God is good, God is love, Patient, Powerful, God is here. When I wake, I want more of You; Your words are richer than any exquisite delight, Your loving whispers more precious than any treasure. When I rest, I still want more of You; Show me Your face, Speak to me once more. I never tire of hearing Your voice, For it gives me new life. Teach me, oh God, How to follow You better; When I fall, Pick me up again. You are faithful like the stars, Always You are there. Never will I understand Your infinity.

Ezekiel 17:22-24 (The Message) 22-24 "'God, the Master, says, I personally will take a shoot from the top of the towering cedar, a cutting from the crown of the tree, and plant it on a high and towering mountain, on the high mountain of Israel. It will grow, putting out branches and fruit—a majestic cedar. Birds of every sort and kind will live under it. They'll build nests in the shade of its branches. All the trees of the field will recognize that I, God, made the great tree small and the small tree great, made the green tree turn dry and the dry tree sprout green branches. I, God, said it—and I did it.'" I was doing my devotional at Vanguardia today, and I was just talking to God, and telling Him and I didn't understand His plan. God took me from Canada, for whatever reason, to Bucerias. He then had me live there for almost 6 years exactly, only to send me to Tepic to a 100% Spanish school for Christian leaders. WHY? Why God, why did you send me here? I mean, I know You have a plan, but still, this makes no sense. Why am I seperated from my family? Why do I need to go to this Spanish school when there are so many good English ones? Why? Don't get me wrong God, I trust You 100%, because of You, my life has a purpose far greater than I could have ever imagined. Because of You, I've experience a quality of life that many people spend their entire lives searching for. And I am SO thankful for it! Actually, just let me stop for a second to say thanks again, I really am glad You're here with me. But still, what's up with this? Why Tepic? Why Mexico? Why me? I just don't understand. So after this one-sided dialogue, I let God speak to me. I randomly opened my Bible to Ezekiel 17, and the first part starts out pretty intense, and weird. It talks about this big eagle, and this tip of a cedar that turns into a vine. Not quite what I was looking for!! But then I got to verse 22. It took me a second to get past the image of a giant eagle breaking off the top of a pine tree (I don't know why, but when it said cedar, I read pine,) but then I got it. Ohhhhh. So, you took me from that comfy tree (let's call it Canada. Or Bucerias. Or home. Or family.) But You say you have a purpose? Well, that's better I guess. You want to use me as a refuge for people who have no where to go? You want me to give shade to people weary from being in the desert? I guess I can do that, it actually sounds really rewarding. But I have to be here? I couldn't do that in Canada? That doesn't make quite as much sense, but you're The Planter, not me. I'm just the small shoot, I'm not the Planter who has a perfect spot for me, so I guess trusting You makes a lot more sense than not trusting You. Thank you God, I really hope to hear from You soon, I think I could get used to hearing from You everyday.

I was on the bus and wrote this in my phone. It's completely unedited, the words came, and I wrote them. I may post a more edited version of this one day, who knows? A Bus Poem To God You took me from the gutter My heart gave a flutter When your hand grabbed mine I knew I'd be fine Thank you God, for meeting me here Thank you God, for taking my fear. I know that you love me, that's enough Especially when the going gets tough. Why do you love me When I do the things I do? All I can say is I'm glad I'm not you. Will you stay here, to wipe these tears? Will you hold me, to quiet these fears?

Some random things I've written and didn't want to lose. ------------------------------------------------- Standing Firm -- given by Anne Frank Jesus never changes; He is consistent. "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.' Hebrews 13:5 "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." Hebrews 13:8 Know that the Bible says that God NEVER changes. The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalms 18:2 Anne went on to give an example where she was holding Nancy's hand, and even when Nancy tried to let go, Anne kept holding onto her. That's like God. Even when you can't hold onto Him any longer, He will continue holding on to you. "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9 NASB Know your enemy. The Devil is scheming against us in order to attack God, because we are the apple of God's eye, we are His favorite creation. That is why we are to "11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." - Ephesians 6:11-17 The belt of truth represents honesty in our lives. The Breastplate of Righteousness is what protects our heart, where Jesus lives in us. "Fitting your feet with readiness" means reading the Bible and preparing yourself. The Helmet of Salvation covers our head, our mind, our thoughts. Ephesians 6:18 tells us the importance of prayer. And not just for ourselves, but for our brothers and sisters in Christ, so that we don't fall into temptation "In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out." Ephesians 6:18 (The Message) ------------------------------------------------- God's Plan for US! -- Written by me First of all, I'm going to use a probably lesser known Bible verse to try and illustrate what I'm talking about. The virgin will give birth to a son and call him Immanuel. --Isaiah 7:14 In Luke 1:34-35 Mary says to the angel Gabriel "How will this be, since I am a virgin?" Gabriel responds, telling her that "The Holy Spirit will come down on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you." Matthew 1:22-23 says that "All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 'The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel1' " (1Matthew is quoting Isaiah 7:14, stating that through the virgin's birth, Isaiah's prophecy was complete.) So, now to the point. How did Isaiah know all this was going to happen? Because God let Isaiah in on one of His plans, and because it was God's will for it to happen. We might not hear from God in this kind of way, but that doesn't mean that He doesn't have a plan for us. Sometimes you may wish that you were born in a different time, or that you lived somewhere else. But right now, God wants you living HERE and He wants you living NOW. He knew that YOU would be living wherever you currently live (I'm guessing Mexico if you go to youth group) and God knew that YOU would be alive at this exact time, because He has a plan for YOU. So that means we've already got two things going for us: We're living WHEN God wants us, and we're living WHERE God wants us. Now, what can we do to please God even more, and live as He wants us to live? By living HOW He wants us to live. Sometimes that might not be easy, and sometimes you will mess up (I mess up aaall the time, but He still loves me

) All God wants from you is a willing heart, and He WILL help you with the rest. If you believe that God has a purpose for your being here; and if you want His help in doing His will, and living the way He wants you to, then please pray this prayer with me. Dear God, I thank You for placing me here and now. Sometimes I would rather be somewhere else. When I think those thoughts, please help me remember that You have me here for a reason. Lord, I'm willing to serve you God, I pray that you bless my heart so that it is always willing to do Your will, and I pray you show me Your will. In Jesus name, Amen. Application: Now that you've read this, how are you going to live for God? Try paying more attention to your circumstances and look for things that God wants you to do for Him. Original Post Date -- Feb. 16, 2008

Psalm.117.1-2 (The Message)

Praise God, everybody.  Applaud God, all people! His love has taken over our lives; God's faithful ways are eternal. Hallelujah!