My Story

Hey!

I'm Rebekah.

I have a passion for a lot of things in my life, but the biggest and the most important is my relationship with my LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ (read on to know more about Him!). The second is music, which I've had a great love for ever since I can remember. And I wanted to share both of those with you, so that's why I started this blog.

I love sunshine, warmth, hugs, coffee, donuts, drives on the beach, laughter, spending quality time with friends, and eating too many chocolate chip cookies. I love summer so much it hurts (I get depressed in the winter time...no kidding). But what I really love is spending time in God's Word and learning what it means to run to Him for everything I need. I love playing piano, guitar, and mandolin and singing beautiful choral music. I'm pretty much an a cappella nerd. I love my family, and my twin sister, Sarah, is my best friend (we're twenty-five). I love that I can call the Mississippi Coast my home.

I used to have a photography blog (and that's all it was). But I wanted to post more than just photos. I wanted to write...about the memories I'm making and the melodies I'm listening to...along with the pictures I'm taking. Thus, Bekah Hope Photography | Capturing Life on the Mississippi Coast became...Rebekah Hope | Memories and Melodies from the Mississippi Coast.

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Not so long ago, there was a homeless man who spent his life in the same city as a king. This king was the most powerful monarch in the world, and only people who wore the cleanest clothes could even think of seeing the king in person. Of course, then, for the homeless man to see the king was unthinkable. He was filthy. To say his clothes smelled is an understatement. He was helpless. He was hopeless. He had no way of washing himself or getting clean, new clothes to wear. It was impossible for him to make himself presentable to the king. So, day after day, he sat. 

Then, one day, things changed. The king looked out of the window of his palace and caught a glimpse of the homeless man sitting there, filthy and impoverished. The king saw at his son standing nearby. "Son, I have something for you to do," he asked. "Go outside and find that homeless man. Bring him into the palace." You and I would find it a strange request. There was no way that man could come into the presence of the king! The king's son went and found the homeless man, sitting there with no hope. He led him into the palace and washed all of the filth and grime off. What he did next was incredible. He took his own, beautiful, pure white robe and put it on the homeless man. Then the king's son escorted him down the hall. "Where are we going?" he asked, amazed at the beauty and grandeur of the palace, and even more amazed at the fact that he was wearing this beautiful robe. "To see the king," the prince replied. They walked into the throne room. "Come here." Bewildered, the homeless man walked towards the king. The monarch's face was kind. "Now that my son has washed you and covered you in his own clean white robe, you can see me," he explained. "In fact, you can come talk to me, and ask me for anything you need, at any time." The homeless man understood that it was through no merit of his own, but only because of what the king's son had done for him, that he could ever come into the presence of the king. He walked out of the palace and began telling everyone who would hear, "Look what the king's son did for me! Can you believe it? He took my filthy clothes and made me clean and gave me his very own beautiful robe. And then he took me to see the king! I can't believe it!" As you can imagine, the homeless man spent the rest of his life telling people about what the king's son did for him. He lived with joy and hope, knowing that he could come see the king at any time. Such a thought humbled him constantly.

Why am I telling you this story?

It's simple. I am that homeless man.

The king is God.

His son is Jesus.

Can I tell you about Him?

Let's start at the beginning.

God created the world. (Genesis 1:1) He is sovereign, with complete power and authority over all of His creation. He is holy. (Isaiah 6:3) He is eternal and infinitely loving, just, and merciful. He created mankind to love, worship, and obey Him. He alone deserves all glory and honor. All of His creation is totally dependent on Him. He reveals Himself in His true Word, the Bible. Every word of the Word of God is true (John 17:17). It was written by human authors who were under the divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who is God. It is without error and never changes.

God created a perfect world (Genesis 1:31). But Adam and Eve, the first man and woman He created, did not obey Him. They sinned (Genesis 3). Sin is doing what we want to do instead of what God tells us to do. Sin is an offense against God and separates us from Him (Isaiah 59:2). Because of Adam and Eve's sin, death and condemnation entered into the world (Romans 5:12). Every single person born is spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1). We aren't just sick; we're dead. We are all under God's just wrath for our sin (Romans 6:23). God is so holy that He cannot even look on sin (Habakkuk 1:13). Nothing we can do can bring us into God's favor and make us right with Him. We're like that homeless man who has no hope of seeing the king. We can't work our way to God. He says our own righteousness that we think we have is like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). We deserve to spend eternity in hell - a very real place of unceasing torment (Matthew 25:46).

God sent His Son, Jesus, to this earth (Luke 2). He was born of a virgin and lived a perfect, sinless life of obedience to God. He is fully God and fully man (John 1:1, Colossians 2:9). He kept God's law perfectly. Jesus lived as a man to die for mankind. He took the guilt of sinners on Himself and endured God's just wrath by dying a criminal's death on the cross (Romans 5:8). His death satisfied God's anger against sinful, rebellious people (Romans 5:9). He was buried in a tomb, and three days later He rose from the grave and conquered death (2 Timothy 2:10). Jesus ascended to the right hand of God, where He reigns as King and Lord of all (Philippians 2:9-11). When Jesus died, He said, "It is finished." (John 19:30) He paid it all. He did everything necessary to bring us to faith in Him. His work is complete. We can't add to it. Jesus + nothing = everything.

The only way we can come to God is by believing in His Son, Jesus. He says that "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) The message of the Gospel is simple: repent and believe (Mark 1:14-15). Repentance isn't just remorse for sin and its consequences. It means to turn away from your sin and turn to God. Only by believing in His finished work on the cross can we be saved from our sin. He forgives us of our sin (Psalm 103:12). God the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38) comes to live within us and changes our hearts so that we love Him and want to obey Him (John 15:10, 2 Corinthians 5:17-18). Jesus - like the king's son in the story - comes to us, not because of anything we have done to deserve Him (Titus 3:5), but because of His mercy and grace. Mercy is not getting what we deserve (God's just wrath for our sin) (Ephesians 2:4-5). Grace is getting what we don't deserve (God's love and forgiveness) (Ephesians 2:8-9). Our own righteousness can't get us into heaven. But Jesus covers us with His own righteousness (Isaiah 61:10). We are now like that homeless man. Only because of Christ's righteousness covering our sin, and because of His cleansing work in our hearts, can we come before God. We can boldly come before God's throne of grace to pray to Him (Hebrews 4:16). He hears our prayers because of what Jesus has done for us. We have assurance that we will spend eternity in heaven with Him (John 5:24, 6:30), praising and glorifying Him for who He is and what He has done for us. Why would we want to do anything else? Jesus did all of this, not because we did anything to deserve it, but because He loves us (John 3:16). He alone receives all of the glory and praise for what He has done (Revelation 7:12).

It's all because of Jesus. He is everything. He is my life, my peace (Romans 5:1, Isaiah 26:3-4), my joy, my hope (Hebrews 6:19). I know that He has paid for all of my sins and I am covered in His robe of righteousness. The Bible says that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).

Do you want to know this Jesus? He reveals Himself in His true Word, the Bible (Hebrews 1:1-3). Just read the New Testament. The Gospel of John is a great place to start.

Because of Jesus, and with His love,
Rebekah

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea.
A great high Priest whose Name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart.
I know that while in heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.

Behold Him there the risen Lamb,
My perfect spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM,
King of glory and of grace,
One with Himself I cannot die.
My soul is purchased by His blood,
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ my Savior and my God!

Charitie Bancroft / Vikki Cook