Father, let Your light shine down on me...

I have been listening to a song by Bethany Dillon lately called, "Let Your Light Shine". The lyrics have been running through my head and my heart often. Oh, Jesus, You became...what was my deepest shame... As Easter is approaching, I sense God renewing in me both the concept and reality of what His sacrifice means for my soul and the implications it has for my life right now. This song captures both God's bigness and His mighty power- but His nearness. I am learning to really take hold of this in my own life- a mighty God who paid it all to be ever so near to me. So Jesus, allow Your light to break into the dark parts of my life. For it is there that Your love changes everything.

The Calmer of the sea
Here in this room with me
So gently welcoming
The weakest things in me
You are the blood over
The door of my heart
What pain You spared me from
How could I know it all?

Oh wonderful love, You died for me
The power of Your life is in me

Father, let Your light shine down on me
Father, let Your light shine down on me
No matter what the day or night may bring
Father, let Your light shine down on me

Oh Jesus, You became what was my deepest shame
That at Your very name
My calloused heart would change
How could You, oh perfect One
Love me, when I have done nothing that's worthy of
My freedom You have won

Oh wonderful love, You died for me
The power of Your life is in me

Father, let Your light shine down on me
Father, let Your light shine down on me
No matter what the day or night may bring
Father, let Your light shine down on me

Open up the heavens
Poor down Your Spirit
Hold me God
Jesus, wherever You lead
I'll sing harmony
Hold me God

Father, let Your light shine down on me
Father, let Your light shine down on me
No matter what the day or night may bring
Father, let Your light shine down on me

Hope

So often, this life brings hardship, pain. These trials whisper to me of a Kingdom that is eternal, a world where true justice penetrates through to hearts and where peace and wholeness reign. I see so much hurt and despair in the world around me- young men dying in tragic accidents, brave girls with incurable terminal diseases who face death with more courage than I think I could ever have. Yet this points me to hope. The hope that we have. That this is not the end. That death is not final for those who are in Christ Jesus. For if the Spirit of God raised our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, the same Spirit that lives in us will bring us into eternal life if so believe and belong to Him. That is hope, my friends. God has been renewing my understanding of His character and His sacrifice. I heard someone wisely say this week that God's perfect justice is exhibited in His absolute intolerance of sin, but that His perfect love is shown in that He made a way- He paid the price for us, so that He could look mercifully upon us and accept us into His eternal glory! That is truly hope, brothers and sisters. What wonderful news. Truly wonderful news.

We have hope. Cling to it. The book of Hebrews says to "hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful." (10:23). Yes, He is. He is faithful to His promises- faithful to accept the blood of Jesus shed for us, blood that cleanses us and makes us clean. Beloved, we are granted access to Him, peacefully reconciled to the God we turned our faces from and ran away from and rebelled against, all through the saving blood of Jesus. Hope. There is nothing like it.

So grieve the pain of this life. Be honest in your grief and cry out to God, for He longs to meet you there and cry alongside you. But do not despair, for we are promised hope. Hope for a future glory. This changes everything! We have the hope of eternity, friends. Sometimes I feel as if even though I continually long for that eternity with my Father increasingly more as I get older- I have less of a comprehension of just how---whole---it is going to be.

May you not be lost in the pain that accompanies this life. May you not drown in your sorrows- but know that He wades through them with you tightly in His grasp. May you experience the rest that comes from His presence- the green pastures that He leads you gently to, and the places where He restores your very soul. May you hold unswervingly to hope, though the pains and trials of this life try to deter you from the hope He has promised. And may you be granted the power, through the Lord Jesus and His Spirit, to believe in His faithfulness.

A Short Snippet about Prayer

A couple thoughts on prayer- little morsels to snack on today. These have been influenced by the book The Fight by John White, and the song "Any Other Way" by Tenth Avenue North.

Prayer is truly an ongoing conversation with God - one that we habitually tune our awareness into more than at other times- a conversation in which God desires for us to bring our whole selves into- for He longs to meet us there with all HE is.

Jesus has revealed His brokenness to us through the cross. He invites us into that, along with our scars and hurts and open wounds- wounds that may still be bleeding---and yet out of that intimacy, one seemingly broken beyond repair and too far gone for hope- comes the deepest healing, unfathomable peace, the greatest power, and freedom like we have never experienced.

Life is a Gift

I'm not entirely sure where to start in on this entry. This week has been a continuous reflection on this school year in many dimensions. God is bringing me full-circle in some ways. College is such a growing experience. It has completely removed me from my home and comfort zone and transplanted me academically, physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. College is a holistic challenge- all of life is condensed into a campus and classroom setting, which can be daunting and downright exhausting at times. I can honestly look back at the fall and see a different person. I have been stretched this year so much. It has been a healthy stretch at times, and at other times a very painful stretch nearly to the breaking point.

Where have I been able to see God in this? Well, everywhere. Going to college has been a very big test of faith. To live in an atmosphere where your very ideas about who God is and how He intersects with your life are not always shared and in some instances are challenged is difficult. My experiences this year have been where the rubber meets the road in my faith journey as a Christian. I have been through some of the darkest times, times when my doubts seemed insurmountable and greater than my faith, and a great time of personal conviction of my own sinfulness and the ways I have poorly handled change and conflict on a spiritual level.

Today I attended a memorial service for a fellow first- year student who died in a tragic accident over spring break. Though he was not a close friend, I was reminded of how life touches life- grief affects a community, no matter what the connection. I was also reminded of how short life is- how fragile- and how we live lives in danger of death at any moment. We are not promised tomorrow. In Acts 17:25, we are told that it is God who gives us every breath and who sustains our lives from day to day. How then should we respond to Him? How then do we live our lives if we have not the guarantee of tomorrow or the next day?

I was overwhelmed during the service today by how many people love me, and how often I don't tell people how deeply and truly I love them. Yeah, it sounds corny. But this is the truth.

How much more does God love us? Words cannot describe that. As I was reflecting on the untimely death of a classmate today, I was reminded that Jesus loved us so much that he was obedient to death- even terrible death on a cross. THAT is how much.

May this truth sink even deeper into my heart and yours, dear reader- and may we live lives flowing out of that truth in every way.