I want to remember...really remember. I hope this reminds you too. Thank you Jesus for picking me, for taking my punishment, for choosing to perform this unthinkable act that made me reconciled and at peace with You for eternity. I love You so.

Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12 (NLT)

“See, my servant will prosper; he will be highly exalted. Many were amazed when they saw him beaten and bloodied, so disfigured one would scarcely know he was a person. And he will again startle many nations. Kings will stand speechless in his presence. For they will see what they had not previously been told about; they will understand what they had not heard about.

Who has believed our message? To whom will the Lord reveal his saving power? My servant grew up in the Lord's presence like a tender green shoot, sprouting from a root in dry and sterile ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way when he went by. He was despised, and we did not care.

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God for his own sins! But he was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed! All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God's paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the guilt and sins of us all. He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. From prison and trial they led him away to his death. But who among the people realized that he was dying for their sins that he was suffering their punishment? He had done no wrong, and he never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man's grave.

But it was the Lord's good plan to crush him and fill him with grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have a multitude of children, many heirs. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord's plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of what he has experienced, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. I will give him the honors of one who is mighty and great, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among those who were sinners. He bore the sins of many and interceded for sinners.”

Time

I've been a little overwhelmed today thinking about how fast time goes by. It was just last summer......it was just Christmas right? Already February now and I fear I am in the same spot. I have these dreams, as I'm sure we all do, yet I seem to never get around to actually accomplishing them and if I ever do it's at a snail's pace. WHY??? Lazy, yes....Fear, yes.....Spiritual enemy, yes yes. What if we actually just were who God planned for us to be and did what He planned for us to do? You think it's possible and what would that look like? We accept mediocrity as success...at least I do. If I'm doing alright, not falling too badly, serving Him, praying here and there, then all is well. And the beautiful thing about Him is that it is!! His love is deep enough, His grace is sufficient enough that I could get through life living this way and still meet Him with His arms outstretched. But I fear and know I am missing something! Last week at Eikon, the speaker gave the most beautiful analogy I've heard in a long time. He was out with his daughter and saw a sloth up in a tree and couldn't wait to show it to her. So he pointed to where it was and told her to look up in the tree, but she couldn't see it. So he called her closer and pointed again, but she still couldn't see. So finally, he picked her up and they looked again, and with her cheek pressed to his, she could finally see. Cheek to cheek, her eyes could see what his could see. I want my eyes to see what my Father's eyes see. I want to see myself the way that He does and believe that I can be her. I want to see you the way He does and love you like He does. I want to see the purpose of this life the way He does and take part in it in the way that He has dreamed for me. I want to feel my cheek pressed to His and stay right there.