The Royal Wedding

I have to admit, the thought of waking up in the wee morning hours to watch the royal wedding seemed kind of crazy, especially considering I truly value my sleep these days. But in the end, the desire to make a memory won out (not to mention not having a DVR; I had no "watch it later" option). I set my alarm for 4:30, & of course Elliot woke me up at 3:45, so it's 8:30 & I've been up for almost 5 hrs. I'm on to breakfast & cup of coffee #2. (It's gonna be a long day).

Anyways, it was pretty great. It was so cool to watch the royal family driving to the church, & to see everyone walking in. [Side note: I want to wear fastenators (sp?)! I think they are awesome! Can someone please start selling them on this side of the pond?]

Then to see Kate getting into the car, to see the dress, her face behind a veil - all the anticipation (that has indeed been media-driven, but nevertheless, it was there) culminating in seeing her heading toward her groom. I got emotional, it's true. & I realized that the way that we see this bride, looking amazing on her wedding day, is only a small picture of one day, when the Body of Christ, all believers, the bride of Christ, is presented to her Groom. It is going to be more amazing, more exciting, more passionate than any wedding we've ever seen or experienced. His love for us is greater than the love of a prince for his princess. It is the love of a King for His creation, for those He literally laid down His life for.

I think there is a part of every woman that loves the fairy tale; that wants to be the princess in the gorgeous dress. Because we were made for that! We were made to be saved, to be redeemed, to be passionately loved & desired & treasured. Marriage is a picture of that, but it's not perfect. Your earthly husband will let you down - he is incapable of loving perfectly. The only way we can truly fill that need is to understand the way that Jesus passionately loves us. I would say sometimes I feel I understand it, but largely, I continue to pray that I would really experience the love that He has for me, & be able to comprehend how that love was shown at the cross. He doesn't need to prove His love for me (though He still chooses to, every day if I choose to see it) - He already did. I just need to understand & accept it in order to live in it.

One day our knight on a white horse will come for us. We will be rescued from pain, hurt, sorrow, death. We will finally be in the presence of our King, Father, Creator, Savior, Friend, Groom. Revelation gives us a little bit of an idea what it will be like, but really, we can't fathom it. But I do know, it will be more spectacular than the wedding I watched this morning (as lovely as it was). THAT will be a royal wedding, my friends. The One that has the authority over all kings & princes & governors & earthly officials will come for us, & we will be presented to Him - beautiful, adorned, pure, radiant.

And I will betroth you to Me forever. I will betroth you to Me in righteousness & in justice, in steadfast love & in mercy.

Hosea 2:19

For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is His name; & the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth He is called.

Isaiah 54:5

As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.

Isaiah 62:5

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing.

Zephaniah 3:5

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems, and He has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which He is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Revelation 19:11-16

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:1-4

Real Christianity

I really liked today's devo - it hits on Christianity that is real & alive, vs. plain old religion, which is what a lot of people are unknowingly living.

"These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." - 1 Peter 1:7

"One of the great tragedies of the Christian life is that if we fail to enter into a relationship with God that is born of the Holy Spirit, we are left with a religion, not a relationship. Many a person today lives with an intellectual belief in God, but without a relationship that is based on two-way communication. This is the greatest tragedy of all. It's like having a brand-new car but never having the gas to run it. It can't move you anywhere. It only looks pretty, but one cannot enjoy the ride or smell the newness inside.

Peter tells us that until our faith is proved genuine, we will never be able to give praise, glory, and honor to Jesus, because until such testing He will not be revealed in our lives. Peter describes this in the verse before: "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials" (1 Pet. 1:6). Trials are designed to bring us to a level of trust and experience with God that we would never know otherwise. These "faith experiences" with God allow us to know firsthand the faithfulness of God, the love of God, and the personal nature of God. If you cannot recount several instances when God has met you personally, then chances are your faith has not been born of the Holy Spirit into a living relationship with God. It is easy to fall prey to a relationship to God that never experiences His real presence; rather, it is based on knowledge only. This is a tragic place to be.

If this is where you have been in your Christian experience, ask God today to make Himself real to you. Ask Him to show you His personal nature and love. He desires to do this. Those whom He has called know His voice. He will show Himself to those who are His. "He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love him and show Myself to him" (Jn. 14:21b)."

-Os Hillman

The purpose of your life

Today's devo... good stuff!!

"You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something" (Psalm 139: 15). (Msg)

If you are going to discover how God wants to use your life and work, you must know why you were created. If you start trying to determine your purpose in life before understanding why you were created, you will inevitably get hung up on the things you do as the basis for fulfillment in your life, which will only lead to frustration and disappointment.

First and foremost, God created you to know Him and to have an intimate relationship with Him. In fact, God says that if a man is going to boast about anything in life, "boast about this: that he understands and knows me" (Jer. 9:24). Mankind's relationship with God was lost in the Garden when Adam and Eve sinned. Jesus' death on the cross, however, allows us to restore this relationship with God and to have an intimate fellowship with Him. The apostle Paul came to understand this when he said, "I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself" (Phil. 3:10, THE MESSAGE).

Establishing this relationship with God is vital to understanding your purpose. If you don't have this relationship with God, you will seek to fulfill your purpose out of wrong motives; such as fear, insecurity, pride, money, relationships, guilt, or unresolved anger. God's desire is for you to be motivated out of love for Him and to desire to worship Him in all that you do. As you develop your relationship with God, He will begin to reveal His purpose for your life. "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord" (Jer. 29:11).

Today, ask God to help you discover your unique purpose.

-Os Hillman

"The saying is trustworthy & deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display His perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in Him for eternal life. To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor & glory forever & ever. Amen."
1 Tim. 1:15-17

"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, & thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings & all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful & quiet life, godly & dignified in every way. This is good, & it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved & to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, & there is one mediator between God & men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time."
1 Tim. 2:1-6

He has dealt bountifully with me

The Lord spoke to me through this scripture last week, & I continue to meditate on it, because its truth is amazingly beautiful to me.

"But I have trusted in Your steadfast love, my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me."
Psalms 13:5-6

I love that I can say that the Lord has dealt bountifully with me... not because of my circumstances, not because of what has been or what is to come, not because I have this or that... but simply because He has saved me. I am His & He is mine. My soul rests safely in His big, mighty, loving, forgiving, merciful hand. For that reason alone, I can say, He has truly dealt bountifully with me.

A prayer...

'Lord, I pray that you would bring Jews to know Jesus Christ. I pray that you would bring Muslims to know Jesus Christ. Finally, Lord, I pray that you would bring Christians to know Jesus Christ. Amen.'
-Arthur Burns, chairman of the United States Federal Reserve System and ambassador to West Germany in the 1970s

Heaven & how we live

(I will write about Italy, but that is going to take a while.)

Our pastor just concluded a series on Heaven yesterday. I think it was 5 weeks long, & we missed the 3rd & 4th week so I haven't listen to them yet, but just what I heard has been really good. Not quite what I expected. But it has changed my thoughts & the way I view my circumstances & actions.

I want to tell you about yesterday's sermon, because it was very convicting to me.

1 Corinthians :11-15
"For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, & the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames."

This scripture, when referring to the man that builds on the foundation of Jesus, means someone who has put their faith in Jesus to save them. It is speaking of believers (which means more than "I believe in God" or "I go to church, sometimes" or "I'm a good person" or just calling yourself a Christian but that is another topic); if you do not know Jesus this does not apply to you.

We are saved by grace, but our reward is based on how we live.

On Judgement Day, our lives will be presented before the Lord: every thought, word, action, every single little bit of our lives that we maybe think doesn't matter, everything will be judged (remember Matthew 12:36-37?). So, we are building our lives with the following aspects:
-our thoughts
-our actions
-our words
-the attitudes of our heart
-the way we spend our money (which is an expression of how we live our lives; what we value)

These things are represented by either gold, silver & costly stones, OR, wood, hay & straw. They either represent what the Lord is passionate about (love, patience, kindness, compassion, humility, etc) or what He despises (ugly words about other people, anger, lies, jealousy, disobedience to authority, coveting, etc). It will all be presented before the fire, & what is left is our reward. Some will not receive a reward, based on the way they lived their life.

I want a reward. I want to build my life with gold, silver & costly stones. Since yesterday I have noticed some of my thoughts that are definitely straw. I want to live my life aware of the thoughts & attitudes I have so I can make sure they represent gold. I don't want to live my life selfishly, living in the moment, responding out of emotion, instead of stepping back & seeing things the way God does - an opportunity to respond in kindness, not anger, or the chance to forgive instead of be bitter.

This is just my summary of the sermon, it is certainly not all-inclusive. You can listen to it & the rest of the Heaven series here.

Beautiful truth

I am doing a study of the book of Mark, & this week I happen to be studying Passover & the betrayal of Christ. The study led me to Exodus 12, reading about the first Passover. What amazing symbolism!

They were told to take an unblemished lamb to sacrifice & they were to take the blood of the lamb & put it on their doorposts, & God's wrath would pass over them. Passover celebrates the fact that God struck the firstborn of the Egyptians that night, but spared the Israelites. They then escaped the land of Egypt.

Jesus is our unblemished lamb! His blood is THE only reason we will be spared when God judges every man. When we respond to God's pursual of us (& He is pursuing every man, whether they realize it or not - 2 Peter 3:9) by accepting in our hearts & saying that Jesus is the Son of God who died as a perfect sacrifice for our sins, we are covered by the blood of Jesus, & God no longer sees our sins but we are made righteous in his sight; we are SAVED (Romans 10:9-10). What beautiful truth!!

Some prophecies from the Old Testament regarding Jesus & salvation:

"Behold, your King is coming to you; righteous & having salvation is He, humble & mounted on a donkey." Zechariah 9:9 (see John 12:14-15 for fulfillment of prophecy)

Jeremiah 31:31-34

Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12 ** REALLY good stuff regarding Jesus' crucifixion

Isaiah 11:1-5

"Behold, the virgin shall conceive & bear a son, & shall call His name Immanuel [meaning 'God with us']." Isaiah 7:14

Isaiah 9:6-7

These prophecies were written hundreds of years before Christ. & these are only a few of the things written about Him that came true. (see more prophecies here & lots more here.)

I just love it. I am so thankful for what Jesus did for me, for you. This is what I am celebrating this weekend of Easter.

What are you celebrating??

i heart francine rivers

I am reading "The Scribe" by Francine Rivers, about Silas of the New Testament (it's fictional but based on the Bible), & I read a couple of things yesterday I liked a lot:

"How many times had I seen the Good News greeted with anger & scorn? Most people don't want to hear the truth, let alone embrace it. To accept Christ's gift means admitting that everything on which we based our lives before has gained us nothing. It means surrendering to a power greater than ourselves. Few want to surrender to anything but their lusts. We cling to our vanity & go on striving to find our own way when there is only one way."

Then, Silas, Paul & Luke see a rabbi (a leader of the synagogue, they did not like what Paul et al. had to teach) get knocked down & beaten, so they take care of him, while telling him about Jesus....

"Sosthenes tried not to listen at first. He wept & covered his ears. But gradually he did listen. 'It was not your words that convinced me,' he told us. 'It was your love. I was your enemy, Paul, & you & Silas lifted me up.'"

So powerful...

Sage is currently freaking out at a squirrel in the front yard. Making squeaky noises & bouncing around the room. It's pretty funny. :-)

Josh got me "You've Got Mail," "Notting Hill," & "While You Were Sleeping" for my birthday (I asked for the first two, & he bought the latter because it was $5 :-) ) & I'm pretty excited to watch them!

Today is my dad's birthday. Happy Birthday Daddy!

I just ate a snack of Gouda cheese & a 100-calorie pack of Oreo snack cakes.

Yes this post has been very random. Now I'm going to end with a scripture that reminded me Monday where my hope lies...

"Lord, don't hold back your tender mercies from me. My only hope is in your unfailing love & faithfulness." Psalm 40:11

This was in my Bible study today. I am doing a study of Mark (written by John MacArthur).

"The Canadian scientist G. B. Hardy once said, 'When I look at religion, I have two questions. One: Has anybody ever conquered death? and two: If they have, did they make a way for me to conquer death? I checked the tomb of Buddha, & it was occupied. I checked the tomb of Confucius & it was occupied. I came to the tomb of Jesus & it was empty. And I said, 'There is one who conquered death.' And I asked the second question, 'Did He make a way for me to do it?' I opened the Bible & discovered that He said, 'Because I live ye shall live also.'"

Your Purpose

First and foremost, God created you to know Him and to have an intimate relationship with Him. In fact, God says that if a man is going to boast about anything in life, "boast about this: that he understands and knows me" (Jer. 9:24). Mankind's relationship with God was lost in the Garden when Adam and Eve sinned. Jesus' death on the cross, however, allows us to restore this relationship with God and to have an intimate fellowship with Him. The apostle Paul came to understand this when he said, "I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself" (Phil. 3:10, THE MESSAGE).

Establishing this relationship with God is vital to understanding your purpose. If you don't have this relationship with God, you will seek to fulfill your purpose out of wrong motives; such as fear, insecurity, pride, money, relationships, guilt, or unresolved anger. God's desire is for you to be motivated out of love for Him and to desire to worship Him in all that you do. As you develop your relationship with God, He will begin to reveal His purpose for your life. "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord" (Jer. 29:11).

(Prime Time with God email devotional)

a lot to handle

God has taught me so much lately. Sometimes it seems like almost TOO much to handle. My prayer is that I will never get in the way of what God wants to do in me.

I wonder now how I made it through high school & college without feeling as overwhelmed as I do now by what God wants me to look like, compared to what I do look like. He wants to do all these things in me, He wants me to look like Jesus, but I am so far from it! Every day I am reminded of how far I am from the standard He desires for me (to be holy as He is holy, righteous, blameless, pure...). But my heart wants it! So I battle every day, the part of me that wants to be holy against the part of me that is SO not. (Romans 7 comes to mind...)

God taught me recently two things regarding this. First of all, I cannot make myself righteous. I can try as hard as I can to obey all the rules, to do everything right, & can even try to keep my thoughts pleasing to God, but I will fail. Because I am human. But, instead of beating myself up over it like I am inclined to do, God wants me to repent, & get back up & keep going! I treat my holiness like a personal victory I am attempting, instead of letting God change me - that's the job of the Holy Spirit, I can't do it on my own!

Someone recently put it like this - when a parent is watching their child learn how to walk, they clap & encourage, & when their child falls down, they don't scold them for failing, they pick them up & hug them & tell them to try again. Of course! When we are covered by the blood of Jesus, we are made righteous THROUGH Him (not through our own efforts), & when our hearts desire to follow God & obey Him, God does not scold us when we fall - He is our loving Father!

Second, I have learned that in this Spirit vs. flesh (which seems to most often include my moods, reactions, inclinations, etc.) battle, I make the choice in every moment to follow either what I "humanly" want to do, or what God wants me to do. I think before recently, I just lived my life, & whatever popped out (either fruits of the Spirit or evidence of the flesh) was what it was. As if I couldn't help it! But I have to make a choice, & the product of that choice will either be the fruit of the Spirit, or not. It sounds so simple. It's so not, apparently! It's hard not to let my actions reflect my mood, or to keep that mean thought from running rampant in my mind. But if I STOP - & check the condition of my heart, my mind - then turn it back to Jesus - my actions will "pop out" as fruit of the Spirit.

Of course these things have proven to be harder lived out than learned. But I'm thankful that even though I seem to mess up over & over again - I wouldn't give myself a second chance! But God does. His mercy is great!

The Meaning of Christmas

The meaning of Christmas can be found in some of the songs that people sing each year. If only they realized what they were singing, if only they found it true! Read through these lyrics... they really are Christmas songs that speak salvation, & I love the words, the truth & beauty they speak. THIS is the meaning of Christmas. Not family, not presents, not children, not happiness or memories. Those things are good but... JESUS is the meaning of Christmas. His coming saved us who choose Him; THAT is what we celebrate each year.

O Holy Night!
The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friend.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!

I really love this one....

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
In ancient times did'st give the Law,
In cloud, and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

From my time with the Lord today...

"Redeemed: The Greek word translated 'redeemed' was often used to speak of buying a slave's or debtor's freedom. Christ's death, because it was a death of substitution for sin, satisfied God's justice & exhausted His wrath toward His elect, so that Christ actually purchased believers from slavery to sin & from the sentence of eternal death (Titus 2:14; see Rom. 3:24; Eph. 1:7). The only adequate payment to redeem sinners from sin's slavery & its deserved punishment was 'in Christ Jesus' (1 Tim. 2:6, 1 Pet. 1:18, 19), & was paid to God to satisfy His justice."
-Galatians study, by John MacArthur

"God does not merely have love or feel love. God is love & cannot not love. As such, God yearns for relationship with the creatures made in His image."
-Prayer (Does it Make a Difference?), by Philip Yancey

Would you like some cheese with your whine?

This week at Life Group we talked about complaining, based on Philippians 2:14-15:

"Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless & innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked & twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world."

& it was one of those times when I realize what a big fat loser I am. You know those times? They are bittersweet. It is a blessing to have the conviction of the Holy Spirit, to know that you are being refined to look more like Jesus, but at the same time you realize how much "flesh" is still left in you, & you grieve over it, because you don't want to sin!

But recently God revealed something to me - one of those times when He makes a truth very real to you, & all of a sudden it makes perfect sense. I am not to make myself good for God, but instead God is making me good, over time. He does not shake his head at us & "tsk, tsk" when we sin - He says, "it's okay, get back up, we'll try again." (Please note that I speak of true believers, people that know the Lord; He forgives our sin because we are covered by the blood of Jesus. He is a just God & people who do not accept Jesus' sacrifice for us will be judged accordingly [hell].)

All that to say, all of my life I have been a rule-follower. This is not necessarily a bad thing (in my opinion, of course!). But because of my rule-following nature, I have always thought I need to just do the right thing, creating my own righteousness basically, then when I messed up I beat myself up over it. I lacked grace for others & myself. But God is revealing His grace to me. I am finally seeing His love & salvation for us as a perfect mix of grace & the law. When we love the Lord & know Him, we need to & should want to obey Him. & God is showing me how grace fits in perfectly.

It's so good when God reveals truth to you. It might not make sense in any logical kind of way, but God is so much bigger than logic.

Back to complaining. We kept coming back to two things: first, we complain because we think we have rights. We have the right to be treated in the best way by everyone, we have the right to go about our way without disturbance, we have the right for everything to be exactly how we want it. & when those things don't happen, we complain. Yuuccckk. How selfish are we. We, especially as Christians, have no rights! If only we lived life for Jesus instead of ourselves. If only we could stop thinking of ourselves as so important.

Second thing: everything comes back to the condition of your heart. Only you know why you say what you say. You know if you want to tear someone down, or if you have a genuine concern for their situation. You know the intent of your words. (Hopefully you've noticed by now that most of the time, when I say "you, " I mean everyone, the general public, including myself.) If ONLY everything I said were profitable!!

God is working in my heart in this whole complaining thing.

*insert jeopardy music* (the four-hour long version)

I'm here waiting on the AT&T guy. Don't you love when they say, "he'll be there in between one & five?" I get nervous to go to the bathroom. What if he comes JUST as I sit down?? & that's no fun... no one likes to feel rushed when going to the bathroom!

I also get nervous when the first two hours have passed sans phone man. What if he forgot? At what point should I call? I know the answer to that one would be "after 5, duh," but then that means he doesn't come today, & that means I have to wait on hold for 2 hours again to schedule another appointment for a couple days from now & he has to come today! See what I mean? It's stressful waiting in a four-hour block!

For those of you anxious to see what is to come following the previous post, don't hold your breath too much! All I know is that I think I'll soon do a post on salvation, & that verse captivated me yesterday so I thought I'd share it with you. Don't you love when a verse does that? The words flow so well, almost melodically, & not because it's poetic (although it may be), but because it is TRUTH & it hits you right in the heart, & you can't stop thinking about it.

So we'll see what comes. :-)

eventually more to come...

How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?

Hebrews 2:3