The Fullness of Salvation

Songs: Indescribable – Chris Tomlin
More to This Life – Steven Curtis Chapman

Scriptures:
Colossians 1:13-18 (New King James Version)
Preeminence of Christ

13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

Thinking the other day about an experience I had a few years ago…

The church parking lot was always packed, leading the church’s pastor to ask members to park in a nearby shopping center parking lot. Permission had been granted from the shopping center management, and there were parking spaces to the rear of the stores so that membership parking would not negatively impact the stores’ customers. Although not a lot of other members seemed to be complying with the pastor’s request, I did. Sometimes I would drive by the church and let my children out, see them into the church building, and then drive to the shopping center to park. That is what I had done that pleasantly warm, sunny morning, and I was walking alone along the dirt path in front of the house that was located next to the church.

Suddenly, I don’t know what happened. The field of vision before me changed, and I didn’t know what I was seeing in front of me. I don’t know if I stopped walking or continued on my way. I don’t remember moving my head, or looking around to see if anything else was different – I was just trying to figure out at what was I looking straight ahead of me. Even as the question formulated itself in my head, the answer seemed to drop into my spirit: “The Fullness of Salvation.” Just as suddenly as it had appeared, the vision disappeared. I didn’t know how much time elapsed, although it seemed to be almost instantaneous.

Like Mary (Luke 2:19), I pondered this thing in my heart. I couldn’t remember anything about what I had seen, because there seemed to have been no frame of reference. I thought it must have been light, because the contrast with the bright sunshine would have been noticeable had it been dark, right? For the same reason, it must have been in color, for I supposed that the contrast with the spring-like day and colors around me would have been memorable had they been absent. It was like when you shift your vision to look at a “magic eye” 3D picture. The problem was, I hadn’t had the time (and maybe not even the ability!) to shift my vision. Nor had I known for what I was to have been looking.

I went on to church, although I was really “out of it.” Afterward, while several of us were standing in the parking lot talking, someone said something about salvation, and I just remember intimating that we (people) don’t even really know all of what salvation entails. There was not a lot of agreement with me, though I tried unsuccessfully to share with them what I had experienced. Guess it was just for me at that time.

So I know that there is something more…

1 Corinthians 2:9-11, (Amplified Bible)

9But, on the contrary, as the Scripture says, What eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart of man, [all that] God has prepared (made and keeps ready) for those who love Him [who hold Him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying Him and gratefully recognizing the benefits He has bestowed].
10Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them by and through His Spirit, for the [Holy] Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God [the divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man's scrutiny].

... and my journey with Him continues ...

Truly Saved?

Songs: Come Thou Fount – performed by Paul Heflin
Bless the Broken Road – performed by Selah

Scriptures:
Luke 9:62 (New King James Version)

62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

2 Peter 2:20-21 (New International Version)

20If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.

Hebrews 6:4-8 (New King James Version)

4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.
7 For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; 8 but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.

John 10:25-30 (New King James Version)

25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and My Father are one."

Romans 8:29-31 (New King James Version)

29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

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A friend of mine and I were talking recently about an incident where a person was voicing their beliefs about one’s ability to “lose their salvation and die in their sins.” I’ve heard others talk about people not being saved “for real” or where “their salvation didn’t stick,” just as I’ve heard the “once saved, always saved” defense. I have heard and read of people who “turned away from God.” So, having heard all sorts of conflicting viewpoints on this - many supported by the seemingly credible use of Bible verses - I asked God what was and was not true. And, knowing that His truth is sometimes revealed in dichotomy, my query was not only for which belief was true, but how could I understand, relate to, and make sense of what was meant by the Scriptures used in these views. As He often does, He didn’t answer the question one way or another, but reminded me of an experience I had.

One morning, about 4:00am, I was coming home from driving my son to work. I was about 5 minutes away when the “check engine” light came on my dashboard. I thought I would make it home since I was so close. As I merged from one expressway to another, I felt the car lose power and I steered it off to the shoulder of the road. Stopped, I just sat there for a few minutes. I honestly had no idea what was wrong with the car. I contemplated calling Triple A (AAA road service), but realized I couldn’t tell them what was wrong with it. Then, I got mad. I was mad at “God and everybody.” I got out of the car and started walking down the expressway, fussing at God for my situation. Several things in my life weren’t going as I wanted or expected at that point, but I thought I was doing what God wanted me to do (even when it didn’t make sense to me or wasn’t something I wanted to do.) So I figured that if things were going to go so badly, I might as well stop these efforts at obeying God (which must not have been working, or else I wouldn’t be in this mess, right? Didn’t think about Job…) – might as well go back to doing things my way, the way I’d been doing them before I’d really been trying to know God better. The time came, as I was walking, for me to call some ladies that I had prayer with in the mornings. Having exited the highway onto the street, I sat on a wall and called them, just letting them know that I wouldn’t be praying with them that morning. I was in no mood for prayer – I was already talking to God, telling Him what I thought and what I was going to do.

All the way home, God was silent during my tirade. When I finally crossed the threshold into my house, I heard that still, small voice say sadly, almost remorsefully, “Do you want to leave Me too?” At that I broke. Sobbing – my anger spent - I poured out my heart to Him: all of my thoughts and fears, my pains and discomfort, my frustration and confusion. I realized (like the disciples in John 6:66-68) that there was no other place, no other way for me to go. As I’d recently heard a pastor say, I was “in too deep.”

That was a sort of turning point, where my mind was made up – I had decided to follow Jesus. My goal was that there would be no turning back because of circumstances, feelings, whatever. I repented and was forgiven. Then came thanksgiving – for God’s blessing in the restoration of our relationship, for His protection in getting me safely home that morning, for His provision in the way and place my car had given out, for lessons presented and learned.

As in the song, Come Thou Fount, my prayer was that God would continue to keep my “wandering heart” by binding it to Himself:

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

So I can’t say that I have the answer for anyone else but me. I was asked if I wanted to leave Him, which leads me to believe that I could have left Him, His way, His protection, if that was what I chose to do. Whether or not that would have been leaving or “losing” my salvation, I’m not sure… and I’m not sure it’s that important to me, if that’s even the right question on which I should focus. I do know that I really don’t know the fullness of salvation… (see upcoming blog entry, The Fullness of Salvation.) What matters most to me is my current relationship with Him. My salvation is an ongoing thing – for the present as well as the future – my being able to receive, give back and share His love, and His living His life out through me.
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Ephesians 1:3-14 (New King James Version)
Redemption in Christ

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

... and my journey with Him continues ...

Psalm 51

Songs: Great is Your Mercy – performed by Donnie McClurkin (written by Don Moen)
I Love You Lord (and I Lift My Voice)

Scriptures: (except where noted, all from www.biblegateway.com)
Hebrews 1 (New King James Version)
God’s Supreme Revelation

1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional was around Psalm 51…

I remember a time when almost every time I opened a Bible, it opened to Psalm 51 and I knew I was to pray it. The first couple of times, I figured that repentance was good, right? So no problem. But after so much time had elapsed and I seemed to be stuck in this repentance mode for days and then weeks - (and I couldn’t even think of what I had done “that bad” recently for which to repent!) - I started having a real problem. I thought I had repented of past sins, received forgiveness, and couldn’t understand why I still kept getting this Psalm to pray.

I was beginning to dread opening the Bible, afraid of seeing this Psalm again, and feeling that I must really be beyond forgiveness. I was confused, and feeling defeated and condemned.

Then, in His mercy, when I guess my spirit was totally broken, contrite and humbled before Him, God spoke. He addressed my feelings with the truth of His Word:

Hebrews 7:25
Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

1 Corinthians 14:33
For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

Psalm 19:13
Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be innocent of great transgression.

Romans 6:14
For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Romans 8:1
[ Free from Indwelling Sin ] There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

...and showed me how to view Psalm 51 as a finished work of Jesus, to see how Jesus was the answer to what was requested in the Psalm.

[From the Complete Jewish Bible (at www.crosswalk.com)]

For the leader. A psalm of David, when Natan the prophet came to him after his affair with Bat-Sheva:

1 God, in your grace, have mercy on me; in your great compassion, blot out my crimes. 2 Wash me completely from my guilt, and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my crimes, my sin confronts me all the time. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil from your perspective; so that you are right in accusing me and justified in passing sentence. 5 True, I was born guilty, was a sinner from the moment my mother conceived me. 6 Still, you want truth in the inner person; so make me know wisdom in my inmost heart. 7 Sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear the sound of joy and gladness, so that the bones you crushed can rejoice. 9 Turn away your face from my sins, and blot out all my crimes. 10 Create in me a clean heart, God; renew in me a resolute spirit. 11 Don't thrust me away from your presence, don't take your Ruach Kodesh away from me. 12 Restore my joy in your salvation, and let a willing spirit uphold me. 13 Then I will teach the wicked your ways, and sinners will return to you. 14 Rescue me from the guilt of shedding blood, God, God of my salvation! Then my tongue will sing about your righteousness 15 Adonai, open my lips; then my mouth will praise you. 16 For you don't want sacrifices, or I would give them; you don't take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; God, you won't spurn a broken, chastened heart. 18 In your good pleasure, make Tziyon prosper; rebuild the walls of Yerushalayim. 19 Then you will delight in righteous sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then they will offer bulls on your altar.

Then He led me to pray thanksgiving from it …

1 Thessalonians 5:18
… in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Thank You, Father God, for Jesus - for revealing Yourself to us through Him, for answering all of our requests in Him. Thank You for Your grace, by which we are saved through faith- not of ourselves but as a gift from You. Thank You for Your mercy which endures forever because of Your goodness and unfailing love. I praise You, Lord God, that You have shown mercy and kindness, compassion and tenderness, according to Your nature and not limited by my need. You are an abundant God, and You have redeemed me, blotted out my transgressions, through Christ Jesus in Whom You glorified Yourself.

Lord, I am so grateful that You are so faithful, so just and so true, that if I walk in the light of Christ - letting Your Word abide in me – and I repent and confess my sins to maintain unbroken communion with You, You will forgive my sins, and cleanse me from all unrighteousness as the blood of Jesus Christ, Your Son, cleanses me from my sins. I am so humbled by Christ’s sacrifice for me, covering my sins, removing them from Your sight, such that I could be freed from my guilt and reconciled to You. Thank You, Lord, that though my sins be like scarlet, You have made and shall make them white as snow.

Lord, You loved this world that You created – loved me - so much that You gave Your best, Your only begotten Son, so that whoever would believe in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. You did not send Your Son to condemn the world or me, but that the world- that I - through Him might be saved. You are the God of my salvation, and I thank You for loving me so completely, so personally, so redemptively.

Thank You, O Lord, for Your Son, Who is the Way, the Truth, the Life. Thank You for Your faithfulness to Your promise to put Your law, Your Spirit, Your truth into my heart and my mind – for working in me to will and to do Your good pleasure. Thank You for Your Presence in my life, for Your Spirit within me to lead me and guide me in the way that I should go; for Christ, having been made unto me wisdom. Thank You for the joy I experience in Your Presence, and for all of the reasons and opportunities You give me to praise You! Thank You for the ability to sense Your nearness, and to desire You, Whom I don’t see, but love.

Thank You for a clean heart, O Lord; for a pure heart. Please let my life be seen and experienced by others as evidence of Your goodness, Your mercy, Your grace, Your majesty, Your beauty … all that can be seen of You in and through me as I decrease and You increase and are magnified in me. Thank You for Your help in developing and sharing the fruits of Your Spirit, that others would know You, know and receive the love You have for them, and love You, too. Thank You for overcoming all my evil with Your good, for dispelling all of my darkness with Your light.

I love You, Lord. In Christ Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

... and my journey with Him continues ...

That’s Not Your Testimony

Songs: Trust in Him – Clark Sisters w/ Rance Allen (http://www.imeem.com/artists/the_clark_sisters/music/TCwsSNHJ/the-clark-sisters-trust-in-him-remastered-version/)
I Love the Lord – Richard Smallwood

Scriptures: Revelation 12:11

Good News Translation (GNT)

11 They won the victory over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the truth which they proclaimed; and they were willing to give up their lives and die.

New King James Version (NKJV)

11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

New International Version (NIV)

11They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

Amplified Bible (AMP)

11And they have overcome (conquered) him by means of the blood of the Lamb and by the utterance of their testimony, for they did not love and cling to life even when faced with death [holding their lives cheap till they had to die for their witnessing].

Isaiah 1:18 (KJV)

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

I was reminded recently of when God spoke to me a couple of years ago about the uniqueness of my testimony …

At the church I was attending, an initiative was going on one month where the goal was to get 100% of the congregation to tithe. I had a temporary job, and was grateful for the resources from which to give my 10%. I was telling the Lord so when I seemed to sense He wanted me to tithe 100% of the money I was earning. I quickly replied that the church didn’t mean for us to tithe 100% - they wanted 100% of the members to tithe 10%. Just as quickly, He replied:

I know what they mean; you know what I said.

So, I gave 100% of the money I earned for that period until my job ran out. In talking with one of the church’s officers, I shared what I had been instructed to do, and his reply was something like, “I can’t wait to see what the Lord is doing with this. Maybe you will share your testimony later.”

One Sunday soon after that conversation, a woman in church was invited to give her testimony as to what God was doing in her life because of her obedience during that time in the area of tithing. She stated that God had asked her to tithe 100% of her earnings. I must admit that I was glad to know that I wasn’t the only one hearing that from Him. When she obeyed (like me, after some further conversation and clarification), she told of how she got this huge, unexpected windfall of money, and how material blessings just seemed to be multiplying in her life. I was about to get excited, thinking of all I wanted Him to do for me financially when I sensed His correction:

That’s not your testimony.

I must admit, that was not what I wanted to hear. But He reminded me of other occasions, other lessons:

1. …of the time in church during one Bible study, when discussion had centered on whether God causes or allows things (especially “bad” things) to happen to us. He had challenged me with a question regarding a woman who shared that she had cancer and felt that her purpose in life was to help others with cancer.

If her having the cancer would aid in and advance her purpose of helping others with cancer, would I not have caused it?

2. …of the time when I was watching a television program where the pastor speaking was making the statement that if you did what they did you could have what they had. God had posed a question to remind me of the individual nature of His blessings.

If what they have is for their purpose, and would be a hindrance to you in yours, why would I give it to you? It is true; I am not a respecter of persons, but I am a respecter of purpose.

3. He reminded me from His Word about the dangers of comparing ourselves with one another:

2 Corinthians 10:12-13 (New International Version)

12We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. 13We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the field God has assigned to us, a field that reaches even to you.

Galatians 6:4 (New Century Version)

Each person should judge his own actions and not compare himself with others. Then he can be proud for what he himself has done.

4. He reminded me from His Word about the differences He allows:

Hebrews 11:32-40 (Amplified Bible)

32And what shall I say further? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets,
33Who by [the help of] faith subdued kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promised blessings, closed the mouths of lions,
34Extinguished the power of raging fire, escaped the devourings of the sword, out of frailty and weakness won strength and became stalwart, even mighty and resistless in battle, routing alien hosts.
35[Some] women received again their dead by a resurrection. Others were tortured to death with clubs, refusing to accept release [offered on the terms of denying their faith], so that they might be resurrected to a better life. [I Kings 17:17-24; II Kings 4:25-37.]
36Others had to suffer the trial of mocking and scourging and even chains and imprisonment.
37They were stoned to death; they were lured with tempting offers [to renounce their faith]; they were sawn asunder; they were slaughtered by the sword; [while they were alive] they had to go about wrapped in the skins of sheep and goats, utterly destitute, oppressed, cruelly treated--
38[Men] of whom the world was not worthy--roaming over the desolate places and the mountains, and [living] in caves and caverns and holes of the earth.
39And all of these, though they won divine approval by [means of] their faith, did not receive the fulfillment of what was promised,
40Because God had us in mind and had something better and greater in view for us, so that they [these heroes and heroines of faith] should not come to perfection apart from us [before we could join them].

“Okay, okay,” I said, “I get it.” In His mercy, He wanted to make sure I did (get it). When I got home that day and turned on the television, there was another television pastor ministering, saying that he had heard from people who told of how God had miraculously met their needs, but he wanted to hear the testimonies of those where it seemed like their needs had not been met – the money, the healing, the “whatever they needed and had been believing God for” had not come. Then, in the next couple of days, I got a newsletter from a ministry where the pastor was speaking of so many who felt abandoned by or were disappointed with God because of what they were going through.

Isaiah 55:8-9 (Amplified Bible)

8For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord.
9For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.

So now I just trust that God knows best, is working all things together for my good, hears and answers my prayers in the best way for His glory to be manifest in my life. He knows my true needs, regardless of the circumstances and how things seem to me.

Romans 8:32 (New King James Version)

32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

Father God, I pray that I would grow in (the) grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him be all glory both now and forever. Amen.

... and my journey with Him continues ...

Celebration of a Life in Christ (2009)

Songs: Jesus Paid It All (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEOsxUJrpU4)

Scriptures:
Isaiah 40:1-8 (New International Version)
Comfort for God's People

1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins.
3 A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
6 A voice says, "Cry out." And I said, "What shall I cry?"
"All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.
7 The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever."

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Many times, when I attend a funeral, I find myself wondering what mine should be like, and sometimes I sense the Lord answering me with things that could be included. So, I began composing my service, a “Celebration of Life in Christ” program. I’ve had several, but this is the latest (2009) iteration. Still not complete, as I don’t have recessional song, obituary, etc. - hoping not to have to use it soon, though, so i would still have time...

Celebration of a Life in Christ (2009)

Prelude – Stanton Lanier (The Voice, Peace)

Procession – Revelation 19:1 / Great is He / Hallelujah, Salvation and Glory - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95kkqXCo2ew&feature=related

Invocation

Selection - Eternal Praise (Linda Norwood)

Scripture:

Old Testament – Isaiah 55

Selection – Were it not for Grace – Larnelle Harris version - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6_lYk8cfIo&feature=related

New Testament – 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:15, Ephesians 2:1-10

Selection - Jesus Paid It All (Crystal Lewis version (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBsgWKMxdmE), including verses:

I hear the Savior say
Thy strength indeed is small
Child of weakness....watch and pray
Find in me....thine all in all

Chorus:
Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin hath left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

Lord, now indeed I find
Thy power and Thine alone
Can change the leper's spots
And melt the heart of stone

For nothing good have I
Whereby Thy grace to claim
I'll wash my garments white
In the blood of Calvary's Lamb

And when before thy throne
I stand in Him complete
Jesus died my soul to save
My lips shall still repeat

Chorus:
Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin hath left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

Scripture –

Jeremiah 9:23-24 (NIV)23 This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD.

1 Corinthians 1:26-31 (NIV) 26Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before him. 30It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."

Reflections

Read obituary silently

Selection – Amazing Grace (Kathy Taylor Brown rendition)
http://www.imeem.com/people/pouO77u/music/t23Dfm37/kathy-taylor-brown-amazin-grace/
/ Amazing Grace / My Chains Are Gone / If Not For Your Grace - Israel Houghton
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXi0Del29uA

Eulogy

Selection – Through the End of Time (Linda Norwood)

Acknowledgements

Benediction

Recessional - ???

... and my journey with Him continues ...

Motivation & Attitude

Songs: Refiner’s Fire (Purify My Heart) – Brian Doerksen ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idA6fCAHVzs)

Scriptures: Philippians 2:14
New Century Version (NCV)
Do everything without complaining or arguing.
Amplified Bible (AMP)
Do all things without grumbling and faultfinding and complaining [against God] and questioning and doubting [among yourselves],

Exodus 16:8
Moses also said, "You will know that it was the LORD when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the LORD."

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Even my heart is grieved for the times that we fall short in serving God because of our motivations and/or attitudes which are not pure, not Christ-like.

Philippians 2:1-16a Amplified Bible (AMP)

1SO BY whatever [appeal to you there is in our mutual dwelling in Christ, by whatever] strengthening and consoling and encouraging [our relationship] in Him [affords], by whatever persuasive incentive there is in love, by whatever participation in the [Holy] Spirit [we share], and by whatever depth of affection and compassionate sympathy,

2Fill up and complete my joy by living in harmony and being of the same mind and one in purpose, having the same love, being in full accord and of one harmonious mind and intention.

3Do nothing from factional motives [through contentiousness, strife, selfishness, or for unworthy ends] or prompted by conceit and empty arrogance. Instead, in the true spirit of humility (lowliness of mind) let each regard the others as better than and superior to himself [thinking more highly of one another than you do of yourselves].

4Let each of you esteem and look upon and be concerned for not [merely] his own interests, but also each for the interests of others.

5Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus: [Let Him be your example in humility:]

6Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God [possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God], did not think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained,

7But stripped Himself [of all privileges and rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being.

8And after He had appeared in human form, He abased and humbled Himself [still further] and carried His obedience to the extreme of death, even the death of the cross!

9Therefore [because He stooped so low] God has highly exalted Him and has freely bestowed on Him the name that is above every name,

10That in (at) the name of Jesus every knee should (must) bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11And every tongue [frankly and openly] confess and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

12Therefore, my dear ones, as you have always obeyed [my suggestions], so now, not only [with the enthusiasm you would show] in my presence but much more because I am absent, work out (cultivate, carry out to the goal, and fully complete) your own salvation with reverence and awe and trembling (self-distrust, with serious caution, tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ).

13[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.

14Do all things without grumbling and faultfinding and complaining [against God] and questioning and doubting [among yourselves],

15That you may show yourselves to be blameless and guiltless, innocent and uncontaminated, children of God without blemish (faultless, unrebukable) in the midst of a crooked and wicked generation [spiritually perverted and perverse], among whom you are seen as bright lights (stars or beacons shining out clearly) in the [dark] world,

16Holding out [to it] and offering [to all men] the Word of Life…

1. In reading You Were Born for This” by Bruce Wilkinson, I thought of God’s heart when reading on page 74:

Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men…for you serve the Lord Christ. (footnote #6, Colossians 3:23-24).

2. In looking at the God Calling devotional for today online, I saw the verse at the end of yesterday’s entry (http://twolisteners.org/Nov%2016%20-%2030.htm#November 24):

And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. Colossians 3:23-24

3. And then today, the Biblegateway.com home page Verse of the Day (for November 25, 2009) was:

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”- Colossians 3:17 (NIV)


O God, please forgive us for our grumbling, faultfinding and complaining. Please help us, through Your truth and the power of Your Spirit, so that whatever we do, whether in word or deed, we would do it all in the Name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to You, O God, our Father through Him. I know that it is You, Lord, working in us both to will and to do Your good pleasure. Help us, O God, to work out our own salvation with reverential fear and trembling as we do all things with the humility and love of Christ. Thank You, Lord, for the revelation and conviction of Your Holy Spirit - for opening our eyes to the areas where we miss the mark - such that we have opportunity to repent and be cleansed based upon Your mercy, Your grace, Your faithfulness, for Your glory. Lead us, guide us, show us the path of life, of righteousness for Your great Name’s sake. Increase our capacity to learn, to love, to carry the burdens of others and gently restore them from sin and so fulfill the law of Christ. Let our hearts be open to correction, and willing to be made willing to embrace Your will.

Now unto Him Who is able to keep us from falling, and to present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, before all time and now and forever (unto all the ages of eternity). Amen.

... and my journey with Him continues ...

Nearness

Songs: Be Near – Shane & Shane (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk_jBfJi_pk&NR=1)

Scriptures:
James 4:8 (NKJV)
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Hebrews 10:22
(AMP)Let us all come forward and draw near with true (honest and sincere) hearts in unqualified assurance and absolute conviction engendered by faith (by that leaning of the entire human personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness), having our hearts sprinkled and purified from a guilty (evil) conscience and our bodies cleansed with pure water.

(NLT)let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

Hebrews 7:19 (NCV)
The law of Moses could not make anything perfect. But now a better hope has been given to us, and with this hope we can come near to God.

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Separately, I guess they didn’t mean much. But looked at together, a pattern was emerging, for me anyway.

1. I read ahead in the God Calling devotional to November 26 (http://twolisteners.org/Nov%2016%20-%2030.htm#November 26):

November 26 - My Beauty

The prophet realized the Truth of My later saying "He that hath ears to hear let him hear" which might be rendered "he that hath eyes to see let him see."

The God who was to be born upon earth was not to be housed in a body so beautiful that men would follow and adore for the beauty of His Countenance.

No! He was to be as one whom the world would despise, but to the seeing eye, the Spirit that dwelt in that body should be so beautiful as to lack nothing. "Yet when we shall see Him, there is no Beauty that we should desire Him."

Pray for the seeing eye, to see the Beauty of My Character, of My Spirit. Nay, more, as faith saw the Beauty of the Godhead in One who had no form or comeliness, so pray to have that faith to see the Beauty of My Love in My dealings with you, in My actions. Till, in what the world will distort into cruelty and harshness, you, with the eyes of faith, will see all that you could desire.

Know Me. Talk to Me. Let Me talk to you, so that I may make clear to your loving hearts what seems mysterious now and purposeless ("having no form nor comeliness.")

2. I was up, going through the experience and documenting it in Powerful (yesterday’s blog – November 24). Particularly the part about what God let me see, how He enlightened the darkness of my understanding.

3. I went to the library, and saw (and picked up/checked out) books about our perceptions, the workings of the brain, our thinking.

4. Also checked out and prepared to read “You Were Born for This” by Bruce Wilkinson. Actually stopped and thought about the happenings of the day when I opened to the first chapter and saw “A New Way to See the World” as the title. Occurred to me then that God was, as they say, “up to something” regarding my perspective of things, how I saw things, my mindset, etc. I sensed an adjustment, a correction coming on.

5. Later, looked in my email and saw one from Nancy Stafford (http://www.nancystafford.com/notebook.php) entitled Abounding in Thanksgiving that began with the words, “Open your eyes.” I went on to read it, quieted in my soul as I read this part:

Then God invaded my mind. You need to know Me better, He whispered softly. "Uh, NO God, I need to you help me!" I blurted in my fear. You need to know Me better, He whispered again. Pray Paul's prayer to the Ephesians. Open your eyes!

In Ephesians 1:17-19, I saw where God was leading me, so I prayed Paul's prayer for myself:

I keep asking that You, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, will give me the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that I may know You better. I pray also that the eyes of my heart may be enlightened in order that I may know the hope to which You have called me, the riches of Your glorious inheritance in the saints, and Your incomparably great power for us who believe.

To know Him, to know Him better – stated here and also in the God Calling devotional I had read from the 26th. That God would orchestrate events in my life this day to remind me of His desire for me, and His desire that I would know Him, and be blessed in knowing Him better … it’s all quite humbling, and fills me with such wonder. I’ve been running into Psalm 16:11 lately:

(NKJV)You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

I had been thanking God the other day for the joy I felt in sensing His presence, when I felt He spoke to me about the “fullness of joy” including His joy at my being in His Presence and my experiencing joy in being there. It’s a cyclical kind of thing, and to me so like my God. I must admit that I had not thought of that before…

Thank You, God, for loving me so much, so divinely, so perfectly.

So now I get to today’s God Calling, which says, in part:

There is that gracious invitation, too, for those who yearn to realize a happiness, a rest, a satisfaction they have never found in the world and its pursuits. To them, the pleading answer to their quest is "Come to Me and I will give you rest."

Matthew 11:28-30 (New King James Version)
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Hebrews 11:6 New Living Translation (NLT)
And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

... and my journey with Him continues ...

Powerful

Songs: From the Inside Out (Everlasting) - Hillsong

Scriptures:
Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

Dichotomy – one meaning (per www.dictionary.com) is:

division into two mutually exclusive, opposed, or contradictory groups: a dichotomy between thought and action.

God has shown me where He is not just an “either / or” God, but (at least in many cases) an “And God.” I am grateful for the ways and the times that He enlightens me, when I am struggling to understand something in His Word that appears to be a dichotomy to me and I can’t find a resolution to reconcile the different viewpoints in my mind. (Another reason to be mindful of and let God monitor what I see, read, hear, etc. – to avoid confusion.)

Psalm 18:28
For You will light my lamp; The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

For example, I read something the other day that puzzled and disturbed me. Someone had said that the traditions of men were more powerful than the Word of God, based on Matthew 15:6 which says in part (NKJV),
“Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.”

I took issue with the notion that traditions were more powerful than God’s Word, but just dismissed what I had read and went on to something else. Well, tonight, I guess the Lord wanted me back at that, because when I opened my Bible to look up a different (and to me entirely unrelated) verse, I was at Matthew 15 and looking at verse 6. I decided to read the whole chapter but was still pretty much in the dark. Then, in looking up the verse in my Jewish commentary (Jewish New Testament Commentary: A Companion Volume to the Jewish New Testament by David H. Stern), I saw reference to the parallel in Mark 7, and headed over there. That’s when I got it. The first part of verse 13 (NKJV) says: “making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down.”

“Through.” What a difference another word makes! The light came on. “…of no effect through your tradition…” It was the traditions, which were supposed to reflect practical application of God’s Word, which were polluted (defiled) and keeping the people from being obedient to God / effective in the Word of God. The true meaning of God’s Word was not included with or honored – “of no effect” – in or through the traditions of which Jesus spoke. Mark 7 in the God’s Word Translation says, beginning at verse 7:

GWT - It is no use for them to worship me, because they teach human rules as though they were my laws!' 8 "You put aside God's command and obey human teachings." 9 And Jesus continued, "You have a clever way of rejecting God's law in order to uphold your own teaching…. 13 In this way the teaching you pass on to others cancels out the word of God. And there are many other things like this that you do."

Verses 8 and 9 in the Amplified version state:

8You disregard and give up and ask to depart from you the commandment of God and cling to the tradition of men [keeping it carefully and faithfully]. 9And He said to them, You have a fine way of rejecting [thus thwarting and nullifying and doing away with] the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition (your own human regulations)!

Once I got it, then I really saw verse 3 of Matthew 15 (NKJV):
He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?

So again, it is the disobedience to God’s laws, under cover of (and to follow man-made) tradition – not that the traditions were more powerful. And some other translations of Matthew 15, verses 3 and 6:

NCV - Jesus answered, "And why do you refuse to obey God's command so that you can follow your own teachings?... You rejected what God said for the sake of your own rules.
NIV - Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?... Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
AMP - He replied to them, And why also do you transgress and violate the commandment of God for the sake of the rules handed down to you by your forefathers (the elders)? …So for the sake of your tradition (the rules handed down by your forefathers), you have set aside the Word of God [depriving it of force and authority and making it of no effect].
NLT - Jesus replied, “And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God? …And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition.
GNT - Jesus answered, "And why do you disobey God's command and follow your own teaching?...In this way you disregard God's command, in order to follow your own teaching.
HCSB- He answered them, "And why do you break God's commandment because of your tradition?...In this way, you have revoked God's word because of your tradition.
NAS - And He answered and said to them, "Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?... And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
Phillips - Tell me," replied Jesus, "why do you break God's commandment through your tradition?...And so your tradition empties the commandment of God of all its meaning.

So it seems then, that what God wanted me to know is powerful (besides Himself) is the fact that He - in His wisdom and power, His mercy and grace - has given us the choice (in the way we experience the lives we have been given) to obey Him, or not:

Psalm 62:11-12 (NKJV)
God has spoken once, Twice I have heard this: That power belongs to God. Also to You, O Lord, belongs mercy; For You render to each one according to his work.

Deuteronomy 30:19 (NKJV)
14 But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. 15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 16 in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess….19I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;

Psalm 119:11(NKJV)
Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.

Hebrews 4:12(NKJV)
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

J. B. Phillips Translation, Romans 9:9-26:
9:18 - It seems plain, then, that God chooses on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will harden in their sin.
9:19-20 - Of course I can almost hear your retort: "If this is so, and God's will is irresistible, why does God blame men for what they do?" But the question really is this: "Who are you, a man, to make any such reply to God?" When a craftsman makes anything he doesn't expect it to turn round and say, 'Why did you make me like this?'
9:21-26 - The potter, for instance, is always assumed to have complete control over the clay, making with one part of the lump a lovely vase, and with another a pipe for sewage. Can we not assume that God has the same control over human clay? May it not be that God, though he must sooner or later expose his wrath against sin and show his controlling hand, has yet most patiently endured the presence in his world of things that cry out to be destroyed? Can we not see, in this, his purpose in demonstrating the boundless resources of his glory upon those whom he considers fit to receive his mercy, and whom he long ago planned to raise to glorious life? And by these chosen people I mean you and me, whom he has called out from both Jews and Gentiles. He says in Hosea: 'I will call them my people, who were not my people, and her beloved, who was not beloved'. 'And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, You are not my people, there they will be called sons of the living God'.

1 John 3:1(NKJV)
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

Exodus 19:5(NKJV)
Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.

Jeremiah 7:23(NKJV)
But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.’

Isaiah 40:8(NKJV)
The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”

... and my journey with Him continues ...

No other Name…

Songs: Rescue – Jared Anderson with Desperation Band
Rescue – Newsong
Came to My Rescue – Hillsong United

Scriptures:
Acts 4:8-12 (New International Version)
8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers and elders of the people! 9If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, 10then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11He is " 'the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.’ 12Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

Colossians 1:13-14 (New International Version)
For he [the Father] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

1 Thessalonians 1:10b (New International Version)
…Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

Galatians 1:3-5 (New International Version)
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.


I really have to guard my heart by being careful of the things I allow myself to see and hear. There are some songs to which I can’t listen, lest the lyrics get in my head and I think of them, or sing them. One of these songs is “Love Story” (performed by Taylor Swift.) When I heard (someone else performing) this song (which was the first time I had heard it), I couldn’t really understand the words, so I looked up the lyrics. Reading them, when I got to the part that says, “Romeo save me,” I thought of the song “Rescue” by Jared Anderson (performed by him with the Desperation Band, and also of the version performed by Newsong.) The part of “Rescue” that says, “There’s no other Name by which I am saved” forcefully came to mind.

I am reminded often of Philippians 4:8 which says, in the New American Standard Bible (NASB):
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

Also, from Psalm 1:1-2 in the New Living Translation (NLT):
Oh, the joys of those who … delight in the law of the LORD, meditating on it day and night.

So, for me, sticking with songs where the lyrics reflect truth is important (so I won’t stray)…
Psalm 119:11 (NIV)
I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

... and my journey with Him continues ...

Gratefulness

Songs: Great is Your Mercy – Donnie McClurkin
Grateful – Hezekiah Walker

Scripture: (NKJV)
Lamentations 3:23
Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.
Hebrews 12:28-29
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.
Psalm 86:12-13a
I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Your name forevermore. For great is Your mercy toward me …
1 Timothy 6:17
Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.

Thank You, Lord …

For showing me, sitting at a football game, how much is gained just being a spectator. To get out of oneself and be able to support another, to cheer them on, to feel for them and with them, to want them to win / be successful, to desire they be spared the pain of losing, to hope that they learn / grow in all they are doing, to want to be proud of / for them, to be disappointed when things don’t go well...

Thank You, Lord …

For showing me where I think too highly of myself, and the thoughts and actions of lawlessness spawned by this errant perception. Thank You again for Your goodness which brings me to repentance, for Your clarity with which I am able to see the truth, for Your tender rebukes, convictions, corrections…

Thank You, Lord …

That You know all of my limitations: that I, in my flesh, am but dust – no good dwells within me - that I cannot do anything without You, that my own righteousness is as filthy rags. I thank You that You want and have better for me in Christ; You have given me eternal life, given me Your Spirit to reside in my heart by faith, removed limitations as nothing is impossible with You. You have covered my nakedness with Your righteousness, having bridged the chasm of separation from You with the cross of Christ, reconciling me to Yourself. You have given me victory where there was only defeat, life where there was only death, light where there was only darkness. Thank You for Your faithfulness to forgive my sins and purify me from all unrighteousness by the blood, the sacrifice of Jesus. Thank You that through Christ alone I am a new creation...

Song: From the Inside Out (Everlasting) – Hillsong

I am in awe, Lord God, of Your greatness, delivered and demonstrated in Your faithfulness, Your power, Your goodness, Your wisdom, Your mercy, Your grace, Your unconditional, everlasting, overarching love… Hallelujah!

... and my journey with Him continues ...

Grace … Release … Worship

Songs: If Not for Your Grace - Israel Houghton & New Breed
To Worship You I Live – Israel Houghton & New Breed

Scripture: Psalm 16:11 (NKJV)
You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.


Thank You, Lord, for the privilege, for the grace, for the release to worship You… Thank You, O God, thank You. Thank You for all of the ways in which this worship can manifest itself. Thank You for all of the gifts, talents and abilities which You have given to us to be able to worship You, and to inspire and help others worship You as well. Thank You, Lord, for loving us enough to make worship of You – pure worship, that worship for which You seek, worship in spirit and in truth – such a pleasure, such a joy, no matter the circumstances. Thank You for the ability to lose ourselves in worship, and find You there – Your love, Your joy, Your righteousness, Your power, Your peace, Your kindness, Your goodness, Your holiness, Your majesty, Lord, Your truth, Your guidance, Your correction, Your tenderness, Your mercy, Your comfort, Your purpose, Your wisdom, Your acceptance, Your understanding, Your Presence… O God, I thank You! Thank You. For all that You are. For all You have been, will be and are now to me - and to others - in us, for us, through us. For all that we are and can be in You. Thank You. Thank You for the ability to feel joy! Lord, I thank You. Thank You, Lord God, for a grateful heart, for an awareness of all for which I have to be thankful. Thank You. Thank You, Lord. Thank You. I can’t thank You enough for everything…Hallelujah! Thank You again and again and again...

... and my journey with Him continues ...

Amazing Love

Song: Whenever, Wherever, Whatever - Maxwell
Scripture: Zephaniah 3:17 (AMP)
The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a Savior [Who saves]! He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest [in silent satisfaction] and in His love He will be silent and make no mention [of past sins, or even recall them]; He will exult over you with singing.

The Lord sometimes sings me love songs. I never expected this in our relationship (makes me think of the Donnie McClurkin song, Who Would’ve Thought.) He takes songs that are special to me, songs that appeal to me, whatever the genre, and directs the lyrics, the love, toward me from Him. It started with pretty mellow songs – by Sade, Chante Moore, Maxwell, Howard Hewitt, etc. – but I have come to see, to know that His love can be revealed through anything.

And the love He’s gifted me on occasion to feel…amazing. So amazing that He loves so much, and that He loves me, and that He loves us, and that He is in (as within) love and that He is love…

Song: Amazing Love / You are my King
Scripture: 1 John 4:7-21 (NKJV)

Knowing God Through Love
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Seeing God Through Love
12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

The Consummation of Love
17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love Him because He first loved us.

Obedience by Faith
20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

... and my journey with Him continues ...

Always Praising

Song: The Stand, Hillsong United
Scripture: Psalm 34:1 (AMP)
I WILL bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

I sometimes wake up with words from different songs intermingled in my head, flowing from my heart in unspoken prayer or erupting from my lips. I think some part of me – my heart, my spirit, something – is always praising God.

I came to this conclusion a few years ago, when I was taking a sign language class in the evenings after work. One night, after the class, I had to go to the laundromat and wash a few loads of clothes. Once the clothes had been washed and were in the dryer, I was sitting, talking with my children when I noticed that my hands were moving, seemingly of their own volition. I watched for a moment, intrigued, not even having been aware of the movement, much less directing it. My hands were both up and open, and one hand would cross in front of me to touch its middle finger to the middle of the palm of the other then return to its position as the other hand reciprocated.

How could I not have noticed this? How long had this been going on? I really was disconcerted at first, wondering what was going on when it hit me: my hands were signing “Jesus.” As this realization dawned, my hands slowly lowered themselves to my lap and the thought that my “innermost being” was always praising God burst into my thoughts as light onto darkness. “Wow” was the only thing I could muster to think on my own, humbled by this revelation.

So now, when I’m aware that some part of me that is exclusively God’s is following love’s compulsion to worship, the rest of me gratefully tries to “get with the program” and reverently offer Him the praise that only He is due.

Psalm 150:6 (NKJV)
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!

John 1:12-14 (NKJV)
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
The Word Becomes Flesh
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

1 Peter 1:22-25 (AMP)
22Since by your obedience to the Truth through the [Holy ] Spirit you have purified your hearts for the sincere affection of the brethren, [see that you] love one another fervently from a pure heart.
23You have been regenerated (born again), not from a mortal origin (seed, sperm), but from one that is immortal by the ever living and lasting Word of God.
24For all flesh (mankind) is like grass, and all its glory (honor) like [the] flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower drops off,
25But the Word of the Lord (divine instruction, the Gospel) endures forever. And this Word is the good news which was preached to you.

... and my journey with Him continues ...

Christ Our Example

Songs:
Draw Me Nearer (Crosby)
You Are Good, by Jeff Deyo

Scripture: Psalm 100 (King James Version)
1Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
2Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
3Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

I was in my devotional time, and having just prayed “We are Your people, and the sheep of Your pasture,” I began singing:

I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice,
And it told Thy love to me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith
And be closer drawn to Thee.
Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord…


I stopped when I sensed the Lord questioning me:

Do you know what you’re asking?

I was quiet. I thought of when it was requested of Jesus that James and John be allowed to sit on the right and left hand of Jesus in His glorious kingdom, and Jesus’ answer to them:

Mark 10:38 (NKJV)
But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

My mind went to another time when the Lord stopped me as I was singing to question my grasp of the words coming out of my mouth. I was in church, and we were singing some song about how much we love Jesus. I was really getting into the song, really feeling it, and sensed His query:

Do you really love Me?

"Yes, Lord,” I said.

Do you even know what love really is?

At that point I was quiet (like Job when he was questioned by God) and just sat down. I was led to 1 Corinthians 13:


The Greatest Gift
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

…and to John 14:

21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”
22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”
23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.


…reminding me that love wasn’t about a feeling, but about obedience, shown through actions.

John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

Back in the present, I waited. Not sensing anything else right then, I read my God Calling devotional entry for today. One part of it struck me:

"He saved others. Himself He cannot save."

Lord, I believe that You could have saved Yourself
– that it was not beyond Your ability - but You chose not to.

John 12:27 (NKJV)
“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.

It was either You or us, and You chose us.

John 15:16
You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

I am reminded anew that You could not – by Your own choice - save Yourself, because You were saving us. You put us first. Because of Your love for the Father and Your obedience to Him…

John 14:31 (NKJV)
But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here.

John 10:17 (NKJV)
“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.

Mark 14:36 (NKJV)
And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.”


John 13:1
Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

… and Your love for us, for me – You could not: You did not. Thank You, Lord.

Isaiah 55:8-13 (AMP)
8For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord.
9For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.
10For as the rain and snow come down from the heavens, and return not there again, but water the earth and make it bring forth and sprout, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
12For you shall go out [from the spiritual exile caused by sin and evil into the homeland] with joy and be led forth [by your Leader, the Lord Himself, and His word] with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a name of renown, for an everlasting sign [of jubilant exaltation] and memorial [to His praise], which shall not be cut off.


Mark 10:45 (NKJV)
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many."


John 11:49-52 (NIV)
49Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, "You know nothing at all! 50You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish."
51He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.


Matthew 27:42 (AMP)
42He rescued others from death; Himself He cannot rescue from death. He is the King of Israel? Let Him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in and acknowledge and cleave to Him.


Romans 5:15 (NIV)
But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

In writing this blog, I also thought about the Our Daily Bread devotionals for the past couple of days, and went online to look at them. I saw on the RBC home page part of the Been Thinking About blog. It mentioned that this is Yom Kippur, so I read what it was saying. The lessons of Jonah, love, sacrifice from all of this reminds me of the greatness of God’s love, grace and mercy – not just towards me, but towards everyone, even those I may not think should benefit from them. And my challenge, as He answers my prayer to “draw me nearer,” is to let that greatness live in and through me…

Philippians 2:1-11 (NKJV & AMP [v5])

Unity Through Humility
1 Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

The Humbled and Exalted Christ

5Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus: [Let Him be your example in humility:] 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

... and my journey with Him continues ...

Shadow and Light

Song: Everything, by Tim Hughes
Scripture: Amos 5:8 (New Century Version)
8 God is the one who made the star groups Pleiades and Orion;
he changes darkness into the morning light,
and the day into dark night.
He calls for the waters of the sea
to pour out on the earth.
The Lord is his name.

I’m not sure when, but at some point I wrote this:

Shadow and light,
As night into day
The Son bursts,
Wordlessly, powerfully
Into my heart
Golden radiance
Spreads into blue skies
Rays of hope
Shine through the clouds
A lone dove sails into the light
Metallic brilliance
Occupies its space
Temporarily
As the blinding light it reflects
Emerges
Pink skies give way
The clouds now appear
The searing brightness
Casting darkness from my life
Things look different in the light
Even if I’ve had my eyes closed
Confidence wells within my soul
Thank You for Your Presence
Tears well in my eyes
The beauty of it all
Piercing my soul.

1 Peter 2:9-10 (New King James Version)
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

... and my journey with Him continues ...

Love, Worship, Obedience, Service

Songs:
How Great is Our God, by Chris Tomlin
Glory to God Forever, by Steve Fee

Scripture: Isaiah 6:1-8 (NASB)
Isaiah's Vision
1In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. 2Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3And one called out to another and said,

"Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts,
The whole earth is full of His glory."

4And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. 5Then I said,

"Woe is me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."

6Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7He touched my mouth with it and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven."

Isaiah's Commission

8Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!"


My lessons from the Lord which had focused on obedience have now transitioned to include the aspect of service. I woke up this morning and as a part of my morning devotions read a Sunday School lesson from Isaiah 6. Part of that lesson differentiated between the experience and the expression of worship. So even before I got to church I was thinking on obedience, on loving God, on being so enamored and so in awe of Him that total obedience, submission, surrender and availability is given to Him in and as service.

In church today, one of the songs was “How Great is Our God.” That song is very special to me; I think of that song with the Lord as “our song.” I first heard it at a church in Florida while I was visiting my sister and her husband. When I got back home to Atlanta, I didn’t hear it anywhere. I didn’t have ready access to the internet just then, so I was going crazy thinking about that song, wondering what it was (as I could only remember a portion of the words), who did it, etc. When I finally heard it on the radio, I just broke down crying. I wanted to run straight out and get it – to be able to hear it, get lost in it whenever I wanted - but felt that that was not what the Lord would have me do. When I asked Him why, I understood the answer to be – given with a playful smile – that I would just sit around listening to the song, crying, and would not do anything else that needed to be done. I could only laugh, affirming that truth (“True dat”) as I acquiesced. Since then, whenever I am “allowed” to hear that song, my heart rejoices in being able to share that praise, and I am filled with gratitude for my Lord’s thoughts toward me. But I digress…

Love. Worship. Obedience. Service. More of a revelation of the connection between these was brought to my understanding during a women’s conference I attended a few years ago, at which Minister Patricia Ashley was the speaker. Although you really should hear this story from her (admittedly, it loses a lot in my translation), she shared about a time of worship she had with the Lord where her love and zeal for Him were poured out in a declaration that whatever He wanted she would do. He responded with an instruction for her to prepare her husband’s favorite meal for him (for Him). That God would ask us to do something for Him by doing something for someone else…a novel concept in my mind at that time, though it shouldn’t have been. Jesus remarked on this in Matthew 25:31-46 (NKJV):

The Son of Man Will Judge the Nations
31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

I knew the story, but in connection with my ideas at that time of “doing good works” and not as an expression of worship. But during the time I was getting this lesson, the Lord had spoken into my spirit: “Worship is a lifestyle.” Then He took me to John 4:21-24 (NKJV):

21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

“Must worship.” “Those who worship Him must worship.” This was impressed, that if I am to truly worship, for me there is to be an element of compulsion stemming from the love. (2 Corinthians 5:14a: For the love of Christ compels us…) God knows all about me, including my limitations and weaknesses (Psalm 139.) He remembers that I am “just dust” (Psalm 103:14.) So once the choice is made to accept the invitation to be one who would worship Him, I must worship. There is no other option. And this worship which I give must be in/by/with/through “spirit and truth,” with obedience being a necessary part in my true worship just as it is integral in the expression of my true love. (1 John 5:3 This is love for God: to obey his commands.) Jesus said, in John 14 (NASB):

15"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. …
21"He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him."
22Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?"
23Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.
24"He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me.

So to love, to worship, to obey, to serve – all part of my purpose.

Lord, thank You so much for Your faithfulness to work in me to will and to do Your good pleasure in accordance with Your divine will. Your patient longsuffering, Your humor, Your grace, Your mercy – all of the ways Your love is shown to me continues to humble me, and draw me closer to You. Thank You for loving me first, loving me best, loving me so that I would have something with which to love You back and share with others.

34But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together.
35One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him,
36"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?"
37And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.'
38"This is the great and foremost commandment.
39"The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'
40"On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."
Matthew 22:34-40 (NASB)

... and my journey with Him continues ...

Not my way...

Song: Alpha and Omega, by Israel and New Breed

Scripture:
In the days of His flesh, He [Jesus] offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 5:7-10 (NASB)

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16 (NASB)

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:1-3

It seems to me that there is a redemptive power in, a perfection gained through suffering. This is not the way I would have it; this is just the way it seems to be. I admit that this is not even the way I would like for it to be – I don’t like pain. But I do acknowledge and understand that pain serves a purpose. Just ask anyone who doesn’t feel pain (or their loved ones) how important and beneficial sensitivity to pain can be.

Lord, for me this is such a hard thing to accept, an unpleasant lesson to learn...but I know that with You all things are possible. I praise You for the wisdom of Your ways. Help me, Lord, to bear my own pain more bravely, to trust You through the trials, to depend upon and tap into Your strength. Thank You that You care about how we all feel, and You share Your sensitivity to our pain with us, that we can sympathize and empathize with others, and comfort them in the same way You comfort us. You have not left us alone or comfortless…

Song: To Worship You I Live, by Israel and New Breed

Matthew 26:39
He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” (NKJV)

Mark 14:36
And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.” (NKJV)

2 Corinthians 4:17-18
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (NKJV)

Job 23:10
But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. (NKJV)

... and my journey with Him continues ...

Good Thing or “God Thing”?

Song: Give Me Your Eyes, by Brandon Heath

Scripture:
For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome. Jeremiah 29:11 (AMP)

A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9 (NKJV)

There are many plans in a man’s heart, Nevertheless the LORD’s counsel—that will stand. Proverbs 19:21 (NKJV)

Not much went as I had planned yesterday. There were a couple of places I thought I was to go, a few things I thought I was to do. But as I got ready to go those places and do those things, I had one of those interruptions where I knew that my plans had been altered by my Lord. He had spoken very clearly with me about this issue before – you know, one of those times where you are very starkly aware, as one of my friends says, that “He ain’t playing.” So I went somewhere else and did something else to be in as much compliance as I could with what I believed to be the will of the Lord.

Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional reminded me of yesterday’s events. (It is available online at http://rbc.org/devotionals/our-daily-bread/2009/09/03/devotion.aspx.) It also made me think of how God uses the things we may consider “bad” – like changes or interruptions or difficulties - for His glory, and how the things we may consider “good” aren’t always what’s best by God’s design. The last sentence said, “Even when our journey in life is marked by confinement and limitations, we can be sure that the Lord will encourage others through us as we speak His Word and trust in Him.”

Immediately, I thought of Nick Vujicic, born without arms or legs. Later two other people came to mind - David Ring, who was born with cerebral palsy, and Joni Eareckson Tada, who had a diving accident which left her a quadriplegic. All three of these people – and many more besides – have lives “marked by confinement and limitations,” but encourage others as they speak and teach the Word of God. (Also, continuing from last Sunday’s message at church, they are examples of “making the most of your talents.”)

Again, I thought of how God sees things, from His eternal, omniscient perspective. Because of my change in plans, I had the opportunity to begin reading the Sunday School lesson for this coming Sunday from The New International Lesson Annual. The reading material at the beginning of the book spoke of Christian education as transformational, and I remembered how “transformation” was a theme with me this past Lenten season. I also thought yesterday’s blog, and my plea that the Lord would help me to see as He sees. Besides the Brandon Heath song, I thought of the words from the hymn “Open my eyes that I may see,” and the song “Open the eyes of my heart.”

Lord, how I thank You that You desire to cure my “blindness” – of my eyes, of my heart. Thank You that Jesus came and was anointed to do just that, secure recovery of sight for the blind, that those who do not see may see. Thank You for the revelation that only You can give. Thank You for helping me to see as You see.

Exodus 4:11
So the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD?

Psalm 146:8
The LORD opens the eyes of the blind; The LORD raises those who are bowed down; The LORD loves the righteous.

Isaiah 29:18
In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.

Isaiah 35:5
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

Psalm 146 (New King James Version)
The Happiness of Those Whose Help Is the LORD
1 Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD, O my soul!
2 While I live I will praise the LORD;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

3 Do not put your trust in princes,
Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.
4 His spirit departs, he returns to his earth;
In that very day his plans perish.

5 Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help,
Whose hope is in the LORD his God,
6 Who made heaven and earth,
The sea, and all that is in them;
Who keeps truth forever,
7 Who executes justice for the oppressed,
Who gives food to the hungry.
The LORD gives freedom to the prisoners.

8 The LORD opens the eyes of the blind;
The LORD raises those who are bowed down;
The LORD loves the righteous.
9 The LORD watches over the strangers;
He relieves the fatherless and widow;
But the way of the wicked He turns upside down.

10 The LORD shall reign forever—
Your God, O Zion, to all generations.

Praise the LORD!

... and my journey with Him continues ...