In Christ Alone

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones he came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was SATISFIED -
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in GLORIOUS DAY
Up from the grave he rose again!!!!!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has LOST its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

PRAISE GOD!!!!!!!! tonight i am more than thankful for Gods power over satan!!!!!! it is such and overwhelming feeling that i can do nothing but praise God for His Glorious and Powerful Name that crushes and defeats the evil one. the evil things of this world will not last and they will be crushed under the mighty foot of Christ. no.... they HAVE been crushed. Christ has already overcome death, therefore overcoming satan. he has no power over the People of God! CLAIM THAT! satan has no power in comparison to Christ and you have Christ within you! stand in Christ and His Power alone! AMEN!

A People Shaped Hole

im pretty sure just about everyone is familiar with that song by Plumb that has the line "there's a God shaped hole in all of us". actually for the longest time i thought they were swearing...but anyway, i was reading back over some notes that i took at a Roots one Sunday when Casey Murphy spoke. she really has a heart for community and so she was sharing about that. in Genesis 2:18 it says, "and the Lord God said, "it is not good for man to be alone. I will make a companion who will help him"". and it was brought to my attention that that doesnt necessarily mean "future spouse". think about the people that God has called to a life of celibacy. well they are no exception?? man is not meant to be alone so who do they have? community. the people in our lives are soooo crucial! so as there is a God shaped hole, i also believe there is one slightly smaller right next to it that is meant for people. and its certainly not that God "cant" fill it, i think he chooses not to because he sooo desperately wants us to know how community feels and can be. He shows us this in the Trinity. God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit know community. they delight in each other! a beautiful picture of it is in Matthew 3 where Jesus is baptized. relationships are what Christ lived for, they're what He died for! obviously He is passionate about them. now our first love should always be the Lord and that relationship will be the most fulfilling but what is the Body without an eye...a leg...the pinky toe :) every bit of it is so important, but more than that, how all of it works together! the toes would be nothing without the foot. i really do believe that our lives are intricately intertwined and purposefully placed together to bring God glory. relationships are very important and i am blessed to have the ones that i do in my life. you know who you are ;)

Grace in Love

ok im going to start this out having you think about the person that you love more than anyone else in this world! somebody that you would absolutely never want to let down. now picture yourself doing something that breaks their heart. im sure you know of times when you have let someone down that you love cause i certainly have and it is one of the most painful feelings cause you cant take it back. knowing that you have crushed that person for doing something that you could have chosen not to do. well i have just been thinking about Christ in that way. i do things allllll the time that break His heart and its funny cause people will say sarcastic things like, "oh come on just do it, jesus is still gonna love you." well, yeah He will, and thats exactly why i dont want to do something that will hurt Him! Him not loving me is the last thing im worried about. the fact that He KEEPS loving me when i do things to cause Him pain is miraculous! i think its something that a lot of people cant grasp because of people in their lives that only love conditionally. i get chill bumps sometimes when i really think about how much the Lord loves me and i have such a tainted veiw of what that really is. i mean because of the fall i dont really know what LOVE is. think about it this way. we know a lot about the sun, we see it, we feel warmth from it, we feel the effects of it, but think about actually being on the sun! you just cant even imagine the heat that you would feel. it would be an all consuming fire that would overcome you! for me that is such a cool way to think about God as the source of love. when we have the chance to be in that love one day it is going to be all consuming and it will overcome us. it makes me want to do everything i can to get closer and closer to understanding His love and experiencing it and if i continue to do things that are hurting Him its only going to hinder me getting to where i want to get with my Savior. i hope and pray that we can choose to live lives that bring him everlasting glory and because of it experience a love that we cant even imagine right now. one that will continue to surprise us :)