The righteousness of God

"When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags."
Isaiah 64:6

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”- 2 Corinthians 5:21

See, the key difference is this: OUR righteousness and HIS righteousness.

Our righteousness, every good thing we do in and of ourselves, is nothing but filth, because it is apart from Christ. But "in him," in Christ Jesus, when we abide in him, not only do we possess HIS righteousness, we BECOME the righteousness of God. So, I think Jesus's death and resurrection, the forgiveness of sins and justification, goes maybe a step further. So that "we might become the righteousness of God."

just another way that we are to become like God, conformed to not only His will, but His image, His heart.

God's Word to me

So, Friday, Kacy got to work @ 3 and I was still there...she came with me over to the server station to refill the sugar caddies and I had my Bible out on the counter and she grabbed and said that she had happened upon a verse earlier yesterday that she thought of for me--Psalm 30:5--"For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning."


But then get this, Aaron and I were texting later that night, and he said, "Just keep on going. weeping last through the night, but joy comes with the morning." And I'm going, okay, God, you are obviously speaking to me!

As I was laying in bed falling asleep, I was praying, and i remembered what Macey said--"In order to get the right answers, you have to ask the right questions." And I was like, "OK, what do I want to know? Because I can ask God..." SO I asked Him, "You are obviously speaking to me, God, so my question is this--when is morning?" And his answer--7 weeks. I don't know for sure what all the means, but I am SO leaning on His Words in faith, complete trust that He's spoken and He hears my every prayer.

The camera on my wish list (and more)

So, I just wasted 40 minutes of my life on Flickr looking at photos from random people. The good news is that i figured out what camera I want--the bad news is that is costs over 1000. It's the Canon EOS 5D...I would love to buy it before Fannie's wedding in September and be able to try my hand at some wedding photography. Man, that would be pretty darn cool--I'd LOVE it!

Now, where might that money come from? Oh, it would be even better if I could have it before I go to Mexico in July.

Speaking of which, oh yeah, by the way, I'm going to Mexico with Mike and Vikki and Love the Children Ministries again this summer, the last week of July. YAY!

Lord, I want to thank you for my many blessings. You've spoken to me in so many ways and given me so many things, more than I could've dreamed, and hey, you're still actively guiding my life--THANK YOU JESUS!

I was listening to Christ for the Nations and "When I Speak Your Name" still draws tears whenever I hear. Just acknowledging and singing about the fact that the name of our Lord and Savior is SO powerful--"When i speak your name, mountains move, chains are loosed"...I find myself shouting in my car, "In the name of Jesus Christ, mountain be moved. Oh please Jesus, move the mountain, loose the chains, only you are able, only through You are all things possible, only through Your name, and for the sake of Your name, is there such awesome power!"

Kacy's birthday is Monday, and we're probably going to eat Sunday afternoon. I bought her a really pretty black glass frame and I'm going to put this picture in it:

I'm pretty tired now. I don't quite know what it is God wants me to be doing with my life, but I know that He's leading me, guiding me, planning something. I'll just follow and trust him--of course, I may not do it very well all the time, but I'm always learning and always learning to lean on Him and rest in His arms, and most of all to TRUST His promises, TRUST His ways, TRUST His love.

Leaving Rennaissance

So, I'm thinking maybe leaving Rennaissance is what God wants me to do. Beside the fact that my parents and Kacy support the idea, they ("they" being Rennaissance management) want to require me to take a "TIPS" class Wednesday from 8-330 or something that is mandatory and I simply can't make it, so...thank you God, for the undeniable direction.

I mean, it's giving up alot of benefits, alot of extra income every month--but, you know, anything to follow where God wants me. Anything to be in His will, anything to be obedient.

I just hope and pray for undeniable direction in that other part of my life. Suffice it to say, my heart hurts. I cried myself to sleep last night.

All I know to say is:
Praise the Lord for all that He has done and is doing. I know He is at work--He loves me and us and I know He will provide. He will provide the finances I will not have leaving this job and He will provide the other in my life.

He is Jehovah Jirah, my provider.
Speaking of which, hopefully that will be my topic of discussion when I teach at Lakewood next, next Wednesday.
Write about that later...

To love and be loved...and BE LOVE

The only thing that counts is faith living it out in love

The only thing that counts is faith living it out in love

And love covers over a multitude of sins

And love makes up for oh so many things

The only thing that counts is faith living it out in love

The only thing that counts is faith, let's live it out in love

Christ is the fire that keeps this love alive

We will shine brighter when He is our delight

The only thing that counts is faith living it out in love

The only thing that counts is faith, let's live it out in love

Love covers over oh so many sins,

Let's live it out, let's give it all to Him

He is the fire,

He'll keep this love alive

We'll shine so bright'

Cause He is our delight

The Only Thing That Counts

Christine Dente

I've thought to myself, "What is the point of life?," as I'm sure we all have. And the only thing that makes sense to me is this: The thing that really counts is first of all, walking in God's will, and what makes life worthwhile is to love and be loved in return. I Corinthians 13, in Chelsea paraphrase, says "Nothing counts if you don't have love, LOVE is what it's all about" (it being life, our existence). That, I'm sure, is because God is love. His love for us is the reason for his plan of salvation, the reason for his creation of mankind in the first place--all that He is and all that He does is due to love. Even His punishment is out of love--Hebrews 12:6 says, "For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.” So, everything that he does and that He allows is to grow us and shape us more and more into His image, into who He is so that we can melt into His heart's shape. So, not only to love and be loved in this love, but really we are continually being shaped to BE LOVE, just as our Father IS LOVE.

Read this article

"The cross is the place where the outrage of man’s sin collides with the magnificent holiness of God."

-Benji Nolot-

From THE GOD WHO DELIGHTS IN SHOWING MERCY

Not to us, but to Your name be the glory!

"Not to us, Lord, not to us
but to your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness."
~Psalm 115:1~

Aaron told me to read Psalm 116 today, and I happened upon the above verse, which I think I needed to read. Well, I don't think--I know.

We all want to feel needed, necessary to the Kingdom, to our church. But there exists a fine line between wanting to walk in God's will, wanting to BE all that He has designed us to be, to carry out his purposes and wanting to be recognized. I guess that's something that we all face, in some form, shape, or fashion. To be recognized as "in charge" in the church, someone to look to. But really, who's glory do we (or should we) do all things for? It is for the name of Jesus Christ, for the name and glory of Jehovah God, our Father, the I AM. And if it is for His name, shouldn't we care ONLY what his thoughts of us are? Shouldn't our only concern be whether HE is proud of us?

If we could only (when I say "we," I really mean "I") focus solely on Him, realizing that no earthly possession, no earthly PRIDE, fanfare, admiration, or praise could ever compare to the words of our Heavenly Father--"Well, done, my good and faithful servant, my child whom I love."

Quote of the Day

Quote of the day:



"So, when I see you, my heart goes out to you. And when that mixes with the attraction, it can throw a brother for a whirl."

April 9

Pastor Joey asked me to speak April 9th (Wednesday), filling in for him. He is doing a series on the names of God, so he's going to bring the material to church Sunday for me to look at and pick which one I want to teach on.
Thank you for the oppurtunity to teach, Lord.

Found a song today that I would really like to do at Axxess, or at least have Ryan do anyway--Shout of the King by Hillsong.