Love

I'm engaged! to this lovely, beautiful, gracious servant of God, my bride-to-be Carissa Curtis.

Obviously a lot has happened since I have written last. The month of march was a bit of a whirl wind for me (us) and life hasn't really slowed down since! Many of you have already heard the full story, but succinctly I can summarize it in a brief paragraph:

We met through my roommate Chris and an organization called Impact at Texas A&M. Over the summer of 2012 we chatted back in forth (shout out to Twitter), and began dating in August. It didn't take long to realize that we had both found "the one" and marriage was on the horizon. We got engaged on the family spring break vacation in Granby, Colorado and the rest of the ride has been exhilarating.

Jesus has led us daily from our first date on August 20th, 2012 to this very day. It has been beyond incredible to see him work on both of our hearts as he prepares for marriage! We're both a bit rough around the edges, but the Lord has been at work in us so vigorously in these past few months. Through Carissa, God has revealed to me so much more of his compassion, his love, and his grace. I've been privileged to encourage her and spur her on in faith as well. She pushes me to Jesus, and that really is the glue that has galvanized our relationship. She's my best friend, my constant encourager, my beloved.

-matt

Undeserving

While reading through Deuteronomy this morning I came across a powerful juxtaposition in chapters 16 and 7. In verses 5-6 as God gives instruction for the Passover sacrifices He says:

"You must not sacrifice the Passover in any town the Lord your God gives you except in the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name"

Amidst this instruction I was cut to the core and the Spirit reminded me that I am the place He has chosen to dwell in. My body is the temple that the God of the universe has chosen to reside. It is inside of me that I sacrifice my life, my very soul, to give everything to the Lord who came for me.

It was this that made reading the first 7 verses of chapter 17 so heart-wrenching. I'm posting it here so because the power of scripture is much too valuable to skip over.

"Do not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep that has any defect or flaw in it, for that would be detestable to him. If a man or woman living among you in one of the towns the Lord gives you is found doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God in violation of his covenant, and contrary to my command has worshiped other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or the moon or the stars in the sky, and this has been brought to your attention, then you must investigate it thoroughly. If it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, take the man or woman who has done this evil deed to your city gate and stone that person to death. On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting that person to death, and then the hands of all the people. You must purge the evil from among you."

Wow. That same God that dwells inside of me hates the violation of His covenant with me so much that the price of that trespass is death. I deserve death, yet the Holy One lives inside of me. This glorious paradox makes me feel so small, and so loved. I don't have the words to convey how humbling and wonderful this all-invasive love that conquered death is to me. But I hope this scripture speaks louder than my words.

His servant,
-matt

We Never Saw Anything Like This

I was reading from Mark 2 the other day and couldn't help but be mesmerized by the story of the paralytic healed by Jesus in verses 1 through 12. His friends carry him to Jesus, and when there seems to be no way to reach Him, they take him to the roof, tear the roof apart, and then lower him down to Jesus.