3/30/09

Sing to Jesus

Come and see, look on this mystery
The Lord of the Universe, nailed to a tree
Christ our God, spilling His Holy blood
Bowing in anguish, His sacred head

Sing to Jesus, Lord of our shame
Lord of our sinful hearts.
He is our great Redeemer.
Sing to Jesus, Honor His name.
Sing of His faithfulness, pouring His life out unto death

Come you weary and He will give you rest
Come you who mourn, lay on His breast
Christ who died, risen in Paradise
Giver of mercy, Giver of Life

Sing to Jesus, He is the throne
Now and forever, He is the King of Heaven.
Sing to Jesus, we are His own.
Now and forever sing for the love our God has shown.

Sing to Jesus, Lord of our shame
Lord of our sinful hearts.
He is our great Redeemer.
Sing to Jesus, Honor His name.
Sing to Jesus His is the throne
Now and forever, He is the King of Heaven.

Sing to Jesus, we are His own.
Now and forever sing for the love our God has shown.

-FO

God is Trustworthy

Our fathers trusted in You;
They trusted, and You delivered them.
They cried to You, and were delivered;
They trusted in You, and were not ashamed. Psalm 22:4-5

'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His word,
Just to rest upon His promise,
Just to know, "Thus saith the Lord."

Be assured, if you walk with Him and look to Him and expect help from Him, He will never fail you. As an older brother who has known the Lord for forty-four years, who writes this, says to you for your encouragement that He has never failed him. In the greatest difficulties, in the heaviest trials, in the deepest poverty and necessities, He has never failed me; but because I was enabled by His grace to trust Him He has always appeared for my help. I delight in speaking well of His name. - George Mueller

No good things does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. But how is this true, when God oftentimes withholds riches and honours and health of body from men, though they walk ever so uprightly; we may therefore know that honours and riches and bodily strength are none of God's good things...and the good things of God are chiefly peace of conscience and joy in the Holy Ghost in this life; fruition of God's presence, and vision of His blessed face in the next, and these good things God never bestows upon the wicked, and never withholds from the godly. - Richard Baker

Nothing is more difficult, when we see our faith derided by the whole world, than to direct our speech to God only, and to rest satisfied with this testimony which our conscience gives us, THAT HE IS OUR GOD. And certainly it is an undoubted proof of genuine faith, when, however sore the assaults by which we are shaken, we hold fast this as a fixed principle, that we are constantly under the protectin of God, and can say to him freely, THOU ART MY GOD. - John Calvin

I Will Praise Him Still

When the morning falls on the farthest hill
I will sing His name, I will praise Him still

When dark trials come and my heart is filled
With the weight of doubt, I will praise Him still

For the Lord, our God, He is strong to save
From the arms of death, from the deepest grave

And He gave us life in His perfect will
And by His good grace I will praise Him still

Fernando Ortega

God is Righteous

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;
Mercy and truth go before Your face.
Blessed are the people who know they joyful sound!
They walk, O Lord, in the light of Your countenance. Ps. 89:14-15

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus' name.

We survive in the way of faith not because we have extraordinary stamina but because God is righteous. Christian discipleship is a process of paying more and more attention to God's righteousness and less and less attention ot our own; finding the meaning of our lives not by probing our moods and motives and morals but by believing God's will and purposes; making a map of faithfulness of God, not charting the rise andf all of our enthusiasms. It is out of such a reality that we acquire perserance. - Eugene Peterson

Psalm 103
A Psalm of David.
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
3 Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The LORD executes righteousness
And justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the children of Israel.
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
9 He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
12 As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father pities his children,
So the LORD pities those who fear Him.
14 For He knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16 For the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
And its place remembers it no more.
17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting
On those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,
18 To such as keep His covenant,
And to those who remember His commandments to do them.
19 The LORD has established His throne in heaven,
And His kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the LORD, you His angels,
Who excel in strength, who do His word,
Heeding the voice of His word.
21 Bless the LORD, all you His hosts,
You ministers of His, who do His pleasure.
22 Bless the LORD, all His works,
In all places of His dominion.

Bless the LORD, O my soul!

3/23/09

Saved but not striving for holiness?

"What a strange kind of salvation they desire that care not for holiness.... They would be saved by Christ and yet be out of Christ in a fleshly state.... They would have their sins forgiven, not that they may walk with God in love, in time to come, but that they may practice their enmity against Him without any fear of punishment."
3rd Century Writer

3/12/09

JP

John Piper says:
God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him.
Oh to be satisfied in only Him...and Him alone.

3/11/09

Chains of Faith

chain:
a series of objects connected one after the other....[used] for supporting or confining.

Events in our life are like links in a chain. Every act of belief, every act of courage, adds one more link to our chain of faith. What kind of chain am I making?
Am I making a chain to support (chain of faith) or to confine(chain of fear)?
How I react to circumstances determines what I build.

May I always add links to my Chain of Faith.

3/9/09

As told by the Father...

Please Come Back

I can't breathe
It's agony
Wondering where you are
Picture me on my knees
Have you run too far?

Can you hear
Can you hear the sound of my heart break
With each step you take
Can you feel
Can you feel me when I say

Please come back to me I miss you, will you come to your senses
Please come back to me I await the day when I prepare the feast
And I embrace you running to me

All I am
All I have
Is yours to find
You hide and seek
You think you're free
But you're wasting time

I can hear
I can hear the sound of footsteps pounding
Regret resounding
I believe
I believe the hour is near

What would you give for a ransomed heart
Would it cost too much I'm telling you now, if you run to me

You will be free
You'll be running, you'll be running back to me

by Michelle Tumes (From the story of the Prodigal Son)

Psalm 63:1

"O God, You are my God;
early will I seek you;
my soul thirsts for You;
my flesh longs for You
in a dry and thristy land
where there is no water."

Lord, I have found this world to be so empty and dry. I am not satisifed with anything in this world. I want to be satisfied. I want You, O my God. I want to be satisfied in You. Amen.
Isaiah 26:9 - Love it! :-)
"With my soul I have desired You in the night, yes,
by my spirit within me I will seek You early;
For when Your judgments are in the earth,
the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness."

3/6/09

Psalm 30:5, 11

Psalm 30:5, 11
For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life.
Weeping may endur for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
You have put off my sackcloth adn clothed with with gladness.


David knew a lot about sadness and depression. Maybe that is why so many of the Psalms speak to me. God is turning my mourning into dancing. He is turning my weeping into joy.

May HE be praised...Amen.

3/3/09

Break Through

Break Through - By Michelle Tumes


Love, love will make the distance
It’s song riding through the moors of all that’s lost
Hope, the flag that leads the mission
Flying over rain and foe
To rescue me from harm
I see my love, see my love
With might to save
Scale the walls of yesterday
Break through

Be my joy, be my joy
Charge this path and
Storm the tower of my heart
For only you can break through to me


Love, the banquet for the famished
Its song rising through these halls to fill my heart
Hope the banner in the anguish
Writing words of faith
Erasing thoughts of a darkened soul


I see my love, see my love
With might to save
Scale the walls of yesterday
Break through
Be my joy, be my joy
Charge this path and
Storm the tower of my heart
For only you can break through to me

Listen to the angels
Fill the chapel
Singing adulation
Let the bells ring
Thank you, God for breaking down the walls of my heart. Thank you for coming in and rescuing me with Your Love. Your Love and Joy is what makes my life livable.

3/2/09

Alice = Those Who Ignore the Christians Who are Hurting

When Alice has an answer it's a common rationality
She measures her phrases, tipping the scales of reality
But does she know that it's cold to sing songs to a troubled heart
Tho' her aim is sincere she's missing the mark

She paints her world in yellow and green, covering over the greys
'Cause life's demands are hard to understand
So Alice stays lost in her wonderland

I said - Alice look around you, people are falling to pieces
Yea, even the faithful, the ones who still believe in Jesus
But that doesn't mean they've fallen from grace
But in her landscape, their heartache is so out of place

She paints her world in yellow and green, covering over the greys
'Cause life's demands are hard to understand
So Alice stays lost in her wonderland

So can we talk of shoes and of ships?
Can we talk of cabbages and kings?
And of learning to live with the mystery of things

She paints her world in yellow and green, covering over the greys
'Cause life's demands are hard to understand
So Alice stays lost in her wonderland

Susan Ashton

Innocence Lost

For those 18 year-olds out there who think they know it all....

Gone away, the days of wish and wondering
Far away, like a vision in my mind
The child has grown and left me here alone
Looking back to what was left behind.

Lullabyes and pennies in a wishing well
Sad goodbyes to friends of make believe
A love so pure, a treasure
Now buried in the sea of me.

Refrain: Milton lost his paradise,
Dorothy lost her way
Vincent lost his sanity,
Thomas lost his faith
Hoover lost the second time,
Sigmund lost his friend
Me, I lost my innocence and I want it back again.

A tug-of-war is going on inside of me
A calloused heart that wants to make a change
While time prevails fighting tooth and nail
Keeping me set in my ways.

Marco found the orient,
Gepetto found his boy
Lincoln found a unity that
Lee could not destroy
Lindy found the other side,
Gershwin found the stage
Me, I found a stubborness that seems to grow with age.

As I dream of where I'll go, may I learn from where I've gone
And take the memories that I hold into tomorrow.

Refrain: Milton lost his paradise,
Dorothy lost her way
Vincent lost his sanity,
Thomas lost his faith
Hoover lost the second time,
Sigmund lost his friend
Me, I lost my innocence and I want it back again.

...me I lost my innocence, and I want it back again
I had it once before and I want it back again...

Susan Ashton

songs in the night

Psalm 77:6
I call to remembrance my song in the night; I meditate within my heart, and my spirit makes diligent search.

Job 35:10
But no one says, "Where is God my Maker, Who gives songs in the night..."

Just like music can be a wonderful expression of praise and joy, it can also be used to express a painful heart as well.

Songs are there to comfort us just as they are there to bring us joy and lift our hearts in praise to the Father.