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

i just need to share...

"with what misgivings we turn over our lives to God, imagining somehow that we are about to lose everything that matters. our hesitancy is like that of a tiny shell on the seashore, afraid to give up the teaspoonful of water it holds lest there not be enough in the ocean to fill it agin. lose your life, said Jesus, and you will find it. give up, and I will give you all. can the shell imagine the depth and plenitude of the ocean? can you and i fathom the riches, the fullness of God's love?"

- elisabeth elliot, the path of loneliness

why?

the last couple of days have been tough. on the surface my situation does not look too bad compared to others' struggles. but, at the end of the day the weight of suffering is different for each person and a simple thing can hurt terribly for particular people. sometimes i think loneliness is the biggest struggle to face... but then again i do not know what i am going to have to face while i live here on earth so i might be biting my tongue.

sometimes, do you see that the Lord is trying to teach you through suffering? that He wants to use you through your suffering and that He wants the best for you but in order for His best you must struggle right now. and do sometimes do you feel like, Lord, i don't think i can take the sacrifice? i almost want to say that it's not worth it to me. but, if only i knew the full reward He has in store. then, i would laugh at the hardships i face now.

today, i am saying Lord, i'll take less than the best. but, fortunately, i really do not have a choice and He will give me His best in His time. He won't even give me the option of settling for less. i am praying He will give me the peace that passes understanding.

wow, that was pretty honest... but i want God to use me in my suffering. i want to be an empty vessel and sometimes that means being vulnerable.

i cried/laughed this morning as i read this devotional from elisabeth elliot... surely God sees my troubles right now...

"The terrible things in the world seem to make a mockery of the love of God, and the question always arises: Why!

There are important clues in the words of Jesus. The disciples' worst fears were about to be realized, yet He commanded (yes, commanded) them to be at peace. All would be well, all manner of things would be well--in the end. In a short time, however, the Prince of this world, Satan himself, was to be permitted to have his way. Not that Satan had any rights over Jesus. Far from it. Nor has he "rights" over any of God's children, including that dear mother. But Satan is permitted to approach. He challenges God, we know from the Book of Job, as to the validity of His children's faith.

God allows him to make a test case from time to time. It had to be proved to Satan, in Job's case, that there is such a thing as obedient faith which does not depend on receiving only benefits. Jesus had to show the world that He loved the Father and would, no matter what happened, do exactly what He said. The servant is not greater than his Lord. When we cry "Why, Lord?" we should ask instead, "Why not, Lord? Shall I not follow my Master in suffering as in everything else?"

Does our faith depend on having every prayer answered as we think it should be answered, or does it rest rather on the character of a sovereign Lord? We can't really tell, can we, until we're in real trouble."

For All the Saints

"And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave, again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia, Alleluia

The golden evening brightens in the west;
Soon, soon to faithful warriors comes their rest;
Sweet is the calm of paradise the blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia"

perspective.

i read this today on elisabeth elliot's daily devotional. it is very encouraging and gives us an eternal perspective. it is not written by elisabeth elliot, but a woman named Judy Squier, who was born with no legs.

also, it's family-focused... so for my family that reads this :)

"'What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Creator calls a butterfly.' As humanity we see only the imperfect, underside of God's tapestry of our lives. What we judge to be 'tragic--the most dreaded thing that could happen,' I expect we'll one day see as the awesome reason for the beauty and uniqueness of our life and our family. I think that's why James 1:2 is a favorite verse of mine. Phillips' translation put it this way: 'When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives, my brothers, don't resent them as intruders but welcome them as friends.'..."

"You as a family have been chosen in a special way to display His unique Masterwork. I pray that your roots of faith will grow deep down into the faithfulness of God's Loving Plan, that you will exchange your inadequacy for the Adequacy of Jesus' resurrection power, and that you will be awed as you witness the fruits of the Spirit manifested in your family."

pure encouragement.

so, here is some pretty incredible encouragement/convicting quotes. something i was in great need of tonight. sorority recruitment has begun. let the fun begin! i am back in auburn, in a new house which i do love. must endure through the next week and a half and then will begin my final year at auburn. so, to kick off the craziness, i found some words that i needed on this night... mostly from none other than, elisabeth elliot.

1. "When ours are interrupted, his are not. His plans are proceeding exactly as scheduled, moving us always (including those minutes or hours or years which seem most useless or wasted or unendurable) "toward the goal of true maturity" (Rom 12:2 JBP)." - Elisabeth Elliot

2. "God is God. Because He is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, a will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to. " - Elisabeth Elliot

3. "I had feelings of fear about the future...The devil kept on whispering, "It's all right now, but what about afterward? You are going to be very lonely"....And I turned to my God in a kind of desperation and said "Lord, what can I do? How can I go on to the end?" And He said, "None of them that trust in Me shall be desolate." That word has been with me ever since." - Amy Carmichael

4. "If I belittle those whom I am called to serve, talk of their weak points in contrast perhaps with what I think of as my strong points; if I adopt a superior attitude, forgetting "Who made thee to differ? and what hast thou that thou hast not received?" then I know nothing of Calvary love." - Amy Carmichael

5. "To realize that you are safe and happy standing at God's side, with His love encompassing you because you are forgiven; too happy to take offense any more; too much in love with life to want to be made miserable with an unforgiving heart, and knowing that now every conflict is a chance to learn more of the exceeding beauty of Love: that is worth living for, and surely worth dying to this misery-making self for. And let us be grateful beyond words for this: that God will not let us alone until we have learnt it and stand by His side. He troubles us, He brings His disturbing light back and back to us, showing us how coarse and heavy the dying self, seeking her own, is; how horrible it is that any feeling of unforgiveness, accepted and held on to, towards our brother, drives God from our side; how quickly we must do all we can to heal the separation, because we are out in the cold and the dark indeed, if divorced from that Love." - Frances Allshorn

favorite hymns.

so, music favorites #2. here are my favorite hymns. i love beautiful, old hymns. there is no writing that expresses the depth of the Gospel and and allows believers to express gratitude and awe of how amazing God is, like the old hymns from writers such as william cowper, john newton, and isaac watts. today there are many modern renditions of these hymns thanks to indelible grace, red mountain church, and various Christian artists. here are just a few of my favorites...

"When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" - Isaac Watts

Were the whole realm of nature mine,

That were a present far too small:

Love so amazing, so divine,

Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Kathryn Scott version

"Be Still My Soul" - Katharina A. von Schlegal

Be still, my soul:

the waves and winds

still know His voice

Who ruled them

while He dwelt below.

Ginny Owens version

"For the Beauty of the Earth" - Folliott Pierpoint

For the beauty of the earth,

For the glory of the skies,

For the love which from our birth

Over and around us lies.

Lord of all to Thee we raise

This our hymn of grateful praise.

from Little Women

"I Asked the Lord" - John Newton

These inward trials I employ

From self and pride to set thee free

And break thy schemes of earthly joy

That thou mayest seek thy all in me,

That thou mayest seek thy all in me.

Indelible Grace version

"In the Hours" - Helen L. Parmlee

Thou the hated and forsaken,

Thou the bearer of the cross

Crowned of thorns and mocked and smitten,

Counting earthly gain but loss

When scorned are we,

We joy to be the more like Thee

Indelible Grace version

"Not What My Hands Have Done" - Horatius Bonar

I bless the Christ of God;

I rest on love divine;

And with unfaltering lip and heart,

I call this Savior mine.

Indelible Grace version

"Holy, Holy, Holy" - Reginald Heber

Only Thou art holy;

there is none beside Thee,

Perfect in power, in love, and purity.

Sufjan Stevens version

never too early, never too late.

"The Holy Spirit is never too early and never too late."

So, after a conversation with two of my sisters over dinner, I decided I am not giving up on my blog and picking back up. I have been too worried about a running "theme" but the fact of the matter is that there are two really big things that I am passionate about. Simply learning and interpretting truths from the Bible or whatever particular book I'm reading or even a song. I do love music and find it very inspiring. Unfortunately, sometimes when I am letting these things out to my friends, I realize I have been preaching to them and then have to come to an end of my speech and apologize for seeming "preachy". So, I'll continue to let it out on my blog.

So, the other thing I am passionate about is pretty things, creative things... especially having to do with weddings. I do not know how I came to love weddings as much as I do, and wonder if that is something of the Lord that He will use with time, or it's just that I realized I liked them one day, and began to learn more about them, and looked at more and more pictures, that it just became a full on passion. But I also like pretty flowers, pretty food like cupcakes, and pretty houses. So, the two of these passions will just show up whenever I want to vent about either one. No rhyme or reason or set plan. That's the thing. I like to plan things out, too much... which takes us back to the title of this post...

"The Holy Spirit is never too early and never too late."

As I type that for a second time, I have to hold back tears because I just see how faithful He is in that. I see how I have been so confused and angry at certain points in my life... jr. high till, umm now. And I'll continue to get frustrated about things, I know. But He has definitely chiseled some more patience into me. Like I said, I'm a planner and I have always had grandious ideas about how I wanted my life to end up... it looks much different than I had "planned" because the Lord knows what I need and He is to be glorified above all else. He knew what He would have to do in my life to break me, to mold me, to turn me towards Him, and then to be used by Him. It's a hard process being molded, and I am sorry for my parents and siblings that had to patiently watch me go through it... but I guess I was a part of their molding process too. But, this i the thing... God is never too early and never too late. He knows where you need to be at the time you need to be there and He will get you there in His timing. Oh, and by the way, I got that quote... though I've heard Elisabeth Elliot say it before... from this really awesome book, Second Mile People by Isobel Kuhn. I highly recommend it!!

"He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:6-8