Let not conscience make you linger,
Not of fitness fondly dream;
All the fitness He requireth
Is to feel your need of Him.

His bride

The body of Christ in action is such a beautiful thing. About a year into becoming a part of HCC, I feel like I'm just beginning to see what all my head knowledge about the body looks like when it's translated into a reality. I am so grateful for the glimpses of the Acts 4:32-35 church that God's been giving me through several members of HCC (as well as several believers at Rice), most of them probably without knowing it (I love that God often uses us in ways we least expect). Their selfless hearts for edifying the body according to their unique God-given gifts, and all for His glory alone...I want that, for myself, for my family, for Brown, for CCF, for all of us here...and there.

And to think that I once really thought I knew a decent amount about these things. So much to meditate on and pray about these days.

God is good. And because of that He won't relent until He has it all.

All On The Altar

L, K, and I sang this hymn from the HCA hymnbook today. I needed this. In our weakness and blinding sin, Jehovah Jireh always.

You have longed for sweet peace,
And for faith to increase,
And have earnestly, fervently prayed;
But you cannot have rest,
Or be perfectly blest,
Until all on the altar is laid.

Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?
Your heart does the Spirit control?
You can only be blest,
And have peace and sweet rest,
As you yield Him your body and soul.

Would you walk with the Lord,
In the light of His word,
And have peace and contentment alway?
You must do His sweet will,
To be free from all ill,
On the altar your all you must lay.

Oh, we never can know
What the Lord will bestow
Of the blessings for which we have prayed,
Till our body and soul
He doth fully control,
And our all on the altar is laid.

Who can tell all the love
He will send from above,
And how happy our hearts will be made;
Of the fellowship sweet
We shall share at His feet,
When our all on the altar is laid.


Romans 12: 1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

ahh so much transformation yet to be done in me...
Step by step.

what. is. eternal. life.

"Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."

Jesus, John 17:3

seek, hide, treasure, ponder, strain

Psalm 119:
9 How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
By living according to your word.
10 I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.

I marvel at how much God has blessed this week - with time to pray and seek, with scheduled and unscheduled fellowship, with deeply encouraging words, with nature, with song, with God-breathed Scripture, with growing desire in others and myself for more of Him. This week especially He's given me glimpses of the richness of life lived with/in/for Him and waking me up every morning with a desire to know Him. I say glimpses because I don't want to forget that He is only getting started. I am desperate to forget what is behind (even what is good) and strain toward what is ahead, knowing He has yet to reveal much than I ever imagined or hoped for, knowing He is still more awesome than I know, much much much more awesome than I know.

Don't let me settle for yesterday's daily bread. Break my innumerable misconceptions about You. Don't let me fall back into the path of pride and selfishness that I am tempted to return to every single second of the day, sunup to sundown. There is absolutely no way I can do this on my own, but with You all things are possible. I've wasted enough time fighting to make myself something of worth, when You call me to lose myself in praising You. You said that "whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it."

Help me to hide your word in my heart, so that I might not sin against you.
Help me to learn from Mary, to treasure up all these things and ponder them in my heart. To never be in a rush, but to actively obey while faithfully doing all things in Your time.

Thank You for the promise that if we draw near to You, You will draw near to us. God, this has been my prayer since the beginning - don't ever let us go back, You will never let us go.
Your kingdom come, Your will be done.