Thought I would share the lyrics from 2 songs we sing at hfc by the Christian band named Hillsong United.  They are from Sydney, Australia and have released several worship albums.  I recommend clicking on the song titles to play the videos on youtube to get the full effect, but here are the words:

The Time Has Come by Hillsong United

Found love beyond all reason
You gave Your life Your all for me
And called me Yours forever
Caught in the mercy fallout
I found hope found life
Found all I need
You're all I need

The time has come
To stand for all we believe in
So I for one am gonna
Give my praise to You

Today today it's all or nothing
All they way
The praise goes out to You
Yeah all the praise goes out to You
Today today I live for one thing
To give You praise
In everything I do
Yeah all the praise goes out to You

All we are is Yours
And all we're living for
Is all You are
Is all that You are Lord.

Salvation is Here by Hillsong United

God above all the world in motion,
God above all my hopes and fears,
Well I don't care what the world throws at me now,
It's gonna be alright!
[HEEEY]

Hear the sounds of the generations,
Making loud our freedom song,
All in all that the world will know Your name,
We're gonna be alright!

Cause I know my God saved the day,
And I know His word never fails,
And I know my God made a way for me,
Salvation is here.

Salvation is here,
Salvation is here and it lives in me,
Salvation is here,
Salvation in God means to set me free,
Salvation is here,
Salvation is here and it lives in me,
Salvation is here,
Cause you are alive and you live in me!
Salvation is here,
Salvation is here and it lives in me,
Salvation is here,
Cause you are alive and you live in me!

I discussed Seth’s time in the hospital and how he is recovering from Cellulitis/ Staph Infection in his leg in one of my last posts.  He has been hurting a lot more today.  I keep telling myself that he is getting better.  Every day the sores and redness have been improving and he no longer has a fever or any of the other more serious symptoms, but I am still concerned about blood clots.  His test for clots came back negative on the day he left the hospital, but that has been over a week ago.  Maybe the pain is just his body’s way of healing?  I really don’t know, but I am trying not to panic.

I really don’t feel like God is telling me to rush him to the hospital.  We are hoping to go Monday for his check-up since his antibiotics ran out yesterday.  I am trying to stay calm and trust God to show us what to do.  But it is so scary because he was actually in danger when he had to be admitted to the hospital.  I’m not used to Seth being sick or hurt.  I might worry abstractly about something out of the blue happening to him… like a car accident… but usually I don’t have to worry about a very real illness.

Please pray that God will protect Seth and that He will give us both peace and that we can trust Him.  Also, please pray that He will give us the ability to clearly discern His voice regarding Seth’s care.

“God did not give us a spirit that makes us afraid but a spirit of power and love and self-control.” – 2 Timothy 1:7 NCV

After spending some of the Christmas season (although not as much as I wanted to) just thinking about the beauty of our Lord and His creation, I wanted to share a scripture that I think paints such a vivid picture of how GLORIOUS God is!

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” – James 1:17 NIV

The “Father of the Heavenly Lights”…. such an awesome description because when we ponder how BIG and how MAJESTIC and how UNTHINKABLE are the heights and depths of our universe, it gives us just a glimpse of the MAGNIFICENCE of our God!  I saw on a video the other day at church that there are an estimated 70 Sextillion stars in the universe.  This, of course, is a very loose estimate.  But just think about this number…. 70 thousand million million million.  That’s a 7 followed by 22 zeros.  70,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

What an uncomprehendable  number…. What an uncomprehendable God!  BUT… He makes himself known to US!  We are so not worthy but so blessed!

I really love the language of the Message for this verse – “Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light.”

And to put a little more perspective on this verse, here is the New Century Version – “Every good action and every perfect gift is from God. These good gifts come down from the Creator of the sun, moon, and stars, who does not change like their shifting shadows.”

or as The Amplified Bible states – “Every good gift and every perfect (free, large, full) gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of all [that gives] light, in [the shining of] Whom there can be no variation [rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [as in an eclipse].”

The Amplified can be a little confusing, but what I believe James is saying is that even though God created “all that gives light,” He (God) does not change.  He does not cast a shadow (like an eclipse) or rise or set like the sun.  He is always constant, always right, always perfect.

James says this following his command to “Not be deceived, my dear brothers”.  He is reassuring us that God does not change and He does not deceive or tempt us.  It is our own “evil desires” that can lead us astray into the shadows of sin.

God does sometimes give us trials, which are not the same as temptations.  God does not tempt us and He does not cause us to sin.  Trials test our faith.  It may be a little discouraging to consider having to face trials, but remember the good news of James 1:12 (NIV):  “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”

Beth Moore

Here is a devotional I recently read that I wanted to share with you.  It is by Beth Moore in her devotional book, "Breaking Free: Day By Day".

"The Lamb who was slaughtered is worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing." – Revelation 5:12

"God chose one nation to be called by His name, through whom He would bless all other nations by bringing the Messiah.  The Israelites were literally a people of God’s name, called forth as a nation to show the definite and conspicuous position of the one true God in their lives.

The name that you and I are called most often in reference to our spiritual belife is "Christian".   We are a people of Christ’s name.  Similarly, God has called us to show the definite and conspicuous position of His one and only Son in our lives.  We are called to bear the mark of His individuality, to proclaim His honor, authority, and character."  – Beth Moore

Since it’s 1:30 AM, it is now officially Christmas Eve 2009!  I have really been trying to slow down and enjoy the season this year and really soak up WHY we celebrate CHRISTmas!  CHRIST!!!!  I even got all of my shopping done early…. very early for me! lol  I’m usually last minute. 

I’ve been trying to listen to more Christmas music, drink hot chocolate and gaze at the Christmas tree, and of course, do more baking.  I planned on making gingerbread men and cutting out and decorating sugar cookies, but with Seth being in the hospital last week, I haven’t gotten those made yet. 

Nevertheless, I really have been trying to completely soak up the season, especially by reading more of the birth of Jesus and just praising God for HIS birth. 

Well, today I really started worrying about money.  If you’ve read this blog much before, you probably know I have anxiety, but our finances really haven’t been bothering me as much as usual lately… until today.  As I was panicking and venting to Seth and asking what we were going to do… etc… he stopped me and reminded me that Satan wants me to get my focus off of Jesus, especially at this time of year.  I really got to thinking about it, and I realized that maybe if Satan couldn’t get me distracted by the busyness of the season, then he would try to do it with money worries.  Just look at the day he picked… December 23rd! 

So, I am seriously trying to not think about money… God always provides and just look at how He took care of Seth last week!  I am determined to continue to remember the birth of Jesus with reverence, with awe, with excitement, and with thankfulness.  Merry Christmas everyone!

Well, Sunday, December 13th I went ahead to church that morning with his parents and left Seth in the bed to rest.  Seth had been complaining about his left leg hurting all weekend but I didn’t think much about it… just thinking it was aches and pains from being sick.  That Sunday afternoon following church, his dad and I noticed his leg was red and it kept getting more red and traveling higher up his leg over the next couple of hours. 

I did some research and diagnosed the problem as Cellulitis.   Seth and I decided to go to Doctors’ Care and made it about an hour before they closed.  After seeing the doctor, he sent us straight to the hospital to be admitted.  The doctor thought it was probably a Staph infection.  He said if we had waited much longer, Seth may have ended up in the ICU.  God truly got us to the hospital just in time.  Looking back, I know the Holy Spirit was working through me when I insisted we go to the doctor that evening.  I can be pretty indecisive about things like that.

Seth was hooked up to an IV with 2 different types of IV antibiotics, Levaquin and Doxycycline.  He also received fluids through IV so he didn’t become dehydrated.  He received Lovenox shots in his stomach twice a day to prvent blood clots.

Seth improved each day he was in the hospital and finally started to eat again.  I stayed with him the entire time, except for a couple of hours each day when I would go home to take a shower, get more clothes for him, and check on Cesar, our chihuahua.  He went home on Thursday, December 17th after 4 days in the hospital.  The  ultrasound on the last day was clear for blood clots.  He was sent home with 2 types of antibiotics to be taken by pill form, Doxycycline and Cipro, for another week. 

Seth’s week of antibiotics will be finished tomorrow, but it will be Christmas Eve, so we are probably going to wait until Monday to go to the doctor for his check-up.  His leg is much better but it still hurts him a lot and is very swollen.  He no longer has a fever or any of the other symptoms.  The redness has gone down and is now mostly a light pink and covers about half of what it did at the worst.

I will continue to update you on his progress.  Please remember him in your prayers.  Also, and this is the least of our concerns, but we do not have health insurance right now, so we have a huge hospital bill to pay.  Please remember that in your prayers, as well.

When the weather started getting colder, Seth and I noticed our chihuahua, Cesar, laying on my father-in-law’s heating pad he keeps in his recliner.  So, we bought the little guy his own!  Can you tell how much he loves it?!  He knows the second I get it out and get ready to plug it in.

SOOOOO….. just think how contented he is in the above picture!  His heating pad on the bed AND his Alabama Crimson Tide fleece sweatshirt!  S-P-O-I-L-E-D!!!!

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you WILL (not might, may, could, or even probably)  have trouble.  But take heart!  I (JESUS) have overcome the world.” – John 16:33 NIV (parenthesis & emphasis mine)

Look at the wording of the Amplified Bible for the same verse: 

“I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]“

See how emphatically we are supposed to “take heart”… Be CONFIDENT, CERTAIN, UNDAUNTED!  Jesus has DEPRIVED THE WORLD OF POWER TO HARM US!  HE IS OUR CONQUEROR!

Here are the highlights of each week’s sermon.  I hope you, married or single, will take this to heart and pray this over your marriage or possible future marriage.

1) The Priority of Marriage – When God thought of marriage, He intended that this special commitment between a man and a woman would be more important than any other human relationship.  There should only be 3 people in your wedding band = You, Your Spouse, and Jesus…. not your kids, your in-laws, your friends, your job, money, hobbies, etc…

2) The Roles of Husband and Wife – God thought that a man and woman should mutually submit to one another in marriage so as to recognize the roles that best promote a healthy “oneness”.   (Ephesians 5:22-33)

3) The Purity of Marriage – God gave sex to husbands and wives to be a sacred expression of “oneness” for procreation, union, and mystery.  Sex is to be respected and protected and the “marriage bed” kept pure.

4) Love is a Choice – At the heart of marriage, love is a choice; a life-long pursuit of an imperfect person without the option of divorce.  Marriage is giving love with no strings attached.  (Of course, there are always exceptions when abuse is involved)

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” – Genesis 2:24 NIV

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall become united and cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” – Genesis 2:24 AMP

(I love the use of the word “cleave” in the Amplied version… Please, cleave to your husbands and wives… if you give your marriage to God, He will bless it!)