Song for the Week

"Have Your Way"
-Britt Nicole

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9_caMq_iYc
 

"Feels like I've been here forever,
Why can't you just intervene,
Do you see the tears keep falling?
And I'm falling apart at the seams,
But you never said the road would be easy,
But you said that you would never leave.
And you never promised that this life wasn't hard,
But you promised you'd take care of me,
So I'll stop searching for the answers,
I'll stop praying for an escape
And I'll trust you God with where I am
And believe you will have your way,
Just have your way,
Just have your way,
My friends and my family have left me
I feel so ashamed and so cold,
And I feel so ashamed and so cold
Remind me you take broken things and turn them into beautiful
So I'll stop searching for the answers,
I'll stop praying for an escape
I'll trust you God with where I am,
And believe you will have your way,
Just have your way,
Just have your way,
Even if my dreams have died,
Even if I don't survive,
I'll still worship you with all my life,
My life, yeah,
Whoa, oh, oh, oh
Whoa, oh, oh, oh
Whoa, oh, oh
Whoa, oh
And I'll stop searching for the answers,
I'll stop praying for an escape
And I'll trust you God with where I am,
And believe you will have your way,
Just have your way,
Just have your way, yeah
I know you will,
I won't forget
Whoa, oh, oh
You love me,
Have your way,"

God, You know my heart, my dreams, hopes, and fears.  

But I have nothing to worry about when You are near.

"It's just You and me here now.

And I will worship You Lord, Only You."

Thank You so much God, my best friend and love. Keep me close to You.

"I want my life to come down to two words: I'm Yours"

Beauty?

"It is all a fake, of course; the figures in popular art are falsely drawn; the real women in bathing suits or tights are actually pinched in and propped up to make them appear firmer and more slender…than nature allows…” — P.92 -The Screwtape Letters

This is Taylor Swift.  

A charming young woman, whom many girls look up to.  And for much good reason: she is much cleaner and purer than most of our society's female role models. Observe: she has a coy smile, an almost playful expression, and seems to be playing with her hair. What girl wouldn't want to look like her?  In our world's eyes, she is beautiful.  

Why do I say this?  Well, I came upon Yubelina's story the other day.  She is an Indonesian Christian woman, who was brutally scarred by a Muslim attack upon her village. 

Here is a Mrs. Roberts' description of her face*:

Her skin is splotchy & ranges in color from light brown to red to white. Much of it is leathery. Her nose is disfigured. She has a purplish-colored patch of skin in between her bottom lip & the bottom of her chin. Her upper lip is peeling. Her left eye is white & red; her pupil is clearly no longer able to see.

But she is smiling. A huge smile. Joy radiates from her. Why?? She must receive stares. Children are probably afraid of her. The world would call her damaged. Ugly.

Yubelina has figured out where her identity lies. She is a treasured child of the King. She has traded “a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning” (Isa. 61:3). Her smile reveals Jesus.

Yubelina is beautiful. I guarantee she has a joy, a contentment, that no name-brand, trendy clothing; no perfect haircut & makeup; no flawless skin or toned body can bring.

Warning, this may be hard to look at:

Here she is:

  

When I first saw her, I grimaced.  But I looked again, and....I saw Christ.  This woman has true beauty, look in her eyes: see the hope, the joy there?  That's not in Taylor's picture.   1 Peter 3:3-4 says

^"3  Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— ⁴ but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious." 

I see so many girls worry about how they look.  That's exactly what Satan wants: to keep you from making your heart pure and precious in God's sight.  When you see a painting, the most important part of the painting, is the painting itself.  The painting's frame should exemplify and serve the painting, not overshadow it. Same with our bodies.  Nothing is wrong with wanting to look beautiful, but it shouldn't overcome the best part of a person: the heart.  Yubelina is truly beautiful.

I dearly love Voice of the Martyrs, a multi-denominational Christian non-for-profit dedicated to spreading the gospel and the word about Christian persecution, and I highly recommend their free newsletter.  I also recommend supporting them.

*Source: http://www.persecutionblog.com/2011/01/true-beauty.html

In the Light

The Word of Life

1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— ²  the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— ³  that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. ⁴ And we are writing these things so that our^[a] joy may be complete.

Walking in the Light

⁵  This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. ⁶  If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸  If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

<In The Light>

 
I keep trying to find a life
On my own, apart from You
I am the king of excuses
I've got one for every selfish thing I do

What's going on inside of me?
I despise my own behavior
This only serves to confirm my suspicions
That I'm still a man in need of a Savior

[chorus]
I wanna be in the Light
As You are in the Light
I wanna shine like the stars in the heavens
Oh, Lord be my Light and be my salvation
Cause all I want is to be in the Light
All I want is to be in the Light

The disease of self runs through my blood
It's a cancer fatal to my soul
Every attempt on my behalf has failed
To bring this sickness under control

Tell me, what's going on inside of me?
I despise my own behavior
This only serves to confirm my suspicions
That I'm still a man in need of a Savior

[repeat chorus]

Honesty becomes me
(There's nothing left to lose)
The secrets that did run me
(In Your presence are defused)
Pride has no position
(And riches have no worth)
The fame that once did cover me
(Has been sentenced to this Earth)
Has been sentenced to this Earth

Tell me, what's going on inside of me?
I despise my own behavior
This only serves to confirm my suspicions
That I'm still a man in need of a Savior

[repeat chorus 2x]

(There's no other place that I want to be)
(No other place that I can see)
(A place to be that's just right)
(Someday I'm gonna be in the Light)
(You are in the Light)
(That's where I need to be)
(That's right where I need to be)

YEAAAH BOOYAH!

YEAAH, Tobymac and Jimmy Needham came out with new albums today! So stoked to get my hands/ears on 'em!

Check out JFH for reviews of them and samples.

http://jesusfreakhideout.com/default.aspx

(I've got more stuff a-coming, dontcha worry)

"The Christian army is the only one that shoots its own leaders." -Pastor Kimber Kauffman

(fyi, I got this from Steven Camp's blog a long time ago, but thought I'd share it)
 (To live this out in my life!)

By Arthur Pink:

"Do not speak evil against each other, brethren."
- James 4:11a

That which is here forbidden, is the saying of anything, be it true or false, to the harm of another. God requires that our words should be governed by "the law of kindness" (Proverbs 31:26), and anything which would hurt or injure the reputation of another, is to be rigidly shunned. Whenever I cannot speak well of my brother or sister, I must say nothing at all.

To speak evil of others, proceeds from ill will or malice--desiring that they should be made odious in the esteem of others.  It is devilish to take delight in exposing the faults of fellow Christians, and stirring up prejudice and bitter feelings against them (Rev. 12:10). God requires that our words should agree with love--as well as with truth. Since Christians are brethren--the last thing they be guilty of is defaming one another!

Except where the glory of God plainly requires it, and the good of that person demands it--we must refrain from all evil speaking of others.

If we are duly occupied with and humbled over our own many faults--we shall have neither time nor inclination to dwell upon or publish those of others! If we properly heed the exhortation of Philippians 4:8, we shall cultivate the habit of admiring the graces in our brethren--instead of being like filthy flies, settling on their sores!

Prayin for ya

A year and a half ago, I hated rap music.  Or at least was very predisposed to be against it. Then, I heard Lecrae's "Prayin for you". This is the song that piqued my interest in rap music. (I even performed it once!)


Here's the lyrics and a link to the actual song, but I encourage both listening and reading the lyrics.

"Father, I'm prayin' for a friend he and I are pretty close, and out of all my friends for this one I'm concerned the most.
He say he readin' daily but he ain't really learnin'. He been in church but say that he ain't moved by any sermon. His face weak, he ain't prayed in a week, he wake up and just weep with his face in the sink Lord, you gotta help my man,
 I'm prayin' for him daily, he ain't sinned but it just seem as if he goin' crazy. He say he feelin' trapped, can't even head up the mall coz every lady's half-dressed temptin' him to lust and fall.
 He keep the TV off, videos just make him feel that he ain't really nothin' without money, girls and shiny wheels.
The other day he told me that he felt less a man coz he ain't have a five-year plan or a piece of land
and man it's crazy coz his family think so much of him,
 plus he got a Godly wife who always showin' love for him
but he's strugglin', even though he talk to me, I tell him what to do but he don't listen when he oughta' be.
I'm scared for him coz there's people that look up to him, he got some younger siblings who been changed by what he's done for them
 but is it done for him?
 Lord don't let it be, if he don't wanna talk to you then Father hear from me.

 Is it done for him?

 Lord don't let it be, if he don't wanna talk to you then Father hear from me...

(Yeah, I'm prayin' for you, yeah, I'm prayin' for you)

God, his condition is worsen since we were last conversed and I'm with him now and he ain't doin' well and this I'm certain.
He say he tryna' trust you, doesn't wanna disgust you
but he was in the mist of sinners and did not discuss you
 and just today his anxiety's got the best of him,
he knows Christ but for hours refuse to rest in Him, he's not the best of men
but Lord I know he really loves you
and I can't understand why lately he's not thinkin' of you.
People trust this dude, you could crush this dude, Father he needs more of you I pray you touch this dude, what can I say to him? I'm determined to pray for him Father empty and break him I pray you'll just have your way with him, coz there's a change in him and the effects are strong,
 I pray you open up his heart before the next song and when he gets home, I pray he'll open up the sixty-six book love letter you wrote and soak it up
coz he ain't hearin' You and he ain't feelin' me and God I know it's killin' You because it's killin' me

and matter of fact there's somethin' else he's concealin' see,

the person that I've been prayin' about


is really me..."

Life's been real tough lately:

"And yet, this I recall to mind, and therefore I have hope.
You died Lord. You died.
Assuredly, like the coming of the dawn the Father's love song goes on
drowning out my bitter songs
Christ swoops in, removes sin, picks up His bride and carries her.
So I can sing in agreement with my King, this thing:
See, there's only one thing that pleases the Father
The God-Man on the tree in the midst of the scoffers.
Now, I finally see,
that Christ is
what Christ offers.
And I'm finally free,
in the love of my Father." - Jimmy Neeham "Not Without Love"




Jimmy's full poem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD-wnNnW4KE
More lyrics: http://www.lyricsmania.com/prayin_for_you_lyrics_lecrae.html
All about Lecrae: http://www.musictory.com/music/Lecrae

You know it's hard.. (A friendly Saturday post)

What does it mean to trust? (I think) it means to give up some thing to some one/thing else. To give it away. That's what God's been doing with me lately: teaching me to trust Him. To give Him not one thing, not most things, but everything. It's hard, and my life's been hard lately.

But why should I worry? Everything I've given up, is now in much better hands.

I could go on and about the specific things God is teaching me to trust Him with, and I could show you how He has used every circumstance for my benefit and His glory,(Romans 8:28). But I don't think I really need to: I know He's doing the same stuff in your life.  You may not see it now, but I bet the more you trust Him, the more you watch what is going on, and the more you are willing to be content with askew plans, the more you'll see Him working.

"Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take Him at His word.
just to take Him at His word, just to rest upon His promise...

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, I've prov'd Him o'er and o'er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, O for grace to trust Him more."

"We will never walk alone."-Jars of clay, "Shelter"

On that note, glad to be back! Will plan on updating more often(honest!).

 What I've been:

Reading: Jane Eyre. So far so good.  Bronte is excellent at describing how a woman thinks and feels. Any writer who wishes to portray an elegant mind's thinking habits, should study Jane Eyre. Also, Bronte is excellent at description! I hope to finish soon, will update more then.

VG's: Just finished Paper Mario Thousand Year old Door. One of the funniest games I've played! It is nearly perfect in every way, (iow, I can hardly think of anything that could be improved).  Some of my favorite quotes:

 [a random goomba who wants a girldfriend]: "Will you go out with me?"
[Goombella]: No, I'm, uh, with Mario!
[Mario]: ??!?!?
[random goomba]: ".....................................................................
Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan,
I've had enough of this!
*walks a little*
PEACE!"
*leaves*

[Yoshi, a scruffy yet (dare I say it) cute little guy]:
"Big deal'?!? You stink, Mister! Why'd you wanna turn them into pigs, anyway?"
"They're sending us all their wishes and positive energy... That is so AWESOME!"
[at the arctic] "It's stupid cold!"
 "So, that last Crystal Star we got on the Moon… NO! We're IDIOTS!
 (I intend to write a review of this game sometime. Once I don't have a musical breathing down my back. I reccomend it to almost everyone.)

Music: Audrey Assad's Heart,(So good!) Monk & Neagle: "Fallin"(from 21st time), Mat Kearney's newest album :Young Love, a good amount of David Crowder(All I can Say, Church Music Give us Rest), and some Jon Foreman(Winter Ep).

What's everyone listening to?