Marvelous love for me!

"I stand amazed in the presence
Of Jesus the Nazarene
And wonder how He could love me
A sinner condemned, unclean.

He took my sins and my sorrows
And He made them His very own.
And he bore the burden to Calvary
And suffered and died alone.

Oh h

Ho marvelous, how wonderful!
And my snong shall ever be.
How marvelous, how wonderful!
Is my Savior's love for me!"

Amazing...marvlous...wonderful...what fitting words to describe God's live. Along with unfathomabl, glorious, unsurpassing, and never-ending. Such beautiful words. And such a beautiful truth that God would love me...and does!

Oh God, help me to communicate this love to the world around me that so desperately needs to hear it!

Beautiful Truth

Not what my hands have done
Can save my guilty soul
Not what my toiling flesh has borne
Can make my spirit whole
Not what I feel or do
Can give me peace with God
Not all my prayers and sighs and tears
Can bear my awful load

These guilty hands I raise
Filthy rags are all I bring
But I have come to hid beneath Your wings.
These holy hands I raise
Washed in the fountain of Your grace
For now I bear Your righteousness.

Thy work alone, Oh Christ
Can ease this weight of sin
Thy blood alone, Oh Lamb of God
Can give me peace within
Thy love to me, Oh God
Not mine, Oh Lord, to Thee
Can rid me of my dark unrest
And set my spirit free

These guilty hands I raise
Filthy rags are all I bring
But I have come to hid beneath Your wings.
These holy hands I raise
Washed in the fountain of Your grace
For now I bear Your righteousness.

These guilty hands I raise
Filthy rags are all I bring
But I have come to hid beneath Your wings.
These holy hands I raise
Washed in the fountain of Your grace
For now I bear Your righteousness.


And I praise the God of grace
I trust His truth and light
He calls me His, I call Him mine
My God, my joy, my life
Tis He Who saveth me
And freely pardon gives
I love because He loveth me
I live because He lives
"Not What My Hands have Done" By Nathan Clark George, Chorus by Aaron Keyes

The greatest love of all is mine!

Here I am humbled by your Majesty
Covered by your grace so free
Here I am, knowing I'm a sinful man
Covered by the blood of the Lamb

Now I've found the greatest love of all is mine
Since you laid down your life
The greatest sacrifice

Majesty, Majesty
Your grace has found me just as I am
Empty handed, but alive in your hands
Majesty, Majesty
Forever I am changed by your love
In the presence of your Majesty

Here I am humbled by the love that you give
Forgiven so that I can forgive
Here I stand, knowing that I'm your desire
Sanctified by glory and fire

Now I've found the greatest love of all is mine
Since you laid down your life
The greatest sacrifice

Majesty, Majesty
Your grace has found me just as i am
Empty handed, but alive in Your hands
Majesty, Majesty
Forever I am changed by your love
In the presence of your Majesty.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

We sang this song in Care Group last night...and, as always, it was an encouragement to my heart that brought tears of joy and thankfulness to my eyes.

The greatest love of all is mine since You, Jesus, laid down your life, the greatest sacrifice.

Wow...if anything can bring joy to your heart when joy is lacking it is that truth right there. The love of God, the Father, is now directed towards me. Wrath, judgement, and anger over my sin has been replaced by mercy, kindness...and a Father's heart of love. Why should I run after anything else? Why does my heart forget that it has the greatest love of all from the Lover of my soul...and want earthly love more? Oh may my heart be satisfied in the love of God, for His love is the only love that will never fail, never hurt, and always satisfy.

And His love is changing me. And that is exciting. :)

And I think I'm starting to understand what He's been trying to teach me over the past months. And I think I'm starting to learn to be content in where He has me right now.

And that is even more exciting...because I know that HE and HE alone could change my stubborn heart and bring me to this place.

What's next? I don't know...but I DO know that it WILL be for my good, and it WILL bring me joy because it WILL be from a loving, gracious Heavenly Father who brings nothing into my life that will not benefit me and bring glory to His name.

And again...that's exciting. :)

At the cross You beckon me...

"To the cross I look, to the cross I cling
Of its suffering I do drink
Of its work I do sing
For on it my Savior both bruised and crushed
Showed that God is love
And God is just

At the cross You beckon me
You draw me gently to my knees, and I am
Lost for words, so lost in love,
I’m sweetly broken, wholly surrendered

What a priceless gift, undeserved life
Have I been given
Through Christ crucified
You’ve called me out of death
You’ve called me into life
And I was under Your wrath
Now through the cross I’m reconciled

At the cross You beckon me
Draw me gently to my knees, and I am
Lost for words, so lost in love,
I'm sweetly broken, wholly surrendered.

In awe of the cross I must confess
How wondrous Your redeeming love and
How great is Your faithfulness"
- Jeremy Riddle, Sweetly Broken

"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves, but it is the gift of God, not of works so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before hand that we should walk in them." - Ephesians 2:1-10

Such wonderful words to hear on a cold, dreary day when my heart is hungry for sweet news. How wonderful it is to know I can turn and hear the sweetest, best news I could ever hear...that my sins are forgiven and I am loved as a child of God because of Jesus!

First couple of days...

Here is a link to my facebook to see pictures from the first couple of days here. Hopefully this works! Let me know if it doesn't!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2194704&id=23207293&ref=nf

Things are going well! I'm having a good time already. Learning a lot from the culture and the people. The landscape here is beautiful as well. The mountains and the oceans are wonderful. I've been able to tour both La Serena and Coquimbo and have seen many things at the open markets that I already want to buy! :)

I'll update more later. I'm at the internet cafe, and they charge per hour...and its already been that because of my inability to figure out technology. :) I'll write more when I can.

Chile!

So tomorrow at this time I will probably be boarding a plane in Miami to head to Santiago, Chile. And Friday morning, I will be getting on a bus to drive to La Serena, where I will be staying for a little over three weeks...studying Pablo Neruda (a Chilean poet who won a couple of Nobel prizes for literature back in the early 1900s) and hanging out in a quaint little town! :)

I'm both excited and anxious about this. I'm excited to go to a new place and see new things. I'm excited to see the creativity of God by seeing the vast array of His creation. I'm excited to be in a different country with people from a different culture and a different way of life. I'm excited about making new friends...because I know absolutely no one else going. But most of all, I'm excited to get away for a bit and hopefully meet God in a different and a new way.

I'm also anxious. Anxious about being with people I don't know in a place I'm not familiar with. I'm anxious about not being in Christian fellowship for almost a month. I'm anxious about being away from home for almost a month, with only e-mail to keep in contact with my parents.

But above all my anxieties, I know my God is faithful and will keep me while I'm gone. I know He will be faithful to meet me in ways I'm not expecting. And I know that He will allow me to have a wonderful time on this trip that He has graciously provided for.

I'll be updating pictures and stuff frequently while I'm gone, both through the blog and facebook. I'd covet prayers while I'm gone for the things I listed above. Prayers for peace and joy in my Savior, and prayers that He will keep me and protect me while I'm gone.

Next update will be from Chile! And hopefully there will be some pictures...other than the map above! :)

"But now thus says the Lord, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you." - Isaiah 43:1-2

The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness, for His name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me. Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. - Psalm 23

I love the image of Jesus as our good Shepherd. He is my Shepherd. That means he is leading me. He is leading me through the easy parts of this path to which He has called me. And He is leading me through the difficult parts. He is leading my head and my heart. He is preparing me for what's next. He's leading me out of love for me. He's leading me because He died for me. He's leading me because God chose me to follow Him. He's leading me because He is loving, merciful, and gracious. He doesn't want me to fall. He strengthens me. He lets me rest in certain parts of the path, and then starts the walking again.

He's not only leading me...He's protecting me. He has His loving arms around me comforting my heart, drying my tears, and picking me up when I fall down. Right now, in this season of my life when I'm not necessarily walking down the easiest part of the path, He's right there. Reminding me of His undying love for me. Reminding me of His unending mercy through the cross. And also reminding me that it's a path...which means it's always changing. Reminding me that this is only a season...and like the seasons of the earth change, this one will too. And reminding me that through it all, He is sovereign and good...and He knows the ending. He knows what the next part of the path brings.

Right now, this season is for my good. And the next one will be too. Because God planned these seasons...and God cannot plan anything that has errors or faults. Only perfectly good plans come from God because He is perfectly good.

Oh if I could only remember that every second of every day...then having joy and a heart at peace would be oh so much easier!