Jimmy Needham ( Dearly Loved)

Please lay down your arrows
For they’re sure to pierce the skin
And water from a broken well
Will make you thirst again
When all things you’ve acquired
Are tested by the flames
And you can see them melting
Then will you call his name

It’s worth it brothers
It’s worth it friends
To know your maker
To lose your sin
Did you know that you are dearly loved

To the slaughters you are being led
Being told that it’s a party
That this God is in your head
And every single lie
Sounds just like the greatest truth
But the one truth you’re not hearing
Is that he died for you

No greater joy
No greater peace
No greater love than this

It’s worth it brothers
It’s worth it friends
To know your maker
To lose your sin
Did you know that you are dearly loved

Leeland Carried To The Table

Wounded and forsaken
I was shattered by the fall
Broken and forgotten
Feeling lost and all alone
Summoned by the King
Into the Master’s courts
Lifted by the Savior
And cradled in His arms

I was carried to the table
Seated where I don’t belong
Carried to the table
Swept away by His love
And I don’t see my brokenness anymore
When I’m seated at the table of the Lord
I’m carried to the table
The table of the Lord

Fighting thoughts of fear
And wondering why He called my name
Am I good enough to share this cup
This world has left me lame
Even in my weakness
The Savior called my name
In His Holy presence
I’m healed and unashamed

You carried me, my God
You carried me

We as teens are at a very critical age in our life. Over the years ahead of us we will be, Taught, Mentored, Challenged, Tested, Trusted, and Rewarded. God, our Parents, our pastors, our leaders and even our friends will be a part of this process.

Taught/ Mentored: Psalms 71:17-- Since my youth, O God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.

Proverbs 22:6-- Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

Our parents teach us and mentor us to where we are able to grow up to declare God and all he has done.

Challenged: Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
Challenges will come, some will be easy some will be hard. we need to take them by storm with God at our side.

Psalms 91: 7--A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.


Tested: Psalms 66: 8-10-- Praise our God, O peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard; he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping.
For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver.

To me, this verse is saying that our lives have been preserved, and we have been refined by silver, because God tested us. we need to praise his name because through the testing he has kept out feet from slipping.

In the King James version of the Bible instead of using the word tested it uses proved and tried.
(Oh bless our God, Ye people, and make the voice of his praise to be heard. Which holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved. For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.)
Here when it says the word tried, it means to smelt, refine, or test.
When it says the word proved, it means to make trial, test try, or prove.

Trusted: After you have been taught and tested you have finally earned the right to be trusted.

Rewarded: If you prove trustworthy you will be rewarded.

2 Samuel 22:25 The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in his sight.


Hebrews 10:35-36 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

Easter Sunday is coming!
I am so proud to celebrate the resurrection of my Lord Jesus. When I go back and think of all he did over his time on earth it just astounds me. That a king as holy as he could humble himself to be a carpenter. He knew why he came. He knew what he had to do.
The King of all came and gave his life so that me, a sinner could live with him forever. I remember my pastor talking on Sunday about how if we have committed just one sin we have committed them all. So if I have ever lied then I am a lying, thieving, murderer. God humbled himself to save a lying, thieving, murderer.
I remember when I first watched the passion of the Christ. I was about 9 or 10. Visually seeing what my savior went through to save sinners broke my heart and filled me with a gratitude that I had never had before. Realizing that I put him on the cross I drove the nails in. The one who was sacrificed knew no sin, but he became sin for us.
Some of his last words were "Forgive them, for they know not what they are doing." Even as he was being beaten and mocked he still was crying out for his children. His last words were "It is finished." To me that is the three most powerful words ever spoken. After that the sky turned dark, the ground shook, and the curtain in the temple tore in two.
The day he died he was put in the grave. His disciples and followers were afraid to go out into the streets. They stayed inside praying and grieving. Three days later Mary and Mary Magdalene went to go to Jesus's grave. On their way there there was an earth quake and an angel of the Lord appeared and told them that JESUS HAS RISEN! It said to go and tell his disciples the good news. Later on after Mary and Mary Magdalene tried to convince the disciples that Jesus had risen, Jesus appeared to them. Some of them did not believe it was him, they thought is was a ghost. Then they felt his scars and saw his bruised body. They believed as do I to this day.
I believe he is risen and seated at the right hand of the Father. I know that i will be joined with him when i die to eternally worship him. I further know that his grave is EMPTY and MY LORD JESUS CHRIST LIVES FOREVER!

If you ever look at a simple rose and think of its beauty. Think how God can make something so amazing so easily. It has such detail and wonder.
Thank you God for creating roses and letting us share in their beauty.

these are just two of my favorite verses at the moment

Romans 13:11
And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.


John 15:18-19
"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

Love

John 15:13- There is no greater Love than this, that he layed down his life for his friends.
That is so amazing that God is calling us his friends.
Love is a sacrifice and God made it for us. There is NO greater Love than that. God sacrificed his life so that the dead might truly live. He who knew no became sin for us all because of Love.
1 John 4:16-And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
Here it is saying basically that without God we don't have Love. We must Love one another and live in Love so that God will live in us.
1 peter 1:8- Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,
I do Love God, although I have not seen him I can hear him and I can feel him. I know his love is real and powerful because he is Love.