Give me Jesus

This summer we sang a song most all of you know called "Jesus Paid it All". The last line of the chorus says, "Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow." One morning while we were singing this song in worship, we repeated this line several times as we were building into another section of the song. I started to concentrate on a different word of this line each time we repeated it, and I was just so in awe of the Lord by the end of it that I couldn't even play my keyboard part in the next section of the song.

HE--The God of the universe. My Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, Rewarded, Rebuilder, Restorer, Maker all things new, Deliverer. My Father, Best Friend, Author of Salvation, Air I Breathe, Everything I know to be GOOD and TRUE. HE did it. HE took my sins away. Not MY efforts. Not MY works. Not my family. Not my best friend back home. Not a song that gives me chills. Not a TV show or magazine add that made me feel better or worse about myself. Not my good grades or social status. HE DID IT. I DIDN'T DESERVE IT. HE DIDN'T HAVE TO. BUT HE DID. HE did.

WASHED--I don't know about ya'll, but I actually like to do laundry. I LOVE the smell of just-cleaned clothes. I love the feel of just-out-of-the-dryer jeans and socks (in the winter...not so much in the blazing heat). I love knowing that the events of yesterday (the chocolate smudge on my jeans; the coffee I spilled on my shirt in the car; my socks that smelled from running) not only don't hinder my plans for today, but there is also no remaining evidence that they ever existed in my yesterday. They are gone. They've been scrubbed out. Rinsed out. And given a clean start to (inevitably) happen again. He WASHED my junk out. He-the God of the universe-took my DIRTY stains and gave me a brand NEW shirt. A NEW pair of socks to run in today. He knows the patterns of life that will again turn me away from His pure gift, but He does my laundry anyway.

IT--Sin. MY sin. The JUNK. The unforgivable. The things hidden in the secret places that I think no one else knows about. But He knows. And He forgives. He still chooses to take IT. My garbage. The box that I put Him in. The lack of trust. The worrying. The pride. The word. The thoughts. The actions. MY dumpster of rebellion and unbelief.

WHITE--Such a pretty color. :) I always thought those people who answered the question, "what is your favorite color" with "WHITE" were boring and not very risky. I mean come on...white? But now I think they were on to something. White is just a happy color to me. No spots or lines or worrying if it matches. PURE. Simple. CLEAN. That makes me think of laundry again. :) I have this thing where every time I sort of "start over" and recommit to something I always go by a new notebook or journal. It's a new beginning. Clean pages for a NEW story, with a different ending-hopefully a better one that takes me a little farther than before--a little closer to the goal...until I realize it's time to wipe the slate clean and try again. A new canvas for the artist to create a masterpiece.

AS--A comparison word. I almost skipped this word because please, it's like 2 letters and exists simply serves its grammatical purpose in completing the sentence. But then I started thinking about the meaning of comparing us to the next word seen below, and realized that this word "as" has more meaning than I thought. "White AS snow". Not ALMOST as white as snow. Not ALMOST pure and beautiful. Not ALMOST a clean slate. WHITE AS SNOW. PERIOD. The whole shebang. All of IT. GONE. HE makes us perfect and worthy. HE calls us into His own. He chose you. He chose me. In our darkest, dirtiest, most weak and pitiful state. And He washed us as white as snow.

SNOW--Some of my most joyful memories have been in snow storms. (Well, not so much IN the storm, but the aftermath when I get to enjoy it.) I love how PURE everything looks. How PEACEFUL. How that fresh blanket of got-me-out-of-school fun is so inviting as it beckons me to come and play--play like when I was a child and had no worries or fears--just complete delight in my surroundings. God invites us into the same purity as that of his perfect Son. To delight in everything that He is and surrounds us with. To be at peace with and in Him. To be beautiful because of Him. To be WASHED as WHITE as SNOW.

Please take a sec and click on the link below and be blessed by the worship you will find on the other side. (It is by the same girl whose video I posted earlier.) I listened to this with my eyes closed and all I could think was pure beauty.

Give Me Jesus

Brooke Fraser - Live At Yours Part 3

My new favorite love :)
This girl is amazing and I just had to share...she is a pop star overseas and writes a lot for Hillsong ("Hosanna", "None by Jesus" etc).
Ya'll enjoy!! :)

Nashvegas

Could I be more horrible at this blogging thing! O heavens I guess I have just been a little preoccupied with coming home from camp and moving to another state!!! I finally made it out here! For those wondering, I just moved from small town North Carolina to Nashville, TN (as of last night) to begin a new journey with the Lord doing ?????????????? I know the things I am passionate about and the Lord was very clear to me back in May that this was the place I was supposed to be for this season in my life. I don't know how long it will last, who I am supposed to meet out here, or what I will be doing for the next while, but I am excited and very much at peace about all of this. ("At peace" doesn't mean I'm not a little anxious about things so your prayers would be much appreciated if it ever comes to your mind! I am completely trusting the Lord to show me what is next, but let's face it...our trust of Him always has areas of improvement.) So I will be back real soon--as soon as I get my room set up and settled in! Love ya'll!!!

So on that note, I'm going to buy paint!!!!
Ps...if you haven't checked out the LPM blog today, please do so. Jesus used Mama Beth to scream in my face this morning...in the BEST most WONDERFUL way. :)

Stained Glass Masquerade

I just really love the lyrics of this song (Casting Crowns) and wanted to share. :)
More later...

Stained Glass Masquerade

Is there anyone that fails?
Is there anyone that falls?
Am I the only one in church today, feeling so small?
Cause when I take a look around
Everybody seems so strong
I know they'll soon discover
That I don't belong

So I tuck it all away
like everything's ok
If I make 'em all believe it
Maybe I'll believe it too
So with a painted grin
I'll play the part again
So everyone will see me
The way that I see them

Are we happy plastic people
under shiny plastic steeples
with walls around our weakness
and smiles that hide our pain
but the invitations open
To every heart that has been broken
Maybe then we close the curtain
On our stained glass masquerade

Is there anyone who's been there?
Are there any hands raised?
Am I the only one who's traded in
The altar for a stage?
The performance is convincing
And we know every line by heart
Only when no one is watching
can we really fall apart

But would it set me free
If i dared to let you see
The truth behind the person
You imagine me to be
Or would your eyes be opened
Or would you walk away
Would the love of Jesus
Be enough to make you stay?

Are we happy plastic people
under shiny plastic steeples
with walls around our weakness
and smiles that hide our pain
but the invitations open
To every heart that has been broken
Maybe then we close the curtain
On our stained glass masquerade

How true, how true...

Gettin' Our Praise On

Oh heavens. Short post, but I just had an experience that will go down in history (well, not in any books, but in my mind) as one of my all-time favorite worship experiences, EVER. We began our wake-up session at camp this morning by dancing down the aisles and on to the stage to MANDISA's version of SHACKLES off her new cd, TRUE BEAUTY. Imagine 1000 teenage campers (and some unhindered chaperones) dancing and praising the Lord for the chains (and ya'll, there were some TOUGH CHAINS this week) that He has broken and SET THEM FREE of...

..the SMILES
..the JOY
..the DANCING
..the PRAISING
..the CLAPPING
..the REJOICING
..the straight up WORSHIP of our KING.

What a GREAT day...and we haven't even had the preachin' yet. :)

In closing. BUY THE CD. and GET YOUR PRAISE ON.