O Church Arise

O church, arise and put your armor on;

Hear the call of Christ our captain;

For now the weak can say that they are strong

In the strength that God has given.

With shield of faith and belt of truth

We'll stand against the devil's lies;

An army bold whose battle cry is "Love!"

Reaching out to those in darkness.

Our call to war, to love the captive soul,

But to rage against the captor;

And with the sword that makes the wounded whole

We will fight with faith and valor.

When faced with trials on ev'ry side,

We know the outcome is secure,

And Christ will have the prize for which He died—

An inheritance of nations.

Come, see the cross where love and mercy meet,

As the Son of God is stricken;

Then see His foes lie crushed beneath His feet,

For the Conqueror has risen!

And as the stone is rolled away,

And Christ emerges from the grave,

This vict'ry march continues till the day

Ev'ry eye and heart shall see Him.

So Spirit, come, put strength in ev'ry stride,

Give grace for ev'ry hurdle,

That we may run with faith to win the prize

Of a servant good and faithful.

As saints of old still line the way,

Retelling triumphs of His grace,

We hear their calls and hunger for the day

When the Christ will stand in glory!

Heard this again today...heres a link to it :) Soooo good!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvOCvJ-HC3g

There is pain in repentance, but when we know the heart and purpose of God in it, repentance becomes such a beautiful thing. God convicts us, not to destroy us, but rather to Heal us. How wonderful!

Old music warms my heart...

Some real cool art!

Christ is Risen!

Let no one caught in sin remain
Inside the lie of inward shame
We fix our eyes upon the cross
And run to Him who showed great love
And bled for us
Freely You've bled for us

Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave
Christ is risen from the dead
We are one with Him again
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave

Beneath the weight of all our sin
You bowed to none but heaven's will
No scheme of hell, no scoffer's crown
No burden great can hold You down
In strength You reign
Forever let Your church proclaim

Christ is risen from the dead
We are one with Him again
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave

Christ is risen from the dead

We are one with Him again
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave

O death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
O church, come stand in the light
The glory of God has defeated the night

O death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
O church, come stand in the light
Our God is not dead, He's alive, He's alive

Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave

This song has been such an encouragement to me recently. I have felt like i am completely drowning in life and in my sin and I have weirdly been feeling hopeless. Why? because I am weak and yet in my pride, I like to think that I am not. Ridiculous.

This is just such a good reminder of my absolute weakness in my flesh, such a good reminder that I am so needy!

Christ's power, however is made perfect in our weaknesses! This battle that I have been struggling in has already been demolished at the cross! How foolish I am to forget that time and time again. "Christ has risen from the dead trampling over death by death!" Thank you Lord for once again opening my eyes to the power of the cross. For reminding me that Christ is the victory! Praise the Lord for the strength and the joy that is found only in Him!

Just reading in Exodus 28 I am reminded once again of how incredible it is to have Christ as my high priest!

V. 29 "So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgement on his heart when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them to regular remembrance before the Lord."

V. 30 "And in the breastpiece of judgement you shall put the Urim and the Thummin, and they shall be on Aaron's heart when he goes in before the Lord. Thus Aaron shall bear the judgement of the pople of Israel on his heart before the Lord regularly".

V. 36- 38 "You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, 'Holy to the LORD.' And you shall fasten it on the turban by a cord of blue. It shall be on the front of the turban. It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall bear any guilt from the holy things that the people of Israel consecrate as their holy gifts. It shall regularly be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD."

The priests not only had to continually go before the Lord on behalf of the people and their sins, but even their clothes were specifically designed to appeal on behalf of the people!

Instead of having a priest continually sacrificing for us we have Christ!

"For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever." Hebrews &: 26-28

Forever. v. 24-25 " but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them".

How amazing! What a Savior we have!

The Lord is so merciful to show me the things in my life that are often placed above Him. He is so good to show me the things of this world that I long after, the people that I seek to please. I was again reminded of this today while reading in Job. Chapter 1 and the Lord is already showing me my heart. We find Job visited by a messenger in v. 14 who comes to tell him that his oxen, donkeys and servants have been struck down. And before this messenger could finish another comes to bring bad news. Then another and another...

In a few short moments, Job realizes that he has lost Everything

His response:

" The Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshipped. And he said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb and naked shall I return. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.' In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong." 1:20-22

How often is this my attitude? Ouch. Its very rare. Things, people are taken away and my immediate response is...why. It hasn't been until recently that I have been able to see the gift that the Lord gave in taking certain things away. It isnt until recently that I've been able to worship Him for that. Job knew. He knew that all of his animals, all of his children, they were nothing compared to having God. All was taken away but He worshipped because He still had the Lord.

This is something that I have been praying about recently. We talk about finding our contentment in Christ, but if all we have, if all those we love were taken away, what would our response look like?

Lord, please strengthen me. Please let me see the folly in my love for the things of this world; in the satisfaction that I seek in things other than You and Your Word. Those things burn up when tested by flame, but O Lord, you are forever!