Mt. 11: 28-30

Here exposed without a claim
No self-defense or bargaining pleas
Tired and burnt out, collapsed
I had not known I needed rest.

Many years have I walked on
Burden wearing, baggage carrying
Unaware this heavy load
Has sapped my joy and slowed my running.

Vain attempts to justify
Myself have left me drained instead
Digging either for good works
Or shifting blame for my own sin.

"Come, you heaven laden, come
For true rest in your souls through Me.
Quiet now, you need no words
With me- your Pardon and soul's Peace"

Sabbath He extends to me
Based not on merit or in self
But in the finished work of
Christ- His death and resurrection.

Teach me in my inmost place
To trust and lay my burdens down
And find true intimacy
Not striving but at rest in faith.

Literally

After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 1 Thes. 4:17

For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. Ps. 100:5

I've been thinking about how when God says "forever", He means it. In secular songs, artists use that word all the time, almost flippantly. But, when we worship and sing about how we will worship Him eternally, how His love endures forever, and how one day we'll be with him for eternity...that's actually true. That's just awesome.

And the more I get to know Him each day, the more I'm looking forward to that day.

Prayer Request

Hey all, a prayer request...

On Monday, one of the brothers from the church in Flushing passed away due to complications from a heart surgery he'd come to America (from China) to have. He and his mom were baptized only a few weeks ago and accepted Christ after coming here. I saw her in the hospital room moments after he'd passed away and the immenseness of the pain and grief she's going through having lost her 18 year old son, I can't even begin to imagine.

Please pray for her (Mrs. Lin) and the family (dad and brother) - for the supernatural comfort and presence of God during this time.

Thanks.

Neither present nor future

I started another book- "Future Grace" (John Piper). The premise of the book is how we are to live by faith in God's future grace. I believe that a paradigm shift is starting in my soul and praying for breakthrough. I may write more about that as I read it..but blessed in a new way today thinking about 2 Cor. 12:9.. just the first part "Your grace is sufficient for me..."

Out of the AEIOU technique for meditating on a verse (Ask, Emphasize, In your own words/Illustrate, Other references, Use). I think the "emphasize" is my favorite. Probably because I have a lot of fun playing with emphasizing different words in the same sentence in general. (WHAT are you doing? What AREEE you doing? What are YOU doing?..etc..) Tonight's phrase that jumped out at me was My grace is sufficient.

I'm starting to see how much fear I have is rooted in not believing that God's grace will be sufficient. I've realized that it's as if I can look back and say "Yes, God's grace has been enough"...but there is still fear in my heart as I look ahead, especially in light of past mess ups, brokenness, sins, struggles, etc:

What if I fall again into the same things? What if He calls me to do something harder? What if He calls me to do something I've done already? (it was hard!) What if...

God is helping me to start resting in the sufficiency of His grace. Paul writes that God's grace "IS sufficient." It's in the present tense..and will continue to remain so. He doesn't say it merely was sufficient. Which means that in whatever circumstance, He will continue to give me grace to live and walk with Him, to obey, and even to trust Him.

Paul writes in Romans 8:29 that "neither present nor future..will be able to separate us from the love of God." Present nor future. I am learning to rest in that with new faith steps as I strain to look forward and forget what is behind. Woww..what a great promise.

He knew

"But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles.."
Galatians 1:15-16a

I've been enjoying listening to a series by Francis Chan on Galatians on grace. He talked about how Paul was saved and set apart for God's purposes by God's grace. He also talked about the freedom and confidence it brings to know that you were made by God specifically for whatever you are doing.

Yesterday, I went to share at S.W.A.T. (my youth group at the church I grew up in until junior year of high school). I've never shared something that was supposed to resemble a "message" before and it was a blessing for me to know that God has made me and given me specific experiences, intending for me to share His Word to a specific group of youth at a specific day.

Being back at CCCS (the church in NJ) brought back a rush of memories. I gave Jeff a tour of the place... our secret places when we ran around after church, where we threw a surprise party for Jessi, where me and 2 other girls waited after Theo told Jerry that we liked him in 5th grade, Ian's office..where we used to throw out little noise bombs and wait for our parents to get out of meetings.

It was crazy to think that throughout all those times...God knew. Crazy to think that as I was running around in my own little world, wrapped up in my own little things, He knew exactly what He was going to bring me through, how He was going to transform me, and how He would bring me back a completely different person to the same place to proclaim His goodness and faithfulness.

What a love. What grace...