"Hear Us from Heaven" is a song that we sang at my church in Birmingham that really resonates with me in these days - as we cry out to Father for Him to bring revival that starts with us.

Lord, hear our cry - Come heal our land
Breath life into these dry and thirsty souls
Lord, hear our prayer - Forgive our sin
And as we call on Your name - Would You make this a place
For Your glory to dwell

Open the blind eyes Unlock the deaf ears
Come to Your people As we draw near
Hear us from heaven Touch our generation
We are Your people Crying out in desperation

Lord hear our song Your children worship
As we sing out Your praise
Would You make this a place for Your glory to dwell

Hear Us From Heaven,
Hear Us From Heaven,
Hear Us From Heaven (4x)

I too am desperate for Him to move- He always is moving but I long for in to dwell among us in full- like He promises in Revelation 21. I want my eyes to be full of eternal perspective- of the beauty of Christ that I can't even begin to comprehend.

Psalm 102 paints a great picture of this as well...

12But you, O LORD, are enthroned forever;
you are remembered throughout all generations.
...
15Nations will fear the name of the LORD,
and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
16For the LORD builds up Zion;
he appears in his glory; (can't wait for this!)
17he regards the prayer of the destitute
and does not despise their prayer.

...

18Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD: (He has His people in mind!)
19that he looked down from his holy height;
from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,
20to hear the groans of the prisoners,
to set free those who were doomed to die,
21that they may declare in Zion the name of the LORD, (our purpose- to glorify Him)
and in Jerusalem his praise,
22when peoples gather together,
and kingdoms, to worship the LORD.(can't wait for this either!! how beautiful it will be-)

25 Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you will remain; (thank goodness He is the same yesterday, today, and FOREVER)
they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
27but you are the same, and your years have no end.
28 The children of your servants shall dwell secure;
their offspring shall be established before you.

This will always transform me- when I ponder heaven and all that is to come, I find myself praying for the Lord to come quickly- bring healing and restoration to your people, that ALL may know! It brings perspective everytime- looking to Jesus NEVER FAILS.

A word I use often is "sure"... it may be because what my dad says for "yes" but I just like it better than yes or the outrageously popular "yeah". I want to say what i mean and mean what i say. I want to do what I say I will do and be where I say I will be. I trust that this is the Lord in me, making me more like Jesus. In Christ I am trustworthy, dependable, giving, and genuine. I pray he takes this weak soul and manifests His character in my life.

"Sure" is like "yes" with emotion, conviction, and comfort in it. I want to REALLY mean it! And I do, to the best extent that I possibly can. Not joking. Not indifferent. Not wavering. Now without thought. Now without confidence.

JUST. SURE.

The Lord brought to my mind the word "guarantee" as I was wrestling with some UN-surety in my own life... which reminded me of the following verses, as I NEED, as His child, to KNOW, that HE is sure even when nothing else is. I heard it said once that moving frequently as a child can be as traumatic if not more so than the death of a parent. Children need a sure thing, a constant, if you will. I often find I am caught in the tension of living on earth with my only hope in heaven. It's not always easy... At the risk of sounding cheesy, I am going to have to mention the TV show Lost, because it really illustrated this. Desmond, in his conscious mind, was able to be in the past and the future, but this caused a great amount on confusion and disorientation. The physicist told him he must find a constant to connect the 2 worlds, thus uniting the past and the future. Wow. How much MORE, INFINITELY MORE, does Christ not only connect our two worlds, but give them PURPOSE and MEANING!? THEN we have peace in the reality of His holding ALL things together.

Eph. 1:11In him we have obtained (already!) an inheritance, having been predestined (that's definitely already!) according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.

13In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believedsealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

That's SURE - words like promised, and guarantee... it's already done, but not yet fully in our possession, also stated, we live our new life in Christ on this earth only because we are sealed by the Holy Spirit and when that does not seem enough we are reminded that He did not leave is with nothing, He left us, at the point of salvation, WITH HIS SPIRIT, a GUARANTEE (something that assures a particular outcome or condition) of our inheritance. We have it, but it's not fully ours.

What an anchor to my soul that is so prone to search to find something stable in a quickly crumbling world. I wrestle with this balance: how to live in the "already but not yet" that this passage describes:

2 Cor 5:
1For we know (sure!) that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed,

so that (phrase of purpose coming up here!!)

what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. (wow! It is HIS LIFE in the Spirit that conquers the flesh/mortality in us!)

(and the "how"- )

5He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a
guarantee.

6So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord,

7for we walk by faith, not by sight.

8Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

I pray that my groaning stops at longing to be fully with Christ and does not progress into complaining or pessimism. I don't want the enemy to steal my joy. This joy is found in delighting in the glorious supremacy of Jesus Christ. The One that is the same: yesterday, today, and forever.

2 Cor 1:18 As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. 19For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. 20For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. 21And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

Our being established in Christ is guaranteed by the fact that we HAVE His Spirit!

16That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace (God giving, us receiving) and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,... Paul in Romans...

In faith we have the Spirit of Christ, our HELPER, that He left for us to testify to our being new creations. The Spirit IS our assurance, our testifier, our helper. When we feel stuck in the middle there is a SURE, constant Person who is Christ Jesus, guaranteed for eternity by His Spirit.

a little christmas fun... hope the reality of God in flesh in the form of Christ is powerful and humbling to you as it is to me.  Emmanuel - GOD is with us and in us!  

there's never going to be a day in the history of days that God's kingdom doesn't go forward...there's not really anything else that does that in life. - a conversation between louie giglio and matt redman

that's it. that is my confidence in these days. it lines up with who God is: He CAN'T stop loving His people - that's who He is. and LOVE CHANGES PEOPLE. It's the power that causes change in our lives - because we realize we are valuable to Him. our worth is caught up in the cross and we cannot deny His love, which is actively pursuing us.

the kingdom redemption and rescue is all around. it's all the places and events where Christ is reconciling hearts and situations to himself. His truth and life WILL prove faithful and real if we will take it by faith. i hope and pray i am an instrument in His hands. i trust i carry His life in me to communicate the gospel to whoever He places before me, and i am so glad that His life is the force and it's not all up to me.

God, move your kingdom forward before our eyes like never before.

i have gotten this question a lot from girls so i figured it was worth posting...

Christ is ALL and in ALL...

Hey! glad you wrote- it's means so much to me that you would even ask... this is something the Lord taught me this past year a lot about... I think the phrase 'guard your heart' comes from this:

Prov. 4:23 Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.
This is the NASB version which i like b/c it shows the word guard to mean "watch over" the AMP version says be diligent over...
This is indeed important but i agree w/ you in that it has really been thrown around to the point that no one knows what it means anymore. anytime you make a theology out of one verse you usually end up frustrated or lost! I think it's very important to watch over your heart- to take care of it by renewing it to truth and asking the Lord to search and know it and change it when it's out of line... i think, especially with women, our temptation is to live by feelings and those feelings (i.e. having a crush on a guy or thinking there is something there when he has said nothing to you about it) and feelings move to a false reality. then you are totally on this roller coaster because you were not renewing your heart and mind to truth, but to your human feelings. (see romans 12:1-2)

I think we need to pick that Proverbs 4:23 verse apart according to scripture:
if you read about what the heart is and how that word is used in scripture it's usually the seat of our desire, it is "deceitful above all" and "God is greater than our heart" It's the part of us that is often what we feel and may not ALWAYS be in line w/ truth- that's why I John 3 says 16By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
19By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. 21Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 23And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

so you see - people in their sin(flesh/self effort) can close their hearts (that's why we much be in touch with what God is doing in us individually, praying and asking Him to reveal any sin in our lives). When their heart, the container of the wellspring of life, is closed, they miss the gospel in their lives, and their hearts can even condemn them (this is one way we are deceived into believing lies), but we must REASSURE our hearts of what it true: (Remember when David tells is own soul: "Bless the Lord, Oh my Soul"?) that HE laid His life down for us, and His love is complete, perfect, abounding -

So we may often FEEL condemned, unworthy, unacceptable, or needy but TRUTH is what GOD says, regardless of how I feel.

All of our worth, significance, and acceptability comes totally 100% from Christ - and we must often (as I am choosing to do even today) cast our entire heart, all that we are, onto the love of Christ. That's why he said in John 15, "Abide in my love, remain in my love..." We throw ourselves in total trust and abandon into the life and love of Christ that He gives freely.

To NOT guard your heart is to allow those needs for love, acceptance, worth, security, etc... that only Christ can meet... to consume you instead of letting Christ meet them. It can be so subtle and that's why Proverbs reminds us to "be diligent" over our heart. When you look to ANY other source (whether guy or girl friends or family or school, etc...) above or outside of Christ you are not guarding your heart because your "wellspring of Life" will be dry if you are drinking from THE Living water.

Specifically, in relationships, it is to live in the reality of that relationship, not an imagined fantasy. (this is where the heart can deceive you into thinking it's more, or moving further along, etc, than what it actually is, and this is where the heartbreak often happens) It is to always look to Christ first and not to a person. When they disappoint you (they will) you look to Christ. When they ask too much of you (and you know when they do this) you don't give in because you find acceptance in Christ and not what you do for them. And when your heart is broken, you can survive that because all along your have cast your hope in Christ, not making that person an idol, or one from whom you receive your primary acceptance and love from. God is your primary provide for that need!

Here's a little more on the heart for you/ How you can practically guard your heart:

Phil 4:5 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. do not be anxious about anything,
but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Eph 1:19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

So, REJOICE, offer up your requests to Him, THANK HIM in faith for His deep love and acceptance towards you, know the Love of Christ (pursue intimacy with Him)... that you may be at peace (accepting His gift of Life to you) and full (complete, not lacking in anything) in Christ.

We, as children of God and believers in His power that lives and dwells in us, are called to live out of our fullness and Christ- the full heart, confident in Him alone, is the guarded heart.
Or at least that's the first step... when the wellspring of live isn't flowing... you'll know what to do. And it will always be a journey but it's a journey to intimacy with Christ that He is overjoyed to walk with you in.

Hope this helps,
and let me know if I could help you any further! If I can do anything at all for you (get together or whatever) let me know!
love
katie b

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V78mEMTB-tY

part 1 of a video from our trip to hong kong!

I feel like the Lord is definitely shouting through my circumstances and what's been going on:
2 weddings of couples where the pursuit of the bride we long distance yet totally consistent and committed (Orlando-Birmingham, and North Carolina - China!!) remind me of how He pursues us. The gospel really is too good to be true. It really is! Then I watched Diary of a Mad Black woman... on TBS... some hard stuff in there and pretty funny but there is definitely sacrificial love... LOVE is what breaks down walls... and it takes force to break down walls and love is the perfect power to do that! And then, I have heard the stories of people being in close relationship with friends where their Christ like love for one another- their effort in being intentional and not backing up brought about the love and life of Christ in such life changing ways that people are ruined for the present!! Lastly I watched my granddad weep at the foot of his wife of 64 years' bed as he has done for the last month and a half as he watches her slip more each day into the throws of dementia. Even when she pushes and cuts at him in her conscious moments, he comes everyday to the nursing home and looks for the good things about the day yet mourns the loss of the love of his life and his best friend as he's known her, dreaming of the day they can return home.

To sit and think that He takes pleasure in us because we are His- not because of what we do or accomplish- really it is a gift of grace! Even when we ignore the fact that He is pouring out to us! He has given it ALL! It is that grace that changes my life! It is so powerful that even though I have heard this before it's like I have heard it for the first time--that is the GOSPEL!

Do not despair or be discouraged- the Lord your God loves YOU for YOU and He is so committed to you knowing that. WE just have to open our eyes and see- He may be whispering or he may be screaming, but step back and look- He is in ALL things, declaring His glory and offering all He has that you may know Him.

This hymn just sealed it for me...

O LOVE THAT WILL NOT LET ME GO
(arr. by Jason Sears, orig. by George Matheson...)

1. O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
May richer, fuller be!

2. O light that follows all my way,
I yield my flickering flame
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.
May brighter, fairer be.

O Love (that will not let me go)
That will not let me go
O love (that holds my trembling soul)
That holds my trembling soul
O Love (that will not let me go)
That will not let me go
O love (that heals and makes me whole)
That heals and makes me whole
O love love that will not let me go



-------------------------------
3. O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

4. O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

here is an amazing group of folks who are having a great time teaching english in hong kong. we are really blessed to have a team that enjoys each other and works so well together!!

Jeremiah 33
3I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
12They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD



There is a certain value to getting away. The Lord has set His creation before us to point us to Himself. You can't ignore it. It only exists to call us into deeper fellowship with Him. It's interesting that the tabernacle of worship to the Lord in the Old Testament start's with outer courts, which are lit by natural light. Worship begins in the natural, stirring our senses, opening our physical eyes. He's grabbed our attention and invites us to MORE...



Then our soul begins to sing- in the holy place the light source was from a lamp. IN our sould His word brings light and clarity to our hearts and minds. This is where we are transformed and changed.



And finally, through the veil to the holy of holies, the only source of light is the glory of God- outshining all that we have ever seen. Our spirit engages in union with Him: the ultimate act of worship. There is nothing that brings perspective more than true worship by the Spirit. THAT is when we taste the glory of God. In His very presence is the fullness of joy! (Psalm 16:11)



Psalm 96
8Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
bring an offering, and come into his courts!
9Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness;[a]
tremble before him, all the earth!
10Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns!
Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved

“The question is, can we say,

simply, honestly, not because we feel that as evangelicals we ought to,

but because it is a plain matter of fact, that we have known God, and that

because we have known God the unpleasantness we have had, or the

pleasantness we have not had, through being Christians does not matter

to us? If we really knew God, this is what we would be saying, and if we

are not saying it, that is a sign that we need to face ourselves more

sharply with the difference between knowing God and merely knowing about him.”

-J.I. Packer in Knowing God


What would it be like to no longer complain, to quit fixing our eyes on “stuff” and weld them to Him? Knowing Him fully (and you can never know all of Him) makes those things so much smaller…


I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE how creative and just plain smart the Lord is. I love how He can make many seemingly seperate truths all come together. I love how he takes those truths and makes them experience, illuminating and revolutionizing how I see things and do things and understand things.


“The word of the Lord is LIVING and ACTIVE, sharper than any double edged sword…”


His Word is not still. His Word is not void. It’s not just an idea, it is a PERSON! A person who is living and active in us. His LIFE is in us and causes us to not be the same. This gift of grace is not just love and acceptance unconditionally, but it is the gift of TRANSFORMING POWER!


John 1: 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.


When the Word abides in us we cannot help but be changed. The little pleasures or lack thereof become smaller as we see Him in all this glory- as we KNOW him. (In HIS presence is the fullness of joy)


Fixing our eyes not on that which is seen but that which is UNSEEN:

2 Cor 4: 17For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.


We think that the tangible, touchable things are so real yet it is all over scripture that He is what’s real. The spiritual is true reality. There is a certain CERTAIN freedom in that- My eyes have truly been opened as I have had the privilege of studying some about prophecy and end times and how God works and how we experience Him in these days:


Basically, HE IS UNSHAKEABLE the rest is SHAKEABLE, unreliable, pointless, you name it. The things that consume us (or should I say we allow to consume us and tempt us and imprison us) are not what knowing Him is about. Knowing Him is saying I consider all this rubbish that I may gain Christ… That I may know Him (Phil 3:7-8) Heb 12:28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29for our God is a consuming fire.


When we know Him we hold things loosely, because the things we usually grasp with our very life are “shakeable things”- people, our daily comforts, our “way”, our plans. He is so faithful to shake things a bit because He knows Life is better when we know Him as Life and when we know what/who is lasting, life-giving, and better than all we could ask or imagine.


Hopefully this will be our Word that sums up the truths: He is enough, He is BETTER…

Jeremiah 9:23Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”


I am glad to delight in Him.

“Learn to love to be alone with the words of God- that’s when crazy things happen in your own life- that’s when you hear the calling of God on your life!” -Francis Chan


The calling of God on your life = “until Christ is completely and permanently formed (molded) within you…” Gal 4:19, happens when we seek Him out for everything and in everything.


Hebrews 13-amplified version

5Let your character or moral disposition be free from love of money [including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions] and be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have]; for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]


6So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, The Lord is my Helper; I will not be seized with alarm [I will not fear or dread or be terrified]. What can man do to me?


This is the only freedom I have-


I am convicted by this but praise the Lord - I heard this weekend that conviction, ,which leads to confession and repentance is a sign of growth! I know one thing and that is I do not want to just stay the same, getting more and more stagnant. I welcome this “hardship as discipline” (Hebrews 12:7) and trust God to do the rest. So that all that comes from my life is nothing but His life, He IS good to keep me on my face, especially on the days when I fight it. Then real repentance, growth, and revival happens. My prayer is that my personal revival will spark it in those who know me. My heart is revived by the gospel- the whole gospel from start to finish. THEN I experience the JOY of my salvation. Then I realize, in the midst of my sin/old thought patterns, how He conquers (actually has conquered already!) it more than I can ask or imagine, and He refines more and more of me. He and I are close and intimate in our conversations as I let Him in (haha, whatever it is to “let” God in…) on what I’m really thinking… and He lets me in on what HE is thinking. It’s amazing. HE IS AMAZING!


Lord-


in the moment i was afraid- i thought i was alone. “but though i feel alone, i am NEVER alone- you are with me” thank you for this Word that you will not in any degree leave me helpless or forsaken. I am not an orphan but your well-provided for daughter. Lord it is my joy to know you in this intentional and intimate way. I could not ask for any more than that!

Hebrews 4:14Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.


“But the claim made for Jesus is that he has passed through the heavens, he has passed outside the limits of time and space. He is no longer contained within, limited by, those boundaries that hold us within physical limits. He is outside, above, beyond, over all, therefore there are no limits to his power.

It is wrong to think of this relationship in terms of space. Growing up as children there is a tendency to think of heaven as “out there” in space somewhere, on one of the stars, perhaps, some great distance removed from earth. Because of the figurative language employed in Scripture we think of going “up” to heaven and “down” to hell. … But surely the idea that is conveyed to us by the figurative language of the Scriptures is that heaven is outside time and space, therefore it can be within us as well as around us, above us, and beyond us. The throne of grace is not in remote space; it is right in the heart of a believer in whom Jesus Christ dwells. To come to the throne of grace does not mean to go into a prayer closet and shut the door and address an appeal across the reaches of space to some distant point in heaven. It means to reckon upon the One who indwells us. The throne of grace is that close to us, that available to us. (R. Stedman)”


Wow. I believe this with all I am as I sense the Lord moving and changing our community. I know without a doubt that He is doing great things in me! Tony Evans said with great excitement this morning, “He doesn’t come just to change our lives but to EXCHANGE our lives!” He gives us His very life. He is the only thing being that is eternal, so He IS eternal life and that is offered to us today! That is more real than anything!


Christ is all-sufficient! There are places in us that ONLY His word can affect. He gives grace to change and bring life to our flesh: our weakness. That is where HIS LIFE is seen most! All that which we depend on outside of Him: our pride manifested in self-strength and self- protection, performance to gain acceptance, self-deprecation and other acts of the flesh where we try to do what only God can do, are only hurting us. God SEES right through those. He is not surprised or unable to wield a sword that brings death to this flesh and life all in the same blow. THAT is why we must RUN (Heb. 4:14-16 - this run is evidence of faith) to the throne (a place of power and authority) of grace and receive that which is already ours by the sacrifice Christ has made.


I have never been more blessed. I have never felt more rich in Him. There is not a doubt in my mind that He is able to accomplish more than we could ever dream and imagine. He is more available than I could have dreamed. That is truth and anything less is a full out lie. It’s amazing the power of the TRUTH of the indwelling word: the power of Christ living in me.

God has a unique PLAN for every believer:

He, since the beginning of time, has pursued and romanced a people that He loves unconditionally. When we still were His unbelieving enemy He died for us. We died with Him. He took our sin upon Himself to romance us once again and to buy us back. We are raised to new life, reborn if you will, and we MUST continue to live! By finding fellowship and understanding in Him, He has won our hearts! So we invite Him in to dwell in us. Renewing our minds to truth and becoming a LIVING sacrifice allows His purpose to happen in our lives: we begin to reflect Him as we go on to maturity through healing and refining.

You dwellings of Jesus! Allow Him to build you up into Himself! Make more room for Him in your life by living out of your fullness and completeness (salvation) that He offers. Your whole life’s purpose is wrapped up in Him: He has bestowed GIFTS on us (namely Himself- shining through our unique personalities)! We must build up CHRIST’S body using our unique gifts, and He WILL be glorified in and through us! May we stand in awe of Christ’s compelling love and walk forward into the advancing kingdom before us.

Take the time to start anew
Maybe it's in front of you
Take the time to walk down your street
And heaven knows who you might meet
Take the time to be okay
And laugh a bit along the way
You could take me for a ride, we could just drive all day

chorus:
And we could breathe again
Step outside our front door
And gaze upon the stars
And know we're not alone
So run into the fields
Scream louder than you can
It's good to be alive
And breathing air again

Take the time to stop and stare
Heaven's beauty everywhere
Take the time to think about
Someone else besides yourself
Take the time to be okay
And laugh a bit along the way
You could take me for a ride
We could just drive all day
-robbie seay

Is 33: 5The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high;
he will fill Zion(me) with justice and righteousness,
6and he will be the stability of your times,
abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;
the fear of the LORD is Zion's(my) treasure.

That pretty much sums it up... my life in a couple pics and sentences...

http://www.gracecampus.net/katie

after the visit to the vet, we have come to see that she is a he... but boy names are much easier to come up with anyway. so here's moses. a sweet spirited kitty who is gender confused... or at least we are.

after a few days of rain the sun has come up and it is cooler here in auburn- the fall is here!!! and it's not a coincidence that the Lord has done the same in me. It is NEVER too late for Him to do a fresh work in you or me! The past several weeks have been somewhat dark, uncomfortable but He is always faithful to bring new life- isn't that just in his character to restore what the locusts have eaten, to bring life to a discouraged heart, to pour out victory in the midst of defeat. Wow. God is bigger than all our stuff. HE can come in and throw out the old just to replace it with the new: with Himself! And just like the rain it's nothing that I can manufacture but what He has to give- outside of ourselves- in His perfect timing. Just by looking to Him and allowing Him to have our problems- they are nothing to Him because He sees the big picture. And He knows what He is doing.

Joel 2:23"Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God,for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before.

24"The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. 25I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten,the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.

26"You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you.And my people shall never again be put to shame. 27You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God and there is none else.And my people shall never again be put to shame.

The LORD Will Pour Out His Spirit 28[d] "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

30"And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. 32And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls

the famous question- and what else?
well if you care to know visit

www.gracecampus.net/katie

that's what else.

www.gracecampus.net/staff.html