St. Patrick's Day Prayer

I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through a belief in the Threeness, Through confession of the Oneness Of the Creator of creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In preachings of the apostles,
In faiths of confessors,
In innocence of virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today through the strength of Heaven
the rays of the sun,
the radiance of the moon,
the splendor of fire,
the speed of lightening,
the swiftness of the wind,
the depth of the sea,
the stability of the earth
the firmness of rock.

I arise today through the power of God: God's might to comfort me, God's wisdom to guide me, God's eye to look before me, God's ear to hear me, God's word to speak for me, God's hand to lead me, God's way to lie before me, God's shield to protect me, God's Heavenly Host to save me from the snares of the devil, from temptations to sin, from all who wish me ill, from near and afar, alone and with others.

May Christ shield me today
against poison and fire,
against drowning and wounding,
so that I may fulfill my mission
and bear fruit in abundance.
Christ behind and before me,
Christ behind and above me,
Christ with me and in me,
Christ around and about me,
Christ on my right and on my left,
Christ when I lie down at night,
Christ when I rise in the morning,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone that speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

Death

A sick man turned to his doctor, as he was preparing to leave the examination room and said, "Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side." Very quietly, the doctor said, "I don't know." You don't know? You, a Christian man, do not know what is on the other side?"
The doctor was holding the handle of the door; on the other side came a sound of scratching and whining,

and as he opened the door,

a dog sprang into the room

and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness. Turning to the patient, the doctor said, "Did you notice my dog? He's never been in this room before. He didn't know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here, and when the door opened, he sprang in without fear. I know little of what is on the other side of death, but I do know one thing ... I know my Master is there and that is enough."

pick four

God still sits on the throne.

Each and everyone one of us are going through tough times right now, but God is getting ready to bless you in a way that only He can. Keep the faith.

My instructions were to pick four (4) people that I wanted God to bless, and I picked you. Please pass this to at least four (4) people
you want to be blessed and a copy back to me.

This prayer is powerful, and prayer is one of the best gifts we receive. There is no cost but a lot of rewards. Let's continue to pray for one another.

The prayer:

Father, I ask You to bless my friends, relatives and those that I care deeply for, who are reading this right now. Show them a new revelation of Your love and power. Holy Spirit, I ask You to minister to their spirit at this very moment. Where there is pain, give them Your peace and mercy.

Where there is self-doubt, release a renewed confidence through Your grace.

Where there is need, I ask you to fulfill their needs. Bless their homes, families, finances, their goings and their comings. In Jesus' precious name.

Amen.

(If the Lord lays upon your heart to send this to more than four "4" people, you are truly blessed).

From 'Feelings Buried Alive Never Die' By Karol K. Truman

Repeat the phrases with each beginning (example: I choose to be joyful. I feel joyful I am joyful.)

Prayer:

I choose Forgiveness

I feel Forgiveness

I AM Forgiven.

I choose Honor

I feel Honored

I AM Honored

Spirit, please locate the origin of the feelings that keep me from liking and loving myself, Take each and every level, layer, area. and aspect of my Be-ing to this these origins. Analyze and resolve it/them perfectly with Gods truth. Come through all generations of time and eternity healing ever\ incident and its appendages based on the origin. Do it according to God s will until I’m at the present, filled with light and truth. God peace and love: forgiveness of myself for my incorrect perceptions: forgiveness of every person, place. circumstance and event which contributed to these feelings. With total forgiveness and unconditional love I allow every physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual problem and inappropriate behavior based on the negative origin recorded in my DNA. to transform. I choose liking myself. I feel to like myself. I am liking myself. I choose loving myself. I feel love for myself. I am loving myself. I give myself permission to like and love myself. I feel worthy of this love.

It is done. It is healed. It is accomplished now!

Thank you. Spirit, for coming to my aid and helping me attain the fulI measure of my creation. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love You and praise God from whom all blessings flow.

A personal prayer

A personal prayer
(readers can all read & pray and copy/paste and send along or use all of the stuff in bold & italics):

Dear Jesus,

Please strenghen Nick's faith.

Thank you for Kathy, Leesa, Lucia, and Peggy Sue and their help for the soup-supper last night

God bless Megan. Help her and her mom (and her brother) get a long better, don't let them ship her off to boarding school. Help her feel understood, wanted and loved. Protect her from her dad.

God bless Christine and help her get along with her mom.

God bless Stephanie, Andrea, Larissa, Nicki, Nichole, Tanisha, and Sasha- heal them of their wounds. Turn them away from starving themselves or throwing up. Help them to see themselves as you see them, precious and beautiful.

God bless Scott and Kristen as they continue to struggle with their grief for their brother.

God bless Jessica and Chris and Mike and Kenny just because I've been thinking about them all alot lately. God bless Jerry and Amanda, wherever they are.

Reveal Yourself to each of these kids and bring them to Your salvation and into Your Word, prayer and a relationship with You, and into Your family, by some form of fellowship. Fill their lives, their paths, their days and their homes with Your presence, Your Spirit, Your Saints here on Earth to minister and witness to them, and your angels to protect them.

God bless Jamie and Bryon and their baby. Bless & protect that pregnancy.

Thank you for Your great love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control. Grant me Your Holy Spirit so that I can bear those same kinds of fruit and bring you glory.

Thank you for Beth and Grace and Ellie and Annamarie.

In Your name I pray,
Amen

22 What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? 23 All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.

24 A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 26 To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

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Thoughtful Christian

What is TheThoughtfulChristian.com?

The Thoughtful Christian is a web-based resource center located at TheThoughtfulChristian.com. It is filled with studies ranging from one to four sessions each for adult groups and individuals. Each session is designed for forty-five minutes to one hour and comes with a three- to four-page Participant Handout and a two- to five-page Leader’s Guide with lesson plans and resources. The studies can be downloaded as Acrobat PDF files, printed out, and photocopied for use in classes or for personal study and devotion. In addition, leaders can e-mail the Participant Handout to students in advance of the next meeting. New studies, including rapid responses to current events, will be added to the site on a regular, ongoing basis.

On Ash Wednesday

I wanted to try to start writing on this blog more regularly, since it is Lent after all. A time for reflection and renewed devotion in gratitude for what the Lord has done for us.

I'd like to write reflections on the book of Ecclesiastes this Lenten season. I may not manage to write everyday, but it should be a good discipline for me, both to get into God's Word, and to write regularly.

But sometimes life can be some banal and mundane, even tedious.
It's hard to maintain that "attitude of gratitude." Sometimes it's hard to be inspired:

4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.

5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises...

7 All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again...

9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.

~from Ecclesiastes, chapter 1

Ah, but what's old will be new again. That's what the Resurrection is about, that's what Spring reminds us of.

17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

~2 Corinthians 5:17

Instead of everything being meaningless, like Solomon wrote. EVERYTHING has meaning in Jesus. Because of His love and sacrifice, we see that EVERYTHING is about love and healing relationships. Even the greatest tragedy in history brought people together:

"Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)" by Alan Jackson

Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day
Out in the yard with your wife and children
Working on some stage in LA
Did you stand there in shock at the site of
That black smoke rising against that blue sky
Did you shout out in anger
In fear for your neighbor
Or did you just sit down and cry...

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell you
The difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith hope and love are some good things he gave us
And the greatest is love

The greatest is love
The greatest is love
(1 Cor 13:13)

Ash Wednesday 2006

A prayer for Ash Wednesday

"Day by day, O Lord, three things I pray:
To see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly,
follow thee more clearly,
day by day."

~Richard of Chichester
1197-1253
Chancellor of Oxford University

Bulldog Cheer Coach's Blog: Dare to share

Bulldog Cheer Coach's Blog: Dare to share

A recent post on my Cheerleading site about how coaching is a ministry and how I want to be better about praying for my cheerleaders.

hungry eye: Ash Wednesday 2004

hungry eye: Ash Wednesday 2004
This is my "diet diary."
They say it takes 21 days to make or break a habit
Lent is 40 days
I want to rededicate myself to reading the Bible daily
Growing a more active prayer-life,
including praying for my students and cheerleaders and my children & wife
Walking or exercizing more often,
and...
once again,
I switched to decaf.

Lord help me!