Ten Questions to Ask at the Start of a New Year

This is from our friend Don Whitney and the Center for Biblical Spirituality. I thought it was an excellent way to begin the new year. So, with all due thanks to Don for his helpful ministry, consider the following:

Once, when the people of God had become careless in their relationship with Him, the Lord rebuked them through the prophet Haggai. "Consider your ways!" (Haggai 1:5) he declared, urging them to reflect on some of the things happening to them, and to evaluate their slipshod spirituality in light of what God had told them.

Even those most faithful to God occasionally need to pause and think about the direction of their lives. It's so easy to bump along from one busy week to another without ever stopping to ponder where we're going and where we should be going.

The beginning of a new year is an ideal time to stop, look up, and get our bearings. To that end, here are some questions to ask prayerfully in the presence of God.

1. What's one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?

2. What's the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?

3. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?

4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?

5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?

6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?

7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?

8. What's the most important way you will, by God's grace, try to make this year different from last year?

9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?

10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?

In addition to these ten questions, here are twenty-one more to help you "Consider your ways." Think on the entire list at one sitting, or answer one question each day for a month.

11. What's the most important decision you need to make this year?

12. What area of your life most needs simplifying, and what's one way you could simplify in that area?

13. What's the most important need you feel burdened to meet this year?

14. What habit would you most like to establish this year?

15. Who is the person you most want to encourage this year?

16. What is your most important financial goal this year, and what is the most important step you can take toward achieving it?

17. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your work life this year?

18. What's one new way you could be a blessing to your pastor (or to another who ministers to you) this year?

19. What's one thing you could do this year to enrich the spiritual legacy you will leave to your children and grandchildren?

20. What book, in addition to the Bible, do you most want to read this year?

21. What one thing do you most regret about last year, and what will you do about it this year?

22. What single blessing from God do you want to seek most earnestly this year?

23. In what area of your life do you most need growth, and what will you do about it this year?

24. What's the most important trip you want to take this year?

25. What skill do you most want to learn or improve this year?

26. To what need or ministry will you try to give an unprecedented amount this year?

27. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your commute this year?

28. What one biblical doctrine do you most want to understand better this year, and what will you do about it?

29. If those who know you best gave you one piece of advice, what would they say? Would they be right? What will you do about it?

30. What's the most important new item you want to buy this year?

31. In what area of your life do you most need change, and what will you do about it this year?

The value of many of these questions is not in their profundity, but in the simple fact that they bring an issue or commitment into focus. For example, just by articulating which person you most want to encourage this year is more likely to help you remember to encourage that person than if you hadn't considered the question.

If you've found these questions helpful, you might want to put them someplace—in a day planner, PDA, calendar, bulletin board, etc.—where you can review them more frequently than once a year.

So let's evaluate our lives, make plans and goals, and live this new year with biblical diligence, remembering that, "The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage" (Proverbs 21:5). But in all things let's also remember our dependence on our King who said, "Apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).

Copyright © 2003 Donald S. Whitney.

Copyright Disclaimer: All the information contained on the Center for Biblical Spirituality website is copyrighted by Donald S. Whitney. Permission granted to copy this material in its complete text only for not-for-profit use (sharing with a friend, church, school, Bible study, etc.) and including all copyright information. No portion of this website may be sold, distributed, published, edited, altered, changed, broadcast, or commercially exploited without the prior written permission from Donald S. Whitney.

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Missions and the Blessing of God

“God be gracious to us and bless us, And cause His face to shine upon us that Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all nations.”
Psalm 67: 1-2

Psalm 67 is about missions! That's why we've named our missions organization at Rockport Baptist Church the Psalm 67 Missions Network. It is a cry for God’s blessing. But unlike so many who cry for God to bless them, the Psalmist is not thinking only of himself He has a much greater goal in mind. He prays that God would bless us and be with us, not so we can be blessed, but so that through us the nations might hear and know and worship God as He deserves to be known and worshiped!

This has always been the motive behind the saint’s desire for the blessing of God. God does not bless us so we can hoard the blessing to ourselves. He blesses us that we might be a link in the chain of events He ordains to bring the blessing of Christ out to others through the preaching of the Gospel.

What was it He said to Abraham when he called him to follow by faith? He said, “I will bless you and you will be a blessing and all nations on earth will be blessed through you!” (Gen 12:3) Think of it! God doesn’t bless us so we can look in the mirror and say, “Wow, isn’t it great to be blessed?” God blesses us so that other nations and people we’ve never met might be blessed through us! How? By hearing and responding to the Gospel of Christ that we preach and that we send out to the world through missions!

That’s why I like to say that Psalm 67 is a missionary Psalm! It’s a call for us to realize what God is doing in our lives. All His blessing, all of the advantages we have enjoyed as Americans – are for the purpose of making His glory known and enabling us to carry His Good News to the ends of the earth so that “all the peoples” and “all the nations” may hear and be glad in Him!

May God enable us to orient our lives and our church to that holy and joy-filled calling until we find ourselves in that great worshiping throng from every nation, tribe and tongue who bask forever in His glory!

Pastor Scott Lee

Show Hospitality to Stangers

Dear Rockport Family,

Hebrews 13:2 says, "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it." As we enter the Christmas season, I want to remind you to practice hospitality to the new members and guests we are seeing each week. When we were smaller, it was easier to identify someone who was new, since you pretty much knew everybody. But now, many of you don't know everyone who attends each week...and it becomes easy to overlook those who are here for the first, second or third time.

So, here's what I'd like you to do. When you see someone you don't know, introduce yourself. Go out of your way to tell them your name and learn theirs. Do what you can to make them feel welcome among us. It REALLY does matter. You are a warm, kind-hearted congregation. But it won't feel that way to those who come among us if no one takes an interest in them and works to make them feel at home.

This past summer I visited a congregation in Chicago. I was impressed by the way the people sitting around me took an interest in me, asking if I was new, and generally helping me feel like I belonged among them. It really did help set me at ease in a strange place full of people who were strangers to me. Before long they did not feel like strangers.

So let's make that a habit here at Christmas and the year 'round. Go out of your way to get to know the folks seated around you. If you see someone you don't know, go over to them. Introduce yourself. Tell them you're glad they're here. God uses such small things in a great way. And who knows, by doing so, some have entertained angels unaware . . .

I just thought I should remind you,

Loving you in His grace,

S. Scott Lee
Soli Deo Gloria
www.RockportBaptist.org

God's Faithful Providence

In the faithful providence of God, I was drawn to eat at a restaurant today where I rarely go...and where I never go alone. It is amazing, in fact, that I found myself there at all. I had set out to go to a different place, but on arriving there discovered they were no longer offering the "special" I was counting on. So I got back in my car, intending to head back toward the church and pick something up along the way.

Again, providence intervened and I could not get a left turn out of that place, and so was forced to go to the right, away from my chosen destination. By this time, knowing there was no easy place for a U-turn, I decided to take the freeway up to the next exit. There were many places to eat along the way, some that I count as my "favorites." But for some reason none of these appealed to me. "I'd like some Chinese," the thought seemed to enter my head. And so, having never planned to do so, I ended up at a small buffet where I have often eaten with my wife or with friends, but never, as far as I can remember, alone.

I didn't really give it much thought at that moment. The food was good, and I'd brought a book along to read between bites. But still, why did I end up in this restaurant of all places?

As I was finishing off my first plate -- I did say it was a buffet, didn't I? -- I glanced up just in time to see a fellow pastor walk in, with whom I have been wanting to spend a little time. He is one of those men I admire most -- a bi-vocational pastor -- who must divide his time between the ministry and a secular job and thus normally has very little time for such meetings. I invited him to share my table, and as we began to talk it became clear that God had ordered both our steps that day.

My friend and I began to share together. He too, had been rather strangely drawn to this place on his lunch break, though he came here more often than I. But why? As we fellowshipped together it became clear. My companion was going through some things and needed someone -- perhaps a brother in the ministry -- he could talk to. He began to share with me some of the things he was facing. They were the kinds of things most of us in the ministry struggle through at one point or another. Painful issues and struggles that, at the time you are facing them, can seem almost insurmountable!

It was then that I saw so clearly the hand of God in bringing us to this place. It was so that I could have the opportunity to share this bit of time with my brother, perhaps even share his burden a little as we talked and prayed together.

Honestly, I doubt whether I had any real wisdom to share with him. I don't think that was really the point. The point was that God intended my brother to find a listening ear and a fellow believer who has been through some of these things before to confide in at that moment and time. And in the providence of God, I got to be that friend. Not only that, there was a benefit for me as well. I gained the joy of getting to know this brother pastor a little better, whom I had only known at a distant before. That always makes for a good day.

So what can I say to this but, "My what a faithful God we have! What a gracious and unfailing providence as He works all things for His glory and the good of His people!"

Maybe tomorrow, I'll try some Mexican . . .

On Prayer

"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you,
ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
John 15:7

Unless you’re really into church history, you’ve probably never heard of John Chrysostom. In addition to being Archbishop of Constantinople from 398 to 407 AD, he was known to be an eloquent and passionate preacher of the Gospel of Christ. “Chrysostom” was, in fact, his nickname. It means “Golden Mouth.” He was the Spurgeon or John Piper of his day.

And, therein,comes my interest in introducing him to you who may never have heard of him before today. Once, while preaching on prayer from Mark 11:22-26, the same passage I’ll be preaching from this coming Sunday morning (9/20/09) at Rockport, Chrysostom had this to say:

Prayer is an all-efficient panoply (something that gives you everything you need), a treasure undiminished, a mine never exhausted, a sky unobstructed by clouds, a haven unruffled by storm. It is the root, the fountain, and the mother of a thousand blessings. It exceeds a monarch’s power. . . . I speak not of prayer which is cold and feeble and devoid of zeal. I speak of that which proceeds from a mind outstretched, the child of a contrite spirit, the offspring of a soul converted – this is the prayer which mounts to heaven. . . The power of prayer has subdued the strength of fire, bridled the rage of lions, silenced anarchy, extinguished wars, appeased the elements, expelled demons, burst the chains of death, enlarged the gates of heaven, relieved diseases, averted frauds, rescued cities from destruction, stayed the sun in its course and arrested the progress of the thunderbolt. In sum, prayer has power to destroy whatever is at enmity with the good. I speak not of the prayer of the lips but of the prayer that ascends from the inmost recesses of the heart.

As I read these words and studied this passage this week, I have been deeply convicted about my own lack of prayerfulness. It is so easy, isn't it, to get "too busy" to pray the way we know we ought. And yet, as I consider the startling promises God makes about prayer, and all that He deems to do through it, I realize that I have made myself a spiritual pauper by my neglect. So I have resolved, yet again, that I will give a greater place to prayer in my daily life. There are so many things I must do, and more yet I choose to do, and yet this is the one thing I cannot do without. To draw near to God, daily; to rest my needs and those of others dear to me in His lap; to have Him redirect my heart and my thinking in every area so that by and by I am more conformed to Him! This is my great need.

Lord helping me, it will become my more consistent and joyful practice.

Soli Deo Gloria
(For His Glory Alone)

Scott Lee

The Faith and Martyrdom of a Young Muslim Woman

I read the following in a magazine this morning. What a powerful story and poem from a young Muslim woman who was killed by her family for her confession of Christ in Saudi Arabia last August. One more example of the difference between Christianity and Islam. Islam expands by killing those who disbelieve it. Christianity marches forward by the willingness of those who believe it to die that others might hear. One update posted on Voice of the Martyrs website indicates that further investigation has determined that it was the girl's father, a member of Saudi's religious police, who killed her, not her brother. Here is her story and the amazing poem she wrote hours before her death.

Fatima Al-Mutairi was killed by her brother after she told her family she was a Christian.

In August, a Muslim cleric and member of Saudi Arabia’s Commission of the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, killed his sister 26-year-old Fatima Al-Mutairi, after she proclaimed her faith to her family in Buraydah, Saudi Arabia The Voice of the Martyrs contacts report. Fatima’s fellowship with other believers was mainly limited to Internet forums and phone correspondence. “As part of her testimony to the family, she proclaimed that the way of Christ is the most pure and most holy way of all. After sharing with her family, she found her brother in her room with her laptop open before him,” VOM contacts said. “Her laptop contained notes about her spiritual journey, which he was searching in order to find more evidence against her. Her brother locked her in the room for four hours, during which time she wrote a final letter on the Internet. Fatima was killed soon thereafter,” our contacts added.

Prior to her martyrdom Fatima wrote a poem that shows her love for Christ and her desire to share His love with her family.

And We For the Sake of Christ All Things Bear

by Fatima Al-Mutairi

May the Lord Jesus guide you, Oh Muslims
And enlighten your hearts that you might love others
The forum does not revile the Master of the prophets
It is for the display of truth, and for you it was revealed
This is the truth which you do not know
What we profess are the words of the Master of the prophets
We do not worship the cross, and we are not possessed
We worship the Lord Jesus, the Light of the worlds

We left Mohammed, and we do not follow in his path
We followed Jesus Christ, the Clear Truth
Truly, we love our homeland, and we are not traitors
We take pride that we are Saudi citizens
How could we betray our homeland, our dear people?
How could we, when for death - for Saudi Arabia—we stand ready?
The homeland of my grandfathers, their glories, and odes— for it I am writing
And we say, “We are proud, proud, proud to be Saudis”
We chose our way, the way of the rightly guided
And every man is free to choose any religion
Be content to leave us to ourselves to be believers in Jesus
Let us live in grace before our time comes
There are tears on my cheek, and Oh! the heart is sad
To those who become Christians, how you are so cruel!
And the Messiah says, “Blessed are the Persecuted”
And we for the sake of Christ all things bear
What is it to you that we are infidels?
You do not enter our graves, as if with us buried
Enough - your swords do not concern me, not evil nor disgrace
Your threats do not trouble me, and we are not afraid
And by God, I am unto death a Christian—Verily
I cry for what passed by, of a sad life

I was far from the Lord Jesus for many years
Oh History record! and bear witness, Oh Witnesses!
We are Christians - in the path of Christ we tread
Take from me this word, and note it well
You see, Jesus is my Lord, and He is the Best of protectors
I advise you to pity yourself, to clap your hands in mourning
See your look of ugly hatred
Man is brother to man, Oh learned ones
Where is the humanity, the love, and where are you?
As to my last words, I pray to the Lord of the worlds
Jesus the Messiah, the Light of Clear Guidance
That He change notions, and set the scales of justice aright
And that He spread Love among you, Oh Muslims

As Children, Enter the Kingdom of God

""Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all."
Mark 10:14-15

Here in this passage we get a marvelous glimpse into the very heart of Jesus, not just for those who are children, but for all who will receive Him! John 1:12 says, “But to all who received Him, to those who believe in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God.” Imagine that. We get the right to become children of God through faith in Him

In fact, one thing I hope you notice here, is that Jesus does not say, “The kingdom belongs to those who are children.” As if the thing that matters for eternal life is that you be a child. He says “the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (v 14). Meaning there is something about the status of a child – his helplessness and dependancy, his willingness to receive that which is given – that is necessary for us to have if we hope to enter the Kingdom of God.

So here’s the question we must all face. Do I see myself as weak and helpless before God? Or do I imagine that I am strong enough to stand on my own two feet? Do I understand that there is nothing I can bring to the table to commend myself to Him? Or do I still maintain that there is something in me that merits salvation? Have I understood that, if I am to enter the Kingdom of God at all, it can be only by a willingness to receive freely and joyfully what He has given by grace alone? I tell you, heaven and hell hangs in the balance for you, based on which of these attitudes characterize your life.

I hope you will join us at Rockport Baptist Church this Sunday morning as we look first, at the love Jesus has for children, and then second, at what this tells us about how we must receive the Kingdom of God.

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be the Glory),
Pastor Scott Lee

So Have I Told You Lately . . .

A note to the members of Rockport Baptist Church,

Hey Church,

Have I told you lately that I love you all and feel incredibly blessed to be allowed to serve you as one of our pastors and to be given the privilege of opening God's word with you each week? Sometimes I cannot fathom how kind God has been to us...and continues to be day after day. No, of course we aren't perfect -- that's why we need the Gospel! But I was just thinking about it after we'd taken the Lord's Supper together Sunday. We draw near because we are poor and needy. We have sinned and fallen short. We have failed to love as we ought to have loved. Our faith is weak and pitiful. But oh! He is merciful! And He receives us freely on the basis of His finished work on the cross. Therefore we can draw near -- not only to Him (joy of all joys!) but also through Him to one another! And there we find that we are loved, and forgiven and accepted and made one family in Christ! Wonder of wonders!

Hebrews 10:19-25
19 Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

In Him!

S. Scott Lee
Soli Deo Gloria
www.RockportBaptist.org

Grace Camp Meeting starts tonight!

We have been so very busy preparing for our Camp Meeting that I have not posted anything here in a very long time. Sorry about that. But I hope to jot some notes down as things go along! God has been blessing at Rockport and we're anxious to get to share in that blessing with those who will be coming to our conference.

Grace and peace to all
SSL

Letter to My Daughters

The following letter was originally published by Charles Spurgeon (it is an excerpt written by another man, Leah Richmond, to his own daughter). I thought it was so excellent that I added a note of my own and sent it along to my precious girls. Here is a Christian father's fondest desire and most urgent prayer for his daughters....


"Christ's garden"
by Charles Spurgeon

~ ~ ~ ~

(An excerpt from a letter from Legh Richmond to one of his daughters)

My dear daughter,
May my dear child be preserved from the defilements of a vain, dangerous, and destroying world. You know not, and I wish you never may know--its snares and corruptions!

I send you the following applications of my sermon on Ephesians 5:15-16, "Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil."

On circumspection of walk, redemption of time, and general sincerity of character:

1. Adhere most scrupulously to Scriptural truth; and labor to preserve the strictest integrity, simplicity, and sincerity.

2. Engage in no pursuit in which you cannot look up unto God, and say, 'Bless me in this, my Father!'

3. Strive to be as kind, forbearing, and forgiving as you can--both to friends and foes. Never speak evil of anyone.

4. Strive to recommend true religion by the courtesy, civility, and humble character of your conduct.

5. Watch against irritation, pride, unkind speaking, and anger--study and promote love.

6. Mortify (kill) all lusts, sensuality and sloth.

7. Never speak well of yourself. Keep down pride; let it not be indulged for a moment--but watch against it.

8. Shut out evil imaginations and angry thoughts.

9. Let it be your sole business here to prepare for eternity. Consider every moment of time in that view.

10. Remember that you have to contend with . . .
a legion of devils;
a heart full of deceit and iniquity;
and a world at enmity with God.

11. Pray that you may ever rejoice in the advancement of Christ's kingdom, and the salvation of sinners; and labor in every way to promote these objects.

12. Prayer is the only weapon which can subdue your corruptions, and keep you in close fellowship with God. Cultivate prayer.

The love of Christ is the only safe ground of all motives, and of all conduct. Where this is established, all is well. The life-blood of Christianity then circulates through every vein of the soul; and spiritual health, strength, and purity of mind is the happy result. Fall down upon your knees before God, my dear, praying that He would pour that love into your heart, until it becomes a constraining principle for the government of your thoughts and actions. The love of Christ is the only remedy for all the diseases of the soul.

~ ~ ~ ~

We invite you to join us for our Grace Camp meeting
Registration and Information click here

Grace Camp Meeting '09 -- April 16 - 19

I'm still rejoicing about all that God did for us during last year's camp meeting here at Rockport. Brother Paul Washer, Mike Morrow, Mike Williams, Charles Leiter and Rob Pelky blessed us with clear, encouraging, challenging messages from God's Word (all of which can still be heard by clicking here). And even though it was our first time ever to try and host such a meeting, God helped us tremendously and everything just seemed to work out for a wonderful time of fellowship, prayer and worship.

With that in mind, we are beginning to look forward to this year's

Grace Camp Meeting '09.

Dates: April 16-19

Speakers:
Charles Leiter
Mike Williams
Tim Conway
Michael Durham

Be praying with us as we make preparations. Registration information will be up on our website soon.

We hope many of you will be able to come.

In Jesus,

Pastor Scott

By Grace Alone

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9

It is humbling to believe the Gospel. Religion, on the other hand, is a great foundation for human pride. Religion lets me continue to think well of myself even as I exult in “the depths” of my devotion to God. With religion I am the one in charge. I set the pace. I make the decisions (at least the ones that really matter!). I devote myself to God’s cause and do my best to practice my faith in a way I feel is both personally fulfilling and, I imagine, of help to God.

But the Gospel is just the reverse. When the Gospel comes to me, it finds me to be an outcast, powerless and – to be honest – anything but devout. No, I am a sinner. A reprobate. A pagan with nothing in me that could commend me to God. Every decision I have ever made – spiritually speaking – has been the wrong one. And even my best acts of righteous devotion have been nothing but filthy rags of self-serving pride. That’s where the Gospel finds me! Not a good man, hoping to be better. Not even a weak man needing to be made strong. But a dead man who needs to be given a life that comes from outside himself.

I remember for years thinking of my salvation as if I had been drowning – going down for the last time - and Christ at the last minute jumped in to save me. Now I know that I was a dead man, three weeks dead, bloated and lying at the bottom of the ocean when Christ, for his own purpose and glory chose to come to me. I could not cry out. I would not save myself. Nevertheless He came. And with a marvelous display of astounding power and grace, He saved me! He rescued the perished and gave life to the dead. Where then is my boasting? It is no more. All I can do is say, “Praise! Praise! Praise for an Amazing Grace!”

SSL

A living, loving, personal Savior

One of the things that really struck me this past week as I was preparing for Sunday's message is the personal nature of Salvation by Christ. I'm fully aware that many in evangelicalism have misused the idea of having Jesus as "personal" Lord and Savior. We've bent and twisted this idea into the creation by each of us of our own "personal Jesus" which is, of course, idolatry. The same Jesus who saved Paul is the Jesus who saves me. He's not my personal possession (though I have become His). He's not mine to re-image or re-configure. He is Who He is. The Living God become flesh -- the Eternal Son, Second Person of the Trinity as revealed in Scripture.

And yet, when He does comes by His grace to save a loathsome sinner like me, He comes to me in a way that is real and person through the Gospel that is preached. By His Holy Spirit He opens my heart to believe in Him. And as a result, I personally, through that grace given, repent and believe in Him and am brought into the personal intimacy of a new relationship with Him and with His church that is real. I come to know Him who died for me and with all the saints begin to live to the praise of the glory of His grace.

That's the point of this little quote below. Jesus becomes for those He saves.....

A living, loving, personal Savior

(J. R. Miller, "Counsel and Help" 1907)

We are in the habit of saying that Christ saved
us by dying for us on the Cross. In an important
sense this is true. We never could have been
saved--if He had not died for us.

But we are actually saved by our relation to a
living, loving, personal Savior--into whose
hands we commit all the interests of our lives;
and who becomes our Friend, our Helper, our
Keeper, our Burden bearer--our all in all.

Christian faith is not merely laying our sins on
the Lamb of God, and trusting to His one great
sacrifice; it is the laying of ourselves on the living,
loving heart of one whose friendship becomes
thenceforward the sweetest joy of our lives!

"The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith
in the Son of God, who loved me and gave
Himself for me!" Galatians 2:20