to You, O Lord

taken from The Gospel Primer - Milton Vincent(p. 18)

The Gospel changes my view of God's decisions. If God loved me enough to sacrifice His Son for me, then He must be guided by that love when He speaks to me. The Gospel cures me of my suspicion of God, thereby disposing me to walk more trustingly on the path of obedience to His will. The Gospel contains all the I need for life and godliness.

Psalm 25: 1-10
"To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me. Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord! Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies."

hallelujah! what a Savior!

“Man of Sorrows!” what a name
For the Son of God, who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
“Full atonement!” can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Lifted up was He to die;
“It is finished!” was His cry;
Now in Heav’n exalted high.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew His song we’ll sing:
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

I've had this song in my head all day today, I woke up singing it. It really has focused my attention on the cross, and how wonderful a Savior I have. I need my attitude to reflect that of singing "hallelujah!" all the time. The more I focus on the gospel, the more I will see my true position before God: Saved. :)

no fear in death..

My great grandmother is 100 years old. She lives in a Retirement home/assisted living apartment in Gaithersburg. She didn't come down for dinner yesterday, so a nurse went to check on her and found her very drowsy and unable to talk or stand up. They called an ambulance and eventually discovered she had had a massive stroke and was experiencing significant bleeding in her brain. Her bp was 220 over 150, and the doctor gave her less than 24 hours to live. When my mom and grandmom got to the hospital she was asleep and said it was very unlikely she would ever wake up. She passed away in her sleep around 10:30 last night.

Death is a very sobering thing to think about. But it should give us hope that we will one day be with the Lord. I'm happy my great grandma is with Jesus right now. And I am not afraid to die. I have confidence in my Savior, who died on the cross as a sacrifice to atone for my sins. He fully took on the wrath of the Father, and now I'm free to enjoy Him forever. There is no fear in death for me, just hope.


"“Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:54-57)

school and such..

Now that I'm on spring break, I have plenty of time to think about the rest of this semester. To be exact, I have 59 days until graduation, and only 15 actual days of school left (since I only go on campus Mondays and Wednesdays)! With that said, you would think I would be feeling awesome and love going to my final days of class. However, that is not the case.
Instead, I feel exhausted and not motivated, and it is really affecting my life, academically and mostly spiritually. My quiet times, if they do exist, are rough. I need a fresh glimpse of the gospel to renew my strength and restore my joy.

"But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31)

Thank you God that I can depend on You to be my strength when I am weak. Show me You as I seek You this week. Reveal truths that will restore my joy. Lead me where You need me, and change my heart.

Red envelope project

Today at church I filled out a red envelope. You should do it too. And get all your friends to do it as well... Go here for info.

spring break is :finally: here

Spring break 2009 is finally here.. Last year at this time, I spent my entire spring break getting to know a new friend, Mitch Paredes. Isn't it amazing to see how things can change in a matter of weeks? In 12 days, we will come to our 1-year anniversary of courtship... Praise God!
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart."

Hope

"My hope lives not because I am not a sinner, but because I am a sinner for whom Christ died; my trust is not that I am holy, but that being unholy, he is my righteousness. My faith rests not upon what I am, or shall be, or feel, or know, but in what Christ is, in what he has done, and in what he is now doing for me. On the lion of justice the fair maid of hope rides like a queen." - Charles Spurgeon

Nothing is about me and there is no hope that can be found in me or in what I can do. My attention is on Him and what He has done and will do. I am nothing without Christ. God, keep me near the cross. Amen.