A Life After Death

I just discovered I could share videos from facebook on here...And if this is a chronicle of grandmom and my life, I feel the need to post probably the greatest video of my grandmom's existense. I love her and as nice as it is that's she chill not, quietly lies in bed all day, and never tries to run away (cause she can't)- I seriously miss this-

She was on prednisone. It made her hyper.
She's my favorite.
Here's some other one's that are super precious

I serve a really really incredible God. Like, the more I know about Him, the more I love Him. Who He is, His character and attributes are so incredible.
But the thing that blows my mind the most is always His love for weak vessels. If you've been in the church for any amount of time, you've probably noticed that in the Body of Christ there are a lot of people who are saved with mental illness, social ineptness, aren't beautiful by the world's standards, and the list could go on to describe that the world would deam "unworthy" of their time or attention (and sometimes, even unworthy to live). And I'm not saying I'm above any of this- I told my parents I needed a psychiatrist when I was in 3rd grade. I'm the weakest vessel there probably is out there!
But seriously, there are people who have true issues, who are saved and blood bought. And God is so gracious as to save any of us, but what kind of a God goes out of His way to send His Son to earth to save people who can offer Him nothing (by the world's standards of things)? I know i've written on this a lot here because of how God has just blown my mind with saving my grandmom in her old age, frailty of mind and all. But I can't stop meditating on this part of God's character.
And this past weekend I was reading in 1 Corinthians 12:21-26

"The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”  On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.  If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together."

"the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indespensable"
Woah. Not only does God save "weaker" people, but in His awesomeness- He has made them indespensable to our body. Wow.
That is an incredible God. He doesn't just use the beautiful? The smart? The funny? The ones who can speak? The ones who have full use of their bodily functions? The ones with full use of their mind?  He actually has made these "weaker" vessels part of the Body and somehow has made us need them.
I love God.
Seriously, our world does not think like this? I've only begun even somewhat thinking this way the last couple years. Lord, please continue to renew my mind and get that old way of thinking out. That when I see the weaker vessels in the body, when thier "inadequacies" frustrate me, oh that I would look with Your eyes, Your love, Your heart toward them! That I would see my need for them!

The Lord is moving. And I truly believe whatever it is He is doing, He is doing it in the Body. Ephesians has been blowing my mind lately:

"For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.  So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,  but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,  built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.  In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by  the Spirit."- Ephesians 2:18-22

God in us? God dwelling in us? I think there's a reality of what I have In Christ that I haven't grasped yet, and I know that it's something the Lord wants to reveal to me as I seek Him on my knees. And there's a "building together" that He wants to do and something He wants to work in us together.
All of us, the "stronger" alongside the "weaker"- because, honestly, it's only In Christ that any of us are anything. Our own righteousness is filthy rags. The genius would burn alongside the down syndrome child if God had not made a way for us to be saved.

Anyway, I'm learning to really appreciate the weaker members of the Body. And, no, I will not pretend that sometimes it's still not hard to love those who (in the world's standards of things) can offer me nothing. But honestly, the more I'm around, and challenged, and transformed by interacting with these members of the Body, the more blessed I am and I'm honesly grateful for them.
And yes, they stir me up to praise a Great God like ours who sent His son that "whosoever believeth in Him would not perish but have everlasting life" John 3:16.

Yeah, another post about faith. Sorry, its everywhere! And well, i think that's a good thing since we're called to a life of faith...

my friend sara got me that mug for my birthday and i haven't been able to stop thinking about that verse all day

Galation 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me"
Thoughts: Since my life has died with Christ, my life is no longer dependent on who I am or on what I can do int he flesh. It is dependent on who Jesus is and what He can do. (And how sweet the added part describing part of who He is that I am putting my faith in -"who loved me and gave Himself for me"!!! If there's an doubt in whether I can trust Him- doesn't that verse just diminish every worry. Who better to fully rely, depend, trust in than the One "who loved me and gave Himself for me")

I want to live a life of faith. A life not based on my weakness, on my failure, on my limitations but on Jesus' strength, faithfulness, power, might- a life based on His love- for me- and His love for others.
My love for others should never be dependent on my love for them- but on Jesus' love for them which is limitless, totally selfless, totally perfect.
A life not based on my righteousness, but on His righteousness.
"Nothing but 'full assurance of faith' on the precious blood shed for you on Calvary can give you this boldness" [speaking about the boldness in desiring that God's eyes always be upon you and to search you through and through] -Susannah Spurgeon It takes faith to be that vulnerable and we all know how i struggle with that.

I've reread a biography many times on a man named Bruce Olsen (called Bruchko). He was a missionary in South America to an unreached tribe who had never heard the gospel/has a Bible in their language. He was trying to explain concepts like "faith" and "incarnation" in their language. The picture/way he described faith to his friend was the same word for "suspending your hammock strings." In the communal home you would tie up your hammock in a high rafter and trust that that rafter would hold you up. When Bruce first came to live in the communal home, he asked his friend if he could somehow sleep in his hammock with one foot on the floor because he didn't trust it to hold him up. His friend laughed and told him he would need to 'suspend his hammock strings' and that was what Bruce ended up telling his friend he would have to do in Jesus.
I've always loved that picture- to fully rely on Him, to fully trust in Him, to fully "suspend" myself in Him. He's able to hold me up. To put all my stake in Him. To risk all in Him. Not having any reliance in myself and my ability. In my righteousness. In my love. In my faithfulness. In my understanding. God told us not to rely on our our own understanding! But in all my ways to acknowledge Him! I put my faith in Christ for my salvation, should I not also put my faith in Him for this life? On how to live this life. On how to bring Him glory.

I could sit here for hours and list to you all the very legitimate reasons I can not bring God glory in my life. All my faults. All my inadequacies. Why he cannot possible use my life.
And then I could also sit here for hours and list to you about an Almighty God who is able move mountains, bring water from rocks, make donkeys speak, and the list goes on and on and on (I know there is a book with 66 chapters that will tell you all about it), and when I put my faith in that God, than I'm excited and anticipating what He is going  to do to bring Himself glory.

That picture of water from a rock is a theme that has come up over and over in my daily Bible reading.  I know Jesus Christ is that rock in the Old testament. But I also think the Lord is showing me through it that He loves to do "impossible things." Water doesn't come from a rock. Especially a rock in the middle of the wilderness. But it did. It's impossible for my life to bring forth anything in myself. Honestly, I am the worst person ever. But when "it is not longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me"- than praise Him-  "He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water."  John 7:38


I'm excited for this life of faith. Be magnified, O Lord.


"My hope lives not because I am a sinner, but because I am a sinner for whom christ died; my trust is not that I am holy, but that being unholy He is my righteousness. My faith rests not upon what I am, or shall be, or feel, or know, but in what Christ is, in what He has done, and in what He is now doing for me" C.H Spurgeon Morning and Evening Sept 25th

I mentioned this man about a year ago, you can find his full story at this website:
http://presenttruthmn.com/the-ministry/youcef-nadarkhani/

To sum it up- he's a pastor from Iran who is facing the death sentence for apostasy (changing religions from Islam to Christianity). He's been imprisoned since October 2009. He has a wife and two sons (7 and 9).
He's up for re-examination on the 25th (in Iran, but in America it'll be the 24th).
So would you please pray for our brother tomorrow- Hebrews 13:3 "Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body."

until then I'll continue to steal others!
hey, can you blame me- maybe one day after years of walking with Jesus, going through the fire, and coming out as gold, I'll have something maybe near Susannah Spurgeon worthy to say, but until then:

When I read these wonderful words, this morning there came to me, quick as lightning flash, the solemn question, 'Soul, is this beauty now resting on you and on all your daily life? Alas! there was no reply by speech or voice, but a bowed head, and silent lips, and the inward sighing of a convicted yet penitent heart, gave the only possible answer.

Then I sat down before the Lord, wondering and ashamed, and the multitude of my thoughts within me took the following form and fashion: father, you know that I covet earnestly the loveliness of sanctification and would gladly obey your command to be holy; and if longings after complete surrender to you would avail to secure this special grace, I should possess it. What is it that so constantly defeats my purpose, and foils my efforts, and prevents the fulfillment of my most devout desire?

Dear Master, if your will concerning me be my sanctification, why is that will not done more absolutely in me? Can it be that I am unconsciously cherishing something in my hear that hinders the work of your Holy Spirit, and so the blessing you have desired for me does not reach me, because the way is barred by a will not wholly yielded to yours? Or have I been satisfying myself with mere empty desires after conformity to Christ, indulging in poor feeble longings in which there was so much half- heartedness that the Spirit of God was grieved, and would not reveal His power?

 O Lord, pity me, and pardon me! Awaken my soul to an earnest sense of the solemn responsibility involved in belonging to you, and bearing your name! Rouse in me, Lrd, a joyful eagerness to become all that you wish me to be! Fill me with that mighty influence which words in us 'both to will and to do' of your good pleasure! Yes, chasten and afflict me, Lord, if nothing else will serve to make me a partaker of your holiness!

Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us. Dear Father, I must have this blessing. Help me to pray the marvelous prayer intelligently, remembering at what an awful cost you have secured to me an answer and glorifying you for the matchless love which makes me- 

 with His spotless vesture on,

What has God done! I can see, only to plainly, the ugliness and deformity which sin has worked in my nature, and the havoc it has made among all the creatures God has formed for Himself. If it had not been for this deadly thing, we should have borne 'the image of God' even now. Does the lily please for its whiteness, or the tree for its lovely foliage, or the sun for his splendor? No, they are as God made them; they have kept their first estate, and are still 'very good'; but man, sinful man, has fallen and he who was made in the likeness of God is defaced and disfigured by the evil within.

Ah! Dear Lord, when you give us a sight of our own evil heart, we are overwhelmed with horror, and should soon be driven to despair, if only you did not at once turn our eyes to that wondrous hill of Calvary, where One 'altogether lovely' made the great atonement which brought us back to you! That precious blood which cleanses us form all sin restores to us the beauty which sin had forfeited; its royal purple not only covers our disfigurement, but removes it, and bestows upon us the beauty which the Lord looks on with pleasure.

 Oh my soul, do you not desire above all things that this 'beauty of holiness' may be your glorious dress? Then you must keep very close to the Master, shutting the door of your heart to every evil thing, and opening it wide to the incoming of His Holy Spirit, who, in revealing Christ to you, will make you like him. 

An old fable tells how a piece of common clay became sweetly scented by close contact with a rose; the fable will be a happy face in your experience if the Rose of Sharon blooms in your heart, and sheds its fragrance around your life. 'Thine eyes shall see the King in all His beauty,' yes, may God grant it; but the condition is thus expressed- 'Holiness, without which no man can see the Lord'.

Everlasting praises be the the Well-beloved of our soul that his perfect righteousness covers us now, and that in the day when he shall bring us home to 'his Father's house', we shall be 'presented faultless before the Presence of His glory with exceeding joy'! 

 

Have I convinced you yet to buy her morning devotional Free Grace and Dying Love yet???

"Why could not we cast him out? Jesus said unto them, 'Because of your unbelief'" (Matt. 17:19-20)

"Dear Lord, behold, another poor failing disciple comes to you, this morning, with the same pitiful question! I have tried to live for You, and work for You- with honest purpose endeavoring to bless others in Your name, yet, how notable and frequent have been my failures!

Lord, why could I not overcome the sin which so easily beset me? Why could I not check the sharp word on my tongue, and subdue the fierce risings of anger in my heart? Why can I not always walk so near to You that my whole life may be under Your sweet control, and every thought, and deed, and word, be sanctified by Your consent and approval? Why have I not the power to influence and draw others to Your dear feet, that they may find in You, as I have done, 'a very present help in trouble'?

Lord, I know your answer to me will be the same as that to Your first disciples. Sadly and sorrowfully You say, 'Because of your unbelief.'

What a humbling revelation these words convey! My soul, it is but a little while since you rang the joy-bells or faith triumphantly! Has your right hand already lost its skill? Has the wicked unbelief, still lingering within you stopped the glorious music your faith was making, and turned the happy assertion of 'How shall he not!' into the faithless, whining question of 'How shall he?' Satan has taunted you with your unworthiness. But do you think your demerit could hold back the hand from blessing which gave 'His only-begotten Son', or overturn the covenant of grace of which He was made 'Surety' in the days of old? Lord, it is too true that my faith is often bound by the fetters of unbelief, and her wings are clipped, so that she can only painfully attempt to fly heavenward. I know this is the secret cause of many an unanswered prayer, many a failure of service and in holy living.

Now I bring myself to You, as much in need of spiritual healing as the poor lunatic boy had of deliverance from demonic possession. Cast out every evil thing, Lord, and manifest in me 'what is the exceeding greatness of Thy power to us-ward who believe'. You are the Author and Giver of faith; endue me abundantly with this living grace, banish all doubt and mistrust from my heart, that faith may be always rejoicing, always conquering, always  bringing glory to You! 'Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief!' "

Susannah Spurgeon
Morning Devotions Free Grace and Dying Love

I bought my grandmom a little Zebra Finch. She loves it.

she loves it i promise- she just looks unhappy here!