The Thrill of Hope

Christmas is over, the new year is a few short days away. If your family is like mine you have already begun the process of tearing down decorations, tossing out gift boxes, eating the last few cookies and putting away your new clothes and gifts. Part of this post-holiday slump is the disappearance of Christmas music from the air. I don't know about you but i love the stuff. So much in fact that each year i have to dump a large portion of the music from my iPod to make room for the ridiculous amount of holiday favorites that i have on shuffle for a few weeks.

All that to say that this year one song really touched my heart. It is an old song that i am sure you have heard many times throughout the years. "O Holy Night" has been performed by countless artists in many different ways and will forever be a beloved classic. It was only this Christmas season, today actually, ...that a line from that old song really stood out and challenged me.

"A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born"

A thrill of hope...

I don't know about you but i don't always describe my hope in the Lord as "thrilling". I am thankful and blessed beyond measure. I love the Lord and am honored to get to be His servant in my life and ministry, but the thought of making sure that I still see my salvation as thrilling after 11 years in the faith really challenges me.

Where is that thrill?

The writer of "O Holy Night" was pointing to the fact that Jesus's coming was a thrilling experience for the multitudes who were awaiting their king and savior. They were in bondage, broken, needy, weary and were able to rejoice in the thrilling hope that a savior was coming to change their world.

Maybe you had that thrill once... At one point in your life you were lost, broken, weary and needed someone to come and save you. Jesus came into your life and changed everything; or maybe you haven't had that experience yet, but the hope of a new future is a thrill to you.

In psalm 51:12 the psalmist prays that the Lord would return the joy of His salvation.

In this new year may we all be able to return to the joy we once had in the fact that we have salvation and may we once again know the thrill of hope...

I dont have time!

As of this summer I will have been leading worship and playing in bands for 7 years. Thats a long time when you're only 21 years old. What a blessing... I am so thankful that I have had that opportunity. Anyway the point is that in that time I have learned, sang and played a whole lot of songs. Some that have been nothing more than I good song to stick in the set, others that have impacted me greatly. All that to say over the years I've gotten into a habit of learning songs quickly and just ignoring what I'm saying. Sure I could tell you the lyrics and the point of the song, but every once in a while some of the words will just pass by without me ever thinking about what its really saying. I'm sure any of you that have ever led worship will know what I mean.

This morning we were playing 'How He Loves' at church and a line jumped out at me. I've led that song a whole lot, the band has played it on sundays nearly once a month since last semester and I couldn't begin to guess how many times I've listened to it, but today... something was different.

Today we were in the song and the spirit was really moving in our church. It was awesome to see everyone worshipping and really grasping God's love for them. When we got to the second verse the line I don't have time to maintain these regrets really stuck out to me. Moments later Pastor Jamie got up on stage and pointed out that same line.

How awesome is that!? We literally do not have time to worry about the past or our mistakes. God's Word says that He forgives us and "remembers our sins no more."(Hebrews 10:17) The Word also says that true love "keeps no record of wrongs." (1 Cor. 13:5)

God has forgiven and forgotten... shouldn't we? I shared with a friend after church about how that line spoke to me today and she said something that really impacted me. She said that that line is why she loves that song so much and then she said, "Such a beautiful thing that God has so much in store for us that we can't even dwell on our mistakes, because if we do we waste His time."

Wow! We can waste God's time...? You're telling me that the God who has been here forever... and will be here forever can have His time wasted?

YES!!

God has a plan for us every moment of every day and with every decision we're either following that or we aren't. This in itself may cause us to regret and think about what we have missed the times that we ignored God's plan for us. We shouldn't use that as a reason to be down on ourselves, but as a catalyst to seek God even more in every moment.

God's plan used to be some huge overarching destination for my future. I always prayed as if one day I would learn that plan and His plan was all about the big things in my life. Sure God cares about my college, my job, my spouse, my ministry... etc. but I never really noticed how much God cares about the day to day. Psalm 37:23 says that "He delights in every detail of their lives."

See that? EVERY DETAIL. So why worry about the past and your pile of regrets and poor decisions when God has a plan for every single thing that is ahead of you?

I don't have time to maintain these regrets... when I think about the way He loves me.

God has moved on... shouldn't you?

He's got something new and exciting for you... Go find out what it is...

Magic Eraser

Isn't it funny how God's lessons come to us sometimes? He chooses to speak in the most random of ways and at the most random times... or is that just when we choose to listen? Okay thats another blog entirely...

Anyway, back to what I was going to talk about. Today I was on the stage of our church frantically scrubbing away at the white paint on the stage trying to remove scuff marks and whatever else was making it up. I was using a Mr. Clean magic eraser.

Yeah... one of those. I don't know if you've ever used one, but they're pretty awesome. Anyway... all that to say the darn thing didn't work. It would get some spots out, but some of the marks were deep stains that would show back up a few minutes after cleaning them.

This got me thinking...

How often do we treat God like a magic eraser?

We just want to say a quick prayer and any ugly mark on us is supposed to just go away. Yeah thats great... and God can and will do that... the bible says so...

ephesians 5:25-27 (NLT) just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her 26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. 27 He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.

But if we stop there it kinda takes the responsibility off of us doesn't it?

We could just come to God every time we mess up and get that same just brushed clean feeling. God will forgive, but he calls us to repent.

Acts 3:19 (NIV) "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord."

See that? Your sins will only be "wiped out" if you truly repent for them. Repentance takes more than "I'm sorry." Repentance takes a radical lifestyle change that will result in forgiveness and victory over the sin.

So next time you want God to wipe a magic eraser over your situation try and give your whole self over to the process and really turn things around.

Green eyes

I've recently recorded a video of one of my newest songs and I'd love for you to check it out and please feel free to comment on it.

This song is a story of a girl who found her beauty through the eyes of God. So often we focus inward and look through the filter of our problems and past to find our identity. Please take these words to heart and know that your worth something in God's eyes. Thanks for listening and I hope this will bless you.

Click this link to check it out:

YouTube