the LORD gives and takes away; hallowed be His name.

this is how i fight for faith;
this is the song of my life:

great is Thy faithfulness, oh God my Father!
there is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness,
morning by morning new mercies i see;
all i have needed Thy hand hath provided,
great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
sun, moon, and stars in their courses above,
join with all nature in manifold witness
to Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.

great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness,
morning by morning new mercies i see;
all i have needed Thy hand hath provided,
great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide,
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness,
morning by morning new mercies i see;
all i have needed Thy hand hath provided,
great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

if you want a message to rock your world for following Christ, not just knowing about Him, listen to this message

one thought that really stuck with me:
we too rarely think about the needs of the Church universal, and often we are encouraged by someone convicting us with a phrase like "if it was your brother" or "your mother" or "your sister, then..." but the truth is, it's not an if statement. you're in the Body, they're in the Body, God is our father, therefore we are brothers. and it's time i started acting like it.

random jottings

- electrical outages at work make for good conversations.
- i can't give myself to Christ as a gift. He bought me at great cost. If the wages of my sin were death, the wages of His grace and mercy are my life and my joy in Him above all things to the praise of His glorious grace.
- the only reason i can stand in front of God is because i stand in Christ. i've known this for awhile, but it really struck me the other day during service.
- God does not hang around like a lost puppy or an insecure friend. He's also not aloof like the hip crowd in school. He's our Father, and as a good father does, He listens when we have something to say, and finds delight in it, even those things that others would deem insignificant. as our perfect Dad, He loves it when we want to talk to Him, to show Him things; even though He already knows, He wants us to tell Him our hopes and joys and hurts and cares. He's just awesome like that.

a just man

matt. 1-
"And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things..."
joseph was hurt. the woman he loved, who he was to marry, was pregnant. as far as joseph knew, she had cheated on him. this was utter betrayal, that which breaks a heart beyond what it has ever known. joseph must have been in anguish, deeply depressed, that the woman who was to be his wife must have been with another.

yet we do not see what far too many consider the masculine response: he did not freak out, go on a rampage, and have her killed, which was his right by hebrew law. he doesn't let his pain and his rage get ahold of him. instead, we see that he "resolved to divorce her quietly." he made up his mind to be a better man, showing grace to one who had harmed him in a way no other could. he was "unwilling to put her to shame." why? because he was a "just man." oh, that God would raise up more of these in our day; that He would take broken men like me and raise us to be called just. let us aspire to this, men, and let women seek this out and encourage it in the men around them. that instead of going ballistic, joseph "considered these things." he thought things through, didn't let his emotions get the best of him. he wrestled through his grief, his anguish, and considered what his actions would do, desiring to not cause even more suffering. may God mold my heart to be like that of joseph, a type for his adopted Son, who begged for the forgiveness of His murderers even as they were nailing him to the cross. oh, what wondrous love is this, oh my soul. God is loving and gracious, praise be to His name! amen.