"Take Hold, Take Heart, Take Hope"

...read something you wrote in the past and.. received encouragement? me too. I jumped on here to post something kind of upsetting, just not an exciting post. Instead, I read my last post. God's just too good. This life is tough, but shouldn't it be that way? Would we really value what we value if there was nothing to give it the value it has? THAT made sense.. psych. Today in the caf, I saw the advertisement for whatever their little "Spice" thing is? Who knows.. what I DO know is that I had a small realization. Small. This shouldn't be news to you, but something to... think about. What do you think about when you think of the word spice? or spicy? I think of something flavorful. or spirited. or hot. I think of fire.. or jalapenos. Something not cold. well.. sp-ice. you CAN'T spell spice without ice. You don't know fire if you don't know ice. You can't value heat if you don't know cold. What is light without darkness? This is directly reflected to EVERYTHING. Think of Christ. How can we celebrate and find joy in His life, freedom, love, kindness, and favor if we don't know death, bondage, hate, bitterness, and lack. We can't know "mountain tops" without "valleys". In marriage. Passion, liveliness, and fun would have no value without the rough times. right? oh, wait.. none of us are married. cool. But, honestly, i think we can have a little foreknowledge here and see this is the truth. A perfect marriage isn't a marriage that has no problems. A "perfect" marriage is one that gets through problems without losing step. Without slowing down. Jamie Lash said fail forward, right? (don't hate) Well, learn from your mistakes. ps... i SUCK. just a thought. Without struggles and hardships, my wife and I won't be taken to a new level and depth in our relationship. God has to prune us and refine us through fire, so why wouldn't the same happen in marriage? We ARE married to Christ, after all.. duh. satan's a punk. he's a liar. he's a pretender. he's a hater. he's a loser. he's scared of his future so he does everything he can to ruin God's plan. but he can't. it's great, right? just think... the Bible is CONSTANTLY talking about how Christ is Truth and the Spirit leads to all truth and God is loving.. on the flip side.. satan can't possess any trait that a holy God does. He's the father of ALL lies.. there is NO truth in him. he CAN'T love. ever. SO.. he HATES us. hates. despises. abhors. We are the Father's workmanship and creation. He is PLEASED by us. so why would satan just let us be? let it beeee, let it BE! ahem.. sorry.. satan wants us to suffer the same eternal punishment he will. Why would we ever want to participate in that? honestly. does that sound pleasant? um.. no. So lets smile through the ice and be patient for God's passion to be brought back to us but at a whole new level. James said, "count it all joy when you face trials of various kinds," because God is constantly at work in us to shape us exactly how He wants us. Something else to think about. Think of how powerful God's Name is. The OT Jews never even said His name really.. why? well.. research it because there's a lot there BUT we aren't worthy. Imagine this.. when you say JESUS, satan and all his little punk friends MUST FLEE and the gates of hell TREMBLE. Moreover, God said that He places His Word above His own Name. WHAT?! soo.. we're looking at that power being MAGNIFIED in His Book. Why don't we pick it up more? read it more? apply it more? then maybe we would magnify His Name more. Jesus said, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work". Well.. let's eat, huh? this has gone on for too long but God is super mysterious and super great. Psalm 34. toods.