the promise

Joshua 14:10-13 (NIV)
10 "Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old!
11 I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then.
12 Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said."
13 Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance."
“Life in all its dimensions is to be lived according to the plans set forth by God, not by the greedy, selfish plans designed by man. Blessing comes ultimately to the man who totally follows God." Dr Constable, http://www.soniclight.com/

grateful

Thank You for Your kindness and love dear God,
Thank You for saving me, not because of the righteous things I’ve done—no, no, no—You saved me because of Your mercy!
Thank You for generously pouring out your Holy Spirit on me through Jesus Christ my Savior.
Thank You for making me an heir and giving me the hope of eternal life.
Thank You Lord!

Titus 3:4-7

PERSEVERE!

“As life takes its course in the aging process, we have the hope of a new body that will far outshine the original. Despite our aches and pains, our destiny belongs safely in the hands of ‘Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith’ (Hebrews 12:2).“ Dennis Fisher, Our Daily Bread

O pain that shoots my shoulder blade
Intrudes my dreams and makes me wade
Through streams of sweat that I have made
Know that your reign to waste will be laid
For though hope may seem delayed
It’s anchored on the only Hope that does not fade…

Thank you Lord for the hope that is in you, thank you for we can be joyful in hope--because this “hope does not disappoint”(Romans 5:5); “this hope is = the blessed assurance of our future destiny; based on God’s love, revealed by the Holy Spirit, demonstrated in the death of Christ”.(NIV Study Bible notes)

“The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power” (1Corinthians 15:42-43 NIV).

only You

“Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.” —Psalm 20:7

I have always thought of myself as self-sufficient, I always thought I can make it on my own (besides I enjoy solitude, that is I bask in the thought of being alone) --- but when I think about it, I am never self-sufficient & never really on my own (nor am I ever alone)... for the Lord is always present...always there...helping me make it...catching me when I fall...directing my paths... I have to constantly remind myself that it's not me, but it is the Lord working in me...

Lord God, thank you for helping me trust in You always, not in myself or my “strengths”, not in men or their seeming strengths, but on You, only on You-- for You alone are worthy of trust—You alone.

“My hope is built in nothing less,
Than Jesus blood & righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name;
On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.”

Better

better by far;
very much better;
far, far better;
far better for me;
lalong mabuti

Philippians 1:21-23

NIV
21For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
22If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!
23I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far;

NLT
21 For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.
22 But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better.
23 I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me.