Longing. . .

How I long to touch Your face

Alight with glory, full of grace

Trembling as You fill my soul

Forever changed and finally whole

I long to look into Your eyes

Ablaze with all-consuming fire

Holy fire burning through

My spirit that was made by You

I long to worship at Your feet

And experience joy made complete

My heart will find new wings to soar

With feelings I’ve never felt before

In Your holy presence I long to be

In the place that You’ve prepared for me

Eternal home, eternal life

Never another tear to cry

For Your precious hand will wipe away

Every tear, from every face

And all will be revealed by You

A fallen world will be made new

Angels, Saints, and all creation

With eternal praise and adoration

Will find every longing satisfied

In Your presence, 

Precious Lamb of God

© 2010 Julie Jablonski

So often, this poem has been my prayer and the very cry of my heart, and even more so as of late.

There's a sadness that enters in sometimes, slow but steady, and it tends to linger long —

much too long.

There is so much evil in this world. So much wrong with this world. There are so many things that just shouldn't happen and yet, they do.

The seemingly endless bad news can leave us stunned and bewildered, stumbling in the darkness, just trying to steady our way.

And if it were up to each of us, and our own strength, who could stand?

But thankfully, 

there is Strength beyond this world.

Strength that overcame sin, and death, and darkness by being executed on a horrible wooden cross.

Mercifully, Jesus took every sin upon Himself so that death would not have the final say and our guilty stains could be washed away.

He took EVERY sin. The sins of every member of ISIS and every evil regime that has ever sought power on this planet. The sins of hatred, murder, child abuse, adultery, gossip, slander, prayerlessness, deception, indifference...

This endless list that everyone of us adds to every day.

Thank God, He did not come to condemn us. 

He came to be The Way.

The better Way. 

The narrow Way.

The only Way.

And for every person who has, and who will, repent and give their whole heart to Him, He will wash clean, cover with His righteousness, and welcome into His Kingdom.

He is the Hope that we have, the beauty we long for, the holiness we were made for —

And it will be ours someday, when He says it's time.

Not by our goodness. Not by our strength. 

But by His grace —  His most amazing grace!

Though until that perfect day...

this longing will remain.

                                

Count as lost . . .

The Work of His Hands

The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
    night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
    no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.

~ Psalm 19:1-4

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, friends!

I hope that 2014 has been good for you. I’m sure we can all look back and remember much that has been good and bright, but also recall the shadows of things that were anything but. Each year brings its own challenges and triumphs, and as long as our lives continue through it, the New Year to come will offer many similar ups and downs.

We are not living in paradise, at least not yet.

But that is the HOPE that we have!

Because Jesus did come! He came small and vulnerable and shared in our humanness. 

The Christmas story is still fresh in our minds, as we’re just days passed the celebration of His birth, but there’s so much more to see and believe as we move past the wood and hay in the manger, and look to the stark reality of a hard wooden cross. The cross He carried to the place He would die. The wood from a tree He was nailed to, to save our sinful lives.

Truly, this is why He was born.

He came and lived a sinless life, to show us that ALL things are possible with God. 

He took every sin upon Himself at the cross, so that we could be clothed in His righteousness. 

And with the deepest love and humility, He promises to be the fullness of God with us.

There is no greater gift 

than receiving the forgiveness of God, 

by embracing the Son that He gave.

As we look to a new year, sparkling with new hope and possibilities, may we know in our hearts the truth of His grace, the depth of His love, and the hope of our future, all because He came to save us who were hopeless and lost without Him. May we let go of the guilt of the past, and allow Him to lead us wherever He wants us to go.

And let's remember, though we are not living in paradise yet, 

eternal LIFE has already begun . . .

as long as we know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

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For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, 

that whoever believes in him shall not perish

but have eternal life.

- John 3:16

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“Each year, when we talk about resolutions, I'm reminded of this 

amazing God we worship, who made His resolution and KEPT IT. 

He resolved to save us, and He did. 

And then He doesn't require us to add to it, only to receive it.

Live in that astonishing freedom in 2015!”  

- Jennifer Dukes Lee

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Heaven Around Us