Who, oh Lord, could save themselves,/Their own soul could heal?
Our shame was deeper than the sea/ Your grace is deeper still

Who, oh Lord, could save themselves,/ Their own soul could heal?
Our shame was deeper than the sea / Your grace is deeper still

You alone can rescue, You alone can save
You alone can lift us from the grave
You came down to find us, led us out of death
To You alone belongs the highest praise

You, oh Lord, have made a way

The great divide You heal / For when our hearts were far away
Your love went further still / Yes, your love goes further still

You alone can rescue, You alone can save

You alone can lift us from the grave
You came down to find us, led us out of death
To You alone belongs the highest praise
(Repeat x1)

To You alone belongs the highest praise (x3)

We lift up our eyes, lift up our eyes
You're the Giver of Life (x8)

You alone can rescue, You alone can save
You alone can lift us from the grave
You came down to find us, led us out of death
To You alone belongs the highest praise
To You alone belongs the highest praise
To You alone belongs the highest praise

Matt Redman - You Alone Can Rescue 

Saturday night ( 10-3-15), my husband and I watched the Moses movie from Sight & Sound theaters. Sunday morning, we sang the above song during the worship time at church. 

Since watching Moses, this song just helps me understand more of the love, grace, providence and mercy of God. 

"Who O Lord, could save themselves?"
-The Israelites were trapped in slavery and there was no escape, (at least not yet). There was no escape on their own. 

"Our shame was deeper than the sea; Your grace is deeper still."
-The Israelites had been physically and emotionally reduced to slaves. Perhaps their belief and trust in God to bring a redeemer was not so strong. But God provided Moses to bring them out of slavery. No matter how deep their sin was, the ocean of God's grace and love is deeper; so much so that God parted the Red Sea and the Israelites walked through on dry ground.

"You came down to find us, led us out of death..."
-The Lord came to the Israelites and through Moses- led them out of slavery. When the Egyptian army was at their back- God still led them out of harms way with the pillar of fire. God continued to lead them out of physical death. 

"You, O Lord, have made a way, the great divide you healed...Yes your love goes further still.."
-God made a clear direct way for the Israelites to escape the rule of Pharaoh and the Egyptian army. His love went further still: further to part the entire Red Sea, further to allow them to cross it on dry land, further to brig down the pillar of fire to hinder the Egyptian army from capturing Israelites, further to drown the Egyptian army, and further still to provide the 10 Commandments so His people could know His important commands and follow them.

"We lift up our eyes...You're the Giver of Life"
Sure the Israelites were living in slavery, but not real life serving God in freedom. They really did lift up their eyes and cry out for a Savior, a Deliverer- God literally led them out of Egypt through Moses and led them to freedom and led them to life! 

Peru 2013

           Going to Peru, for me, has always been exciting and thrilling. I love being on mission with God and seeing how He draws the hearts of men, women, and children to Himself; it never ceases to amaze me. This year was my 10th time going to Lima, Peru on a mission trip. Being that I am 24 now, this means that I have been going to Peru since I was 14. Wow!! Think about this. Before I was 14, I never imagined that one day I would spend 10 straight consecutive summers in Peru sharing the message of God, salvation, forgiveness and hope to literally thousands and thousands of people. Because I have been going there for all those years, many Peruvian pastors, ministers, cooks, translators, bus drivers, hotel workers, friends, and kids have seen me grow-up physically and spiritually. How cool is that?
            This year, I spent nearly a month in Lima, Peru; June 7th-July 2nd. A friend and I went down to Peru a few days early to prepare for the team coming and go shopping. Three days later, June 10th, the team arrive and I am more than excited to see them. June 11th, we hit the ground running and begin our two weeks of ministry. We spent one week in San Juan de Lurigancho and one week in Pomacoches.
           I want to share four stories; two about the week in SJL and two about the week in Pomacoches. First, the former. One night our team was out doing the drama. We had just done the drama and I noticed that 2 men on our team had gone over to a Peruvian man to talk with him and pray for him. A few minutes later, one of the men from our team motioned to me to come over to where he was. I soon found out that the Peruvian man has been sick for 7 years with intestinal problems and he could not hear very well. It was interesting- when I went over there and learned this about this man, suddenly I felt like I had a prayer for him. Then one of the men standing with the Peruvian man, asked me if I wanted to pray- to which I readily responded by saying YES! Keep in mind that I had no idea what I was going to pray, what I was going to say or what would come out of my mouth. Obviously, I would pray for healing on this man's life- but other than that- I did not know what to pray. From that point on, my prayer for that Peruvian man was just God talking through me and using me to speak out the prayer He had given me. After I prayed, one of the men standing with me- said- "That was a beautiful prayer, Rebecca!" Wow!! Amazing- I was just saying what God told me to say, but thank you!
        Story 2: Our team was in another area- kinda late afternoon and we had just done the drama. Then we were to go into the crowd and pray for people and talk with them. Caroline Blinson and I went to talk with a man. We noticed that on his right hand- he had no fingers. I repeat- this man had no fingers on his right hand. As we were talking with him, we found out that his shoulders, back, arms, and other parts of his body- all hurt! We knew we had to pray for this man at that moment. After both of us prayed for him, I introduced this man to another Peruvian man who was with our team helping us talk with people.
         Both of these stories remind me about the story in the Bible about the blind man. This blind man was sitting on the side of the road and I think he had heard that Jesus was coming. This man shouted to Jesus. Jesus came to this man and asked him- what do you want me to do? The blind man said-Lord, I want to see. Then Jesus spat on the ground and made some mud and put it on the man's eyes. Jesus told the man, Go and wash in the pool of Siloam and you will be healed! The man did so and was healed! Both of these stories also remind me of the power of God to heal people.

Stories from Pomacoches
Story #1: Our team had just done the drama in one of the schools there. Each team member put 20 salvation bracelets on their wrists (10 on each wrist). We then told the kids at the school to get in groups of 18 or 19 and our team members would give them out to each kid in each group. I went to a group of about that many kids- these are older kids mind you. I gave each kid a bracelet and asked them if they understood the bracelet- to which they said yes- but then I proceeded to ask them what each color meant and what did it signify. I told them about this and what the colors meant as the story of salvation. All this I did in Spanish- it was pretty cool to use more of my Spanish with these kids and become more confident in another language. After I gave the bracelets out, I noticed I had one left over on my right wrist. I saw that another lady on our team was talking with 3 boys- I walked over to those 3 boys and noticed that one of the boys did not have a bracelet. So I said- all in Spanish- this is for you, but first I want to tell you about it.- Then I explained all the colors, what they mean and the message of salvation. All in Spanish yall! Then I talked with that guy afterwards. Yall- this day I was able to use a lot of Spanish to talk with people. I was soooo excited about it too! Plus- what's more- When we step out in Faith- God always meets us and goes with us as we do what He calls us to do!

Story #2: I guess this isn't really a story- but just something I was thinking a lot about while I was in Peru. So in the main drama that we do- this year, yet again, I was the Spanish Dancer- who portrays Mary the mother of Jesus in the drama. (This is my favorite part cuz i get to dance haha) But anyway, while I was being this character- I began to think about what it must have been like for Mary to raise Jesus and be his earthly mother and see him be crucified on the cross. I imagine Mary enjoying having a baby and caring for him all those years and being excited when he "learned" something new or when he did this or that and I would imagine her being the happiest mother on earth because her baby is the Son of God! Also, I thought about how Mary must have felt when she saw her Son on the cross....why did it have to be her son that had to die? Why my son? I also imagine as a mother, she would not want anything terrible to happen to her son- then later seeing her on on the cross. I imagine at that moment she must have had a flood of emotions in her heart and mind.

I could easily go on about all the stories.
-Like the time when we were doing the drama at a school in Poma and in the beginning, our stage was rather large- but as more and more kids came- it became the case of the disappearing stage because literally our stage became smaller and smaller with all the kids that kept coming and taking our stage space. It was quite the drama experience for all of our team.
-Like the time we were at one park and literally there was 1 couple there- then i think they left. So essentially there was no one there. We went out and invited people to come. We came back and after we did the drama- there must have been 50-100 people in that park area that we were. The cool thing about this was that God was drawing the people to come. No one had it on their calendar to come to that park at that time. When it came time to cast the net- aka- share the gospel- nearly the whole crowd responded and came forward. WHAT!??! WOW GOD!!!
-Like the time we got stuck in traffic on the way back from Pomacoches and on our way to Chachapoyas. Literally, we got stuck in traffic from 1-5pm because they were paving the road in front of us...how can that road dry in 4 hours!?!? But what we thought was hard or something we did not want or like- God turned it around and many other people who were also stuck in traffic (in the cars behind us) gave their hearts to God- literally yall, people were giving their hearts to Christ left and right. Maybe around 30 or 40 people gave their hearts to God that day.
-Like the Pastoral couple that traveled with us to Pomacoches. The church in SJL had been praying for a long time that God would raise up a pastoral couple that could be pastors at the church in Pomacoches. A couple was raised up, they traveled with us to Poma and they are planning on moving to Pomacoches. Is this not God's plans at work or what!?!?!??!
-Like the time we climbed/hiked another mountain in Poma and when we got to the top of it- we could not see anything and it was really cloudy. We prayed and God parted the clouds and we could see the lake in Pomacoches and we also saw a rainbow!!

I am sure there are countless other stories to share and from many other people as well!!

If you have not already, you can check out my pictures on FB.

The Gift to Breathe

     
          "How can the creature not worship its Creator and Sustainer? The debt that is owed Him cannot be measured. Would there be anything if He had not spoken? Would not all things immediately turn to chaos and destruction if He did not sustain them? Could the constellations and planets find their way through the skies without Him? Would not the seas escape their boundaries and engulf the land if His hand did not hold them back? Could man draw even one more breath were it not granted to him by God? How then can we not worship?"- Paul Washer (from the One True God bible study)

         Have you ever really thought about how the ability to breath is really an amazing and a wonderful gift from God? The fact that we breathe involuntarily is soooo incredible. We don't have to tell our bodies every single second to breathe in and breathe out. It just happens. When we breathe in, our diaphragm lowers to allow in more air. When we breathe out, our diaphragm pushes up on our muscles to push the air out. Not only that, but we breathe in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. Whoa!! Take for example this quote from wiki answers.
 (it should be broken up into sentences but this is how the quote was)
   
 "When oxygen is breathed in it goes to the alveoli... in to the bloodstream where it is picked up        by a protein molecule called hemoglobin one molecule of hemoglobin can transport 4 oxygen molecules to anywhere in the body the hemoglobin transports the oxygen to another protein called Cytochrome C oxidase which makes two molecules of water for every molecule oxygen (water needs two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen) when a water molecule is made it releases energy the Cytochrome C oxidase harvests the energy then uses it for every day functions. Carbon Dioxide is released because it is in most everything we eat and is toxic to humans so we breathe it out. You breath oxygen in order for you to live. You give off carbon dioxide in order for plants to live."

(http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_do_we_breathe_in_oxygen_and_breath_out_carbon_dioxide#ixzz28RHxCqg7) 
Could man draw even one more breath were it not granted to him by God?
Have you ever really thought about this? God's love for us is SOOOO great and so unexplainable that He gives us each and every breath that we breathe. Last night, I was driving home from a bible study group. As I was driving home, I was listening to "Perfect Love" by Shai Linne. The combination of his song and what I've been studying in my bible study just overwhelmed me. The thought of God literally giving me each and every single breath i breathed just brought me to tears. Literally, people, every breath you breathe- the small ones and the big ones; it just isn't something you can take for granted. God gives/gave you the ability to breathe. He created the process of respiration. He gave you life!! Not only that, He gave/gives you life ABUNDANTLY!!! Think about that! It's not just that we can breathe; we use our breath to speak, to sing, to play instruments that require air, pray, to take in oxygen, to laugh, to breathe, to sigh, to proclaim, to yell, to scream, to shout, to worship...etc. 

Genesis 2: 7 "...the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being"

The depth of God's love for us is so great that even our next breath- that one, and that one, and that one, and that one too and all the other breaths that you will take today and for the rest of your life- He allows and grants to us. Surely, He gives LIFE-and literally, physically, emotionally and spiritually.
"When the creation is correctly understood, it works to lay all men prostrate before God with reverence, trembling, and a real sense of utter dependence upon the One who made them." -Paul Washer

"When we do worship Him, we are at last fulfilling the purpose for which we were created." -Paul Washer

Psalm 150: 6 "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!"

5 Reasons I Do Not Cuss

There are many things in life that bother me; some things just plain annoy me. But one of the top things that really gets on my nerves is cussing. Now I do realize that there is freedom of speech, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't choose our words carefully and really watch what we say. Please know that my initial idea is not to be rude to anyone, I am just expressing how much I strongly dislike cussing. So here are my top 5 reasons why I don't cuss.


#1: To me, cussing is vulgar and degrading.
It's not that I just don't like it- whenever I hear it being spoken or see it- it doesn't sound nice
or look good at all. When I hear it being used to describe someone, I think- that sounds extremely negative and degrading of that person's character. It's one thing if that person is displaying ungodly character- but it doesn't really look good for someone to put that person down in order to elevate themselves.


#2: Use a thesaurus and/or expand your vocabulary
Are these the only words you know that can truly express what you're feeling? I'm sorry but I'm not amused by it. Please learn some new words that can truly help you describe the feelings you have.


#3: Is the thing, person, event, etc.. really that terrible? really?
Whatever is the negative thing you experienced- whether it was a person being obnoxious, or an event that you really did not like, or something that you really dislike- is it really all that bad? I can understand if something you experienced really was terrible and awful, but there are other words that can describe how you feel as well. I don't know about you, but i'd like to make my struggles places that I can grow- not just mentally, but also spiritually.


#4: Ephesians 4:29
"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Plain and simple. If what you are saying tears down someone, then it's probably better to not say it at all.


#5: The use of hell in terms of swearing...how do u even know what hell is like?
Unless you are someone who has had a vision of hell, or an out of body experience in hell, how could you possibly know if something is as terrible as hell is? I've been thinking about this use of this word and my conclusion is- you have no idea what hell is like. I have no idea what hell is like.

So there are my 5 reasons why I don't cuss- the 5th one being a more specific reason.

oh yea- #6. To me, cussing does not make someone look cool or sound cool.

Again, I am not trying to be rude- I am just giving my opinion.

What is love?

There are a lot of ways that I could describe what love is. Love is caring for people when they are sick, and being there for someone in their time of greatest need. I could go on and on about this. Somehow I believe the LIE that people only love me IF I'm doing everything right- and if I mess up just once- then they're done and that's it. Take for example my childhood- when I was younger and was sometimes disobedient to my parents- I reaped the punishment. After that situation my first thought was- i don't know if they love me. I didn't understand they punished me because they loved me and wanted me to learn right from wrong.

Somehow this thought/lie/belief has obnoxiously stayed with me.

That's why I run to Jesus, first and foremost- then i jump to 1 Corinthians 13; really the whole chapter- but right now and more specifically the following verses:

¹ If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,^[b] but have not love, I gain nothing.
⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.

These verses speak to my issue directly. In the first few verses the message is- it doesn't matter what i can do- if I don't have love in my actions- I am nothing. If LOVE does not propel my actions- I am nothing.

Lesson 1: Let Love Propel your actions.

The other verse that spoke to me is verse 5: It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

To truly love someone, you are not hanging over them keeping a list of every single wrong thing they've ever done; no one is writing down every single thing you've ever done to annoy anyone, make someone upset at you, or any other thing- love keeps no record of that.
That literally blows my mind. For one thing, I try hard to not keep a list of wrong things people have done to me- but for someone to NOT keep a list of wrong things i've done to them? wow....
This always brings me back to Jesus and how he could love someone like me.

Lesson 2: Love keeps no record of wrongs.

The third verse I want to write about is the following- and here's where I feel may be and prayerfully will be the breaking point. Verses 7 and 8 say that love^" It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.⁸ Love never fails.

My mom has told me that the words "always" and "never" are very strong words. I know she's right.
These verses say that love ALWAYS protects, ALWAYS trusts, ALWAYS hopes, ALWAYS perseveres and that love NEVER fails.

Note it does not say- i'll only protect you when you're not in danger. I'll only trust you when.... I'll only hope when.....and I'll only persevere when....

Note more what this verse does not say:
-love does not say- i'll only be this way when you're not annoying
-love does not say-i'll only be this way when you're obeying me
-love does not say-i'll only be this way when i'm not mad at you
-love does not say- i'll only be this way when you're perfect and obeying

NO. LOVE always protects, trusts, hopes and perseveres and it never fails.
I don't know about you, but sometimes what the verses don't say- really hits me.
Love is not conditioned to the words "when", "if", and other conditional terms.
To truly define love- look at 1 Cor. 13- the entire chapter. Love never fails.

Lesson 3: ^" It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.⁸ Love never fails.

When I look at Jesus, I see perfection. When I look at myself, i think- okay I'm a pretty good kid etc etc...but only being a pretty good kid doesn't cut it. See God's love for me is not based on what I do or how many good works I do. His love for me is just for the fact that He created me and made me in His image. His love for me isn't based on whether I made someone mad at me or I annoyed someone. He's not sitting in heaven going- uh oh..you made someone mad and now they love you less. In fact, God loves me SOOOOO much that He willingly sent his only Son Jesus to die on the cross for my sins. Now that's love...sacrifice.

Please pray that this will continue to break this lie in my life and that God will do his amazing work in my life.
His love never fails.

More like YOUR words...

My blogger name is mythoughtsandYourWords; meaning the things i think about being my words- but then what does God have to say about it- Your Words. This blog will be more like a YourWords blog.

This morning I read Philippians 1 and 2. I love reading this book, especially since Crosswave (youth discipleship team that uses the arts to proclaim Christ in churches and to others) is reading it as well. While I was reading these 2 chapters, several verses popped out at me.

Phil. chapter 1: 7-11
⁷ It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. ⁸God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. ⁹ And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, ¹⁰ so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

Again, this is Paul writing to the saints in Philippi. The phrase that really spoke to me and stood out to me was "God can testify how I long for all of you WITH THE AFFECTION OF CHRIST JESUS". say what? yes- Paul longs for the saints with the affection of Christ Jesus. Just that little phrase blows me away. 1- that God would give us that much affection for others by HIS doing, and 2- it's the affection of Jesus Christ-MY Lord and Savior and Faithful Friend.

The other part of chapter 1 that stood out to me was verses 21-26
²¹ For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. ²² If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! ²³ I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; ²⁴ but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. ²⁵ Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, ²⁶ so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me.

Many times I think about Christ coming back and when is he coming back. One time I thought- wouldn't it be great if Christ came back before exams, or before my project? But back to the verses- when we hear a little taste of what Heaven will be like- for Christians- we long to be with Christ and we long for that perfect place and to be with Christ forever and ever. Paul says that while he yearns to be with Christ, he feel it's more necessary to be in the body here on earth. What a great example of how life is not all about me. It's also encouraging to know that my life here on earth is a blessing to others. With the phrase in mind- "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain" makes perfect sense when I think about my life. The reason I'm living IS for Christ to be known and when I die, I know that I'll be with Christ forever! no second guessing.

halloween, thanksgiving, christmas ,easter, valentines day....STRANGE WORLD

So at dinner time tonight, i was just browsing through the ads/coupon magazines we received in the mail. Many of them, or in fact, most of them, are promoting Halloween costumes, candy, other "scary" stuff, decorations....etc. As I thought about Halloween- a few interesting thoughts came to my mind.

1) It's interesting that the media portrays Halloween as a party to play dress up. Obviously, they just want your money- but most often times- no one in the media never says what Halloween is really all about. I bet if they did, then hopefully people would be a lot less likely to dress up and go trick-or-treating.

2) In the costume aspect: it seems to me that the little kid costumes and possibly up to 5th grade- those costumes are cute and cool. But if you're a mom or an older female- either the costume choices are inappropriate, or your costume is ragged. If you're a dad, your costume is either someone who's in jail or something ridiculous.

3)What is this fascination with dressing up like people coming back from the dead? AND, if that's not enough- people are always wondering about the afterlife and if there really is a heaven or hell and OH NO- what happens when i die? i don't want to die!!!. that just seems strange to me.

The other thing i began to realize is that for some holidays- (Valentines day, St. Patrick's day, Easter,Halloween, Christmas) (i know i missed a bunch- but i'm using those i listed as an example)
it seems like the media and malls- present everything else BUT the true meaning in those holidays.
It's like- oh Valentines day- here's a little cupid, some candy, some paper valentines..etc
AND
oh St. Patrick's day- here's a ton of 4-leaf clovers, and a leprechaun, and some pots of gold
AND
oh Easter- here's a BUNNY (?????), some eggs, some candy, some grass, some flowers...etc
AND
oh Halloween- here's some costumes, some more candy, some pumpkins, some odd decorations that are supposed to "scare" you.
AND
oh here's Christmas- here's some snowflakes, some reindeer, some Santa figures, some snowmen, and other little knickknacks.

don't get me wrong- some of those things i listed really do have to do with the holiday- although i KNOW that there was no bunny on Easter morning (unless there was one munching on some nearby grass- but the bible doesn't say that)...and eggs!?! why is that associated with a bunny? Anyway, all that to say that I wish that the media would present the REAL meaning of those holidays. and i'm glad for those people who do teach their kids the real meaning of those holidays.


Anyway, that's just some things i thought about tonight. what do you think?