hey unfaithful i will teach you...

Romans 3:3-4
3 What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?
4 May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written,"THAT YOU MAY BE JUSTIFIED IN YOUR WORDS, AND PREVAIL WHEN YOU ARE JUDGED."

"Lord, thank you that my faithlessness does not take Your faithfulness away from me! Thank you that no matter how unkind, faithless, graceless, or hateful i become, You will never ease to be kind, faithful, gracious, and loving to me. Thank you that Your blood speaks a better word than anything i could say for myself—thank you for Your constestency when i am hypocritical and inconsistent. Thank you for Your undeserved love and favor on my life! Thank you for saving me—I am a debtor to Your mercy alone!"

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Hey unfaithful I will teach you
To be stronger, to be stronger
Hey ungraceful I will teach you
To forgive one another

Hey unfaithful I will teach you
To be stronger, to be stronger
Hey unloving
I will love you

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Thank you for saving me, what can I say?
You are my everything, I will sing your praise.
You shed your blood for me, what can I say?
You took my sin and shame,
a sinner called by name.

Great is the Lord,
Great is the Lord,
For we know your truth has set us free,
You've set your hope in me.

Mercy and grace are mine, forgiven is my sin,
Jesus my only hope, the Saviour of the world.
"Great is the Lord" we cry,
God let your kingdom come,
Your word has let me see,
thank you for saving me!

selah
EM

germ-x or submerged in the fountain?

when you think of Jesus's blood washing you clean, which picture floods your mind?
Him pouring germ-x on your filthy hands and saying "Ok, now you won't get sick"? Or Him pouring out a fountain of water and gently scrubbing them and saying "Look, no sign of filth anywhere. You, are spotless."?
God is a God of fountains, not of germ-x.
He doesn't conserve water, or in this case, grace. He has an unlimited supply and gives it abundantly to all.

now some songs from my new favorite, Aaron Keyes...

"Not What My Hands"

Not what my hands have done
Can save my guilty soul.
Not what my toiling flesh has borne
Can make my spirit whole.
Not what I feel or do
Can give me peace with God.
Not all my prayers and sighs and tears
Can bear my awful load.

These guilty hands are raised;
Filthy rags are all I bring.
And I have come to hide beneath Your wings.
These holy hands are raised,
Washed in the fountain of Your grace,
And now I wear your righteousness

Thy work alone O Christ
Can ease this weight of sin.
Thy blood alone O Lamb of God
Can give me peace within.
Thy love to me O God,
Not mine O Lord to thee,
Can rid me of this dark unrest.
And set my spirit free.

Thy grace alone O God
To me can pardon speak.
Thy power alone O Lamb of God
Can this sore bondage break.
No other work save Thine,
No other blood will do.
No strength save that which is divine
Can bear me safely through.

I praise the God of grace;
I trust His truth and might.
He calls me His, I call Him mine--
My God, my joy, my light.
'Tis He who saveth me
And freely pardon gives.
I love because He first loved me;
I live because He lives.


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“Not Guilty Anymore”

It doesn’t matter what you’ve done,
Doesn’t matter what you’re coming from,
It doesn’t matter where you’ve been.
Hear me tell you, I forgive.

You’re not guilty anymore.
You’re not filthy anymore.
I love you, mercy is yours.
You’re not broken anymore,
You’re not captive anymore.
I love you, mercy is yours.

Can you believe that this is true.
Grace abundant I am giving you.
It’s cleansing deeper than you know.
All was paid for long ago.


There is now therefore no condemnation
For those who are in Jesus.
You’re not guilty anymore.
You’re not filthy anymore.
I love you, mercy is yours.
You’re not broken anymore,
You’re not captive anymore.
I love you, mercy is yours.

You are spotless.
You are holy.
You are faultless.
You are whole.
You are righteous.
You are blameless.
You are pardoned.
You are MINE!

You’re not guilty anymore.
You’re not filthy anymore.
I love you, mercy is yours.
You’re not broken anymore.
You’re not captive any more.
I love you, mercy is yours.

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We are flooded with grace, love, and blessings... all because He first loved us, not because we first loved Him—all because He shed his blood, so we would not have to.

selah

EM

he who lives to be my king once died to be my savior

In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.
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we live in Him who died for us.
we live because of Him who died for us.
we live for Him who died for us.
we live for Him who lives for us.

we live because He died.
we live because He lives.
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i love posting things that some one else has written... most of the time because they have said it much better than i ever could.

Romans 5:16-18
16 The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.

17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

18 So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.

selah

EM

reflection...

With this Christmas wish is missed
The point I could convey
If only I could find the words to say to let You know
How much You've touched my life because
Here is where You're finding me
In the exact same place as New Year's Eve
And from the lack of my persistency
We're less than half as close as I wanna be

And the first time that You opened Your eyes
Did you realize that You would be my Savior
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did you know that it would change this world forever
And the first time that You opened your eyes
Did you realize that You would be my Savior
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know that it would change this world forever

And so this Christmas I'll compare
The things I've felt in prior years
To what this midnight made so clear
That You have come to meet me here

To look back
And think that
This baby would one day save me
And the hope that
That You give
That You were born so I might really live
To look back
And think that
This baby would one day save me…

And the first time that You opened Your eyes
Did You realize that You would be my Savior
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know that it would change this world forever
And the first time that You opened Your eyes
Did You realize that You would be my Savior
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know that it would change this world forever

And I
I celebrate the day
That You were born to die
So I could one day
Pray for You to save my life
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the last four lines of that song say what Christmas is.
He was born to die so we could one day pray that He would rescue us from His wrath.
he was born so we could be saved from God, by God, for God.

Philippians 2:5-11
5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

EM

Cast upon my Savior's cross are all my sins...

Our God is working for the good,
Of those who love His name,
Of those whom He has called,
And we, the ones that He foreknew,
Will surely be conformed,
Into the likeness of His Son,

And He who did not spare His Son,
But gave Him up for us,
Will give us all we need,
For who can separate us from,
The love that is in Christ,
Jesus our lord!

~WCR~

(i kinda got used to using pagebreaks on xanga, so sorry if my posts don't always flow so well)

Our God is working for our good...
that will never cease to both confuse me and amaze me.
I will not get hung up on the confusion, but i will focus on the amazingness of grace that is His plan for my life... that thing i'll always try to find but will only see one step at a time.

Psalm 119:105- "Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path."
Your word keeps me focused on the goal, but gives me the grace i need for one step at a time.

Selah

EM

wetz, barnes, dixon, and gravel

Friday night I had my first Matt Wertz/Dave Barnes concert experience... and it was wonderful!! Gabe Dixon band was there too and he (Gabe Dixon himself) was amazing on on piano! I encourage all to check him out... you will be wowed...

after leaving the concert at midnight, my dad drove me and some others to meet the rest of the singles group in Jackson Ga for our camping trip. After a McDonalds stop, being scared to death by a hooded man, trying to go in the wrong gate, and almost dying with laughter, we arrived at the campsited at 1:30 and went to bed. There was some excitement outside of my tent until about 2:45... girls get very giddy and boys think it is quite funny to pester them... so we slept from about 3-7:30, woke up, ate pancakes, cut down a tree (which turned out to be a bad and anti-climactic idea), played games, ate lunch, most people left, and then we went hiking. Our 'hiking' was more like walking along a trail, but it was fun.
then, we drove home at around 2... the group i drove to the trip with was camping for a whopping 13 hours.... we need to do this again in the spring!!

i wish i had a camera to put up pictures... but they're are some on various facebooks if you are really interested... and my sister may post a Matt Wertz video later (www.countedworthy.blogspot.com).

here's the best Dave Barnes song ever.... it's a good wedding song is it not?
There's nothing fancy bout the way I love you,
There's nothing you could not find in any other man.
There's nothing fancy bout the way I love you,
But I love you as hard as I can.

There's no good reason for the way you love me,
But you're my walking dream come true.
There's no good reason for the way you love me,
But I thank God that you do.

I don't know the perfect conversation,
I don't know the way to turn a head,
I don't know the perfect way to prove my love,
But I know I'll love you till I'm dead.

There's nothing fancy bout the way I love you,
It's as simple as the stars in the sky, and the blue in the sea.
There's nothing fancy bout the way I love you,
But it sure is fancy how you love me.

now i'm gack to normal life- school, work, church, etc... and i like it. except for the lack of sleep part....
next week, wednesday-friday, is totally THANKSGIVING BREAK!!
i am way excited...
turkey+no school=gloryious.

wonderful.
now i must focus on persevering through this week and the first half of next week.

the best thing that could be happening...

so last night i went to the Relient K/Switchfoot concert at the Atlanta Civic Center... it was amazing!!
i got my shoes signed by Matt Theissen and Matt Hoopes!! I didn't get to get a picture, but we got some grat pictures from our seats... 4th row!!!
i'll post some more pictures tomorrow but here are some...