Gratitude Challenge: Day 19

Dori says...

"We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we create our world." - Buddha

I believe in the freedom of simplicity and power of choice. Conscious living takes for us to be fully aware of our thoughts and how they affect our present reality. When we are triggered to recall or re-experience especially traumatic events, we get into this whirlwind of gloominess and emotions get the best of us that if not recognized early on will catapult into paralyzing and trapping us in the dark spaces of our mind. Our view of everything around us becomes so twisted and gloomy that even our loved ones suffer from the negative energy, which could be remnants of the past not forgotten, and so it creates a resistance so strong it hinders the joy of the present moment.

I'm just glad we are more powerful than our emotions and our thoughts. It just takes for us to acknowledge and feel the hurtful emotion and let go of it as quickly as possible and let healing take its natural course.

I believe in love and every good thing that comes with it - peace, joy, prosperity and harmony. For these beliefs I hold on to, I am grateful.

Auj says...

It is through my growing years that bit by bit, I begin to understand why my mom is seen as crazy by many once she starts talking about God, the Bible, the ultimate purpose. At one point, I must admit that I was tempted to be like the rest who would want to laugh at my mom as if she looks like the insane street people who keeps on saying with their placards, "It's The End of The World! It's The End Of The World!"

But now, I completely understand. And I am grateful for the gift of anointing she may have always prayed to the Lord for me to have. Even without me asking for it.

Today, I would like to thank the Lord for putting that choice in my heart to read His words again. Amazingly, his personal way of conversing with me never fails. For the past several days, I became deeper. More than I was ever before. And there's just no stopping for hope. At least, things are more clear now. That He knows my pleas -- the people in my life that I cannot let go, the emotions I am privileged to experience to make me ever as tough, and the courage of the heart to stand my ground even when everyone else decides to move around.

The Lord's mighty message to me this morning:

Lamentations 3 (New Living Translation)

Hope in the Lord’s Faithfulness

1 I am the one who has seen the afflictions

that come from the rod of the Lord’s anger.

2 He has led me into darkness,

shutting out all light.

3 He has turned his hand against me

again and again, all day long.

4 He has made my skin and flesh grow old.

He has broken my bones.

5 He has besieged and surrounded me

with anguish and distress.

6 He has buried me in a dark place,

like those long dead.

7 He has walled me in, and I cannot escape.

He has bound me in heavy chains.

8 And though I cry and shout,

he has shut out my prayers.

9 He has blocked my way with a high stone wall;

he has made my road crooked.

10 He has hidden like a bear or a lion,

waiting to attack me.

11 He has dragged me off the path and torn me in pieces,

leaving me helpless and devastated.

12 He has drawn his bow

and made me the target for his arrows.

13 He shot his arrows

deep into my heart.

14 My own people laugh at me.

All day long they sing their mocking songs.

15 He has filled me with bitterness

and given me a bitter cup of sorrow to drink.

16 He has made me chew on gravel.

He has rolled me in the dust.

17 Peace has been stripped away,

and I have forgotten what prosperity is.

18 I cry out, “My splendor is gone!

Everything I had hoped for from the Lord is lost!”

19 The thought of my suffering and homelessness

is bitter beyond words.[a]

20 I will never forget this awful time,

as I grieve over my loss.

21 Yet I still dare to hope

when I remember this:

22 The faithful love of the Lord never ends![b]

His mercies never cease.

23 Great is his faithfulness;

his mercies begin afresh each morning.

24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;

therefore, I will hope in him!”

25 The Lord is good to those who depend on him,

to those who search for him.

26 So it is good to wait quietly

for salvation from the Lord.

27 And it is good for people to submit at an early age

to the yoke of his discipline:

28 Let them sit alone in silence

beneath the Lord’s demands.

29 Let them lie face down in the dust,

for there may be hope at last.

30 Let them turn the other cheek to those who strike them

and accept the insults of their enemies.

31 For no one is abandoned

by the Lord forever.

32 Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion

because of the greatness of his unfailing love.

33 For he does not enjoy hurting people

or causing them sorrow.

34 If people crush underfoot

all the prisoners of the land,

35 if they deprive others of their rights

in defiance of the Most High,

36 if they twist justice in the courts—

doesn’t the Lord see all these things?

37 Who can command things to happen

without the Lord’s permission?

38 Does not the Most High

send both calamity and good?

39 Then why should we, mere humans, complain

when we are punished for our sins?

40 Instead, let us test and examine our ways.

Let us turn back to the Lord.

41 Let us lift our hearts and hands

to God in heaven and say,

42 “We have sinned and rebelled,

and you have not forgiven us.

43 “You have engulfed us with your anger, chased us down,

and slaughtered us without mercy.

44 You have hidden yourself in a cloud

so our prayers cannot reach you.

45 You have discarded us as refuse and garbage

among the nations.

46 “All our enemies

have spoken out against us.

47 We are filled with fear,

for we are trapped, devastated, and ruined.”

48 Tears stream from my eyes

because of the destruction of my people!

49 My tears flow endlessly;

they will not stop

50 until the Lord looks down

from heaven and sees.

51 My heart is breaking

over the fate of all the women of Jerusalem.

52 My enemies, whom I have never harmed,

hunted me down like a bird.

53 They threw me into a pit

and dropped stones on me.

54 The water rose over my head,

and I cried out, “This is the end!”

55 But I called on your name, Lord,

from deep within the pit.

56 You heard me when I cried, “Listen to my pleading!

Hear my cry for help!”

57 Yes, you came when I called;

you told me, “Do not fear.”

58 Lord, you are my lawyer! Plead my case!

For you have redeemed my life.

59 You have seen the wrong they have done to me, Lord.

Be my judge, and prove me right.

60 You have seen the vengeful plots

my enemies have laid against me.

61 Lord, you have heard the vile names they call me.

You know all about the plans they have made.

62 My enemies whisper and mutter

as they plot against me all day long.

63 Look at them! Whether they sit or stand,

I am the object of their mocking songs.

64 Pay them back, Lord,

for all the evil they have done.

65 Give them hard and stubborn hearts,

and then let your curse fall on them!

66 Chase them down in your anger,

destroying them beneath the Lord’s heavens.

..if you'd know my struggles for the past few days, then you would know God really speaks.. but only when we stay quiet for a while.

:)