Life is so full of things I could write about here on my blog:
homework, the challenge of "what am I doing after Cornerstone" decisions, the incredible truths that God is teaching me through His Word, RA-hood, friends in general and friends in more specific terms, Christmas break, the delightful experience of surprising the rest of the student-body with senior sneak, the multiple opportunities to grow that God has placed in my life recently, my opinion about a variety of things, and on the list could go.

Maybe one of these days I will get around to posting about some of these things...

Bitter-sweet...

I never dreamed that I would be doing this,at this time, in this way...
yet I cling to the truth that God goodness is real, His faithfulness is enduring, His grace is sustaining.

Yes, it is Christmas--the most celebrated time of the year in which Christ's birth should be at the center of the cause for rejoicing--yet is it not the very fact of Christ's birth a part of the very reason we have hope in death? 1 Corinthians 15 makes clear the hope of the believer in Christ.

One person illustrated death as a ship leaving one port to arrive and be welcomed at another. Grandma said goodbye to those of us here on earth, but she was met and greeted by Another.

I love the words to the song "Finally Home" in which the author of it attempts to describe what it will be like to finally arrive in heaven:

"But just think of stepping on shore, and finding it Heaven!
Of touching a hand, and finding it God's!
Of breathing new air, and finding it celestial!
Of waking up in glory, and finding it home!"

"But as it is written,

eye hath not seen,

nor ear heard,

neither have entered into the heart of man,

the things which God hath prepared fro them that love Him.

But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit:

for the Spirit searcheth all things,

yea, the deep things of God.

For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?

Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world,

but the spirit which is of God;

that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

Which things also we speak,

not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth;

comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God:

for they are foolishness unto him:

neither can he know them,

because they are spiritually discerned.

But he that is spiritual judgeth all things,

yet he himself is judged of no man.

For who hath known the mind of the Lord,

that He may instruct him?

But we have the mind of Christ."

1 Corinthians 2:9-16

Stop to ponder that for a little while and rejoice in the great truth upon which is expounds!

Perhaps a new post will help with the appearance of my blog. So many times I will think of something to write about on this blog, but then when I actually sit down to try to do make my incredibly fleeting thoughts into something a bit more concrete, well, such thoughts usually then take wing and fly away, leaving me staring at my computer screen. When this happens, well, my list of drafts only grows longer. However, let me assure you that the lack of posts on this blog does not indicate that my life has been hoo-hum, "give me some variety please!" or void of noteworthy events. Not at all!

Over the past several weeks, theology class has been delving into the deep (and sometimes it seems like almost drowning!) waters of the subject of salvation. One cannot get into such the incredibly amazing subject of the believer's salvation without also facing some of the controversial aspects of it. At times I wish I could just believe like a child, not having to know and understand the reasons for everything. How I wish I didn't always having to think that everything needs to fit logically into a comprehensive picture that makes sense to me. It is hard to resist leaning heavily on my tendency to require everything to be in "Steps 1, 2, 3" fashion and rather to trust God in those areas that don't totally make sense to me and take it by faith. I frequently have to remind myself that God is not trying to play games with His children: He does want us to understand His Word and all that He has done for us! I am incredibly thankful for the guiding and illuminating work of the Spirit in me Who is slowly, but surely, helping me to understand God's Word and the incredible truths that It contains.

Chafer's Systematic Theology, Vol. 3 had an incredible statement about salvation:

"Salvation is more than the continued existence of a good man:

it provides the most radical transformation,

the acquiring of infinite possessions,

and the entering into positions which are in the sphere of heaven and of God.

'And ye are complete in Him!' (Col. 2:10)." (Page 234)

Quote of the day:

This morning in theology class, concerning the chapter that we had just read in hamartiology about the Christian and the sin nature, Mr. Baxter said:

"This is heavy stuff; so is sin. So is spiritual growth and also the Christian life."

I could not agree more.

While details may be lacking, I want to shout to the whole world that it is so wonderful to be a child of God! There is nothing so sweet as being in fellowship with Him and having the joy and peace that only come from Him!

Because of the lack of a title...

Sooo, I started this post like three weeks ago and have worked on it a dozen times since then. I think that I just need to to click the "publish now" button, or it shall never get posted... :)

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Ahhh...Senior year at Cornerstone has proven already to be providing a plethora of new experiences, or perhaps they are more appropriately called blessings. Just the other day I was thinking of all the ways that God has blessed me, and the song "Count Your Blessings" came to mind.... Yes, God's blessings are numerous and I do not have much to complain about in life.

The lesson in Sunday school one of the first weeks that I was back at school was on trusting God. The timing could not have been better. (By the way, have you ever stopped to think about how God brings something into your life at just the time that you need it? It is pretty incredible sometimes!) Yes, I believe that the more a believer grows in his relationship with the Lord, the more he will trust in Him. A couple points were mentioned concerning reasons for why we so frequently fail to trust God.

Perhaps one of the reasons for our lack of trust is because it is an issue of time: whatever it is, we want it now and we are not willing to wait on the Lord to bring His plan to pass in His perfect timing. Or another aspect could be that we may have "the end" in mind and so flawlessly planned out that we fail to even think of trusting in the Lord to bring it to pass. It may also be that we so often fail to trust God because we have the idea that if we do give it over to Him, the end result may be drastically different from what we imagined it to be (which is all too often mistakenly equated with being an unpleasant thing . If only we could learn once and for all that God's ways are soo much better than ours...life would be so much easier.) Or perhaps a further reason, in all honesty, may be that we simply prefer to do things in our own way. To trust God would suggest a possible modification....

For some reason, as I have been writing this, the second verse of the song Satisfied keeps running through my mind, even though it doesn't really talk about trusting...perhaps it is because of the mindset of looking to Him instead of around me that the words communicate:

Feeding on the husks around me, till my strength was almost gone,

Longed my soul for something better, only still to hunger on.

Hallelujah! I have found Him whom my soul so long has craved!

Jesus satisfies my longings -- Thru His blood I now am saved."

As has been alluded to, somewhat, in one of my previous posts, I am very thankful for the way that God continues to work in my life, that He is not done with me yet, that there remains posted in my life a "construction zone" sign because of His continual work to conform me to His image! Unfortunately, it's not always very fun to be experiencing God's work zones... (The results are definitely worth it, however!)