I Give It Back

Last week, Evangelist Morris Gleiser held revival services at the college. God is soo good--I grew soo much last week. I am newly excited about where the Lord is leading me & loving every minute of my refinement. I'll have to blog some more later . . .

Sunday was a great follow-up to everything that touched my heart during the revival services. Sunday was my first service back at Windsor & the Lord used a song that we are singing in choir to grab hold of my heart. As we practiced I Give It Back by Ron Hamilton, I was challeged to stand firm in my convictions of the previous week & give EVERYTHING back to the Lord, who gave so much for me.

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All of my talent: It is amazing how often I rely on myself for my abilities. I can do NOTHING outside the power of God. He is the One that has given me every one of my abilities: playing the flute & piccolo, calligraphy, work ethic, dramatic talent . . . everything is an absolute blessing & gift from Him.

All of my time: Wow! What a phrase! This semester it seems as though I have NO time at all (yet, I have found time to blog in the middle of the week . . . ). Between 18 credit hours, two jobs, & being in a play, my "free" time is mostly given to homework & other academic projects. Yet, the Lord asks for ALL of my time. I Corinthians 10: 31 says, "Whethertherefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do (work, classes, & homework), do ALL to the glory of God." Every moment of everyday in everything that I do, I am to be giving my time to the Lord. I don't work for Mr. Rick or Mrs. Sturgill, I work for the Lord. I don't study so I can achieve academic greatness, I study so I can better give my time to the Lord.

All of my treasure: What is important to you? What do you hold dearly? Those things which we hold dear are our "treasure". Those things do not have to be monetarily expensive, they are expensive because of their importance. The Lord asks me to give Him all those things which I hold dear. Sometimes, that is soo hard! Think about it--I am asked to give everything, even my dreams, to the Lord. Doesn't He deserve them?

Shall never be mine: This clause applies to the three previous statements: my talent, time, & treasure should always be resting in the hands of God, not in mine.

All that I am, All I shall be: No matter what I do or how people perceive me; No matter who I become, how much money I have, or how many amazing things I will do;

Lord, You gave it to me: this line really need no explination--He gave me everything. Who I am & who I will be is dependant on Him, I can only ruin His perfect plan for me.

I give it back to You: With all that He has given & done for me, how can I refuse to give Him anything less than everything?

My lips will sing Your praise: Have you ever read the Psalms? You should. The Psalms are overflowing with praise to God. One psalm even notes that the snow & rain praise God (for me, this is not hard to imagine, for I praise God for the snow & rain, but I have a sibling who absolutely detests snow). If nature, inanimate & without souls, can praise the Lord, how much louder ought I to sing praises to the Lord?!

All things come from You: As my cousin says in her Puggles presentation, "God made EVERYTHING!" Though she was only 3 at the time, she hit the nail on the head--God created everything. "And He is before all things, & by Him, all things consist (cohere, are held together)" Colossians 1:17.

You are the only source for the good I do: "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, & I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing" (John 15:5). In my innate, sinful nature I am incapable of doing good. Everywhere I turn, people are taught that man is innately good, but that is a lie: "as by one man sin entered the world, & death by sin" (Romans 5:12). Only one person can free me from the bonds of sin & He is the God-man Jesus Christ.

I will be Your servant though you have set me free. Master & Creator, You'll be Lord to me: I Corinthians 6:20 & 7:23 both begin with the phrase "ye are bought with a price." That price was the most precious thing the world has ever known, nothing will ever compare to its value: it's the blood of Christ. The following phrases in bothe of these verses give reason as to why I should be thankful for the price Christ paid. 6:23 says, "therefore glorify God in your body, & in your spirit, which are God's." Because Christ paid my overwhelming debt of sin, I owe Him my life. The second phrase in 7:23 says, "be ye not the servants of man." Notice that I am not commanded to serve Christ, but it is a suggestion. With all that He gave me, what could I possibly give Him that would show my greatest thanks?

Take my lips & let them be filled with messages for Thee: Growing up in a Christian school it seemed that I was constantly challenged to constantly be speaking of the Lord. At first, this seemed hard, but the more I get to know my Lord, the more I find myself talking of things of the Lord. No matter where I go, no matter who I am talking to, Christ's name should be part of the conversation because He is my life.

Take my silver & my gold--not a mite would I withhold: This phrase is a reiteration of "all of my treasure," but rather than just stating what should be, this phrase shows that I am willingly giving back to God what He has so graciously given me.

I give it back to you.

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It's amazing how the Lord sometimes uses something that is so familiar to remind me of His amazing grace & love. I have sung or heard this song many times, yet most often I am guilty of simply hearing the song & not listening to its message. Sunday, the song captured my attention & I was no longer just singing I Give It Back.

a person's a person, no matter how small

For the first time EVER I am using my blog as a soapbox . . . so to speak. I don't intend to do this often, but this subject is very close to my heart.

Abortion has always been a topic that moves me emotionally. How can a person take the life of a young child? How can a person be so ignorant as to think that a fetus is not a human life? Isaiah 44:24 says, "Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and He that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things." For me, that settles is. God created me, in intricate detail, not when I was born, but while I was in my mother's womb. How awesome is that?!

Though abortion has be legal for quite some time (Roe vs. Wade, 410 US 113--1973), it never really effected me until I began working with political offices in 2000. All of the sudden, I realized that I could have an impact on the government--all of the sudden, my voice & opinion mattered! My sophomore year I helped with both the presidential election & promoted the sanctity of marriage & a ban on the use of an embrio for human cloning & medical research. The election & the two amendments set my brain in motion, I could no longer be naive about current issues. One thought kept running thru my head: a person is a person . . .

My junior year I was selected, as part of my drama class, to participate in a choric speaking--the selection? Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Suess. At this point you may be wondering what a children's book has to do with abortion, but the Lord used this funny story to grab my attention. Horton's most famous line is "a person's a person, no matter how small." During the choric speaking, I was a Who from Whoville--one of my lines required two other girls & me to repeat the line, "we are here! We are here! We are here!" How that line rings in my head now. Every day thousands of little, precious lives are screaming, "I am here!" only to be silenced before they are given the chance to breathe.

Forgive me, friends, for being so political, but it is our duty as Christians to protect the most wonderful thing outside of salvation--LIFE.

The writers of the FOCA (Freedom of Choice Act) are hoping to see their dreams come true. I hate to say this, but I hope I can be one to squash their dreams. The FOCA is a morally discusting & terrifying bill requiring religious hospitals, doctors, & nurses to act outside of their freedom of religion & allow & perform abortions. If these religious perfessionals & institutions refuse to perfom abortions, they risk losing their license, profession, & facilities. The Act also wants to reverse the Partial Birth Abortion Act of 2003 & nullify the law requiring doctors & hospitals to notify a minor's parents of the operation. There are many other things about this Act that I could rant & rave on. Educate yourself--be informed. Our freedoms are at risk, let your voice be heard, scream "a person's a person, NO MATTER how small!" If this interests you, more information can be found at www.FOCAfacts.com.

If this topic scares you as it does me, don't lose heart, you, too, have a voice for the tiny 'Who's of this world. If you really want your voice to be heard, contact your representative in DC & let them know that you discourage the passing of this act. More importantly, pray. Pray that the Lord would grant wisdom to those He has placed in office & be amazed at His amazing power. Then, when you go to school, to work, or just out to have fun, tell everyone, "a person's a person, no matter how small!"