look to the cross.

Jesus loves me this i know, for the Bible tells me so.

thank you, Jesus, for speaking truth to me today. i am not going to be able to attend Plains Presbyterian tonight where i usually go to church, so this morning i attended First Presbyterian Church in Opelika. i said to sarah and our friend, ann, its as though God said... i am going to ordain this man to do something... speak the Gospel plainly and loudly. Rev. Scott Bowen is truly a gifted teacher of the Word. its as though he preaches the Gospel and i am hearing it for the first time.

"Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace." - Romans 6:12-13

so, Jesus Christ has saved us once and for all. nothing that i do can effect what He has done for me. nothing that i say, think, or feel can make Him love me less. wow. so, if i am secure in my salvation, why do i even need to obey? it is finished. it is complete. yet, we have something in us that makes us want to obey out of fear, or to receive a blessing. God did not sacrifice His only Son for us to follow a set of rules and to work for our own righteousness. He gave His Son because He cares deeply for us. therefore, i look to Him, my glorious Father, and say, Jesus, i want to obey You. not to receive a blessing. not out of fear of punishment. because that's not how the Gospel works. i look to you and i say, Lord, thank You, now i want to serve You by the way i live. living rightly isn't about me... it's not about kate rhodes needs. it's all about Jesus's glory and His incomprehensible love.

i wish and i pray that i would actually believe this in my life... because, so very, very often i do not.

"Then they flung at Him a bold and insolent challenge. 'If you're the Son of God, come down! Then, we'll believe.' Did He come down? No. He stayed there. Why? Because He loved us with a love that gives everything... Faith is not merely feeling good about God but a conscious choice, even in the utter absence of feelings or external encouragements, to obey His Word when He says, 'trust Me.'" - Elisabeth Elliot

(corporate confession from church today)

"Almighty God, to know you is the fulfillment of our deepest longings and the satisfaction of our most ardent desires. Yet foolishly we have sought our pleasure elsewhere. We have put the seeking of idols, which are bound to leave us empty above seeking You."

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood."

- Hebrews 12:1-4