Was reading last night about our need, my need, to worship –
to be reminded of my rightful position before a Holy God –
and allowing Him to dictate and replace me back where I’m supposed to be.

Repositioning through worship –
What a wonderful idea,
That as we gaze into His Presence that we’re put where we need to be.
How completely simple.
And then, as if Him being totally worthy of our praise wasn’t a good enough excuse,
He also calls us to come to Him, to lift Him up, because that’s what we need as well –

His glorification becomes our Saving –
Saved from a life of self-promotion and self-consciousness and self, period.

Beautiful Savior,
Who calls me friend.

Unashamed Love
You’re calling me to lay aside the worries of my day
To quiet down my busy mind and find a hiding place
Worthy, Worthy

I open up my heart and let my spirit worship Yours
I open up my mouth and let a song of praise come forth
Worthy, You are worthy

Of a child-like faith
And of my honest praise
And of my unashamed love
Of a holy life
And of my sacrifice
And of my unashamed love

(not sure if Ten Shekel Shirt is the original author or not)

Because of the cross
and what it signifies,
I am embraced.

Because of His death
and sacrifice,
I am embraced.

Because of His love for me
that wouldn’t allows us to be separated,
I am embraced.

Embraced because His righteousness has set me free,
free from my death and sin and misery.

Free for a LIFE renewed and redeemed,
free to become who I was meant to be.

I am embraced – loved deeply and eternally,
adored and delighted over.

I am embraced.

He could hear the crowds screaming “crucify” “crucify”…
He could hear the hatred in their voices,
These were His chosen people.
He loved them,And they were going to crucify Him.
He was beaten, bleeding and weakened…
His heart was broken,
But still He walked.

He could see the crowd as He came from the palace.
He knew each of the faces so well.
He had created them.
He knew every smile, every laugh, and every shed tear,
But now they were contorted with rage and anger.
His heart broke,But still He walked.

Was He scared?
You and I would have been,
so His humanness would have mandated that He was.
He felt alone.
His disciples had left, denied, and even betrayed Him.
He searched the crowd for a loving face and He saw very few.
Then He turned His eyes to the only one that mattered.
And He knew that He would never be alone.

He looked back at the crowd…
At the people who were spitting at Him,
Throwing rocks at Him and mocking Him.
And He knew that because of Him,
They would never be alone.
So for them, He walked.

The sounds of the hammer
striking the spikes echoed through the crowd.
The sounds of His cries echoed even louder,
The cheers of the crowd,
as His hands and feet were nailed to the cross,
Intensified with each blow.
Loudest of all was the still small voice
Inside His Heart that whispered “I am with you, my son”,
And God’s heart broke.
He had let His son walk.

Jesus could have asked God to end His suffering,
But instead He asked God to forgive.
Not to forgive Him,
but to forgive the ones who were persecuting Him.
As He hung on that cross,
dying an unimaginable death,
He looked out and saw, not only the faces in the crowd,
But also, the face of every person yet to be,
And His heart filled with love.
As His body was dying,
His heart was alive.
Alive with the limitless, unconditional love
He feels for each of us.
That is why He walked.

When I forget how much My God loves me,
….I remember His walk.

When I wonder if I can be forgiven,
….I remember His walk.

When I need to be reminded of how to live like Christ,
….I think of His walk.

And to show Him how much I love Him,
….I wake up each morning, turn my eyes to Him,
……..And I walk.

-Author Unknown