Jesus Died for Worms Like Me

"Alas! and did my Savior bleed?

And did my Sovereign die?

Would He devote that sacred head

For such a worm as I"

~Isaac Watts

How much I have felt like a worm lately. Isaac Watts said it so well. I have struggled the last couple of weeks with anger, impatience, yelling. I have wanted to walk away as I held my head holding in a scream. I let my emotions and feelings and what I perceive as offenses against me control me. Why would Jesus die for me? I am learning to feel like Paul who called himself the Chief of Sinners. Today that is me. I am the chief of sinners, a worm, undeserving of such amazing and merciful love. 

Lent

Lent started yesterday with Ash Wednesday. During this time many people give up something for the 40 days. With me having a baby sometime during Lent, I am not giving up something in the standard way people do. Instead I really want to focus on digging out sin in my life, reflecting on the cross and seeking to be more like Jesus intentionally every day. Yes I realize I should be doing this any way, but lately I really haven't and I have found myself falling into old patterns over and over again. Christ died to get me out of my sin patterns. He conquered sin for me so I could overcome.

Jesus, help me overcome my sin! 

What are you giving up/focusing on for Lent?

The World Is Not As It Should Be

Today is Ash Wednesday, the start of the season of Lent. Today at our Ash Wednesday service I was reminded greatly and heavily of how wrong this world is, how wrong I am. Life is hard, full of sin, destruction, and death. I am full of sin and destruction. There are days I feel like life is so dark that I will give way to death at any moment. People hate each other and are cruel. We abuse the world and the resources God has entrusted to us. People are selfish, seeking their own glory and power, doing what they want no matter who else it effects. We disregard God and the instructions He gave us. We seek to be our own God, in control of our own little worlds.

Today we mourn that the world is wrong. We mourn that the world has turned away from God and the life that He gives. We mourn sin, destruction and death.

But we mourn with hope! Jesus has overcome and in Him we can find life everlasting.

Shine into Our Night

We are not what we should be

We have not sought what we should seek

We've seen Your glory, Lord, but looked away

Our hearts are bent, our eyes are dim

Our finest works are stained with sin

And emptiness has shadowed all our ways

Jesus Christ, Shine into our night

Drive our Dark away 

Till Your glory fills our eyes

Jesus Christ, shine into our night

Bind us to Your cross where we find life

Still we often go astray

We chase the world, forget Your grace

But You have never failed to bring us back

Reveal the depths of what You've done

The death You died, the victory won

You made a way for us to know Your Love

http://sovereigngracemusic.bandcamp.com/track/shine-into-our-night

The Shadowed Mind by Julie Cave

This second Dinah Harris Mystery was better than the first. It was interesting and informative and written well. I was kept in suspense until the very end, which says a lot as I can usually figure out the "who done it" half way into a mystery. (Too many CSIs). It was like being in the middle of an intense Criminal Minds which made some of the information hard to read, but was very well worded to get the point across and understand the gravity of the situation.

The only down side was some of the long explanations. Though pertinent to the story, they sometimes got a bit tedious. There was also a side story that I'm not sure needed as much detail it was given, but did not take away from the story. I am looking forward to reading the 3rd book, hopefully in the next couple of weeks.

I give this book 4.5 stars and definitely recommend it.

What Jesus Demands of the World by John Piper

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Its simplicity is wonderful and it's very easy to read and understand while still holding to the deep Truths of God's Word. It is a great tool for better understanding Jesus's teachings and look at a summery of what all Jesus said. It covers a wide variety including the demand to follow Christ, why we must, loving God, loving others and taking the Good News of Christ to the ends of the world.  I highly recommend this book, and will likely reference it again in the future.

I give this book 5 stars.

The Holy Spirit

“I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you."  John 16:1-15

Jesus multiple times promises to send the Holy Spirit. In this passage we learn a lot about the Holy Spirit's purpose, and we see that He is a person, a part of the Triune God.

It is best for us that Jesus is in Heaven so that the Holy Spirit could be sent so that the Triune God could live inside everyone of His people. It is easy to think that it would be better if we had Jesus right here next to us, but we have it so much better! God live in us, leading us, guiding us, convicting us, molding us and making us more like Christ every day.

Because we have the Holy Spirit there is no reason to be afraid or anxious over anything. When we are in need we can cry out, "HELP!" We can go straight to God and seek Him first. The Holy Spirit reminds us of God's Words so we can pray God's promises to Him and our hearts can be comforted.

The Holy Spirit is such a gift to God's people. What would it look like to fully rely on and listen to the Holy Spirit?

February Blessings

Here are a few of the blessings that stood out to me this month.

1. Lillian telling me she needed to say sorry to Jesus and God after disobeying
2. Helping Jamey figure out how to do well with his copywork
3. Listening to Jamey read "The Jesus Bible Storybook" with almost no help
4. Hearing Jamey and Lillian sing Bible verse songs together
5. Gabriel mostly walking
6. Reuben sharing his grapes with Gabriel, including biting them in half for him
7. A few warm days so I could wear flip-flops!
8. Turning 30
9. Jamey turning 5