Bring Me Back to the Place of Forgiveness and Grace

   Long time, no see (or should I say: blogging)! Life has been hectic with school drawing to a close, but we can't let any amount of busyness get in the way of truly seeking God, day in and day out! As my good friend, Robin, so wisely says it, "Whenever you see a yellow car or a bug, you get in the habit of reaching over to the nearest person to you and slugging them. Slug Bug! Then, your brain is trained to see yellow cars everywhere. God is the same way. If you seek Him wholeheartedly, you will see Him everywhere, because your mind is trained to look for the things that occupy your thoughts." It is key to pick up your cross DAILY and follow the Lord, in order to see Him in all situations. Or as I like to put it, with my song obsession on this blog: "bring[ing] [yourself] back to the place of forgiveness and grace."

      Let the Lord make this our prayer, that we would not be distracted with the things of this world: the riches, the popularity, the power, and the selfishness. Let us not forget to acknowledge the extent of the suffering Your Son experienced. The cross is what separates us, Holy and blameless and unrighteous and sinful, but it also binds us even closer than ever! To know that the Lord is All Powerful and could have taken on our sins with the snap of a finger, yet He chose to come to earth in human form, to understand our troubles, to be rejected and scorned, and to shed His own blood, in the cruelest way, for His sinful sons and daughters, is UNFATHOMABLE! We get so excited and pumped up about God's magnificence, because our brains are working a mile a minute to wrap themselves around God's undeniable power. Jesus' blood was to redeem us; like a coupon gets you food for free, God redeemed us with His coupon, His blood, so that we could come to Him without cost! - Andy Rauschkolb

     I pray that everyday, we would be drawn back to the place of forgiveness and grace, the cross, so that we can plainly view and act upon the LOVE that the Lord showers down on us! Because Christ paid the ultimate price, to die for such unworthy people, we too should be willing to pick up our own crosses daily, even if it means dying to ourselves and rising up alive and renewed in Him! Thank you for your gifts of grace and mercy, which you extend to us, so that we may say, "SO LONG SELF."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9PKYMDvNB8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxMnr0pM78U

ABBY <3