Mount of Thy redeeming love

I have been listening to this old Hymn for a couple of days now and I just LOVE it!! The story behind this beautiful song, was written by Robert Robinson (1735-1790). He was eight years old at the time of his father's death. He was a very bright, headstrong boy who became increasingly more difficult for his mother to handle. When Robert turned 14, she sent him to London for an apprenticeship with a barber. Robert proceeded to get into even more trouble, taking on a life of drinking and gambling. At 17, Robert and some of his drinking buddies decided to attend an evangelistic meeting, with a plan to make fun of the proceedings. When George Whitfield began to preach, Robert felt as if the sermon was just for him. He did not respond to the altar call that night, but the words of the evangelist would haunt him for the next three years. On Dec. 10, 1755, at age 20, Robert finally yielded his life to Christ, and very soon thereafter answered a call to the ministry. Three years later, as he was preparing to preach a sermon at the Calvinist Methodist Chapel in Norfolk, England, Robert wrote Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing to complement his sermon. The music for the hymn was composed by Asahel Nettleton in 1813.

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I've come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I'll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.

Psalm 29

Shiny Happy People

Do you remember that song from R.E.M, "Shiny Happy People"? I was listening to my Ipod the other day and I found that song! I totally forgot about that song. Then I listen to the to the lyrics, I mean, I know this song so well, but I never really listened to the lyrics until recently:

Shiny happy people laughing
Meet me in the crowd
People people
Throw your love around
Love me love me
Take it into town
Happy happy
Put it in the ground
Where the flowers grow
Gold and silver shine

Shiny happy people holding hands
Shiny happy people laughing

Ahh!! Don't you just hear that song in your head right now?! Go ahead get up and dance a little, I just did! Come on you know you want to. That song usually makes me feel, um I don't know, HAPPY!! You know why? Because I AM. A SHINY HAPPY PERSON!! ha! Well, at least I try to be. I wish I was like this ALL the time, but the sad thing is, when I let the cares and worries of this world take the wheel of my life. I get the opposite of being a SHINY HAPPY person.
In my devotion this morning, I was reading in Proverbs 3:13 "Happy is the man who finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding." Finds wisdom? Really? Then I was thinking, wait if all I need is some wisdom, then I can do this! But see the thing is, I was trying to use MY wisdom to "fix" things. And not the Lord's wisdom. And in Jeremiah 29:11" For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." Did you read that last word? A hope. And when we have the Hope of Jesus and the certainty that He will never leave us or forsake us, then why on earth can't we all be SHINY HAPPY people? In Psalm 144:15 it says, "Happy are the people whose God is the Lord!" Who is your god? I think when we put other things in front of God and we expect them to give us that happiness and hope. But they never do. Being happy is an act of our own will. God can't make us happy. We are not puppets on a string. We all have things in our lives that make us unhappy. But the best thing is, we have that power through Christ to make it out! One of my favorite scriptures is in Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Having that true peace of God will guard our hearts and minds and from all the anxieties, worries, cares of this world. When we feel His presence, it creates a strong bond that this world can never take away! That is such an awesome feeling! To walk in the the Spirit. To believe that God will get us through anything, and that He does not give us more that we can handle. I pray, today that we all walk in His love, and seek His wisdom and knowledge in all we do. I pray that no matter what obstacles and worries this week has for us, we will call out to God, and that we put no other god in His place and that we walk in Spirit and let our Shiny light shine so bright! After all, we are all Shiny, happy People =)

"Once I was blind and now I see"

It was a beautiful spring Sunday morning, and I just felt different. Not different in a bad way, but I felt nervous and excited. Like I was going to take a test or a job interview, I was wearing my jeans and a long sleeve pink Hollister collar shirt w/my flip flops and I was on my way to church. As I walked in, I wanted to sit in the front this time. The place was getting packed, but all I can think of was, "Why I'm I so nervous?" I didn't know what was wrong with me. I was restless in my seat. My stomach ached and I can feel it grumbling. The worship started and it was the BEST worship that morning. Each song was just hitting my heart. It felt like my heart was peeling the layers it had. The layers, of sadness, broken heart, resentment, anger, frustration, loneliness. All those layers where just being lifted from my heart! I was a mess already, and the message hadn't even started. Then, after the message. When my pastor asked if anyone wanted to come up and give their life to Jesus Christ that He has forgiven you of all your sins and that you accept Him in your life as your personal Lord and Savior. I wanted to run up to the alter! I knew that I needed to get up to that alter and I needed Jesus! I made my way up, and I was crying but I felt like such a huge weight was lifted. It was the best feeling ever! I just knew that Jesus was in my heart now and He has taken away all my sins. He has delivered me! The Bible says, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." 2 Corinthians 5:17. And this is exactly what I was now! I new creature! And I totally felt it! I came rushing home to tell my parents the BEST news ever! I was saved! I was saved and redeemed and delivered. Thank you Jesus for coming into my heart 5 years ago today!!

Just Believe...

"Do not be afraid; only believe." Mark 5:36

Is it really that hard to just believe?
To believe that God will use us today.
To believe that we are making a difference in people's life by just witnessing and showing them the Love of Jesus.
To believe that our loved ones and friends will get saved.
To believe in His perfect will for our lives.
To believe that God is in control of everything, and to stop worrying.
To believe that we live in victory through Jesus.
To believe that God will comfort your heart, if we just let Him.
To believe that by reading and praying God will speak to you.
To believe that His plans are better that your plans.
To believe that no matter what, God will always love you if you seek Him.

"Seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:13

"Arms Open Wide"

I have lots of things on my mind right now to blog about it, but I gotta do my reading so I wanted to share these lyrics with you guys for now. It's this song from Hillsong. And I have been listening to it for like two weeks in a row like at least 4 times a day! Seriously, the words just speak to me!
Hillsong United Arms Open Wide lyrics:

Take my life I lay it down
At the cross where I am found
All I have I give to You oh God

Take my hands and make them clean
Keep my heart in purity
That I may walk in all You have for me

Oh here I stand
Arms open wide
Oh I am Yours
And You are mine

Take my moments and my days
Let each breath that I take
Be ever only for You oh God

My whole life is Yours
I give it all
Surrendered to Your Name
And forever I will pray

Have Your Way, Have Your Way

This is really just my heart for Jesus! I pray that this song encourages you!

in the dark....turn on the LIGHT!!

I woke up on Saturday morning, a little more tired than usual. But It's okay. The family is home this morning so we can all have our Saturday morning breakfast together. I got up, went to pray and then I hear the rain the outside my window. Love to hear the rain! Well, after and hour of our usual Saturday morning stuff, all of a sudden it starts to pour! Like crazy hail rain with loud thunder and lighting! It was awesome! My mom didn't like it much, she kinda got a little scarred. So then, our power went out for like a couple of seconds then they came back on! "what a relief"! My mom says, "I hope we don't lose our lights again"! I kinda had that feeling that we were going to lose our power because it was coming down again! And sure enough the lights when out...again! But this time for like the entire day! It wasn't to bad for me, because I had to work later on that evening and I didn't come home till after 11 that night. So, I got to thinking before I was saved. I was so in the dark all the time. I didn't realize how my actions or my way of life was affecting not just me but my family. I mean, I wasn't never really into the drinking and doing drugs thing, but I just didn't care much about this family that God has blessed me with. I never wanted to spend time at home, or I just wanted to do my thing and simply be selfish. When God came into my heart and life, He open my eyes, He took me out of the dark and into the Light. In Matthew 5:13-15 Jesus' followers are described as the "light of the world." Just as it would be pointless to turn on a light and then cover it up, it would be foolish if we accepted Christ and then made no effort to do his work in the world. Christians are to spread the light of truth on the world around them. This is amazing!! Also, in John's account of the Gospel, Jesus tells us that He is the light of the world. He tells us that if we follow him we will never walk in the darkness, but will always have the light of life. (John 8:12) And Christians are to be "salt and light" to the world. Both salt and light stand out from their environment, and improve the world around them for others. When I got home from work later that night, my entire house and neighborhood were completely in the dark! It was kinda scary walking from my car to my front porch last night. My mom had left one of those camping lanterns by our hallway for me when I got inside that Light was shinning so bright that I felt very much at peace. Before I went to sleep, I read my Bible with little light, I was just praying and thanking God for getting me out of the darkness and for opening my eyes to His Love, His Truth. Then I kid you not...our lights came back on!! It was so cool! Since, they went off @ like 12 in the afternoon we had all the lights on and tvs all turned on! It was like if God said in Genesis 1:3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. AMEN to that!!

Once upon a time...

Hey guys, sorry I haven't blogged in a while. LONG while! I need to really get on this and just blog my little heart out! And share whatever I the Lord has me sharing with you. So, I have been reading a lot lately. I mean a lot! It's great! Because I LOVE to read! Well, since I got myself the amazon Kindle, I'm seriously thinking this is the BEST investment I have ever spend my hard working money on! I mean, don't know if you guys are familiar with the Kindle. First of all, I have LOTS of books, and not enough room for all of them. So, I would either stack them on the floor, or put them in another book shelf in the living room. (which I don't like, I like MY books in MY room with me) but with the Kindle, I can download up to 1,500 books with this little device!! I know!! amazing huh?! Don't you just love technology? Someone once said “Print is dead”. They just may be right. With today’s technologies and wireless networks, you no longer have to own a printed book in order to read it. E-books are a good way to enjoy reading while not having to worry about owning several boxes full of books. The Kindle is compact and lightweight so it is easy to handle. Just think of it as a conveniently portable television for your books. You can even download magazines, newspapers, and blogs! Okay, so you are probably asking yourself, "wow! this is to good to be true, right?" It's NOT! For instance, a book on the latest New York Times bestsellers list can be purchased for $10.(or more!) Other titles will cost you around $1.99, which is significantly cheaper than a printed book, even in paperback. Books that are public domain can be downloaded for free. Since, I purchase books from Borders or Amazon.com those books tend to get expensive over time, but with Kindle they are at least 30 to 40% cheaper! So, in the long run I will be able to save money as well as space on the purchase of books. Okay, seriously I am NOT getting paid by amazon for the kudos I just gave the Kindle. I just really, really, like it! And I wanted to share with all of you. And if you are an avid reader and are running out of room to keep all your books. Then maybe, just maybe the kindle is good for you. When It first came out last year, it was expensive so I waited. Now it's $259. Not bad for all the money I am saving on the books. And like I mention, they have a lot of FREE books and the other books, if you are interesting in buying them then you can sample them for free like 2 or 3 chapters. Totally works if you are not sure you would like this book or not. Okay, so that is enough of my nerd talk =) and now off to to some reading! I will be posting some of my ALL time favorite books on here, I just have to make it a good top 10 list, but it's kinda hard when I have like a top 500+list!