The Power of the Cross...

O.. the groanings of the soul are so great...



Oh, to see the dawn
Of the darkest day:
Christ on the road to Calvary.
Tried by sinful men,
Torn and beaten, then
Nailed to a cross of wood.

This, the pow'r of the cross:
Christ became sin for us;
Took the blame, bore the wrath—
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Oh, to see the pain
Written on Your face,
Bearing the awesome weight of sin.
Ev'ry bitter thought,
Ev'ry evil deed
Crowning Your bloodstained brow.

Now the daylight flees;
Now the ground beneath
Quakes as its Maker bows His head.
Curtain torn in two,
Dead are raised to life;
"Finished!" the vict'ry cry.

Oh, to see my name
Written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death;
Life is mine to live,
Won through Your selfless love.

FINAL CHORUS:
This, the pow'r of the cross:
Son of God—slain for us.
What a love! What a cost!
We stand forgiven at the cross

If Only we could resemble Acts 2:42-47...

"And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. and day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. and the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved."

wow...

From the Book Crazy Love by Francis Chan

~This must have been something he quoted from somewhere else.. but wow how i want this to be my prayer:

"O God, i have tasted thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. i am painfully conscious of my need for further grace. i am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the triune God, i want to want Thee... i long to be filled with longing, i thirst to be made more thirsty still. show me thy glory, i pray thee, so that i may know thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, "Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away." Then give me grace to rise and follow thee up from this misty lowland where i have wandered so long."

O Lord, my Father... o that i may fall in love with You...



... memories of the last time i really felt true joy and satisfaction in Christ...ALONE

present your bodies as a living Sacrifice...

sometimes Funerals and deaths can be nothing short of a blessing. yes the tears come.. but they are tears of spiritual cleansing of my soul and compassion that only God supplies us with. it has dramatically changed my whole view of funerals and deaths because of the extremes that happen in that setting...in a house of mourning... yet also a house of hope... how can one not be changed and restored... biblical truths were repeated and realized over and over again. it's something so exciting.. because you see the meaning of life unfolding before your eyes and the mini glimpses of eternity with God and it makes you want to go home already (eternal Home)...


im just overwhelmed right now and thinking about my life and really getting to thinking about whats the deep and real reason im here and could i be ok with spending the rest of my life just not living for myself and if that would entail not ever marrying but presenting myself as a living sacrifice to the Lord, like in Romans 12:1 where it talks about obedience to Christ and the verse goes :

I appeal to you therefore brothers, by the Mercies of GOD , to present your bodies as a living Sacrifice, holy and acceptible to God, which is your spiritual worship!

verses like these where i am convicted to not just read over blankly but seriously meditate upon and i believe the more we spend meditating on these kind of verses, the more transforming work God can do in our lives and completely change the way we look like as believers as a whole, our actions, words, thoughts , dreams... everything. but im constantly getting caught up in my own thoughts of how i view that life is supposed to be for me based on watching all those movies about romance that gets to the head and the culture that brutally bombards us with feministic views and being relative to what everyone else thinks..

i believe this is one of the reasons why paul washer, a baptist missionary pastor says that the hardest country in the world to be a REAL REAL Christian ... is America.. even compared to countries where there is so much persecution and torture... because at least in those countries we can honestely say we are not depending on our own strength... where as america is all about making it on your own.. its just crazy thinking about it.. how the influence of self worship begins at such a young age ... in elementary schools, everywhere..

Cross centered living...

do i really care about God? or man?

Agony...

my close friend's dad died yesterday...
Tamila and ben's pappa... he is no more (on this earth)
there is agony and brokenness... but God is still in control.. and Jesus is enough.
its just hard to see all of this with the loss that is impossible to bear without Christ. pray for the Morgun family

Dying to Self

How can i expect to die to myself daily if i can't even get myself to wake up before 9am? i wonder how this semester will be like... i guess the best way to start is no more late nights. and realizing i can't do this on my own.
two days till my day of birth and i can't even understand that i'm not 19 anymore. 21... thats a new page. Father, sanctify me to find my joy only in You.

this has been a rejuvinating winter break. starting the new semester will be impossible to fathom without your help, Father. thank you for carrying me this far...