Saturday, April 11, 2009

We serve a Great God

Great is Thy Faithfulness

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Refrain
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

His mercy and grace to us - to me - is unfathomable. That the God who is holy and perfect, created the universe with a word, could look at me before the world began and see how I would fail Him, spit in His face, despise His teachings and His ways, even after He saved me, and yet still send His only Son to DIE to redeem me and bring me in as a beloved child...There are not words to describe that kind of love and mercy.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Lent...only not...

So, I started this post talking about Lent, which I really know nothing about, other than that it is 40 days of deprivation. I had hit a bit of a wall, wondering what to type next (hard to expound on something you know nothing about), when, my computer went "boop". I looked, and had a message from my little sister on gtalk.

Mar: yo, this is my encouragement to u today:
For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.

It stopped me in my tracks. God grabbed my heart and squeezed it, overwhelming me with His grace and mercy. He is calling me to change, calling me to become more like Him, and I AM SO LAZY. And, as odd as it may come across, I get so discouraged by my own choices to sin. Like I'll never be able to do it - to change. I, such a wretch, am so utterly undeserving of His mercy or time of day. But.

For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.

How can I deny it? How can I doubt His care and love and desire for me? When He interrupts me from my totally pointless rambling to just tell me that He IS doing what I ask of Him, changing me. That there is hope that I can do what He wants me to do. Indeed, that, despite my sluggardliness, my stubborness, and my rebellion, He is giving me not only the know-how and skills to do what He wants - but He is giving me the very DESIRE to do so. Even if I don't see it. What mercy. And what hope.

It welled up tears in me. Just His love. His care. For me. What a God we serve.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

February is almost over...

Wow, can you believe February only has a bit over a week left in it? It's been a crazy first part of the year, between work and Ruth going to Florida, car issues (I do NOT recommend renewing your car registration online on the last day of your grace period!), lodge trip, robotics tournament, three family birthdays, dance lessons, church, Homeschool Day at the Capitol registration kicking off, not to mention just good ole times hangin out.

The Lord's been working on me the last couple months...right around the end of the year, He really gave me the umph to go and seek accountability on sin that I just couldn't/wouldn't kill. It's been kinda tough, but, I hope for good fruit.

I've been convicted about not praying much. I mean, I pray for specific things throughout the day or as they come to mind or whatever, but, as for concentrated, serious time talking to my Father, well, there sure isn't much. Tied into that is not spending much time with the Lord, period. I do not have any sort of consistency on doing time in the Word and prayer at all. I want to, I want to study and learn, but, for some reason, I just don't. I guess it's like Paul says in Romans: I don't do what I want to do and what I don't want to do, I do! Hmmm, as he goes on to say so eloquently: What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

That's my only hope folks - rescue by Jesus. His blood has covered me and I can rest knowing that, though there is war within me between flesh and spirit, I have a helper and eternal life is assured me at the end of the fight. Ah, Lord, that I will fight and be worthy of the crown in the end!

Friday, February 6, 2009

Last night I had a run in with the cops. Okay, so not a run-in like I was on the ground with hands behind my head, but, as a result of my foolishness had some bright lights shone in my face and complicated questions like "Have you been drinking tonight" thrown at me.

But let me back up. I guess I have to start here: I drive. ALOT. Commuting from Denver to Broomfield every day with random trips to Arvada, Westminster, and around town throughout the week. When I first started commuting 26 miles one way to work, it wasn't a big deal. The time in the car to prepare for, then wind down from, the workday, was actually pretty nice.
It still is. But, the more I drove the highways and byways of Denver metro, encountering the happy and not so happy drivers on the road, the more I began to drive like the not so happy ones. I have my good days, when work went well, no big home issues, and my heart in the right place, when I drive the speed limit and am courteous and forgiving of other drivers. Most days, however, have been punctuated with frustration, anger, and reckless driving. I let whatever happened (or didn't happen) affect my attitude to the point that I was endangering others on the road just to "let it all out".

You're probably thinking "Wow, this is great. Get back to the story." Okay, I will. The background on my driving is just a precursor necessary to explain why the police incident was a big thing.

We were heading home from Bible study and were dropping a friend off at his car. We had a silly tradition of circling his car (the only one in a very empty parking lot) a few times before letting him out. There were two cop cars in the lot, but, in the past, they had never cared, so, I went ahead and circled the car, completing it with a figure eight to land our friend next to his door.
Unfortunately, this time, the cops did care. Or perhaps I should say fortunately. Anyways, they pulled both cars up to us and shone their spotlights in the windows. I opened the car door since the window was broken and heard the shout "Don't get out of the car!"
The two cops walked over, and there followed 5-10 minutes of questions and them scrutinizing my license and the car registration in the pitch blackness behind their lights. Finally they returned and the gal cop handed me back my license and the registration along with
her business card, and with a bit of a [oh these crazy kids] chuckle in her tone, said, "Just go home." We went home.

The tough part of the whole incident was that I was driving my dad's car. So, naturally, I had to tell him and my mom what happened. (although, before any visions of sainthood come into your head, I will let you know that I was NOT going to tell them, and only did at the
encouragement of my younger sisters. What would I do without them?). Dad wasn't awake when we got home, but, we talked to mom. This morning my dad drove me to work and offered me some sage and Biblical advice and correction. He brought some observations about my driving that I was not aware of, and he encouraged me to drive as if I truly did "love my neighbor as myself".

I was convicted. Am convicted. Of the multiple times I have been foolish, reckless, or just plain careless in my driving. This does not honor God and only serves to demonstrate my sinful heart and my lack of love for others. I've gotta change. I know it won't be easy. I've tried before, and done okay for a little while, only to fall back into the same bad patterns.

A scripture comes to mind: Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men (Col 3v23). It reminds me that, not only should my driving be to glorify the Lord, but, that I should work heartily, as unto the Lord, at changing my driving habits. No more should I recklessly endanger other's lives, no more should I dishonor the Lord by disobeying the authorities, and, no longer should I set not just a poor, but an unhealthy, example for those around me.

So, in closing, can I ask you to keep me accountable? If you are driving with me, call me on my driving! However, even if you only read this post, check in with me, see how I'm doing, eh? Blessings!