There is a more excellent way.

There is a way that leads to life and peace.

And it is possible to love life and see good days.

 

Oh that man would stop his strivings, stop his vain wanderings

and searching for things that will vanish in a mere breath.

There is so much more.

There is rest and peace and joy abounding, unhindered, everasting.

 

That man would see that his ways are evil.

That he would not participate in the unfruiful deeds done in darkness.

And come to the Light.

 

That we would humble ourselves and pray,

confess that we need Him.

There is no other life apart from Him.

Anything in this world that offers peace is counterfeit.

Anything in this world that offers joy is passing.

And all that will ever stand the test of time is Christ alone.

 

Why waste our time on worthless fools gold?

Why quarrel over stupid things that are passing?

 

God is sovereign and His ways are just.

And in His way is life and peace more abundantly.

We don't have to go full circle to find Him.

We don't have to waste our whole lives and find out He was waiting

with open arms all along.

We don't have to rack our brains searcing for the mysterious truth.

 

It's here.

Waiting for us.

Like an undiscovered treasure chest full of gold just waiting to be received.

And this is the purpose that we live.

To live in all that He has given.

So go open up the Word.

Open up your heart.

And drink deeply.

This Well won't run dry.

Because God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.

Not in empty things this world has to offer.

So thanks be to our God. 

May He receive all glory forever.

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When we stumble and fall.

I am so thankful for life.

So thankful that I can breath.

I'm so thankful that I can trust and rest.

 

Because when I (or try to) hold life in my own hands,

it falls apart. Makes a mess.

And every time I realize what I've done, even when I think it's too late,

and I offer that mess up to Jesus with open hands,

He is so willing to even take it and make it into something beautiful for His glory.

 

Things look messy for me, because self seeks that glory due to Him for itself.

Because "I" want to be known.

"I" want to be appreciated. And "I" want life to evolve around "me".

That, my friend, is ugly. That's were it turns to messy.

And that is were I find myself way to often.

But you know what?

That's the mess that Jesus has promised to take.

So that we don't have to deal with it any more.

 

Wow.

 

He's willing to get in and dirty. For me.

But not for my glory. But for His glory.

And I dare not take that glory away from Him.

It is a fearful thing to take the glory due to God. It's His glory.

All that "beauty from ashes" in our lives that we sing about,

That's HIS glory.

 

 

So many times in my spiritual walk I fall, drop to the ground, roll in the mud for a while.

And when I cry for help He always reaches out and puts me on my feet again.

But very often, I forget to cry out, not only to be placed on my feet, but to be washed clean again.

I justify the fact that I don't need to be some priestly-white-washed christian.

And Oh. It can be worse then falling.

Worse then wallowing in the mud of concious sins.

The devil comes at my dirty mind.

And he stirs it up. Makes it cloudy.

And confusion sets in.

And I start to ask. And to doubt.

"Why did You place me here?" "Where do I go?"

"Am I being deceived?"

 

It's a scary place to be when we don't desire to be washed.

Washed by the Word.

 

Cry out to be washed by the word. Immerse yourself in scripture.

Pray.

Even when it feels that there is a brick wall between you and Jesus.

Believe me, I've felt that and been there.

But never stop praying.

Ask Jesus to give you the desire for Him, for prayer and a love for the word.

And remember all those tmes just like this in the past.

I remember many struggles and trials in my life that I have gone through.

Times that I have given over to Him and He's turned it into glory for the Father. 

And I see His indiscribable mercy.

The mercy of God.

And every time I forget, and even conciously move away from Him,

 He is and always has been, and always will be

FAITHFUL.

 

"Even when we are faithless,

He remains faithful,

For He cannot lie."

 

And you know, remembering those times of His faithfulness,

it enourages me in this season.

To wake up from my stupor.

To cry out for guidance and walk in His grace He's given, believing and trusting in it.

So once again I offer this broken, dirty, messy life to Him.

To find some way of getting more glory for Him.

And I choose to rest in that knowledge.

 

The Lord has been bringing this verse to mind a lot lately,

and it is just what I want to do...

"In repentance and rest is your salvation.

In quietness and trust is your strength."

 

Because...

 

"God is most glorified in us when we are most satified in Him."

(John Piper)

 

Therefore I can face whatever comes, because I know He lives.

And it's Him that driving this ship.

I know that there are many more falls, more wanderings, and more trippings up ahead...

But I choose now to keep my eyes on the Prize.

And hold on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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And how should I start?

The trip to altogether amazing, awesome, wonderful, God-filled, and memorable.

I just can't get over it.

(and pray I never do)

So thankful that I got to go, and already can hardly wait to go back.

We did so much. It might take some time to write all the memories.

I will try to write what we did every day and share plenty of pictures.

Thank you for all your prayers.

I have been so so blessed!

God is good-all the time

All the time-God is good

and that is His nature, WOW.



I am going to be writing about the Uganda trip mostly over at my other blog.
(Sorry that there is not much there yet, but I will try my best.
Also pictures are soon to come, so stay tuned!)
Feel free to become a member and follow my travels wherever the Lord takes me!
It is:
ugandaproject612.blogspot.com

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Mweraba!

Wow. So I realize that I have not written or posted anything for a very long time.
Its been really crazy lately, but the Lord has been doing some amazing things in and through my life.
He is such a good Father! I am so thankful that I can trust Him with every part of life.
Tomorrow afternoon I, along with some others in my family (and team), are headed to Uganda, Africa.
It is amazing how it all worked out for us to get to go.
So we would really appreciate as many prayers as we can get.
I want to be a willing vessel for Him to use in whatever ways that please Him.
This is not about me. It about sharing Jesus with those in darkness.
So won't you join me in drawing others into the Kingdom through prayer?

Also I have another blog that is for updating you on our trip to Uganda.
I am hoping to include pictures and testimonies as soon as i have the opportunity.
Feel free to drop by.

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Judgement Seat of Christ

{Taken from the book "Seven Days Left", By Charles Monroe Sheldon, 1892. Pages 205-215. A message by a Mr.Jones.... I know it's a little lengthy, but I had to share it. Such truth!}

"For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in His body,

whether they be good or bad."
(referring to 2 Cor. 5:10)

The judgement seat of Christ will not be a dreadful place to a man whose sins have been forgiven in this world.But if he comes up to it seamed and scarred and stained with sins unrepented of and unforgiven because he did not ask God to forgive him, it will be a place of awful fear to his soul.
There are men here in this audience we are as ready to die now as they ever will be. They have made their peace with God. They have no quarrel with their neighbors. Their accounts are all square in business.They are living in lovining relations with the home circle.

They have no great burdens of remorse or regret weighing them down.

And if God should call them this minute to step up to the judgement seat, they would be ready.

"But there are other men here who are not at all ready for such a tremendous event. They may think they are, but they are mistaken. How can they stand before the greatest Being in all the universe and have no fear, when they are unprepared to answer His questions, 'Why did you not confess Me before
men? Why did you not do as I commanded and bear the burdens of the weak instead of pleasing yourself?'
What will the man say then?

 "It is true that Christ is all-merciful, all-loving. But will it make no difference with a soul whether it comes up to His judgement seat out of a life of selfish ease and indulgence or out of a life of self-sacrifice and restraint? When every possible offer of mercy is held out to man on earth and they
will not except it, will it be all the same as if they had, when they come before the judgement seat of Christ? Why, that would be to mock at the meaning of the Incarnation and the Atonement.

It would be to cast scorn and contempt on the agony in the Garden and the Crucifixion.

It would make unnecssary all the prayers and preaching.

What possible need is there that men preach a gospel of salvation unless there is danger of the the opposite?

If we are all going to be saved anyway, no matter whether we except God's love in Christ or not, what use is the church, and why should we be anxious any more about our children, and what difference does it make whether they go to the bad here in this world,

if in the other world they will all be saved?
For eternity will be so much grander and sweeter and enduring than time that we might as well take it easy here and not pay much attention to the message, 'God so loved the world' (John 3:16), that is, if we are going to be saved anyway.

 "And why should we care very much if it does say in the revelation of God's Word that the wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment (matt. 25:46),if we don't believe it?

Why, the wicked will stand just as good a chance of eternal glory as the good,

if the judgement seat of Christ does not mean a seperation of the good from the bad.

 Let us close our churches and go home. Let us eat and drinkl and dance and be merry for tomorrow we die, and after death the judgement (Is.22:13; 1 Cor. 15:32), and after the judgement glory, and joy, and power, and peace and life eternal in the presence of God.
It is true we scorned Him on earth, but that won't make any difference; He will receive us just the same. It is true we refused to believe in His only begotten Son after all He suffered of shame and agony for us, but that makes no difference; He will say, 'Enter into the joy of thy Lord.'

It is true we made fun of Christians, and mocked at prayer, and sneered at faith,

but that is not much to be afreaid of.
It is true we hated our neighbor and would not forgive an insult, but that's a little thing.

It is true when the Holy Spirit pleaded with us a year or six months ago to confess Christ in public, we told Him to leave us, we were ashamed to do it in the presence of men, to confess Him who spread out
His arms on a cross of bitterest agony for us;

but for all that when we march up to the judgement seat of Christ, He will treat us just the same as He
treats His disciples who have laid down their lives for the Master.

Then let us tear out of our Bible punishment or judgement, for we don't like those
passages--they hurt our feelings--and let us leave only those words that speak of love, and mercy, and forgiveness, for those words are the only ones that can be true, for those words don't make us feel uncomfortable.

 Away with everything that hurts our feelings, that makes us anxious, that sends us to our
knees in prayer, that makes us confess Christ and live a life of self-denial and service;

for when the judgement seat is prepared and Christ sits down there and we appear before Him,

He will receive us just as we come before Him, the pure, and the impure, and the selfish, and the proud, and the humble, and the believing, and the disbelieving, and infidels, and scoffers, and cowards, and despisers of God's love on the earth, and all the class of men who fell
back on weak and imperfect Christians for their own week lives, and the drunkards, and the liars, and the oppressors of the poor, and everybody who heard a thousand sermons full of gospel and despised them because of some imperfection in the delivery or elocution, and all those men who went through
life betrayers of the home, and the selfish politicians who betrayed their country, and all the men who read the Bible and believed only the parts that didn't hurt their sensitive feelings, and all the young men who lived fast lives and sowed wild oats because a wicked and false public sentiment made
them think it was excussable and perhaps necessary, and every other man and woman who lived as he pleased regardless of of God and Eternity:

when all these shall appear before the judgement seat of Christ, He will behold them, all as one soul, and with a smile of gracious pardon He will reach out His almighty arm and sweep them all alike into a heaven of eternal bliss, there to reign with Him in glory and power, world without end!

 "But is this what Christ taught the world? Suppose what we have said is true; it turns His whole life into a splendid mockery. Foolishness and absurdity could go no further than to create a life like His and put into His mouth such teachings as we have received, if at the judgement  of all souls,
regardless of their acts in this world, are received on an equal footing and all received into eternal life. And where is there any room in the teachings of Christ for a purgatory? Do we believe that?

Is it not the plain teaching that after the judgement the destiny of souls is fixed forever?

 "But what could man want more? Will he not have an opportunity enough to accept the mercy of God before that time? Does he not have opportunity?
If any soul appears at last and at the judgement complains that he did not have a fair chance,

will that gracious Judge condemn him if his complaint is true? We know He will not.

But the facts of the judgement are these: At that time, whenever it is, the souls of men will have passed upon them, for their acts in the earth life, a verdict that will determine their everlasting destiny.
And that verdict will be just, and it will be merciful. For the Crucified One could not do otherwise. But the men who have despised and neglected and disbelieved and have not confessed shall be seperated from Him forever.

And the men who have confessed and believed and tried to live like Him shall
be in His presence continually. There will be a division of souls.

It will not be based on wealth or position or birth or education or genius, but on
Christ-likeness, on that devine and eternal thing we call character.

Everything else shall go away into destruction, into death, into punishment,
into banishment from God.

And banishment from God will be hell, and it will be a hell not made by God, but by man himself, who had an opportunity, nay, a thousand opportunities every day of his life to accept the bliss of eternal life, and of his own selfish choice rejected every one of them and went to his own place.

 "But some souls starts up and says, 'You are not preaching the gospel.You are preaching fear, hell, torments. Is this your boasted love of God?'

Yes, for what am I preaching, if not the love of God, when I say,

 'God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
shall not perish but have everlasting life'(John 3:16)?

Is there no danger of perishing? Why did Christ come then? Why did He say the things He did?
Why did He speak about the condemnation of the wicked and unbelieving if that was not a part of the gospel? The gospel is glad tidings. But what makes it glad tidings?

Because of the danger we are in. It is the opposite of being lost. We cannot have one without the other.
So I  am preaching the gospel here today when I say, 'We must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ!' There will be no fear to us then, if we believe in Him, if we have lived His life here, if the things done in the body are good. And more than that.

As long as this earth life continues, God's mercy is with us every moment. It is possible some soul is here who for years has lived selfishly within his own little toys of pleasure. He looks back
on a life of uselessness, of neglecty of all that Christ did for him.

He this day hears the voice of God. He listens; he repents; he cries out, smiting on his breast, 'God be merciful to me a sinner!' (Luke 18:13b)

 And then what will God do? Will He reject Him because he is old in sin, because He has
wasted beautiful years? When he appears before the judgement seat, will Christ say, 'You repented to late on the earth; You cannot be saved now'?
No! Even if a hundred years of shame and sin a soul with its outgoing breath, in genuine repentance and faith in the Son of God, cried out for mercy,
that cry would be answered and he would be saved. What less of glory and power such a soul might experience in the realms of glory, we may not be able to tell. But he himself will be saved.

 "Is not God merciful then? Let no man depart from this house of God fearful or despairing. The earthly life is full from beginning to close with the love of an Almighty Father. Shall men complain bacause they cannot have all of this life and all of the other too in which to repent and be forgiven?
'Now is the accepted time, NOW is the day of salvation. (2 Cor. 6:2b) Today if ye hear His voice harden not your hearts.' (Heb. 3:15, 4:7)
...will you wait until you are old in sin and shame before you will repent and be saved? And how do you know you will live to be old man?
And what a life to live even if you were sure of a hundred years, to pour out the dregs at last as an offering to Christ just to escape hell!

Oh all men,hear ye this day the message of Christ. He is a savior of sinners.

It is not necessary thatr any man go away from His service unsaved. You may believe here
and now. Won't you do it?

 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.' (acts 16:31)
And then go home and pray rejoicing, And if the Almighty calls you out and away from this prison of clay into His resplendant presence this very night, what will you have to fear? Not one thing.

You have put your trust in Him. Your sins are all forgiven.

You can appear before His judgement seat and await your verdict with a calm and joyful soul.

 For you know as you gaze into the loving countenance of your Redeemer and Judge that when He turns and speaksto you, He will say,

'Come, ye beloved of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you

from the foundation of the world' (Matt. 25:34b).
Truly God is Love."

Linking up with:





www.aholyexperience.com

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He bought us to set us free.

Think about that! He chose to buy us from our captors, wretches we are, to give us freedom.
And it wasn't a small price He paid. No. He died. And why? For our freedom.
And this isn't some fake freedom we just imagine. It's true freedom in Christ! But still, why would He want to give us freedom? "Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.  But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,  even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)." (Ephesians 2:3-5)
And what fools we are not to give our whole lives to serving Him.
How ungrateful and stupid we are to want Jesus only for the sake of getting to heaven.
He's not some puppet that we can turn into whoever we want.
He is who He is.
He knows who we truly are.
And yet, Do we know who He truly is?
We'll never know fully.
He gave His all for us! It sounds insane. For a King to send His only Son, The Prince, The Great High Priest, down into the muck and mire to die just so that we, unworthy, ungrateful peasants could be free. He broke the chains. He broke the bondage we entangled ourselves in. All because of love. "And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him." (Isaiah 59:16)
How deep His love is for us. Not out of any good in ourselves. But, out of mercy.
"So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy." (Romans 9:16)
Thank you Jesus!

 

So live in His freedom.  Live deep and drink long.

He offers.... LIFE

and the fullness of life? Is Christ. There is no life apart from Him.

Don't forget to give thanks for all He has done.

Nothing good in our lives is of our doing.

"It's all because of Jesus I'm alive.

It's all because the blood of Jesus Christ, that covers me and raised this dead man's life.

it's all because of Jesus..."

{Linking up today with...}

www.aholyexperience.com

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Catching Light

{a gift in wind, in water, in white}

201. smell of spring

202. cool rag on feverish head

203. One who makes my sin as white as snow

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I will veil myself in You

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Life

Look at life the way it is... the way God gave it to you. The ways He loves.
Give thanks for all His blessings in life today. There are so many other believers in this world who look as if they have so much less then what we have. But maybe, they have more. Not physically, but spitirually. They know their God better because they don't have the temptations and distractions we have. How I long for this kind of life.
A life that doesn't thrive on meaningless toys. A life that could thrive even in the darkest of dungeons, because the Eternal Light is in us. There is more meaning then gaining.... It's giving.
"It is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life...
make me an instrument of Your peace,
I want to know what its like to follow You;
when men look at me,
I want them to see,
the Light of the world inside..."

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Stay alert; It's a war...

Probably the number one reason why prayer malfunctions in the hands of

believers is that we try to turn a wartime walkie-talkie into a domestic

intercom. Until you know that life is war you cannot know what prayer is

for. Prayer is for the accomplishment of a wartime mission...But what

have millions of Christians done? We have stopped believing that we are

in a war. No urgency, no watching, no vigilance. No strategic planning.

Just easy peace and prosperity. And what did we do with the walkie

talkie? We tried to rig it up as an intercom in our houses and cabins

and boats and car - not to call in fire power for conflict with a moral

enemy, but to ask for more comforts in the den. ~John Piper - Let the Nations be Glad

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Please take the time to watch.....

(pause the music player on the right hand side of the page.)

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This is what I desire.....

"I urge upon you communion with Christ; a growing communion.
There are curtains to be drawn aside in Christ
that we never saw, and new foldings of love in him.

I despair that I shall ever win to the far
end of that love, there are so many aspects to it.

Therefore dig deep, and sweat and labor and take pains
for him, and set by as much time in the day
for him as you can.

We will be won in the labor."
-Samuel Rutherford

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Happy {Valentine's} Day!

May your day be filled with much love and giving thanks for everything!

This is the day the Lord has made... Let's rejoice in it.

And be thankful for it.

Because...

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Florida Trip

Kinda feels like I have a lot to catch up on....
Life has been crazy of the late.
So......

this here will be a picture splurge of our wonderfully awesome trip to Florida a week ago.
We had a wonderful time. Even though we only spent 3 days down there, we stuffed in as much to do as we possibly could! Then each evening was the mission's conference. That was definitely the highlight of it all. 

Thursday... (traveling until 2am)

Friday.... (Traveling the last 10 hrs. to Florida! Yeah!)

 we couldn't start the day without this of course

Yes, it was a very small car...

And yes,  they fought over the arm rest

...yep...

(btw, i really recommend this book)

 (for Andrew)

My first view of Florida! (I asked dad if they were natural palm trees, just growing right there... and he laughed at me....:))

 Almost there!

 He is a great driver... really...

Madi!! Oh how i missed her! :)

Saturday...

 Naomi had a soccer game in the morning

Then Spencer and Tara took us all to St. Petersburg for the day!

 We ate at Taco Bus for supper...

 hello Spencer. (yep. that's him.)

 Horchata!

Sunday..... (Church with friends. Then Spencer, Tara, and Jessica took us to lunch at
Five Guys, then to the beach! Last Conference session in the evening )

Monday.... (drive home)

So there you have it... (for now)
Sorry for all the pictures :)
 You know what they say, "A picture is worth a thousand words." amen.

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