"My Empire of Dirt"

I wear this crown of thorns
Upon my liar's chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair

 The Lord has been stirring my heart.  I am restless, aware of my persistent sins, seeking penance for my seasons of complacency.  Though I, a trained Bible student, can spot bad theology on paper, I fail to see the lies which have crept into my own faith.  I know that I cannot earn my salvation.  My works were never sufficient to gain it, and they will never be sufficient to keep it.  I am saved by grace, through faith, but when my Bible lies untouched, a works-based mentality takes root in my spiritual life.  I am deeply frustrated and defeated.

I have nothing good to offer Him.  In exchange for my repeated rebellion, negligence, and selfishness, I have... nothing.  Nothing but a heart which is, by His grace, sorrowful and repentant, ready for a new beginning, ready to receive His unconditional love and forgiveness.

"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."