Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring

When we throw ourselves against the rocks of our own desires, we are crippled, we shrivel and die.

When we throw ourselves before the throne of the God Most High, we will soar to places more sublime than we can ever imagine!

Jesu, joy of man’s desiring!
Holy wisdom, love most bright.
(Jesus, You are the joy for which all hearts are longing.
You are wisdom pure and love revealed.)
Drawn by Thee, our souls aspiring
Soar to uncreated light.
(By God’s design, You created our souls 
to flourish in the presence of Your eternal glory.)
Word of God, our flesh that fashioned,
With the fire of life impassioned.
Striving still to truth unknown,
Soaring, dying round Thy throne.
(Throughout eternity, we will soar through the mountains
and plunge into the oceans of Your Truth and Beauty.)

Therefore, let us fix our eyes on JESUS, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross. Hebrews 12:2a (NIV)

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

My Bondage Is My Freedom.


Come and Listen



All Scripture references are from NASB 1995 unless otherwise noted.


“Ho ! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy ? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance.
“Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:1-2, 6-9
There are countless stories of the kings in the Old Testament who followed God, but who did not tear down the “high places.
Asa did what was right in the sight of the LORD, like David his father. But the high places were not taken away; nevertheless the heart of Asa was wholly devoted to the LORD all his days. 1 Kings 15:11, 14
[Jehoshaphat] walked in all the way of Asa his father; he did not turn aside from it, doing right in the sight of the LORD. However, the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt incense on the high places. 1 Kings 22:43
Jehoash did right in the sight of the LORD all his days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him. Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. 2 Kings 12:2-3 
Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah became king....He did right in the sight of the LORD, yet not like David his father; he did according to all that Joash his father had done. Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. 2 Kings 14:1, 3-4
Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah became king...He did right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. 2 Kings 15:1, 3-4
And it goes ON and ON!
The last time I read through the kings, I found these statistics disturbing. How could they leave idol worship anywhere in the land. But then the Lord convicted me: “What are your ‘high places’?”
All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. 1 Corinthians 6:12
All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. 1 Corinthians 10: 23
Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy ?Am I delighting more in my freedom in Christ or in my bond with Christ?
It is through my bond in Christ that I will become like Him, and it is by becoming like Him that I will be able to be with Him.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9
Are my life choices drawing me closer to Christ, or am I just treading water?
Show me Your ways, O LORD, teach me Your paths; guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long. Psalm 25:4-5 (NIV)







To Love Our God
by Mark Hayes
Where does the wind come from? Where does it go?
Blowing north then south, how does it know?
The rain flows gently to the sea, yet the sea is never full.
How can these things be?
Humanity works hard to make a name,
Toiling in the sun, yet nothing gained.
We all return to dust from whence we came.
All is empty, all is vain.
To love our God, the reason we live;
To love our God, the highest call.
Nothing satisfies our soul, gives life meaning makes us whole.
For this purpose we were made…to love our God.

Monday, April 25, 2011

See...I make all things new!

“What does God have against dead bodies?” I asked myself this when I came across the rules of a Nazirite (someone who sets themselves apart to the Lord for a special time and purpose, ie. Samson) in Numbers 6:6-7a (NLT):
And they may not go near a dead body during the entire period of their vow to the LORD, even if their own father, mother, brother, or sister has died.
Whoah! That seemed harsh! And...truthfully? It bugged me. After my dad had passed into the presence of the Lord, I said good-bye with a kiss on his forehead. The idea that, as a Nazirite, such a daughterly gesture would have made me unclean was difficult to digest. But...because I have a God who's willing to give up His godly form to become human and die an innocent death in my place, I sucked it up and decided to dig deeper. What was REALLY going on? What DOES God have against dead bodies?

After ruminating, I realized: it's not dead bodies but death that is the real issue. Death grieves God (Ps. 116:15). Anything with the stink of death on it automatically carries with it the stink of sin (Rom. 15:12). Death puts a face on sin. We can try to hide our shortcomings (like the Pharisees) behind a veneer of good works. However, we are not Dorian Gray: the toxin inside us that makes us essentially self-serving little beasts is revealed in the cracks in our skin and the frost in our hair. To a Holy God, who is everything good and perfect, and who sees things as they really are, death is evil. It's an aberration, an intrusion into His good plan.

But, God also had a contingency plan to undo the destruction of sin and death.

Redemption is not just about being good. It's about not being dead. How can WE mere mortals hope to defeat such a colossal foe as Death? With wrinkle creams, hair dyes, the proper diet and exercise? Or maybe by guarding our tongues, loving our neighbors and feeding the poor? That's like trying to put out a forest fire with only kindness and a dazzling smile.

We need a champion. We need Jesus. Only the Giver of Life (Heb. 1:2) can be the Slayer of Death (1 Cor. 15:55-57). His holiness is the natural enemy of unholiness. God's inherent glory consumes anything that is less than glorious (Matt. 3:11-12Heb. 12:28-29). He has taken our sin and death upon Himself, devoured it, and given us His holiness in its place (Col. 1:20-22).

Seven years ago, I went to see the film The Passion of the Christ. The audience sobbed aloud as the Savior was beaten mercilessly and crucified. However, it wasn’t the brutality depicted that drove me to tears. That was just too hard to watch. What got me was something Jesus said to His mother, Mary, as He struggled up the hill to be crucified:


[Please watch the film clip now, or read the synopsis* below.]



*Synopsis: In the scene, Jesus is staggering along the path through the outskirts of Jerusalem carrying His cross, gasping under the weight of its awful burden. His blood-smeared hands struggle to support its bulk, and the blood streaming down His forehead robs Him of sight. But, still, He stumbles on. The clamoring crowd lines both sides of the way. Some faces display grief, but most are yelling in hateful anger. Then we see His mother, Mary, following His progress with unsure feet and tortured eyes. A specter in black mirrors her movements on the other side of the road, but with stealthy steps and eyes devoid of human feeling. A manifestation of Satan. With a shudder, Mary urges her companion, the disciple John, to help her get closer to Jesus. 
As the crowd's emotions flare, the guards respond by whipping Jesus yet again. When He collapses, Mary remembers an incident from His boyhood. The film cuts back and forth between the Boy and then the Man falling to the ground. She reaches His side at last and murmurs “I’m here! I’m here!” She still wants to protect Him. But the Son of God touches her face with His bloodied hand as this revelation convulses from His parched throat,
“See, mother, I make all things new!"
With renewed determination, He rises again to His feet, continuing the ascent up the hill to our salvation. 
I was undone! The tears in my eyes obliterated the ensuing violence on the screen and flushed out a granule of fatalism that had been lodged in my heart. Even though I accepted Christ's gift of salvation years ago, I continue to contend with my old nature and, consequently, with feelings of failure. But to hear Christ say those words from Revelation in relation to the cross gave me a new way to look at my struggle. Christ is making me new even now. When I fall, I just need to remember He is doing the work. Then I can get right back up, following in His steps!

As soon as I got home from the movie, I looked up the passage in Revelation. John, now an apostle, is speaking about a vision he had of a new heaven and a new earth. It’s our “happily ever after”:
I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, the home of God is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. For the old world and its evils are gone forever.” And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making all things new!” (Rev. 21:3-5a, NLT)

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

“Ain’t It a Pretty Night!”

When young lovers gush eloquent tributes to the objects of their affections, some listeners might smile reminiscently, while others snort knowingly, depending on each one's own experience. However, the powerful sense of well-being that overwhelms you when encountering the glorious beauty of nature, which causes you to quote Robert Browning — “God’s in his heaven, All’s right with the world” — is hard to argue against, if you yourself have ever witnessed a night like the one Susannah did.


“Ain’t It a Pretty Night!”
by Carlise Floyd, from the opera Susannah
Susannah:

Ain't it a pretty night!
The sky's so dark an' velvet-like, and it's all lit up with stars.
It's like a great big mirror reflectin' fireflies over a pond.
Look at all them stars, Little Bat! The longer y'look, the more y'see.
The sky seems so heavy with stars that it might fall right out of heaven
an' cover us all up in one big blanket of velvet all stitched with diamon's.
Ain't it a pretty night!
Just think, those stars can all peep down an' see way beyond where we can:
they can see way beyond them mountains
to Nashville an' Ashville an' Knoxville.
I wonder what it's like out there, out there beyond them mountains,
where the folks talk nice, an' the folks dress nice,
like y'see in the mail order catalogs.
I aim to leave this valley some day an' find out fer myself:
to see all the tall buildin's and all the street lights
an' be one o' them folks myself.
I wonder if I'd get lonesome fer the valley, though,
fer the sound of crickets an' the smell of pine straw,
fer soft little rabbits an' bloomin' things
an' the mountains turnin' gold in the fall.
But I could always come back if I got homesick for the valley.
So I'll leave it someday an' see fer myself.
Someday I'll leave an' then I'll come back
when I've seen what's beyond them mountains.
Ain't it a pretty night!
The sky's so heavy with stars tonight
that it could fall right down out of heaven
an' cover us up, an' cover us up
in one big blanket of velvet and diamon's.
Another songwriter, named David, also exploded with joy upon seeing the glory of the night sky:
Psalm 19 (NLT)
The heavens tell of the glory of God. The skies display his marvelous craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or a word; their voice is silent in the skies; yet their message has gone out to all the earth, and their words to all the world. 
The sun lives in the heavens where God placed it. It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding. It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race. The sun rises at one end of the heavens and follows its course to the other end. Nothing can hide from its heat.
If you embrace and agree with David's words, allow that same feeling of joy and well-being to continue as you read his words that follow those:
The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The commandments of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are clear, giving insight to life. Reverence for the LORD is pure, lasting forever. The laws of the LORD are true; each one is fair. They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb. They are a warning to those who hear them; there is great reward for those who obey them. 
How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep me from deliberate sins! Don't let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin. May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

The Word of God, aka “The Law,” is not meant to drag us down but to draw us up to Him. It reveals the dark recesses of our souls, where selfishness and self preservation abide and consume us. God never intended us to be the centers of our own lives. His glory is the fire around which we should dance. Self-centeredness induces anxiety and keeps us hiding in the bushes in fear, like the newly-fallen Adam and Eve did when they heard the approaching footsteps of their All-Good Creator-God. 
There are three ways God has revealed Himself to us:
  • Through the glory of His creation
  • Through the wisdom of His Word
  • Through the sacrificial love of His Son, Jesus Christ
Allow the beauty of God's creation to inform you of His good and loving intentions, which He has also declared in His Word and demonstrated in the life, the works, the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus. Don't buy into the nonsense that Bible is a drag and that God is the great, big spoil sport in the sky. The only thing He wants to spoil is the destructive power of sin, death and selfishness, which Christ has already done by selflessly taking our sin and death upon Himself when He died on the cross. Then He trumpeted His victory by rising again.
The next time your heart glories in the beauty of the night sky, remember: that feeling is only a glimmer of what God can do in your heart through His Word and His Son — if you let Him!


Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Tears of Joy

(Inaugural Post)


God on High, 
Hear my prayer for this world, 
Let them know You are near.


See the tears on the cheek
Of the sad and the weak:
Bring them peace,
Bring them joy,
Bring them hope.


The life You gave, You meant for good.
With You it can be even yet.
Our dreams may die, one by one,
But hope in You grows on and on,
And as years pass, we won't regret.


You are peace,
You are joy,
You are hope
Even death can't destroy.


When we kneel, You forgive,
Then we heal, then we live.
And the tears on our cheek,
When we're sad, when we're weak,
You will kiss and give back
Tears of joy.




Words by Betty Ann White