Divine Romance

The fullness of Your grace is here with me
The richness of Your beauty’s all I see
The brightness of Your glory has arrived
In Your presence God, I’m completely satisfied

For You I sing I dance
Rejoice in this divine romance
Lift my heart and my hands
To show my love, to show my love

A deep deep flood, an Ocean flows from You
Of deep deep love, yeah it’s filling up the room
Your innocent blood, has washed my guilty life
In Your presence God I’m completely satisfied

For You I sing I dance
I Rejoice in this divine romance
Lift my heart and my hands
To show my love, to show my love

-Lyrics by Phil Wickham

Only Hope

There's a song that's inside of my soul.
It's the one that I've tried to write over and over again
I'm awake in the infinite cold.
But you sing to me over and over and over again.

So, I lay my head back down.
And I lift my hands and pray
To be only yours, I pray, to be only yours
I know now you're my only hope.

Sing to me the song of the stars.
Of your galaxy dancing and laughing and laughing again.
When it feels like my dreams are so far
Sing to me of the plans that you have for me over again.

So I lay my head back down.
And I lift my hands and pray
To be only yours, I pray, to be only yours
I know now, you're my only hope.

I give you my destiny.
I'm giving you all of me.
I want your symphony, singing in all that I am
At the top of my lungs, I'm giving it back.

So I lay my head back down.
And I lift my hands and pray
To be only yours, I pray, to be only yours
I pray, to be only yours
I know now you're my only hope.

- Original lyrics by Switchfoot / Modified by Mandy Moore

What will you forfeit?

"And he called to him the crowd with his disciples and said to them, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?" Mark 8:34-36

This week I have been learning so much about how deeply sin runs in our hearts and human natures. It continues to amaze me that the HOLY God would choose to use sinners to bring Glory to his name through the offering of Jesus Christ. I know that personally I am consumed with selfishness, pride, idolatry, unthankfulness, and discontentment. Why is it so difficult for us to just believe the simple promises of God? If we simply believed his word is true and rest in the security of his faithfulness, these sin issues would be eradicated from our lives. My selfishness would be lost in the joy of serving others. My pride would be destroyed by humility in the realization that God can use me and will use me for his glory if I pursue righteousness and his kingdom. If I feared God more than man, my idolatry would be absolutely replaced by the overwhelming- all consuming worship of Gods mercy, grace, and love. If I thanked God for what I have rather than demanding he meet my desires I would see how abundantly he has blessed those who so leastly deserve it.

I am learning that in losing our life for the sake of Christ and his Gospel we rid ourselves of the refuse that our human natures apart from God delight in, and Christ allows us to bask in the unfathomable and delighting presence of our God and King! So in order to follow Christ do we really forfeit anything worth mentioning? I dare say NO! Rather we attain the treasure of the redemptional love of Christ that fulfills every desire and joy built into the fabric of our human soul. Let it be said of us professing to be followers of Christ that our greatest and exceeding joy was to forfeit all things of this world that we might only and ultimately attain the great lover of our souls Jesus Christ!

I Surrender All

Holy Father, love me still
I have fallen from Your will
I am broken
Hear my humble cry
My cry

Take my life and make it Yours Lord
Fill me with your love
You are all I need
I surrender all of me

I have wandered for so long
Tired and weary on my own
In Your arms I know I'm home,
O God, My God

Take my life and make it Yours, Lord
Fill me with Your love
You are all I need
I surrender all of me

Take my life and make it Yours, Lord
Fill me with Your love
You are all I need
I surrender
I surrender
I surrender all of me

Do you know Him?

This morning in the service at Grace Baptist Church the guest speaker made a comment that has really been on my mind today. He said "You cannot love that which you do not know." At first it seems like a simple comment, but the more I meditated on it's truth today the more I was amazed at how relevant it is to our lives. For example, why does a husband love his wife? It's because he knows her, he values her, he appreciates her every day attributes that he alone recognizes because of the time he has invested in admiring her. He loves her, not because of factual realization of who she is but because of the fellowship he shares with her through the every day ins and outs of this life. He draws comfort from his wife because of her willingness to sharing her life with him. So this thought leads me to a greater question. How much do you love Christ?

If you could measure this amount of love for him wouldn't it directly relate to how intimately you know him? I most certainly believe it would. When we devote our lives to relentlessly pursuing the fellowship of Jesus Christ in our prayers, meditation on the word, and practice of daily righteousness; we enter into a communion with Jesus that makes our heart burn more and more with a passion to simply be close to him. Our hearts increasingly yearn for more of his presence and our lips cannot cease from worshiping him. When our eyes our focused on his unapproachable light of glory the lesser distractions of fulfillment in this world dissappear.

So I ask once again how much do you love Christ? How well do you know him? Does your heart yearn and burn for more of him? Oh that we as Christians would strive to know Christ more and more every day! The world would not know how to react when they saw men and women burning with a passion for more and more of Christ. Do you know him? And if you know him, how much do you love him? And if you love him, it is because he first loved you.

Before the Throne of God

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea.
A great high Priest whose Name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart.
I know that while in heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart.
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end to all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.
To look on Him and pardon me.

Behold Him there the risen Lamb,
My perfect spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM,
The King of glory and of grace,
One with Himself I cannot die.
My soul is purchased by His blood,
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ my Savior and my God!
With Christ my Savior and my God

One with Himself I cannot die.
My soul is purchased by His blood,
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ my Savior and my God!

Blessed

WOW! This afternoon I was practicing the songs we're going to be playing on GBC Worship Team this Sunday and this one just gripped me! Wow! BLESSED are those who dwell in the house of God as they continually praise him! May that be the image of our lives! Let us dwell in your house Oh LORD and bless us with the desire for more and more of your presence!!!!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blessed are those who dwell in Your house
They are ever praising You
Blessed are those whose strength is in You
Whose hearts are set on our God
(X3)

We will go from strength to strength
Until we see You face to face

Hear our prayer
Oh Lord, God almighty
Come bless our land
As we seek You, Worship You

Blessed are those who dwell in your House
They are ever praising you
Blessed are those whose strength is in you
Whose hearts are set on our God

We will go from strength to strength
Until we see You face to face

Hear our prayer
Oh Lord, God Almighty
Come bless our land
As we seek you, Worship you

Hear our prayer
Oh Lord, God Almighty
Come bless our land
As we seek you, Worship you

For You are holy
For You are holy
For You are holy, Lord

For You are holy
For You are holy
For You are holy, Lord
(X2)

Hear our prayer
Oh Lord, God Almighty
Come bless our land
As we seek you, Worship You!

Hear our prayer (echo - For you are Holy, For you are Holy)
Oh Lord, God Almighty (echo-For You are Holy, Lord)
Come bless our land (echo-For you are Holy, For you are Holy)
As we seek you, Worship you (echo For you are Holy Lord)



- Hillsong "Blessed"

A Page Is Turned

Words cannot begin to describe so many things for me right now... so may this song describe what my words cannot...Ode to October...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

A page is turned by the wind to a boy in curly grin
With a world to conquer at the age of ten
But as history unfolds and the storybook is told
He finds salvation but not at the hands of man

And the God of second chance
Picked him up and He let him dance
Through a world that is not kind
And all this time, preparing him, the one
To hold him up when he comes undone
Beneath the storm, beneath the sun
And now a man, here you stand
Your day has come

A page is turned in this world to reveal a little girl
With a heart that's bigger, as it is unfurled
By the language in her soul, that's teaching her to grow
With a careful cover of love that will not fail

And the God of second chance
Picked her up and He let her dance
Through a world that isn't kind
And all this time, preparing her the one
To hold her up when she comes undone
Beneath the storm, beneath the sun
And grown up tall, here you are
Your day has come

Beneath the air of autumn, she took him by his hand
And warm within the ardor, she took his heart instead
And high upon the mountain, he asked her for her hand
Just for her hand

A page is turned in this life, he's making her his wife
And there is no secret to the source of this much life
When the grace that falls like rain is washing them again
Just a chance to somehow rise above this land

Where the God of second chance
Will pick them up and he'll let them dance
Through a world that is not kind
And all this time, they're sharing with the one
That holds them up when they come undone
Beneath the storm, beneath the sun
And once again, here you stand
And once again, here you stand
Your day has come