Life: God With Us - Alexandra Hoover

Debbie Hayes sent me this powerful thought. I decided to share it....


"A desire to rely on our doing versus God's faithfulness will diminish our experience of God's presence.

"God, however, doesn't want us to live led by the rush of life. Instead, He's inviting us to trust in His overwhelming presence to guide us.

"As we move through our day and invite Him into the spaces that need Him so desperately, let us remember that as we draw near to our God, we are inviting His presence to guide us with love.

"This is abundant life: God with us, a mighty and overwhelming presence."

                                                   --Alexandra Hoover

How to lose and how to save

What do I live and breathe?

Psalm 34:1-7 The Message (Paraphrase)


I bless God every chance I get. My lungs expand with His praise.
I live and breathe God...Hear this and be happy. Join me in spreading the good news.

Together let's get the word out.

God met me  more than half way.

He freed me from my anxious fears.

Look at Him - give Him your warmest smile.
Never hide your feelings from Him.

When I was desperate, I called out, and God got me out of a tight spot.

God's angels set up a circle of protection around us while we pray.

If you want to be happy in a trillion ways...

If you want to be happy in a million ways,
          For the holidays you can't beat home sweet home....



The joy of a person on the way home....

Ever notice how a person heading home just acts differently. A lighter step; a broader and quicker smile; an obvious buoyancy; a more pleasant attitude, even in unpleasant circumstances. Maybe even a certain glow. A sudden sparkling uncalled-for laugh.



"What are you doing for Christmas?"

"Oh, I'm going home."



Maybe, and likely, all the memories of holidays at home are not great ones. Maybe even some would be better forgotten. But it still rings true and often we can detect a self-conscious satisfaction in the words: "Oh, me? I'm going home."



We all want to go home.



God instilled that yearning in us as certainly as He gave us a desire for food and water.



I read on a Christmas card...hearts come home for Christmas....

And what a difference the wording makes. We tell our friends we are going home. We tell our mother or Father...and  God.... we are coming home.



The words of the popular gospel song: "Lord, I'm coming home."

Open wide thine arms of love.....Lord, I'm coming home.
Look around. Some of us live the joy of a person on the way home..... He has called to us and brought us to the right road. We are on our way.


Nothing can go wrong. We are on our way home.


Words from Hound of Heaven, by Francis Thompson...near the end of the poem...

All which I took from thee I did but take,

Not for thy harms,

But just that thou might'st seek it in My arms.

All which thy child's mistake

Fancies as lost, I have stored for thee at home:

Rise, clasp My hand, and come.

All we ever really wanted in this life is right there in His arms, waiting for us to
"come home."



Rise, clasp My hand, and come...come home....




My great, great, great, great grandparents (1780's) sang this song:

Come, ye sinners, poor and needy

Weak and wounded, sick and sore

Jesus ready stands to save you

Full of pity, love and power.

I will arise and go to Jesus

He will embrace me in His arms

In the arms of my dear Savior

O there are ten thousand charms

Our ancestors understood it!...Let not conscience make you linger, nor of fitness fondly dream...all the fitness He requireth is to feel your need of Him...
[It's all so profoundly simple...]

and this warning:  If you  tarry till you're better, you will never come at all...!
[because we can never be good enough]



Rise, clasp My hand, and come....come home....




P.S. Until recently in world history ten thousand was considered a huge number.
Our ancestors had no concept of millions, billions, and certainly not trillions.
So in Amazing Grace we sing "ten thousand years," and in the song above, "ten thousand charms." We could modernize them by singing "ten trillion years" and "ten trillion charms," but we probably won't.

Home for the Holidays says "in a million ways." It is a newer song. But we could
change it to say "trillion ways"....but we probably won't.



You can give it a try...

'Cause no matter how far away you roam,
If you want to be happy in a trillion ways,
For the holidays - you can't beat home sweet home.

There is No One like our God!

"I am God, and there is none like  Me.

I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times,

what is still to come.

I say, 'My purpose will stand and I will do all that I please.'"

  --Isaiah 46:9-10

I just can't get this passage off my mind. Isn't it wonderful to know who is really in charge? It brings me  sense of profound peace and exhilarating freedom! What about you?

Which is worse? - From Jerry Bridges

It is just as important to trust God as it is to obey Him.

When we disobey God we defy His authority and despise His holiness.

But when we fail to trust God we doubt His sovereignty and question His goodness.



(I am guilty of both...but I have tasted His goodness so much and so often that I don't have any excuse for that one....and He has demonstrated His authority and holiness so often that I don't have any excuse for that either!  Just keep thanking Him for 1 John 1:9......"If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us
 our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness"!)

To Soar or Not to Soar!

Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. 

They will soar on wings like eagles. 

They will run and not grow weary. 

They will walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31

Familiar passage - astonishing promise!

Father, I feel so weak and empty today. I do put my hope in You- You are all I have. Please renew my strength - I want to SOAR!

How to Start the Day!

"When Christ shall come with shouts of acclamation 

and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart! 

Then I shall bow in humble adoration, and there proclaim, 

'My God, how great Thou art!'"  *

No reason we can't start doing that today - right here and now!

Humble adoration...."My God, how great Thou art!"

(maybe all adoration of our great God will always be 'humble' - 
how could it be anything else?)

*From How Great Thou Art by Carl Boberg, 1886