3/6/15

Lead me to waters I’ve not dared to tread upon. Places my heart could not even dream of. Wash away what I have known before, burn the remnants of my tainted past, until all that remains is  clear unhindered, pure view of who You’ve called me to be. Until all I see is You. 

Take my future and shape it into something beautiful, speak words of hope,  joy and courage into my every day. Write the story of me in Your book of life never to be erased. 

Let my selfish flesh be silenced in Your presence, Your voice be all that I hear. I want to see the world through Your eyes! To touch those who others wont dare touch for fear of “dirtying” their perfect lives. I want to look at someone and see their pain and struggles instead of their sins and failures. Oh Lord take this pride from my soul! Let me not forget the pit that You rescued me from! 

I am so far beneath You God, yet You have chosen me. You’ve called me to live a life of purity. To love those no one else will. Don’t let me fall short! I can not do this without You! You give me breath! Nothing in this life satisfies, only You! 

Without Your love in this heart all I would see is a world dying with every passing day. But thank You God that I see beauty! I see a sunset or changing leaves, I hear a child’s laughter or a beautiful song. When I see, hear, touch, taste, and smell I experience this creation of Yours and long to know You more! To love the God who made all of this, I am so unworthy! 

Why Lord? Why me? Why did You choose this wretch? I don’t understand. But I am thankful! I don’t want to waste this life! To always be waited for “the next step”, but to live each moment seeking Your will. And having the courage to carry it out. 

I want nothing more than a life spent serving You, and nothing less than walking in blessed assurance of who I am. Your child. Your chosen. One who You love. Who You went to the cross for and banished my sins, never to be seen again! Tearing the vail of fear and death in two! 

“Let my life song sing to You, let my life song sing to You! I want to sign Your name, at the end of this day. Knowing that my heart was true! Let my life song sing to You!”

What Is Love

The word love is thrown around a lot. But what is it? If we ask the world around us, we get all kinds of answers. A popular idea today is that we as Christians are not loving, because we are not tolerant. We speak out against homosexuality, abortion, marital unfaithfulness, and other such things we believe to be wrong. And this makes us "unloving" in the worlds eyes. They call us hypocrites because we teach love and then we don't "love" all of mankind the way they think we should. Don't get me wrong there are plenty of hypocrites to go around.

But the people who are truly seeking and following The Lord know, we know that we are only saved through Jesus Christ! Not through our works, not because we are "good enough people", or because we are better than anyone else.

The world says we are unloving. But what they don't know is, they have the wrong idea of what love is. God is love. He so loved the world that He gave His only Son to be sacrificed so we could live! So we could have a one on one relationship with Him. So that we would have a love so  indescribable, so deep, so wide, so unending, nothing would ever compare!

When a true Christian says something is wrong, because the bible says it's wrong, we are not spreading hate. Actually we are spreading love. When it's done in the right way of course. Not by getting up on our soap boxes and telling people they're going to hell! But God designed a world to work in a perfect way, to bring glory to Him. He designed us to be in His presence. Before someone is saved, they are against God. There is a God shaped hole in them. Even if they don't know it.

When we witness to someone, our motive needs to be love! When we look at the sin of the world, it should sadden us, and motivate us! Our love for someone should make us desperate to see them made alive! To see them filled with the joy of following Christ!

I don't hate people. I hate sin. I hate the way it separates people from God. I love people so much that I want them to live forever! I want to see them in heaven! God is love. Plain and simple. So when we lead someone to Him, we practice love in it's purest form!

Some say I'm intolerant. That's true. I'm intolerant of sin. I'm intolerant of all things that go against the word of God. Because I know what it does to people, how it rips apart they're souls.

So yes. I will defend the name of God! I will stand up for His word! I won't except something if it's wrong! But don't call me a hater. You just don't know what love is. But I desperately want you to find out!

Love and Blessings
Rachel~ 

Softly Raining

Rain softly falls from the dark clouds above. It's thinking weather today. And as I meditate on life my mind is quickly and surely brought to my savior. And how could it not be? He is the source of my life after all. My breath is from His lungs, He knit me together, His hand is always holding me, keeping me from harm. What would I be without Him? I shutter at the thought. He died for me even in my deep sin.

How can we measure His love? Could we say it is as tall as a mountain? No, its heights far out do even the tallest of mountains. Could we say it is deeper than the ocean? No, its depths are far too deep to compare to a mere ocean. The truth is we could never begin to comprehend how deep, how wide, how pure, how sweet, and how amazing His love is.

Sometimes when ponder this, the fact the Creator of the universe, the Author of life, the One whom everything finds its beginning, yes He, left His place to come and be my Savior. He shed His blood so I could be called Daughter. My mind can scarce begin to fathom it.


Each day my deepest desire is to bring Him glory. To grow closer and closer to the woman He's called me to be. And for my passion for His presence to increase with every breath.

So as the drops fall outside my widow I will thank Him for washing my sins as those drops wash the earth. And He pours His spirit on me as rain from heaven, replenishing my soul.

Fill me up God, fill me up, to the point of overflow. So that I may pour out onto a world in need of You.

In Him,
Rachel <3>

My Desire~

To worship You because You're You. That is my desire. Not for the blessings You give. Not for what I can get out of it. But simply because You are God, The great I Am. Because even when You hold the entire world in the palm of Your hand, You love me deeper than I've ever known.

There is nowhere I look that I don't see Your finger prints. The work of Your hands is in every part of the universe! There in nothing Your eye's do not see.

Your wisdom no man can fathom. No being in heaven or on earth can compare to who You are!

The layers of Your love are never ending. The heights it travels immeasurable. As if loving a wretch like me were not enough, You went deeper and sent Your son to take my place in death and suffering. To carry not only my sins, but the sins of the earth! And You went further still, giving us Your spirit. Giving me power over sin, over temptation, over Satan, through Your name.

Demons shriek and hide at the mention of the name of Jesus Christ! Death has no power over Your children. You have set us free by Your blood. You have torn the veil in two, nothing separates us from You!

Why would I go anywhere else when You are all that makes sense? When I am pulled in so many directions, when the enemy whispers lies so enticing in my ear. You are my safe haven! You are where I land.

And so I lift my hands, I lift my life to the only One who satisfies my soul. Do with me what You will. Use my life for Your glory. For Your kingdom. Let every breath I breathe speak of Your mercy, Your grace, and of who You are!

From the smallest grain of sand to the tallest mountain, all of creation sings of Your glory! My souls desire is to join the chorus with every word I speak! That those who I meet would know You are my king. And that I am a child of the Most High God! And He loves me <3 font="" nbsp="">




~In Him~
Rachel 

Chains

Heavy. Harder than stone. They pull,weighing me down, scaring with every move. It's seems as though they will always win. Always be the victor. Trapped in them for all of my days, that's what I see.

But all at once I hear sound, see a light. My savior has come! By the power of His blood, the chains break, fall to the ground like dust. I am free! I rise , the door stands in front of me. I step toward it but the enemy creeps close behind, reminding me of what I was, of the sin that lived in my heart. I pick up the chains and place them on me once again. How did this happen again? Why must I where these chains all day and all night? Moment after moment?

I cry out and ask "why must I stay in the dark my Lord"? My savior speaks, His voice the sweetest sound my soul has ever heard, "my child, I died for ALL of your sins, you are clean, rise and walk out into the light"

I do as he's says, I rise and see again the chains are gone! But this time I walk, closer with every step taken in faith. I see the door, the lock has been broken all along! Out of the cell of sin an death I walk.

As I step into the light my eyes are opened. All along I could have been free. All along I could have walk in praise, beauty and love. I could have lived. Freed by the blood.

If only I had left them on the ground, rotting in the place where they belong. 

But now I know. Never again will I go back, to that place of certain death and condemnation. Never again will I put them on. My chains are gone~

My goal for this poem was to remind us as Christians that our chains ARE gone, and we don't have to put them on ever again! I pray this blesses you in some way. It's based on a word that a girl at my had for the congregation. It inspired me :) 

~Walk By Faith~
Rachel

This Place

Broken again I come to this place. Tattered and torn, I fall to my knee's. Unfix able, I'm sure this time. This time I'll be sent away, He wont let me in this place. Not with all this filth, not the rags I have become. He'll see my face and turn away for sure this time. No, He could not possibly love me after what I've done, never. For I have sinned, though I thought I was perfect, as I often do, I fell, face down in an unclimbable pit. No this place is surly not where I belong. This place is for those who are better, who sin less, who do more of the things they should. Yes this time I must leave this place.

But wait! What did He say? Did He call me? Ask me to sit at His feet? Surely You Almighty God, could not be speaking of me! Didn't you see what I did? How I disregarded Your word. No this place is not for me.  I've come to many a time, and you've washed me clean, taken my sin. But not this time. No I must leave this place.

But there again I hear my name. Did you call me Lord? Me? It truly is you Lord! You profess Your love for me now, in this place. I fall on my knee's, for I am too weak to stand. I fall into your arms, You hold me close. Why did I stay away so long from this place? 

For it's here I am complete! Reminded that yes this place is made for those that are clean, those who have been set free. And again I see, this place IS made for me! For by the grace only found at the cross, in the blood of Your Son, I am clean! I have been set free! And I don't have to be afraid to come to this place.

This place is the only place I find peace, hope, forgiveness. It's given freely, for those who seek it. They will find it, here in this place.

Now that I have come to this place, I never want to leave, never! This place is where I find my identity, my purpose, my strength, my heart. It's all here, in His presence, in His arms. Love that lasts forever, that can get anyone through every dark night, every lonely season, every trial, every pain, every rejection, every wound, and every scare. This place is beautiful, this place is pure. I keep coming back to this place.

And He keeps calling me no matter how far I turn in the wrong direction, or how many steps I take on the wrong path. He welcomes me back with open arms. I confess and repent of the sin that holds me down. And He lovingly breaks me until nothing else makes sense but Him. 

In this place I'm with Him. He is with me. I am loved beyond compare. That is why I love, This place.

~In His Arms~

Rachel

The Single Years

Some may see them as a waiting period, the single years. I myself have viewed them in this light. But the Lord has been changing my perspective. Teaching me to see them as not a time to and wait, but a time to move! It's hard sometimes to view them as a blessing, as a fruitful season. When many of us, me included, desire so much to get married, to have children. To be a wife and a mother.

But when we take the time to see them for what they really are, a blessing possibilities begin to come forth! If we chose to view them that way, we would see that it's Gods plan for to us to have a time to completely focused on Him.

When we say "I do" we become part of the person in front of us. Our time no longer belongs only to us. We become committed to a two part relationship, with the person God has given us. Then if the Lord chooses to bless us, we have children, and our time runs even more thin. And before we know it we're raising a family, and busier than ever!

So how beautiful would it be if we used this time to Him, to do His work!

In our culture it is so common to view the teenage and 20 something years as party time. Young people go from person to person trying to fill the lonely gap inside of them. And we as Christians tend to feel as though we are "okay" because we're not sleeping around, some of us not even dating. And we leave it at that.

But we're missing the point! Since we are young we have more energy, more time. So why are those things being waisted? Why are we sitting around waiting for our lives to start, when God is saying the time is now!

So let's use this time not to wait, but to be dedicated to the Lords work! Let Him use us to advance His kingdom!

He has already chosen who we will marry, how many children we will have , where we will live, and everything else about our futures!

So don't worry, He's got you covered ;) Use this time to draw closer to Him , to know the depth of love He has for you!

I'm really just saying these things to myself, but if you get something out of it then I'm glad ;) Thanks for stopping by :D

~Is His Love~
Rachel