In Christ Alone

IN CHRIST ALONE my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! – who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied –
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine –
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand!

My Chains are Gone

Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature's night:
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray;
I woke; the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off : my heart was free:
I rose, went forth, and followed thee.

O what grace! How beautiful is God's redemption!

Thank You

Hello my dearest friends and family! I would like to express my gratitude for your prayer and support for me during my time spent in Malawi! I am truly thankful for your support, whether financial or prayerful. I have praised God for the way that He has provided through you. I would not have had the ability to pour our His love in Malawi without you. The work that COTN does in Malawi is wonderful and comprehensive. It is: teaching, parenting, raising orphans, supporting widows, feeding the hungry, nursing the sick, sharing the good news of Christ, rebuilding the broken, and raising up leaders that will inspire transformation in years to come.

And with your support, I have lived in Malawi and poured out the love that God has given me. I saw God do beautiful things, changing hearts, mending the broken, and bringing light to the darkness. I did not do any of that, but rather, it was God who is at work.
I would wonder sometimes if anyone in the village was seeing Christ in me, or feeling His love pour out of me. I would wonder if I was even showing the love and grace that is given to me so freely.
And one day, my friend Blessings (age 12, in the above picture, closest to my left shoulder) told me that he loved me so much! He repeated it again with an earnestness that is incomparable. He did not speak English, and I do not speak Chichewa. So, I know that surely that it was Christ's love that he saw in me, because His Love surpasses all words and understanding. I told Blessings that I loved him too, and "Yesu amakukonda" (which is "Jesus loves you"). Blessings smiled and squeezed my hand. I think he knew that Jesus loved him, and that Jesus loved me, and ultimately, that is why I loved Blessings and he loved me. And that is a beautiful thing.

I would wake up each day and focus on what Jesus commanded me to do:
1. Love God
2. Love others.
God kept His commands simple for me, because I am weak and because those two commands alone demand my life, my all. And that is what I got to do in Malawi. I loved God, because He first loved me. And I loved children who desparately needed a Love that truly satisfies, God's love. I was able to freely give away what God has given me. Namely, His grace, His love, my heart, my soul, and my strength.

So, thank you for supporting God's work in my life and in lives of the children of Malawi. God has changed many lives and God has changed my heart forever, and He has opened my eyes to see Him in a new way. But He is the same God, whether I am in America or Malawi, and this brings me great relief.

An Unseen Treasure I Have in Jesus Christ.

I have just returned from Malawi. I am different and everything around seems different. I have learned to hope, trust, need, crave, treasure, delight and love, not the seen, but the unseen.

For who hopes in what he already has or sees?
Who trusts finite things for infinite life?
Who needs many mortal things when he has one that is Immortal?
Who craves what is bitter when he has what is infinitely sweet?
Who treasures worthless things when he has but one precious Treasure?
Who delights in dark things when he has He who is Light?
Who loves this world when he can love, by grace, Love Himself?

I have learned not to settle for lesser things. I have learned not to store my treasure on earth, because an infinitely beautiful, infinitely precious, and infinitely satisfying Treasure. And He, the Treasure Himself, gave Himself to me! O what a treasure!

When I did not want Him, He gave Himself for me. This Treasure did not even look beautiful to me until He, by grace, opened my eyes to behold His true splendor. But still, even though I did nothing for Him, He gave Himself to me. His beauty comes from His glorious death and from His precious blood spilled so that I may receive Him. O what grace!

That He would not just give Himself to me, but that He left His heavenly riches, left His glory above, and paid all He had, His life, so that He could purchase me. And my price was nothing other than His death, because I had spent all of me on sin and I had received a death sentence for it. But He came down so He may purchase me from the chains of death, so that I may receive Him as my only Treasure. O the redemption!

When He opened my eyes to receive Him as my only Treasure, He told me to rid myself of the other worthless trinkets I had on my flesh. I tried to rid myself of them, but there were too many and they were too heavy for me to lift off of myself. So, He Himself cleaned my life of them, worthless and ugly things they were. And I realized how ugly and beastly they were, once He showed me Himself. O what wondrous clarity!

And now, I have no other treasure but He Himself. Whom do I have in heaven but Him? And on earth there is nothing I desire but Him. My heart and my flesh may fail, but He is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. And if my strength and portion, then He is my unseen Treasure. And if my Treasure, then my inheritance. O what undeserved riches!

I will be purely with my Treasure and Strength one day. That I would be with Him! That I, a disobedient and impure vessel, would obey and be purified so as to be with my purifier and King! O to be with Him!

That is why I look past the seen things to God, who is beyond sight.
To God, who is beyond time.
To God, who is beyond measure.
To God, who is beyond imagination.
To God, who is beyond comparison, likeness, or equal.
To God, who is beyond gracious, loving, and merciful.
To God, who is beyond holy, perfect, and pure.
To God are all things.
To God be glory forever. Amen.