Happy 8/28! also posted at Journey Inside My Mind and QuotesBlog

Today's date reminds me of one of my all-time favorite verses in the Bible, Romans 8:28 --

• NIV: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
  
• NASB: And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
  
• KJV: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
  
• WE: We know that God works out everything for the good of those who love him. They are the people who are part of his plan.
  
• AMP: We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.
  

Dear God,

You are incredible! Your word is truth and life to my thirsty soul. I praise you because I get to have a relationship with you. You have done marvelous things, Almighty God, and I can never thank you enough for the new life I have in you.

Your son,
Dan

Encouragement from Kiev from email

Hey you Guys!

This is EZZIE..I MISS YOU GUYS SOOOO MUCH.

Just want to let you all know that I am still in Kiev and will be here until september 17th. Things here are great and the Ukrainian disciples are out of this world. What hearts!! There is just so much happenin here its just all God Glory. Please keep them in your prayers.

I will write more next week about all the amazing things God has done in this wonferful country. Hopefully I will learn to put pictures in computer so I can show ya'll this amazing place. I actually plan on moving here someday...with plenty of advice ofcourse ;) :)

Well, love yall bunches and please email me when ya'll can I want to hear whats goin on with my peeps...like Ann Marie..and Nnenna and Wande...and Amina and James...and Naony..and Heather!!!...and all ya'll..the list goes on and on...:) Please let me know whats up with yall..

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!! :)

Love in Christ,
Ezziechka
There is a God. He is Alive! :)

Updates

• MyPsalm119.
  
• Do You Remember Me?
  
• A Song To The Owner Of My Soul/A Prayer To The God Of My Life
  
• No Man Is An Island
  
• Hope For Our Children
  

X - Xalted Father Ah yes, more of MyPsalm119... a bit of a stretch, yet glorifying nevertheless/

Xalted Father, omniscient --
Everything hidden you have known.
Xamining our hearts we see our sins --
Only your blood will atone.
Xact your discipline to xpunge our sin,
Hearts of flesh transformed from stone.
Xclamations of praise upon our lips
When we see you on your throne.
Xcellent in everything --
Without you we're alone.

Dear God,

Good mornining! Thanks for waking me up to start this brand-new day. I look forward to it with a lot of hope. You make anything possible! I love and want to know you, God. Help me to desire what is most important. You are what is most important.

I praise you for the sunrise and the birds,
I praise you for your voice which is heard.
I praise you for your incredible grace,
I praise you for being in every place.
I praise you for you are good,
I praise you for you giving your blood.

Yes, Jesus, you have saved me completely through the sacrifice on the cross. May I ever be in touch with that today.

You know my needs; I bring them before you know. I pray also for WP that he will be able to reconcile with TP according to your awesome plan.

Thank you for hearing my prayer.

In Jesus' name I pray,
AMEN!

Dear God,

Thanks so much for this life you've given me. To be in your presence daily is so awesome. How can I count the miriad ways you work in my life? Truly you do love me, and I thank you for helping me be in touch with that on an emotional level. Thanks for the people you've put in my life to encourage me and help me to see myself from an objective perspective. I really need that because I can get so down on myself when things are not going well. I am not naturally born to handle adversity, but you are building the character in me to overcome it and change. I remember praying a lot to change deep in my character, and you are answering that prayer!

I am so glad for your grace, which is there for me when I blow it. I understand that you've not given me a license to live wildly, but rather to appreciate you more deeply. Thanks for renewing my heart, restoring the joy of your salvation, and forgiving me.

You know all our needs, even before we vocalize them. Hear this prayer and help us today.

Love, your son,
Danny

Dear God,

I am so grateful for confession! The relief and refreshment that comes from coming clean! I confessed my sins to you and to another man of God, and the burden in my heart is removed. I praise you O God for you are so wonderful. You have created nature in such a way that mankind is truly without excuse in not seeking you. I see the sunrise and the crescent of the moon. I see the clouds and hear the thunder, feel the rain, see the lightning... how awesome you are!

Thank you for taking good care of me. I need your help every day, and I don't want to be fooled into thinking I can do things on my own strength. Bless my plans today, and if they are not part of your will, then reveal that to me as well. I also pray, dear God, for you to give me and Jennie jobs so that we can meet our financial obligations.

Use the strengths you've given me to bring you glory today. I have your Holy Spirit, and that means that there is nothing I cannot do without you.

In Jesus' name,
Amen!

Tough Enough To Bend

Tough Enough to Bend

Original words and music by Dan Johnson, Jr. copyright 1991-2003 Dan Johnson

Let us praise you, O God
We're like athletes in training
Learning to use new muscles
Right now they are weak
But with time they're growing stronger
'Cuz faith, hope, love, and perseverance
Come from experience

As the trials come and go
One thing that we know
We're faithful to the end
And tough enough to bend

So let's praise and give thanks to you, our God
We're like young apple trees
That grow beside the streams
Of living water
Now the storms, they may rise
And the winds, they may blow
But bring on the storms and bring on the winds
'Cuz it's time for us to grow!

As the trials come and go
One thing that we know
We're faithful to the end
And tough enough to bend

(instrumental solo)

We praise you, O God
With hearts like the desert
Thirsty for more of your Spirit
And more of your Word
Now give us strength
And give us boldness
As we let your voice
Proudly be heard!

As the trials come and go
One thing that we know
We're faithful to the end
And tough enough to bend

Update: I figured out the guitar chords! (see "Wrote a Song About It...")

Dear God,

First of all, I want to thank you for the awesome love you have for me. Despite all my imperfections, you love me with an everlasting love. I need to be reminded of this truth often, especially when I fail and hurt you because of my sin. I have sinned so much lately, and I've dragged your Holy Spirit through it, too. O God, sometimes the world is so tempting! I know intellectually that it's not worth it, but sometimes my emotions, the basis on which I often act, are such that I get deceived and take a bite of the "forbidden fruit."

I am more aware this week of the presence of filth in this world. I also realize more how powerless I am against it by myself alone. Without you, Jesus, I would have no hope. I praise you, Holy Spirit, for living inside me to will and to act according to God's good purpose. I praise you, Father, for the way you are able to work out so many terrible circumstances into something good.

Lord, help me to stand firm and be faithful. I know you give me the power already, but I need to deal with my feelings. To surrender them. God, I pray for a deeper level of surrender.

I want to be an effective instrument to bring you glory. Help me to become less, and you to become more in my life. I love you so much, O Lord, my strength!

Dear Lord,

I pray this morning that you would set Jennie and I free from anything that holds us other than you. Deliver us from any memories of the past that have the power to control us or keep us trapped in their grip. Help us to forgive any people who have hurt us so that unforgiveness will not be able to hold us captive.

Set Jennie and I free from everything that keeps us from being all you created us to be. Keep us protected from the plans of the enemy so that he cannot thwart the deliverance and healing you want to bring about in our lives. Restore all that has been stolen from us until we are lacking no good thing. I know that in your presence is healing and wholeness. Help us to live in your presence so that we can be made totally whole.

Lord, I know that "though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the wapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds" (2 Corinthians 10.3-4). In the name of Jesus I pull down any strongholds the ememy has erected around Jennie and I. Specifically I pray that my wife and I will be set free from the low self-esteem we each have, in order that we may instead see ourselves completely as you see us. Set us free from this, we pray in Jesus' name. We pray for our sake that you "will not rest, until [our] righteousness goes forth as brightness, and [our] salvation as a lamp that burns" (Isaiah 62.1). Make darkness light before us "and crooked places straight" (Isaiah 42.16). You have said in Your Word that "whoever walks wisely wil be delivered" (Proverbs 28:26). I pray we will walk with wisdom and find full deliverance. Show each of us how to love and support one another well in the process.

Thank you again for hearing all my prayers. You know the desires of our hearts and what is best for us. Please, O God, let nothing stand in the way of you giving us what we need. Help us to be content and patient. Especially me, Lord, for I struggle so much with impatience. Help us to deny ourselves today, to take up our crosses and follow you wholeheartedly.

I pray for those who are sick and in need. Please restore them so that they can do your will. According to your will may it be done. Lord, you have stated that you "can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to [your] power that is at work within us" (Ephesians 3.20). May your power reign in our mortal beings today, O Lord, that you may do your wonders, both great and small.

In Jesus, your Son's Name, I pray.

AMEN!