LEAD ON!

Well, friends, brothers and sisters,

We reach the final day of 2006.

This year has been probably the most intense for coming to know....really know the One.

He has revealed...He has lead....He has become my reason for life...because He is Life to me.

Things of this earth are so much fading away.

I mean, I have my family, my work, my earthly enjoyments and activities....

But nothing compares to this Life that is Him.

What fresh joy and revelations and confidences He has shared with me this past year.

What wonderful people I have crossed paths with.....ok, some not so wonderful....

But that has been sooooo good as well.

What great writers of His revelations I have come to read because He lead me to them.

He has brought me to this moment, today and I thank Him, even in the pain....I know that

He is my Life. It gets no better than this. Eternal Life has begun this year for me....

really and truly the understanding of this has begun....I had eternal life before...what it

entailed....I did not know. Coming to this awareness has freed me. I have Abundant Life.

He is in me. I am in Him. He brings me His Peace.

I PRAISE HIM!

Thanks again to all who have helped me realize this Truth that have helped Him bring me to this moment.

It is all Him....but He used you all as vessels of Himself. I have seen the Lord in each one of you. Blessed is His Name!

Joyous New Year!

Shiny and New and woo hoo for 2007

Well, as you can see I have crossed over to the new blogger side.....I only attempted this because I had three of my four kids home to come to my aid should I falter with the transition. :) They keep trying to get me to go to "MYSPACE".....but I am not jumping ship....I have come this far. :) Hope you like the new layout and really, in light of eternity and Kingdom business who really cares....although I think He delights in the things that bring us delight. Starting the new look of the blog with this quote from Manning....(of course), from Abba's Child. With the busyness of Christmas this and that....we forget to listen. Listening to Him.....brings us to that place....where everything else becomes unimportant...or at least secondary to hearing His Voice. "It took only a few hours of silence before I began to hear my soul speaking. It only took being alone for a short period of time for me to discover I wasn't alone. God had been trying to shout over the noisiness of my life, and I couldn't hear Him. But in the stillness and solitude, His whispers shouted from my soul, '_____ , I am here. I have been calling you, but you haven't been listening. Can you hear Me, _____? I love you. I have always loved you. And I have been waiting for you to hear Me say that to you. But you have been so busy trying to prove to yourself you are loved that you have not heard Me.' I heard Him, and my slumbering soul was filled with the joy of the prodigal son. My soul was awakened by a loving Father who had been looking and waiting for me. Finally, I accepted my brokenness....I had never come to terms with that. Let me explain. I knew was broken. I knew I was a sinner. I knew I continually disappointed God, but I could never accept that part of me. It was a part of me that embarassed me. I continually felt the need to apologize, to run from my weaknesses, to deny who I was and concentrate on what I should be. I was broken, yes, but I was continually trying never to be broken again - or at least to get to the place where I was very seldom broken.... It became very clear to me that I had totally misunderstood the Christian faith. I came to see that it was in my brokenness, in my powerlessness, in my weakness that Jesus was made strong."

The 200th Post

Over the last year, there has been much commentary and sharing of commentary and ideas and frustrations and events and thoughts, dreams and desires. Yep, I know ..... I never really go too deep but maintain that calm, cool exterior that you have all come to love and appreciate. :)

I really never thought that I had so much to say about mostly my life....but I have come to a place where I have much to say about my LIFE.....which is Jesus Christ in me and through me and around me. Not that I impose .... but I do like to share. :) (at least on this blog, some might add.....I can't help it...I am more introspective and reflective and not so much open and communicative in the conversations I have throughout my day that is really His day). :)

How appropriate that this Christmas Eve Day, 2006 should be my 200th posting.

How much I appreciate and love each one of you that turns to this blog...in a sort of more or less regularity and gleans what little there is to glean. I am here with Him..... and you have helped me come to this place. The community... the fellowship and the Truth that is shared is unmatched in the rest of this life that is mine in this world. There is a difference, an understanding, a kinship that comes from knowing this One ..... JESUS......as I have come to know Him in this season of my life.

I thank you all....and extend all the love and warmth that He births from me at this time as we stop to recognize this great Love and Grace that is Jesus, born not so long ago into a humanity that He embraced for you and for me.

May you each enjoy this time of celebration with family and friends and enjoy Life as it was meant to be.....abundant and free, wherever you be.....know that you are loved and thought of and prayed for. (I do this as much as I can but He always does it perfectly).

God's rich and bountiful blessings are upon us all. What a wondrous Life this is!

So here is the thing....

So I have been....like you all have been probably....making plans for Christmas and getting it all together, even though it isn't my birthday or anyone in my family's birthday...buying the gifts and sharing the wealth ....etc....etc....running around and yet still 'trying' to maintain a focus of some kind on what this crazy time of year is really about....and that can be almost impossible....and I work in a Christian bookstore....go figure that one out. Any whoo.....I digress, yet again..... I get two whammies this week and they are totally different in scope and yet if you bear with me.....let me bring it together and into some understanding.... :) So I have seen the doctor....for a routine kind of a thing....He lays big news on me that I must treat this earthsuit a little better.....enough said.... Now this is an answer to prayer....yep, I dared to pray the prayer that He must do a work in me ....cuz I can't do this in my own strength and I most definitely knew I needed to do something ....now, look where I sit....with a definite change of lifestyle ....going to be imposed upon me....and that, my friends....hard as that is to believe is a real gift....an obvious answer to prayer. It took me a few days to see it as such but ...yep....watch what you pray for. But how cool is that. It also means I am probably nearer to actually seeing Jesus than I might have thought.....but I am ok with this as well... :) So bottom line, God is good and He is right there, in control. Secondly, I got a message off my phone yesterday......a very loooong message, from a woman in the study group.....without getting too up in the clouds and breaching any confidences....she basically told me that she had seen Jesus.....now ....you might start wondering..... what's up with that....but, listen up....she saw Him in me..... now .... I am not tooting anything....I was astonished and a little put off by her words....cuz there were a few more words than that.....it blew me away....she affirmed what I have come to know...and what I am trying to appropriate more every day and that is that He is truly and actually living in me and through me .....as me! That is what is so astounding to me.... Jesus is actually shining through this tarnished and so imperfect tent...and even though it is falling apart ....and wearing at the seams.....and in need of an over-haul...He is still within.....and showing Himself....despite me. He blows me away.....every day! It is because of Him .......and only because of Him......in and of myself.....forget it .

Devotions for my life....

HIS VICTORIOUS INDWELLING.......DEC. 18/06 "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will go in and eat with him, and he with me." Revelation 3:20 There is no part of my being that is not laid open to the Divine Guest. There are no rooms of the house of my spirit, into which He may not go. Let Him come with the master key in His hand into all the dim chambers of your feeble nature; and as the one life is light in the eye, and color in the cheek, and deftness in the fingers, and strength in the arm, and pulsation in the heart, so He will come with the manifold results of the one gift to you. He will be like some subtle elixir which, taken into the lips, steals through a pallid and wasted frame, and brings back a glow to the cheek and a luster to the eye, and swiftness to the brain, and power to the whole nature. Or as some plant, drooping and flagging beneath the hot rays of the sun, when it has the scent of water given to it, will, in all its parts, stiffen and erect itself, so when the Spirit is poured out on men, their whole nature is invigorated and helped. Alexander MacLaren REFLECTIONS FOR RAGAMUFFINS Hope in my Savior The Christmas contemplative knows that hope is a gift, an undeserved gift of peace, but that it is also a call to decision - the decision to trust..... Hope thrives on the difficult and challenges the conclusion that our only contribution to the world will be, in the words of T.S. Eliot, "an asphalt driveway in front of our home and a thousand lost golf balls." Hope convinces us that in clinging to a miserable sense of security and status quo, the possibility of growth and greatness is utterly defeated. Hope says that I no longer need to be dismayed over my personal dishonesty and self-centeredness and feeble life of faith. That I no longer need to feel defeated, insensitive, and superficial. Because the question no longer is: Can I do it? Am I able? Can I overcome my moodiness, my laziness, my sensuality, my grudges, and resentments? The only question is: Is Jesus Christ able? Can my Savior, the Lord of my life, revive any drooping spirit and transform me at Christmas as he transformed the world through his birth in Bethlehem? "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

That Flesh

This I received in my in-box today although it was obviously written 6 years ago. How timely is His hand. Child of the King....this is just what we were discussing last night and ties in nicely with RoG's post today. He keeps us connected, doesn't He? I love the threads of Him that keep interweaving through us to each other and hopefully I guess, out from the inside of us. Does that make sense? :) Sorry it is so long... but hey....I didn't write it.....it just totally spoke to me today. Grace Notebook Maladjusted Flesh By John Woodward October 22, 2000 When I stroll down memory lane I am very blessed by my heritage of loving and supportive parents, grandparents and great grandparents. Humanly speaking, my life has been derived from them and they have left contributions and influences that have had a part in shaping my personality. Some of these relatives, who have been promoted to glory, gave items to me which I still have. For example my paternal grandfather, A. M.Woodward, once gave me his bowling ball and on another occasion his antique watch. More than these, I treasure fond memories of his love, humor and generosity. Allow me to let the bowling ball represent maladjusted flesh patterns.(If you would see my score sheet at the bowling alley, you might guess the connection!) The antique watch can represent the well-adjusted flesh patterns. The Bible speaks of the flesh as an inward spiritual nemesis: "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish" (Gal 5:16,17). The flesh (Self-Life) is a condition or way of living out of one's own resources as if one is independent of God. The flesh (ethical use) is both sin-stained and sin-trained. We each have developed our own unique version of the flesh. Bill Gillham has categorized basic flesh orientations: "We can lump all Christians into three broad categories: Yukky Flesh, Plain Vanilla Flesh, and USDA Choice Flesh. The person with Yukky Flesh has been reared in an environment where, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get his love supply out of it by do-it-yourself tactics... The Plain Vanilla, or average, Flesh person has been moderately successful, neither a roaring success nor a total failure at getting his needs for self-esteem met. The USDA Choice Flesh person is everyone's candidate for Mr. Christian. His high self-esteem is a result of his skill at milking love out of the world." Michael Wells has described the programming of the flesh this way. "Every sin that was committed, idol trusted, and identity message received had to register in your mind, will, and emotions (your soul), and therefore the complete history of your old nature is stored there. When the old man is put to death and replaced with Christ's life and Spirit, we are one with Him and He with us (John 17:21)... We receive new spirits, but our old souls containing the old information remain." When we think of the works of the flesh, we primarily identify unethical behavior as listed in Galatians 5:19-21 (the "bowling ball" variety ). However, there are behaviors and attitudes that are more socially acceptable, yet still derive from the flesh. The former might be dubbed "self-rottenness", the latter "self- righteousness". The common trait is that these characteristics derive from the flesh instead of by the indwelling Spirit of God. God's will for us as believers in the Lord Jesus is to replace our old 'self' qualities with Christ-like qualities; this process unfolds as we walk in the Spirit. The following lists contrast maladjusted flesh and the corresponding qualities the believer has in Christ. Maladjusted "flesh" may prompt you to feel negatively [but the spiritual truth states that in Christ you are the opposite.] worthless [precious] unwanted [chosen] inferior [destined for glory] emotionally blocked [free to feel] depressed [overflowing with joy] isolated [involved] introspective [looking unto Jesus] performance-based [accepted in the Beloved] undisciplined [self-controlled] self-condemned [Christ-esteemed] self-rejected [totally forgiven] God's directive to us is well stated in Romans 12:1,2: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a LIVING SACRIFICE, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the RENEWING OF YOUR MIND, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (emphasis added) The plan is to look closer at the "well adjusted" flesh patterns (the "antique watch" variety). The remedy for every believer's unique flesh patterns is to abide in Christ, which includes reaffirming our identity in Christ, presenting ourselves to God moment by moment as instruments of righteousness, and depending upon the power of the Holy Spirit. Our aim should be that of 2 Corinthians 7:1, "Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh [old programming] and spirit [deceptive messages from the Enemy], perfecting holiness in the fear of God." "Bowling ball flesh" (maladjusted programming) will turn us toward the gutter every time. Our only hope is to constantly yield to the guiding hands of our Savior. J.B.W.for Oct. 22, 2000; reissued/revised from Vol.2 #21

A Loving Friendship

This is a wonderful thought today of the loving friendship that Jesus has with us. The grace that He extends and the Grace that He is. He is many things to me....today, He is my Friend. "Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person; having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but to pour them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping and then, with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away." - George Eliot -

What you need....you have!

Barlow Girl I Need You To Love Me from Another Journal Entry Why? Why are You still here with me? Didn’t You see what I’ve done? In my shame I want to run, And hide myself. Yeah, but it’s here I see the Truth, I don’t deserve You. But I need You to love me, And I, I won’t keep my heart from You this time. And I’ll stop this pretending that I can, Somehow deserve, what I already have I need You to love meI, I have wasted so much time Pushing You away from me. I just never saw how You Could cherish me. Cause You’re a God who has all things, And still You want me. And I need You to love me, And I, I won’t keep my heart from You this time. And I’ll stop this pretending that I can, Somehow deserve what I already have. Your love makes me forget what I have been. Your love makes me see who I really am. Your love makes me forget what I have been. And I need You to love me, I need You to love me, And I’ll stop this pretending that I can, Somehow deserve what I already have I need You to love me. I need You to love me.

Christ is my very life.....not those darn kids....

Deep breath in......slowly out..... So today, I have had some real sense of what "feeling" alone is like... like some of the other people in my life have experienced....I have had a kick in the butt today... ..that tells me I may have been living my life through my kids (just a tad), (stop nodding everybody), and I really needed to see this .....I cannot have any expectations met through them...I cannot look at them to fulfill anything in me ....through some weird mom type thing....I think I have done this for a long time... well, 7 years or so now...that I have been raising these kids alone.... and now the last of the ducklings are moving on....into their own lives....and whoa! revelation.....I am not alone....never alone...I know that...but always having had the kids to deal with, and live with and chill with and whatever.....I have not had to experience this 'aloneness', not yet ....not really...and today it just came to a real headwater within me.....I cannot continue to keep my 'busyness', with kids, grandkids.....work, the other work...etc...and anything else that keeps me from the One thing....the One thing ....that is of most importance and that is my Life that is Him....I am astounded how He continues to grow me up.....in Him....Him in me....and through me as me....and just when I think I have come to a comfortable place....something happens and I see a word or phrase in Scripture....with the unmistakable highlighter of the Holy Spirit on it....and it is for me.....He is speaking.....there is no comfort ...no place that I can rest.....except in Him.....always in Him. This body....this soul and all of this earthly life that I continue to TRY to live ......is nothing....this world system....is nothing.....I am only whole...and I only belong....eternally to Jesus....everything else may have it's blessing, and it may have it's curses....but it isn't who I am.....it doesn't bring me the Peace that is Jesus....the Life that is Jesus....the Truth that is Jesus.

Music of your life....

Music means so much to me....

My life's events are always hinged on that one great song....remember this one?

Have you heard that one?

I have been spending a lot of time listening to some the great C.D.s that I have.

The stories....some based on Truth....some on lies...how powerfully they touch our lives...at that one moment....never to bring back.

How wide the realm of music....how unfathomable the heavenly choir's chorus to Jesus.

I hear the whispers of songs throughout my day....I am usually humming or singing.....whistling and yodeling....well, maybe not yodeling.... :)

Music makes me happy. Sing on!

Casting Crowns - Praise You In This Storm - from the C.D. Lifesong I was sure by now That You would have reached down And wiped our tears away. Stepped in and saved the day. But once again, I say "Amen", and it's still raining. As the thunder rolls I barely hear You whisper through the rain; "I'm with you" And as Your mercy falls, I raise my hands and praise the God who gives And takes away. I'll praise You in this storm And I will lift my hands For You are who You are No matter where I am And every tear I've cried You hold in Your hand. You never left my side And though my heart is torn I will praise You in this storm. I remember when I stumbled in the wind. You heard my cry. You raised me up again. My strength is almost gone. How can I carry on If I can't find You? As the thunder rolls, I barely hear You whisper through the rain; "I'm with you" And as Your mercy falls I raise my hands and praise the God who gives And takes away. I lift my eyes unto the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, The Maker of Heaven and Earth.

Get over yourself!

These thoughts from Tozer....ring so true....when will we stop trying to do, think, say, the right thing ....and let Him ....Jesus....do, think, say, the right thing He would. We get so bent out of shape if anyone has an opinion that may be contrary to ours or....heaven forbid....are contrary to us personally....ewwww......what of it.......Jesus can handle this and if we are offended.... maybe it isn't Him showing Himself through us....we might be in the way....you think? It might be Jesus in the other person...speaking to my flesh....hmmm ...there's a thought....Pondering away another Friday night.

Trials and Pain: The Labor of Self-love

For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men?

For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ. Galatians 1:10

The labor of self-love is a heavy one indeed. Think for yourself whether much of your sorrow has not arisen from someone speaking slightingly of you. As long as you set yourself up as a little god to which you must be loyal there will be those who will delight to offer affront to your idol. How then can you hope to have inward peace?

The heart's fierce effort to protect itself from every slight, to shield its touchy honor from the bad opinion of friend and enemy, will never let the mind have rest. Continue this fight through the years and the burden will become intolerable.

Yet the sons of earth are carrying this burden continually, challenging every word spoken against them, cringing under every criticism, smarting under each fancied slight, tossing sleepless if another is preferred before them.Such a burden as this is not necessary to bear. Jesus calls us to His rest, and meekness is His method.

The meek man cares not at all who is greater than he, for he has long ago decided that the esteem of the world is not worth the effort.
The Pursuit of God, 112."

Cry Out to Jesus

Cry Out To Jesus Words by Mac Powell / Music by Third Day To everyone who's lost someone they loved Long before it was their time You feel like the days you had were not enough When you said goodbye And to all of the people with burdens and pains Keeping you back from your life You believe that there's nothing and there is no one Who can make it right There is Hope for the helpless Rest for the weary Love for the broken heart There is Grace and Forgiveness Mercy and Healing He'll meet you wherever you are Cry out to Jesus, Cry out to Jesus For the marriage that's struggling just to hang on They've lost all of their faith in love They've done all they can to make it right again Still it's not enough For the ones who can't break the addictions and chains You try to give up but you come back again Just remember that you're not alone in your shame And your suffering When your lonely And it feels like the whole world is falling on you You just reach out, you just cry out to Jesus Cry to Jesus To the widow who struggles with being alone Wiping the tears from her eyes For the children around the world without a home Say a prayer tonight Cry out to Jesus

Benjamin

Another song from Sanctus Real that tonight....means something. A friend, from the study group on Tuesday nights passed away yesterday. She was an older woman, but her death came swiftly and without warning. Her earth suit is now but dust.....she knew that her body was not who she was. It was where she lived while she was here on earth. And now she lives elsewhere. And we just talked about this on Tuesday. This song is obviously about a friend who has passed on but whose son is left with a part of him in him.....and also lives with the life of the Father....in him. Just knowing that we are connected because we are the Body.....forever, eternally and always. Rain falls outside. I think the sky must know what's happening tonight. Children born while fathers die. It's that circle of life that we all live in time, and we've been friends for a long, long time. So if you can't talk, just cry. . . . And know that we will talk on the other side. It's bitter cold outside but the Son still shines cuz' we can feel it.... Benjamin you mark the life, that's been left behind, we see Him in your eyes and we will be friends for a long, long time, so until you can talk, just cry. . . . And know that we will talk for the rest of our lives and He gives and He takes and it makes us strong when He gives, He takes and it makes us strong when He gives,and He takes and it makes us strong when He gives, He takes and He makes and it makes us strong cuz we will be friends for a long, long time so until you can talk, just cry and know that we will talk for the rest of our lives.... cuz we will be friends for a long, long time So until you can talk just cry And know that we will talk for the rest of our lives Just know that we'll be friends for the rest of our lives.

Timely

My grace is sufficient for you..." (2 Cor. 12:9a)________________________________________ Living or Just Existing? By Bill and Toni Morgan November 30, 2006 Many people today go through life only existing. Why is that? What have they lost or what did they never have, that would put them in such a state? We experience this lack of life when we haven't truly given Christ our all. You say, I know He's in control. He created everything, and since He did, He's got to have me in His hand. But, why do I feel so far from Him? Why do I feel so empty, without the hope I know I should have? Galatians 2:20 says we were crucified with Christ, nevertheless we live; yet not us but Christ lives in us! Paul was saying that Christ is our life. That's why we can walk out the time here on earth with true joy! The life yielded to Christ is full in every sense of the word. Full in joy, full in gratefulness, full in hope, full in enthusiasm, full with LIFE--all of life. Yes, there will be sorrow. Yes, there will be trials, times when things are difficult. But does that mean that God is not still on His throne? No, a thousand times "No!" Emphatically,"No!!" God has not lost His touch. God has not lost His caring. God has not left us to our own devices. We have His Spirit within us to give us life --a capacity to live beyond existence, beyond self-centeredness. Does this mean that if we once yield our all to Christ we won't have to worry about sin anymore? No, that's not the case. In his book, If IPerish, I Perish, Ian Thomas says, "The godliest of people still have lurking within them the most terrible potential for evil. It is the godliest people who know it best. And it is the acknowledgement of that very fact that is the secret to their godliness. They learned long ago, and often by bitter experience, that character does not change for the better by improving the self life, but rather by allowing it to be replaced by the Holy Spirit"-- the Christ life. Micah 6:8 gives us a concise picture of what God expects of His people. We are told to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with Him. The justice and mercy we can grasp pretty well, but what does it mean to walk with Him in humility? Humility is often called meekness in the Bible. But today, meekness is usually equated to weakness. Yet, the Bible says that Moses was the meekest man on earth (Num. 12:3). Now, you don't lead a million plus people through the wilderness for forty years and be a weakling. What does it mean that Moses was meek? The last ten years we lived in New Orleans, we had the privilege of doing a live Nativity scene at City Park where 100,000 people a week go to see the lights at Christmas time. In one of the gardens, we had the usual characters plus live sheep, a donkey and occasionally a calf. After our performances each night, my boys and I loaded the animals into our pickup and took them to the stable where they were housed. Once we had them in their stalls, fed them and got them settled for the night, we wandered around, looking at the beautiful horses that were there as well.One night there was a horse named Mr. Cooper standing in his stall. He was a huge animal. His back was about eye level with me (I'm 6'2"), his chest was massive; I could walk under his chin without even touching it. There is no way anyone could control that animal unless he allowed it. But he let his rider direct his every action--when to go, where to go, how fast, when to turn, when to stop. Everything was under the direction of his rider--with Mr. Cooper's yieldedness, of course. That was the picture of Moses in the Old Testament. He yielded himself to God for His direction. Everything Moses did, every move he made, was based on God's plan and purpose for his life. We are called on to do the same thing--only we have the advantage of having our director within us. Christ's very life is our life--if we will allow Him to have that place by yielding ourselves to Him. Our yieldedness-- yieldedness to the life of Christ in us, makes all the difference in the world as to whether we are living or just existing! Bill and Toni Morgan serve as lead counselors at Faith FamilyMinistries, P.O. Box 1200, Blue Ridge, GA. 30513, Ph. 706-632-8886.This article is from their monthly publication, The InnKeeper. ffm@faithfamily.net www.Faithfamily.net

For the Unusual Ones

Tozer Devotional Today Trials and Pain: Piles of Ashes Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. --Hebrews 12:11 If God has singled you out to be a special object of His grace you may expect Him to honor you with stricter discipline and greater suffering than less favored ones are called upon to endure.... If God sets out to make you an unusual Christian He is not likely to be as gentle as He is usually pictured by the popular teachers. A sculptor does not use a manicure set to reduce the rude, unshapely marble to a thing of beauty. The saw, the hammer and the chisel are cruel tools, but without them the rough stone must remain forever formless and unbeautiful. To do His supreme work of grace within you He will take from your heart everything you love most. Everything you trust in will go from you. Piles of ashes will lie where your most precious treasures used to be. That Incredible Christian, pp. 122-124 "Lord, give me the grace to withstand 'the saw, the hammer and the chisel.' I want the finished product; I often chafe under the process. I submit myself today to Your working. Amen."

Sanctus Real - Music of the Day

Sanctus Real’s song “I’m Not Alright”.

If weakness is a wound
That no one wants to speak of
Then “cool” is just how far we have to fall
I am not immune
I only want to be loved
But I feel safe behind the firewall
Can I lose my need to impress?
If you want the truth,
I need to confess I’m not alright
I’m broken inside, broken inside
And all I go through
It leads me to you, it leads me to you
Burn away the pride
Bring me to my weakness
Until everything I hide behind is gone
And when I’m open wide
With nothing left to cling to
Only you are there to lead me on
Cause honestly, I’m not that strong
I’m not alright I’m broken inside, broken inside
And all I go through
It leads me to you, it leads me to you
And I move, and I move, and I move…closer to you
And I move, and I move, and I move…closer to you
And I move, and I move, and I move…closer to you
And I move, and I move, and I move…
I’m not alright I’m broken inside, broken inside broken inside, broken inside
And all I go through
Leads me to you, leads me to you
I’m not alright, I’m not alright, I’m not alright…that’s why I need you