Monday, April 25, 2011

O the Blood

I heard this song at church last week for the first time and was blown away. After we sang it again today at church I knew I needed to share it with you.  Please watch this video and worship with me the One who died for us even in our sin...Jesus.



O the Blood sung by Kari Jobe - Gateway Worship
Lyrics:
O the blood
Crimson love
Price of life's demand
Shameful sin
Placed on Him
The Hope of every man

CHORUS
O the blood of Jesus washes me
O the blood of Jesus shed for me
What a sacrifice that saved my life
Yes, the blood, it is my victory

Savior Son
Holy One
Slain so I can live
See the Lamb
The great I Am
Who takes away my sin

O the blood of the Lamb
O the blood of the Lamb
O the blood of the Lamb
The precious blood of the Lamb
What a sacrifice
That saved my life
Yes, the blood, it is my victory

O what love
No greater love
Grace, how can it be
That in my sin
Yes, even then
He shed His blood for me

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Sins Like Weeds

Let me start by saying that I haven't been able to blog for a while because I have been taking care of my husband who had knee surgery (ACL reconstruction) three weeks ago.  Thankfully, he is recovering and doing better and better every day! Since it was on his right knee, he still is not able to drive.  Hopefully as his knee continues to get stronger, he will be back behind the wheel before too much longer! To all of you who knew about this and prayed for him, I am very grateful! Now on to what God has been teaching me...

It's Spring and that means that its time to weed the garden and flower beds. That is exactly what I have been doing. I love being out in the sunshine and working in the gardens! Since we had such a cold winter, I am especially ready for time in the warm sun!

As I was weeding my rose garden I began thinking about how those weeds in my rose garden can be compared to sin in my life. There were some weeds that were a booger to get up because they had rooted in one area, then spread out into several different directions, then rooted again, then spread out even more, then rooted themselves AGAIN, and on and on and on.  Get the picture? This is not very fun to think about, but I know that I must examine my heart and see if there are any sins in my life that could act like these weeds.

So what did I find? One that I will share is my selfishness and my quickness to say "no" to my children when they ask me to do something for them. Sometimes in all the busyness of my life, I tend to not want to waiver off the planned path that I have for that day. For instance, when my tween daughter wants me to roll her hair, in my selfishness, many times I have said no immediately. I have said no before even thinking about it. Why...? She cares about how she looks and loves for her hair to be rolled. It takes about eight minutes to put the rollers in her hair... Ugh! This makes me sick to think about all the times that I've said no without even considering how important it might be to her. Conviction has been hitting me hard over this one.

Another example of my selfishness is when my son wants to show me something on a game he is playing or to look at something on the computer with him, I shouldn't let "no, not right now" be the first words out of my mouth. It usually only takes a minute or two for me to pay him that attention that he needs. If I let this continue, he will stop asking and then our relationship will be hindered. I have got to be interested in what is important to him.

I think that saying no once makes it easier to say it the next time, then the next time, then the next time.

Does this mean that I should always say yes to whatever they want me to do?  Absolutely NOT! What I am realizing again (seems like God has shown me this before and I went back to my old ways) is that I need to be aware of why I say NO and why couldn't I really say YES every once in a while.

This is not the kind of behavior I want to impress upon my children. This is not the kind of character quality that I want them to remember in me. It is certainly not a character trait that I want to teach to them.
In general, I would not consider myself to be a selfish person. In fact, most of my time is spent serving my family and I LOVE it! Spending time with them is my favorite thing to do! God has blessed me with a wonderful husband and three beautiful children who love me! God continues to show me ways that I need to grow more like Him. I am so grateful that God shows His mercy to me when I mess up!

Moms, listen - I am not saying that we are to be slaves to our families and never take time for ourselves!  Please understand that this was a lesson with the condition of my heart! Usually when this affects me the most is when I have to many irons in the fire. I want to slow down and enjoy these special bonding moments with my kids.

It is definitely okay to say no to your children. I just want to make sure that when I do say no or don't take the time to listen to them right away, it is not because I am being selfish.

Is there something that needs weeding in your life? It's not fun to go there really, but it is necessary! I don't want us to be walking around with sin crowding out what God intends to grow in our lives! I want for us as Christian mothers to be growing the fruit of the spirit!

Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.