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Hi everyone,

 

A few weeks ago and sweet sister-in-Christ was listening "What Faith Can Do" by Kutless, as her mom was reading one of our prayer e-mails. She texted me the name of the song and I looked it up via the Internet. All I can say is, Praise the Lord!!! I wept and wept. It was like this song was written for us. Hopefully you will be able to read the words as you listen.

 

The first part of the song reminded me of our first trip to San Fran. Man did we "ache" that day. Then the part about "You gotta face the clouds to find the silver lining". All we had that day was clouds and rain, but God showed us our silver lining. But the best part of the song for me (well, besides the totally awesome chorus) was the line "It doesn’t matter what you’ve heard impossible is not a word"!!! That is where we are living right now.

 

We hope the Lord will inspire your hearts and minds by this wonderful music offering from Kutless. And thank you to everyone for your prayers, words of encouragements, and passing along songs like this.

Read more: http://www.stereotruth.net/2009/09/kutless-what-faith-can-do/#ixzz0ZWk4ntmJ

 

Blessings,

 

The Johnson Family

Well here is another doozy: "The Motions" by Matthew West. I was on my way to Costco being obedient to my bible study leaders request that we only listen to Christian music for the week. I could not see the road through my tears. This song is beautifully convicting and made my heart cry out to the Lord. Even in the midst of what we are facing "I don't want to go through the motions..." By the end of the song I was screaming the chorus and bawling my head off.

 

May the love of the Lord and His sacrifice make us not desire for one minute to just go "through the motion"

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLJF9vaIJ_0

"You Never Let Go" by Matt Redman should be on every hurting person top 10 songs of encouragement. There have been so many times I have fallen to my knees singing with all my heart to this song. It's so hard during our suffering to remember, to hope, to hold onto the truth; our God NEVER lets go!

 

May you feel yourself in the constant loving grip of our Awesome God,

 

Love The Johnson Family

 

http://iLike.com/s/3Aor

You're Not Going Under

"Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right." - 1 Peter 4:19

I've said it for years, there is nothing good that God brings into your life by way of transformation that He doesn't bring through the funnel of perseverance. If God can get that one characteristic into your life, He can truly make you what He wants you to be.

First Peter 4:19 encourages us with, "Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good."

Did you hear what you're supposed to do? Entrust your soul to your faithful Creator. God is faithful to you. He's got His hand on the thermostat. The fire will not get too hot. He's watching the depth gauge; this trial will not get too deep. God puts up the boundaries to your trials. "That's all. That's my daughter. I know what she can handle. Not that much. Not there. Not now." God protects His own. He will not allow you to be tried beyond what you are able to take. And in the middle of it all, He tells you to entrust yourself to His care.

God knows you better than you know yourself. You're not going to lose it; you're going to be okay. You don't know what you are capable of when you're resting in God's strength and not your own. You're going to get through this one way or another. It's not going to last forever and you will get through it - because God is faithful. He's not tired and He's not wondering when this is going to be over.

Reassure yourself, "I'm not going under." You can keep going for another day, another week because God is producing staying power in you. The ability to remain in that marriage - as hard as it is. The ability to remain in that job - as hard as it is. The ability to stick with it in that difficult circumstance - no matter what. If God can produce in you that staying power, He can give you everything else.

The good's not coming if you quit. Listen, God can get every characteristic of Christ into your life if He can just teach you to stay in the game.

 Where Victory Begins

"And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will." And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, "So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, "My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done."" - Matthew 26:39-42

If you're in a trial right now, your constant choice is whether you will embrace or resist what God is doing in your life.

Embracing God's purposes means you confess and live the reality that God is not asleep at the wheel. He is not AWOL. He's not running late for work. He's in control. He allowed this. You may wish it wasn't so, but He could have prevented this trial, and yet He didn't. You have to embrace that.

Resisting comes easier. We say, "No, not this." Or, "No, not now." Or, "No, not me." We storm into (or out of) God's presence with our demands. We fight against our pride that blocks our view of God. And no matter how desperately we need God to show up in our lives, He doesn't as long as we resist His purposes.

Can I just tell you now that God wins? To resist God in any way is just to delay failure. Sooner or later, the flag will come down, the game will be over, and God will have won. Take a moment, figure out your chances of changing those odds, and get over onto God's side. Embrace your trial in unwavering submission to God.

Trust me when I tell you that I am aware of the weight of these words. I don't say them lightly as though I could somehow just skip into that reality. I'm just telling you where the rock is so you can get your feet on it. If you're in the water right now and the waves are crashing, you've got to get back on solid ground. That's not going to happen until you embrace this trial.

Second Corinthians 12:10 says, "For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses." Some translations say, "I have boasted in the weakness." Some say, "I delight in weaknesses" (NIV). So many people don't get to this good place because they refuse to embrace the trial all the way to the end. They're like the workers who never get paid; the athlete who never wins a game; the farmer who never makes it to harvest time. Unless you embrace what God is doing with unwavering submission, you will not reap the good. Stay in the game. Don't resist.

Jesus Himself modeled this kind of victory in the garden when He prayed, "Your will be done." Not my will, God, but Your will. Not what I want, Father, but what You want. That's the essence of submission right there, and that's where the victory begins.