I'm back!

May 31, 2014.

That was the date of my last blogpost. Wow. Has it really been over a year and a half since I wrote on my blog?

It's amazing to think how much has happened in that time. All the different seasons of life, the trials, the joys, the questions, the growing. In that time, I've moved to Colorado to work at a ministry for almost a year, moved back home again, and have been homeschooling my cousin since September. Maybe more of those stories will come later...

I actually wasn't planning on resurrecting Unmerited Redemption. I thought my blog days had come and gone - and I was alright with that.

You see, around the time of my last blogpost, the Lord began opening my eyes to something that had been growing and festering and eating away at so much of my life. Pride...disguised as holiness. That's the ugliest kind.

Self-righteousness. Comparing my "standard" to others and judging those not following them. The list of do's and dont's. Beliefs that I clung to and boasted in. And I was blinded to how deep the pride had burrowed in my heart.

Jesus started shining His light in my heart and showing me the uglies. So, I stopped writing. I didn't want to continue a blog that had been used to boost my selfishness. But friends, the precious thing about our Savior is that He doesn't leave us in the uglies. He doesn't show us our sin to lead us to shame, to live in condemnation, or to hide from Him in guilt. He shows us our sin to lead us to the cross. To lead us to His perfection and the strength that only He can give.

That's the beauty of sanctification, of redemption. He can take what I've done with prideful motives and redeem it to show off the beauty of the cross. "For My power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Paul understood this, didn't he? In the last part of that verse he writes, "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." In the blogging world, there's an appeal (at least for me) to hold up a mask and try to show off my "put-together" Christianity. To look as clean and neat as possible. But that's not what I'm here to do. That's not what shows off my Jesus. I'm here to boast in His strength, to celebrate the victories He brings, and be open and honest about the struggles that are real. The difficulties that seem overwhelming or hopeless. The pain that feels pointless. Masks off, okay? Because we might all be in different seasons, but we're all just little sheep being led by a great Shepherd. So let's walk this journey together, shall we?

Rich Words from Spurgeon

The Shores of Lake Michigan

If you have read some of my blogposts in the past, you probably know that I have a fondness for Charles Spurgeon. The Lord has used his words to encourage, challenge, and convict me time and time again. Spurgeon's Morning & Evening devotionals for today were very thought-provoking. These are not the entire devotionals in full, but have been slightly shortened. I hope and pray that the following will be a challenge and encouragement to your soul tonight!

"Take up the cross, and follow me." (Mark 10:21) "You have not the making of your own cross, although unbelief is a master carpenter at cross-making; neither are you permitted to choose your own cross, although self-will would fain be lord and master; but your cross is prepared and appointed for you by divine love, and you are cheerfully to accept it; you are to take up the cross as your chosen badge and burden, and not to stand cavilling at it. This night Jesus bids you submit your shoulder to his easy yoke. Jesus was a cross-bearer; he leads the way in the path of sorrow. Surely you could not desire a better guide! And if he carried a cross, what nobler burden would you desire? Take up your cross, and by the power of the Spirit of God you will soon be so in love with it, that like Moses, you would not exchange the reproach of Christ for all the treasures of Egypt. Remember that Jesus carried it, and it will smell sweetly; remember that it will soon be followed by the crown, and the thought of the coming weight of glory will greatly lighten the present heaviness of trouble.

Lift up now thine eyes to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west, for all this is thine. There is not a brook of living water of which thou mayst not drink. Be thou bold to believe, for he hath said, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."In this promise, God gives to His people everything. "I will never leave thee." Then no attribute of God can cease to be engaged for us. Is He mighty? He will show Himself strong on the behalf of them that trust Him. Is He love? Then with lovingkindness will He have mercy upon us. Whatever attributes may compose the character of Deity, every one of them to its fullest extent shall be engaged on our side. To put everything in one, there is nothing you can want, there is nothing you can ask for, there is nothing you can need in time or in eternity, there is nothing living, nothing dying, there is nothing in this world, nothing in the next world, there is nothing now, nothing at the resurrection-morning, nothing in heaven which is not contained in this text-"I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. "

~Charles Spurgeon

Pistikos Nardos - A Poem

Oh Jesus Christ, my Savior

bring Your fire, bring Your rain.

Burn away the dross of self-life,

'til Your life alone remains.

I want nothing more, oh Jesus

than to have a single eye.

Looking always for Your smile;

Your desire, my delight.

But how oft I am distracted;

pulled away by worthless things.

I grieve and spit upon the face

that bled and died for me!

So captivate me Jesus!

Make me ever, only Yours!

I am nothing on my own, Lord

come and take Your rightful throne.

I surrender all to Thee, O Christ;

my life is not my own.

My eyes, my mouth, my hands, my feet

are now, oh Jesus, Yours!

Burden me, Beloved King

to feel Your anguished heart.

Cleave my hand to the spiritual sword

for the voiceless one in dark.

Ever, onward, upward

soldier, will you now repine?

Your loving Savior grants you

grace sufficient for the fight.

May the cross be e'er before me,

leaving all to follow Thee.

For the Lamb alone is worthy!

May the world see Him in me.

~MJ

Home Again!

Sunrise at Ellerslie

Hello again, friends! How have you all been over the past three months?

It feels strange to be posting on my blog, after such a long time away. I'm excited to begin writing on a regular basis again, and look forward to what the Lord has planned for this little blog. He is so worthy!

Ah, my dear reader, how do I begin to explain my time at Ellerslie? I've been home for nearly a month now (which is incredibly hard to believe!) and still find it difficult to answer people who ask about it.

The hardest question of all is probably, "So, what did you learn?" What did I learn in nine weeks? How am I supposed to answer that in a couple sentences? I'm still trying to figure that out...  =)

But, for now, this would be my answer.

I am absolutely overwhelmed by everything the Lord convicted me of, uncovered, and taught me during my nine weeks at Ellerslie. Like Ephesians 3:20 talks about, my precious Savior did so much more than I had asked or imagined. Being surrounded by men and women seeking hard after Jesus Christ and immersed in the Truth of His Word day in and day out were both such incredible blessings! It was truly a piece of heaven on earth.

But, the thing that was the most precious of all was time spent alone with my Savior. Being able to bask in His presence without interruption. Learning to wait upon Him and walk with Him throughout the day. Understanding that my life is nothing, but His is everything. Beginning to grasp the reality of what it means to be "in Christ". Sitting at His feet and gazing on my Beloved's face! Oh, words cannot describe what a remarkable blessing those nine weeks were...what a remarkable blessing they were because of the One who was there. Words simply fall short.

Though there were many truths the Lord implanted into my heart, the main, over-arching theme of those nine weeks was His All-Sufficiency. It seems simple, doesn't it? But do you understand how inclusive the word all is? I didn't until the Lord began opening my eyes to this. Even though the Lord had given 2 Corinthians 12:9 as my theme verse for the year, He truly impressed those four powerful words upon my soul, as He started teaching me what it means to depend upon Him for everything.

"My grace is sufficient.."

Do you see Him, friends? Do you realize that at every moment of the day, in every temptation, every difficult moment, every trial, He is sufficient? It's easy to say, but it's another thing to live by.

We live in a culture with a cure for everything. Are you tired? Try caffeine. Weighed down with the cares of life? Go relax with a movie. Struggling to get out of bed in the morning? Take anti-depressants.

Is this the way we've been called to live, as followers of Jesus Christ? Are we to look to Jesus just during devotions in the morning, but then depend upon something else for everything you need during the rest of the day? If He is the Sufficient One, shouldn't He be the One we lean on for...everything?

Now, I'm not saying that caffeine, movies, or medicine is bad in itself. But, what is your first turn? Is it to the natural, earthly realm or the All-Sufficient One?

Friends, this is something that I am learning and struggling through daily. The Lord is constantly opening my eyes to different areas of my life where I haven't been depending on Him fully.

A question that was posed at Ellerslie was this: If Jesus Christ were removed, how much of your life would stay the same? Are you so dependent upon Him that your life would completely fall apart...or...would your life look exactly the same?

You see, the fully dependent life is the life of Christ. In John 5:19, Jesus says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner." And again, several verses later, "I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me." (John 5:30)

Jesus did nothing of Himself; He was completely dependent upon His Father. And if that's the case, why do we (as sinful human beings) think that we can spiritually survive by spending 15 minutes with Him in the morning? Oh my friends, may He teach us to walk in a state of utter dependence upon Him! He is our only source of life; without Him, we perish. And remember, we know that when we trust in Him, He will not fail us. He has promised and cannot lie. Therefore, have complete confidence in your God, knowing that the One you depend upon is the Faithful, All-Powerful Creator and Sustainer of the Universe! What a precious Savior we have!

“Are you resting and trusting in the sufficiency of Christ? Is Christ everything to you? If so, thank Him for his fullness. If not, perhaps you’ve been trusting in failing, deceptive, inept human wisdom; meaningless religious rituals; or some kind of mystical experience formed in your own mind and unrelated to reality. Maybe you’ve been thinking that your own self-denial or self-imposed pain will somehow gain favor with God. If that’s the case, put it all aside and in simple childlike faith embrace the risen Christ as your Lord and Savior. He will give you complete salvation, complete forgiveness, and complete victory. All you need in the spiritual dimension for time and eternity is found in Him. Repent of your sin and submit your life to Him.”

- John MacArthur

Our Patient Father

May this be an encouragement to your soul today...

"In some sense, the path to heaven is very safe, but in other respects there is no road so dangerous. In the best roads we soon falter, in the smoothest paths we quickly stumble. These feeble knees of ours can scarcely support our tottering weight. A straw may throw us and a pebble may wound us; we are mere children tremblingly taking our first steps in the walk of faith. Our Heavenly Father holds us by the arms or we should soon be down. Oh, if we are kept from falling, how must we bless the patient power which watches over us day by day! Think, how prone we are to sin, how apt to choose danger, how strong our tendency to cast ourselves down, and these reflections will make us sing more sweetly than we've ever done, 'Glory be to Him, who is able to keep us from falling!'"

~Charles Spurgeon

Singing through December~ Song #5

"He was created of a mother whom He created. He was carried by hands that He formed. He cried in the manger in wordless infancy, He the Word, without whom all human eloquence is mute."

~Augustine

"It is here, in the thing that happened at the first Christmas, that the most profound unfathomable depths of the Christian revelation lie. God became man; nothing in fiction is so fantastic as this truth of the incarnation."

~J.I. Packer

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Christ has come...hallelujah! May this day find each one of you rejoicing in the immeasurable goodness and grace of our Savior, who humbled Himself for us. 

Here is the last song of the Singing through December series. This is my absolute favorite Christmas song and is such a powerful reminder of the Gift we have been given in Christ!

Have a blessed day, celebrating Christ's birth!

Singing through December~ Song #4

Can you believe that we only have 5 more days until Christmas? Exciting, isn't it?!

"But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons."

Galatians 4:4-5

Photo Credit: The Nativity Story

Let me first say, that it was really hard to pick out a song for today. I already know the last song I'll be posting, but I still have so many Christmas "favorites" that it was hard to choose just one for today.

This is a pretty new Christmas song, at least for me. I heard this for the first time a couple months ago and was brought to tears. It's so beautiful and worshipful! Praise the Lord...we have a Savior! 

Enjoy the song! Let me know what you think and if you have anymore favorites! I've been greatly enjoying all of your suggestions! Thank you so much for taking the time to share!

Hmm, my baby

Heaven sent You to me

All the world's been praying

Who will save?

But who am I?

That here tonight

I hold the One

Who'll bring us life

Hallelujah, we've been found

A child is born to save us now

Hallelujah, light has come

A Savior who will set us free

A promise for those who believe

Do You hear the angels

Sing for You, my baby?

Men and kings have

Come to bow to You

But here in my arms

So close to me

The son of God

Now all can see

Hallelujah, we've been found

A child is born to save us now

Hallelujah, light has come

A Savior set us free

So praise to God on high

He has heard our cry

The Thanks-Giving Challenge - Out of the Ashes

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving to you all! I hope each one of you had a beautiful day, reflecting on and giving praise to the Lord for all that He has done in your life!

If you haven't visited Out of the Ashes Mission recently, I'm hosting a special challenge this weekend (the 22nd to the 25th) for Thanksgiving. I know, it's already late Friday...but don't worry, there are still 2 more days for you to get involved!

Stop on over and check out The Thanks-Giving Chain Challenge here.

"Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed. For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing through many thanksgivings to God."

2 Corinthians 9:6-12

Thank you so much and have a blessed weekend in Him!

Any Guesses???

Well, it's officially the beginning of fall. I can't believe that it's already here, but school buses are again being seen in the neighborhood, leaves are starting to appear on the ground, and my calendar insists that it's September.

Time sure is flying by...

And with this new season, comes an announcement.

No, I'm not engaged, going to college, or leaving on a missions trip.

But, can you guess what I might be announcing?

See below for riddle. (Answer will be published on Monday.)

I'd love to hear your guesses! :)

+

+

=

Even through the Tears...

Hello friends!
For the past several months, I've been following a wonderful blog called Proverbs 31 Wannabe. I've always been greatly encouraged by Tessa's posts; her love for the Lord is very evident. Recently, she asked me to write a guest post. So, I just thought I would let you know that a new post is up...it's just over at another blog. :)

Below is a snippet from the post that's over on Tessa's blog. And don't just go over to her blog to read the rest of my post. Sign up and follow her blog as well! I know you'll be encouraged!

I saw it out of the corner of my eye. The glass haphazardly rocked back and forth, warning me of its impending fall. I lurched across the kitchen, grasping the container only seconds before its oily contents would have spilled all over the new rug. “Thank you Lord,” I breathed, “thank you Lord!” My mind immediately jumped to the “what if” scenario, imagining the hours I would have had to spend cleaning the kitchen, if it had been smeared with splattered oil. I breathed a sigh of relief and again thanked the Lord for saving me from such a “horrible” situation. 

Would you have thanked Me if the oil had spilled?

Continue reading at Proverbs 31 Wannabe....

How Great Is Our God

"Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,

 and marked off the heavens by the span,

and calculated the dust of the earth by the measure,
  

 
and weighed the mountains in a balance and the hills in a pair of scales?

Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as His counselor has informed Him?

To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him?

Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?

 

It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,

and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,

Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars,

The One who leads forth their host by number,

He calls them all by name;

Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power,

not one of them is missing.

Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth;

For I am God, and there is no other. 

I have sworn by Myself, the word has gone forth from my mouth in righteousness and will not turn back,

that to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance."

Isaiah 40:12-13,18, 21-22, 26; 45:22-23

Would You Consent?

                                 

While perusing through Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper yesterday, I came across a beautiful quotation. It was written by Adoniram Judson, who after courting a certain Ann Hasseltine (who would later become his wife), wrote the following letter to her father.

"I have now to ask, whether you can consent to part with you daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world; whether you can consent to her departure, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of missionary life; whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean, to the fatal influence of the southern climate of India; to every kind of want and distress; to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death. Can you consent to all this, for the sake of Him who left His heavenly home, and died for her and for you; for the sake of perishing, immortal souls; for the sake of Zion, and the glory of God? Can you consent to all this, in hope of soon meeting your daughter in the world of glory, with the crown of righteousness, brightened with the acclamations of praise which shall redound to her Savior from heathens saved, through her means, from eternal woe and despair?"
~Adoniram Judson

Both Adoniram and Ann Judson understood and accepted the cost of following Christ, wherever He might lead, whatever it might include.

Do I?

If the Lord invited me to journey with Him, leaving friends and family, the comforts of home, and the promise of safety, would I willingly accept? Do I have such a high view of God and a fervent desire to see His name exalted among the nations that no sacrifice would be too high?

May the Lord grow a willing heart of faith within each one of us, for His glory and the furtherance of His precious kingdom!