Why Do I Love You?

Why do I love you, oh unnamed person?
You might be family, you might be friend
You might be the person I see everyday
Or the person I pass on the street
And the love I have for you is not of this world
Because it is a love first given to me, unearned
Even if you are cruel to me, with a smile upon your face
I cannot hate you, for the one who loved me first
Endured more with love still in His heart
If you speak about me when I am not near
I will still stand beside you with arms outstreched
Even if you treat me as less than a person
I will care for you, because when He thought of me,
He also thought of you
When you hurt my feelings, I will really know
It is because you are hurting
And I can only hope
That by loving you
You will see the one who loved me first...
who loved you first...

"Faith" of INconvienience

So often we want to have "faith" when it is convienient.
When things are going good for us, it's really easy to have "faith"... but that isn't faith at all.

Faith is following Christ through the storms. Faith is following Christ when we can't see the path in front of us. Faith is following Christ when it means dying to ourselves...

• It means keeping your mouth shut when you think you have the right to speak up.
• It means following God's path for your life, even if it isn't popular with your friends or family.
• It means being friendly to those who are unfriendly or unpopular.
• It means loving the unlovely, because we are called to love everyone.
• It means loving your husband unconditionally, unselfishly.
• It means loving your children unconditionally, unselfishly.
• It means not getting all the 'things' you want, because really, you don't have to have those things.
• It means you may not live in the best house, but if you have a home, that is what counts... and really, if you are where God means for you to be, that is truly your home and where you should be.
• It means giving to God first, because, really, it's all from him to start with.

So I guess true faith really inconvienient sometimes, or a lot of times, but the rewards are endless, the blessings are endless, and the joy is endless.

So, Lord, give me real faith, and Lord, may I die to myself and live for you everyday of my life.

"Awakening" by Sara Groves

Dress down your pretty faith.
Give me something real.
Leave out the thee and thou and speak to me now.
Speak to my pain and confusion.
Speak through my fears and my pride.
Speak to the part of me that knows
I'm something deep down inside.
I know that I am not perfect,
but compare me to most,
In a world of hurt and a world of anger
I think I'm holding my own.
And I know that you said there is more to life.
And I know I am not satisfied.
But there are mornings I wake up and I'm just thankful to be alive.
I've known now, for quite a while, that I am not whole.
I've remembered the body and the mind, But disected my soul.
Now something inside is awakening,
Like a dream I once had and forgot.
And it's something I'm scared of
And something I don't want to stop.
And I woke up this morning and realized that Jesus is not a portait.
Where stained glass windows or hymns or the tradition that surrounds us.
And I thought it would be hard to believe in
But it's not hard at all.
To believe I've sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.
And He's not asking me to change in my joy for martyrdom
He's asking to take my place.
To stand in the gap that I have formed
With His real, and His sweet, and His real amazing grace.
And it's not just a sign or a sacrament.
It's not just a metaphor for love.
The blood is real and it's not just a sybol of your faith.
So leave out the thee and thou and speak now.