Worship

WORSHIP: to adore or revere.
Worship is an outward expression of an inner condition or working.
Worship is not only songs, it is found in lifestyle.
Worship is to love with all your heart, soul, mind and body.
There is something about singing, surrendering your heart to something greater than yourself.
Worship is a working of the heart.
Worship requires humility.
Worship completely takes the focus off of self, and places the focus on God.
The Lord inhabits the praises of His people.
Worship is love.


"You make the sun stand still, the oceans part, You're powerful, its who You are!"
"Now the plans that I have made, fail to compare, when I see Your glory."
"Hosanna, You are the God who saves us. Worthy of all our praises!"
"You are my supply, my breath of life, still more awesome than I know."
"When You could just be silent and leave us here to die, still You sent Your Son for us, You are on Our side."
"Your love never fails, it never gives up, it never runs out on me."
"His love is deep, His love is wide and it covers us. His love is fierce, His love is strong, it is furious."
"Your presence is all I need, its all I want and all I seek, and without it there's no meaning."
"We belong to You, Father. Love has come, we are orphans no longer."
"There is no one like our God."
"You're the Lord of creation. You're the King above all kings."
"Hallelujah, Hallelujah, King of kings and Lord of lords, forever I am Yours."
"Found in You are the arms of love, the arms of grace. You alone are the One I trust."
"Our God reigns, forever His Kingdom reigns."
"You can make all things new. Only Your power can raise us."
"When the world is falling out from under me, I'll be found in You, still standing."
"Before there was time, there were visions in Your mind. There was death in the fall of mankind, but there was life in salvation's design."
"Your love is extravagant. Your friendship is intimate."
"You surround me like a winter fog. You've come and burned me with a kiss."
"Indescribable. Uncontainable. You placed the stars in the sky, and You know them by name."
"Holy is the Lord, God Almighty. The earth is full of His glory."
"You made it all, said let there be, and there was all that we see."
"You spread out your arms over empty hearts, said "Let there be light" and to a dark and hopeless world Your Son was born."
"My Beloved is beautiful, He's dazzling in excellence."
"You are stronger, sin is broken You have saved me."
"Clothed in rainbows of living color. Flashes of lightening, rolls of thunder. Blessing and honor strength and glory and power be to You the only Wise King."
"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is FREEDOM!"
"Beautiful Savior, Wonderful King."
"Here is our King, here is our Love, here is our God who's come to bring us back to Him."
"Lord You have my heart, and I will search for Your. Jesus take my life and lead me on."
"Far better is to be with You even for a day than to live 1000 years and to never see one glimpse of Your face."
"You are the source of life, I won't be left behind. No one else will do, I will take hold of You."
"You are the One thing that remains."
"From You, through You, and to You are all things."
"You hold it all together, You hold it all forever, You started it all, You are my All in All."
"My Savior, my Healer, Redeemer, that is who You are. Creator, my Maker, my Father."
"Perfect One, Matchless King, Beautiful Son, creation sings...'Who is like our God?'"
"We take heart, for You have overcome the world."
"I may be weak, but Your Spirit is strong in me. My flesh may fail, by my God You never will."
"I put my hope in You, there's nothing else to do."
"There is a Redeemer. Jesus, God's own Son. Precious Lamb of God, Messiah, Holy One."
"As surely as the sun will rise, You'll come to us, certain as the dawn appears."
"You are good when there's nothing good in me."
"You are peace when my fear is crippling."
"You are light when the darkness closes in."
"Beautiful God, laying Your majesty aside, You reached out in love to show me life. Lifted from darkness into light. King for a slave, trading Your righteousness for shame. Despite all my pride and foolish ways. Caught in Your infinite embrace. I find myself here on my knees again, caught up in grace like an avalanche."
"Like the rising sun that shines, only You can raise a life, awake my soul and sing. From the darkness comes a light, awake my soul."
"Jesus, You are my best friend, and You will always be."
"Love that's stronger, love that covers sin and takes the weight of the world."
"Your love's enough to see the broken heart find a brand new start with a brand new heart."
"He is jealous for me, Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy. When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory."
"I believe You're my healer. I believe You are all I need. I believe You're my portion. I believe, You're more than enough for me. Jesus You're all I need."
"Christ has risen from the dead, come awake."
"There is a God who loves me, who wraps me in His arms."
"You are unfailing, God. Your love is unending. And Your Word is eternal, firm in the heavens it stands."
"The mountains shake before Him. The demons run and flee at the mention of the Name, King of Majesty. There is no power in hell, nor any who can stand before the power and the presence of the Great I AM."
"You make everything glorious."
"You alone can rescue, You alone can save."
"Light of the world, You stepped down into darkness. Opened my eyes, let me see."
"Jesus, You call me friend. Jesus, You're my life within."

Brand New Life.

I love Springtime. Other than Summer, it is my favorite season. I love how things that were dead all of a sudden begin to come back to life. Everything is green, the trees are filled with shades of pink, white, and yellow flowers. The trees regain their leaves. Everything comes back to life.

Rain. Rain is intoxicating. There is something so refreshing, so healing about water falling from the sky and cleansing all of creation in its springs. I love the smell of rain, the feel of walking outside and being washed by nature's shower. It washes my soul, and my heart feels hope.

Rain, and every aspect of Spring offers an incredible reminder of what Jesus has done for us.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!"

Our humanity has left us broken, wounded, scarred, and undone. Alone, we cannot make it in this world. Our hearts have been so ravaged by the world and the ways in which it seeks to destroy us, but, there is a hope for a new and better life. This life is not perfect, by any means. It is full of trouble, hardships, pain, and brokenness, however; in the midst of all this, there is hope and life available through the One who gave Himself for us. He gave His life away to provide us with a new life. Through His Blood, our humanity and souls are washed and made new. Through His death, we can experience death of the flesh and human nature, and through His resurrection, we are given new life. From the grave, from death, comes life.

My friend, though this may sound too good to be true, I can assure you that it is true. My life was broken, wounded, shattered and left in ruins. Then, Jesus found me when I wasn't even looking for Him, and He gave me a new life. He took away my heartache, my addiction, my insecurities, my fears and my inability to truly love or trust. He made me new. He gave me joy, hope, love and a purpose and reason to live.

My prayer is that you would allow Him to do the same for you. His arms are open, waiting to give you new life, but you have to run to Him. He is pursuing you with all His might and affections, but He wants you to invite Him in. He is a gentleman and will not impose Himself upon you if it is not your desire to have Him. Once you run into His arms, I assure you, it is the most wonderful, deep love you will ever experience.

You will truly be made new. The picture of the yellow flower is significant to this discussion, I promise. I planted this tulip in the middle of my backyard when I was about 8 years old. Every year, without fail, this flower will come bursting out of the ground. It is my reminder that even from the dead, life will come forth.

Change of Direction

My life is beginning to take a completely different turn than I ever expected it would. It all started my sophomore year of high school. I was at my old youth group, _Tag, and the church interns in a program called 24/7 were talking about their trip to Mexico. God told me, quite clearly, that I would be doing 24/7 in the future. I initially said, "NO". I thought it was too intense and that I was not 24/7 material, so I just pushed it to the side and forgot about it. Well, about 2 years ago, God began to bring the idea back to my memory, and I began to pray. I went in with my stubbornness saying, no, this is never going to happen. And now, I know, beyond any shadow of a doubt that this is where God is leading me. And I could not be more excited.

I had planned to finish college, and right now I am only one semester away from obtaining my Associate of Arts degree. Well, that is being put on hold for now. I don't really know why I have been going to school, I guess cause it made me feel like I was doing something that mattered. And it did, its not like I was hurting anything by going to school and getting a college education. But, right now, God is leading me to a different path, at least for a season.

This change is kind of intimidating, and it scares me in more way that one. I will be leaving home to move all the way across the country, to Sweet Home ALABAMA! Leaving my family, my church, my city, my job...everything I have ever known I am leaving to follow Jesus and His call. I don't know what I'm gonna do without my Mama, but I know I will get by with the strength of God. I am scared because I am going without all the funding I need. I am working full time this summer to raise as much money as I can, and just leaving to go and trust God to provide all that I need while I am there. It scares me because I know that this will be the most challenging thing I have ever done in my life. Emotionally, physically, spiritually and mentally, it will be incredibly challenging. I know that I will reach a deeper level of brokenness than I have ever known.

But despite being intimidated by the unknown, I feel the deepest peace about this next step, and I know that it is where God is leading me to go next. August 20th. Highlands College. Birmingham, Alabama.

Bring it on, Jesus!