Posts Tagged ‘Ecclesiastes’

Yes or No?

Posted: February 25, 2010 in life, music, pray, religion
Tags: , , ,
0

Some questions for you today – Please answer each question honestly by answering either YES or NO. i.e. Pass of Dont’ Know are not acceptable answers!

  1. Are you an optimistic person?
  2. Do you consider yourself to be a Christian?
  3. Do you listen to music regularly?
  4. Do you believe in God?
  5. Do you pray every day?
  6. Do you like reading books?
  7. Do consider yourself to be PC literate?
  8. Are you in love?
  9. Do you read the bible each day?
  10. Are you a Social Networking addict?

So how many questions did you answer YES to and how many did you answer NO?

I answered NO to two of the above questions and YES to the rest - but which ones do you think I answered NO to?

It may surprise you to know that I answered NO to question 5 – Do you pray every day? and also question 9 – Do you read the bible each day? Although I consider myself to be a Christian and try to do all I should, I do fail at two of the main tasks expected of me…praying and reading my bible every day.

I have no acceptable excuses for not praying or reading my bible each day as the times I fail is normally because I’m too busy doing other things that these important God focused tasks are omitted from my day. Sometimes I must admit that it’s not even a conscious decision on my part not to do these things but just what happens.

Does this sound familiar to you? I’m sure if you’re honest in your answers you may find yourself realising the same as me.

So how do I stop this happening and making sure I do give God the time He deserves in my day? Well there are a few things we can do:

Pray, ask God to help you become more God focused

Put aside a set time each day to spend with God

Find your “Quiet Place” and use that to have your time with God

I will be trying some of the above suggestions to try to help me spend time with God each day, as He wants and expects me to do. I pray you will try to do likewise. Good luck!

Ecclesiastes 3:11
He hath made every thing beautiful in his time

In His time, in His time,
He makes all thing beautiful in His time.
Lord, my life to You I bring,
May each song I have to sing,
Be to You a lovely thing, in Your time.

In Your time, in Your time,
You make all thing beautiful in Your time.
Lord, my life to You I bring,
May each song I have to sing,
Be to You a lovely thing, in Your time.

Fitting In…Or Not!

Posted: February 19, 2010 in friendship, life, religion
Tags: , , , ,
0

Circle of Friends written by Point of Grace
We were made to love and be loved
But the price this world demands
Will cost you far too much
Spent so many lonely years just tryin’ to fit in
Now I’ve found my place
In this circle of friends

In a circle of friends
We have one Father
In a circle of friends
We share this prayer
That every orphan soul will know
And all will enter in
To the shelter of this circle of friends

If you weep, I will weep with you
If you sing for joy the rest of us
Will lift our voices too
But no matter what you feel inside
There’s no need to pretend
That’s that way it is in this circle of friends

In a circle of friends
We have one Father
In a circle of friends
We share this prayer
That we’ll gather together
No matter how the highway bends
I will not lose this circle of friends

Among the nations, tribes, and tounges
We have sisters and brothers
And when we meet in Heaven
We will recognize each other
With joy so deep (joy so deep)
And love so sweet (love so sweet)
We’ll celebrate these friends
And life that never ends

In a circle of friends
We have one Father
In a circle of friends
We share this prayer
That it will not be long
Before all will enter in
To the shelter of this circle of friends

That it will not be long
Before all will enter in
To the shelter of this circle of friends

Circle of friends…

We are all human, we all want to be loved, we all want to fit in with those around us. Do you feel you “fit in” with those around you?

I must admit to often feeling like an outsider. I’ve never been a particularly outgoing person and often find it difficult to step outside my comfort zone when with folk I don’t know or who don’t know me very well. Sometimes it’s like being invisible in a crowded room. It’s unsettling and stressful when you don’t feel you fit in.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (New International Version)

Two are better than one, 
because they have a good return for their work:

 If one falls down, 
 his friend can help him up. 
 But pity the man who falls 
 and has no one to help him up!

As I said earlier, we all want and need to feel we “fit in” and feel loved. Let God help you build your circle of friends by letting Him surround you with love and strength to maybe go outside your “comfort zone”, and build up a circle of Christian friends.

Comforter

Posted: July 15, 2009 in life, religion
Tags: , , , , ,
2

Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun:
I saw the tears of the oppressed—
and they have no comforter;
power was on the side of their oppressors—
and they have no comforter.
Ecclesiastes 4:1-2 – New International Version

We live in a world full of sin where there is imbalance of power, oppression, tears, and for many, no comforter. We each have times in our lives when we are weighed down by the things we face in our every day life.

While those around us may see our tears, they are not always able or willing to comfort us, so where do we go from here? God sees everyone’s tears. We may not always see or be aware of God, so we fail to comprehend His power and His compassion.

Jesus is God’s response to our tears as He is our comforter, our Saviour. While Jesus was on earth, He too was oppressed, but remained a “comforter” to others. Therefore, while we suffer oppression and need Jesus as our comforter, we “see the tears” of others, so we must step in to comfort them, just as God has comforted us.

Reach out and comfort someone today!

Please checkout Michael W Smith’s website: http://www.michaelwsmith.com/