UPHILL

UPHILL

SNIPPET

Anything good is uphill, the problems is we have downhill habits. John Maxwell

SCRIPTURE

For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. 1 Peter 2:21 NLT

SONG

Believer Imagine Dragons

https://youtu.be/9MJAg0VDgO0

First things first

I'ma say all the words inside my head

I'm fired up and tired of the way that things have been, oh-ooh

The way that things have been, oh-ooh

Second thing second

Don't you tell me what you think that I can be

I'm the one at the sail, I'm the master of my sea, oh-ooh

The master of my sea, oh-ooh

I was broken from a young age

Taking my sulking to the masses

Writing my poems for the few

That looked at me, took to me, shook to me, feeling me

Singing from heartache from the pain

Take up my message from the veins

Speaking my lesson from the brain

Seeing the beauty through the...

Pain!

You made me a, you made me a believer, believer

Pain!

You break me down, you build me up, believer, believer

Pain!

Let the bullets fly, oh let them rain

My life, my love, my drive, it came from...

Pain!

You made me a, you made me a believer, believer

Third things third

Send a prayer to the ones up above

All the hate that you've heard has turned your spirit to a dove, oh-ooh

Your spirit up above, oh-ooh

I was choking in the crowd

Building my rain up in the cloud

Falling like ashes to the ground

Hoping my feelings, they would drown

But they never did, ever lived, ebbing and flowing

Inhibited, limited

'Til it broke open and rained down

It rained down, like...

Pain!

You made me a, you made me a believer, believer

Pain!

You break me down, you build me up, believer, believer

Pain!

Let the bullets fly, oh let them rain

My life, my love, my drive, it came from...

Pain!

You made me a, you made me a believer, believer

Last things last

By the grace of the fire and the flames

You're the face of the future, the blood in my veins, oh-ooh

The blood in my veins, oh-ooh

But they never did, ever lived, ebbing and flowing

Inhibited, limited

'Til it broke open and rained down

It rained down, like...

Pain!

You made me a, you made me a believer, believer

Pain!

You break me down, you build me up, believer, believer

Pain!

Let the bullets fly, oh let them rain

My life, my love, my drive, it came from...

Pain!

You made me a, you made me a believer, believer

SENTENCE PRAYER

Help me to journey beyond the familiar

and into the unknown.

Give me the faith to leave old ways

and break fresh ground with You.

Christ of the mysteries, I trust You

to be stronger than each storm within me.

I will trust in the darkness and know

that my times, even now, are in Your hand.

Tune my spirit to the music of heaven,

and somehow, make my obedience count for You.

—The Prayer of St. Brendan (attributed to Brendan)

Hard Love

Hardlove

Snippet

“Our vision is so limited we can hardly imagine a love that does not show itself in protection from suffering…. The love of God did not protect His own Son…. He will not necessarily protect us – not from anything it takes to make us like His Son. A lot of hammering and chiseling and purifying by fire will have to go into the process.” ~ Elisabeth Elliot

Scripture

We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.

Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. 12 So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you. 2 Corinthians 4:8-12 NLT

Song

HARD LOVE

Needtobreathe

https://youtu.be/8Ly124fUJL0

Trading punches with the heart of darkness

Going to blows with your fear incarnate

Never gone until it's stripped away

A part of you has gotta die to change

In the morning you gon' need an answer

Ain't nobody gonna change the standard

It's not enough to just feel the flame

You've gotta burn your old self away

Hold on tight a little longer

What don't kill ya, makes ya stronger

Get back up, 'cause it's a hard love

You can't change without a fallout

It's gon' hurt, but don't you slow down

Get back up, 'cause it's a hard love

You know the situation can't be right

And all you ever do is fight

But there's a reason that the road is long

It take some time to make your courage strong

Hold on tight a little longer

What don't kill ya, makes ya stronger

Get back up, 'cause it's a hard love

You can't change without a fallout

It's gon' hurt, but don't you slow down

Get back up, 'cause it's a hard love

When the wolves come and hunt me down

I will face them all and stand my ground

'Cause there's a fire burnin' in me

They will see my strength in this love I found

Oh

Hold on tight a little longer

What don't kill ya, makes ya stronger

Get back up, 'cause it's a hard love

You can't change without a fallout

It's gon' hurt, but don't you slow down

Get back up, 'cause it's a hard love

It's a hard love...

Hold on tight a little longer

What don't kill ya, makes ya stronger

Get back up, 'cause it's a hard love

You can't change without a fallout

It's gon' hurt, but don't you slow down

Get back up, 'cause it's a hard love

'Cause it's a hard love

Sentence Prayer

Creator God,

send your Holy Spirit to renew this living world,

that the whole creation, in it’s groaning and striving,

may know your loving purpose and come to reflect your glory.  

Amen (Daily Prayer Church of England)