Because of Jesus' sacrifice and the blood that was spilled for us, we have gained the priviledge of being with God (or as Hebrews also puts it "the Most Holy Place.") We must strive to exemplify Jesus' perfect example by encouraging others to love one another, continuing to have fellowship with other Christians (i.e.-church, Bible study, etc.). Hebrews 10:26 tells us: "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the Truth, no sacrifice for sins is left." AKA- before Jesus if a sin was commited an animal could be killed and the sin was atoned for no matter how many sins were committed there were always animals to be sacrificed. Once Jesus paid the ultimate price and was the final sacrifice- that was it. There are no more Sons of God to die on the cross for us. Hebrews continues "How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the convenant that sanctified him and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?" Basically to continue committing the same sins or to dwell in a lifestyle of sin is to spit in Jesus' face and mock His death on the cross. Harsh visual image I know, but think about it for a minute because I think we can all think of a large sacrifice we have made and then someone we love has either ignored that sacrifice or has acted completely ungrateful! How awful does that make us feel- Right, then how must it make Jesus feel when He bore those awful sins on His back and we continue to wallow in them like His sacrifice meant nothing to us.
Let us press onward toward the goal of eternal life- then we shall receive what God has promised us. Have confidence in yourself like the authors of Hebrews call you as Christians to have: "But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved."
We serve a great and powerful God- lets show Him the honor He deserves and love and respect His son's atonement for our sins like He has called us to do.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
good works and faith
i was reading some comments on facebook recently and there was some discussion on the topic of good works and faith. Some people give the impression that they believe faith, without works is sufficient to get to heaven. While others say they believe you must not live in sin while saying you have faith and therefore faith and good works go hand in hand in granting us passage to heaven. I decided to read from Romans this morning and this is what i found:
Firstly, despite our awful sins (and some that we may not think are so awful) Romans 5:6 comes into play: "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly." It goes on to say just how spectacular this gesture is because yeah someone might die for a noble, good person, but there probably isn't anyone that would be willing to die for a big jerk (and we have all been big jerks at one time or another). So it is pretty amazing that someone would die for us PERIOD, let alone die for us despite our backstabbing, adulterous, lying, (etc.) ways. So we acknowledge that we did not need to be perfect people to have Jesus die for us (thankfully).
Next: Romans 5:19-20 "For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of one man the many will be made righteous... But where sin increased, grace increased all the more." Sin entered the world in the blink of an eye because of one hasty decision, and we were given the chance to escape that sin by accepting the decision of another man to die for us- so shouldn't we try and escape that sin? Should we continue to live in that sin and by choosing to live in that sin are we REALLY accepting the gift He gave us? Lets find out...
Finally: Romans 6:1-4 "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? BY NO MEANS! WE DIED TO SIN, how can we live in it any longer?? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a NEW LIFE."
Romans 6:6-7 "For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin- because anyone who has died has been freed from sin."
Romans 6:12-14: Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God ... and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For SIN SHALL NOT BE YOUR MASTER." amen?
We are not to live lives of sin because Jesus went through unimaginable horror on the cross so that we could leave those lives behind and have the hope of something wonderful. How then do good works and faith not go hand in hand? How then does living a life of sin (whether we admit that we are living it or not) make any sense when Jesus gave us the chance to leave all that behind and live in grace?
So what I believe is that no we do not need good works alone to get to heaven, certainly faith is the defining factor, but with faith comes new life, desire not to sin, but to follow God and his commandments and therefore we cannot be living in habitual sin, knowing that we are sinning or being told over and over by brothers and sisters who love us that we are in danger and still think we are covered by grace. We are covered by that grace if we accept it and all that comes with it. You can't just take the word and lay it across your chest and expect to skate through heaven's gates- grace needs to be something we swaddle ourselves in and block the rest of the world out. God gives us very specific instructions on how to behave, check out Romans 12 if you are wondering what you should or could be doing differently.
I am certainly not saying that i am without sin, but to wake up and make the decision daily to try and live like Jesus- following His commands and being in active worship with Him all the time- this is what we must strive for. We should always be moving forward in our relationship, don't let it get so stagnant that you have to get defensive of your lifestyle and trick yourself into thinking that you are covered by a simple word (grace) despite the sinful life you are leading.
I hope this provokes some thinking/praying today and that those struggling with their faith and the foundation will take a look at Roman's and what God has said to us there. May God bless you all today.
Firstly, despite our awful sins (and some that we may not think are so awful) Romans 5:6 comes into play: "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly." It goes on to say just how spectacular this gesture is because yeah someone might die for a noble, good person, but there probably isn't anyone that would be willing to die for a big jerk (and we have all been big jerks at one time or another). So it is pretty amazing that someone would die for us PERIOD, let alone die for us despite our backstabbing, adulterous, lying, (etc.) ways. So we acknowledge that we did not need to be perfect people to have Jesus die for us (thankfully).
Next: Romans 5:19-20 "For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of one man the many will be made righteous... But where sin increased, grace increased all the more." Sin entered the world in the blink of an eye because of one hasty decision, and we were given the chance to escape that sin by accepting the decision of another man to die for us- so shouldn't we try and escape that sin? Should we continue to live in that sin and by choosing to live in that sin are we REALLY accepting the gift He gave us? Lets find out...
Finally: Romans 6:1-4 "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? BY NO MEANS! WE DIED TO SIN, how can we live in it any longer?? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a NEW LIFE."
Romans 6:6-7 "For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin- because anyone who has died has been freed from sin."
Romans 6:12-14: Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God ... and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For SIN SHALL NOT BE YOUR MASTER." amen?
We are not to live lives of sin because Jesus went through unimaginable horror on the cross so that we could leave those lives behind and have the hope of something wonderful. How then do good works and faith not go hand in hand? How then does living a life of sin (whether we admit that we are living it or not) make any sense when Jesus gave us the chance to leave all that behind and live in grace?
So what I believe is that no we do not need good works alone to get to heaven, certainly faith is the defining factor, but with faith comes new life, desire not to sin, but to follow God and his commandments and therefore we cannot be living in habitual sin, knowing that we are sinning or being told over and over by brothers and sisters who love us that we are in danger and still think we are covered by grace. We are covered by that grace if we accept it and all that comes with it. You can't just take the word and lay it across your chest and expect to skate through heaven's gates- grace needs to be something we swaddle ourselves in and block the rest of the world out. God gives us very specific instructions on how to behave, check out Romans 12 if you are wondering what you should or could be doing differently.
I am certainly not saying that i am without sin, but to wake up and make the decision daily to try and live like Jesus- following His commands and being in active worship with Him all the time- this is what we must strive for. We should always be moving forward in our relationship, don't let it get so stagnant that you have to get defensive of your lifestyle and trick yourself into thinking that you are covered by a simple word (grace) despite the sinful life you are leading.
I hope this provokes some thinking/praying today and that those struggling with their faith and the foundation will take a look at Roman's and what God has said to us there. May God bless you all today.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Love is...
In light of Valentine's Day and the recent obsession i have with Brandon Heath's song "love never fails," i thought i would take a minute to reflect on Love.
God is love- simple statement with tremendous reverberation when you actually think about what those 3 words mean. God and love are synonyms- everything amazing that love is for us- God is. And 1 John 4 talks about when we live in God, our love becomes more perfect- because God is not only the perfect example of loving behavior- He embodies the actual word. Hard to wrap your head around.
When you love your friends and keep your promises to them- that is God. When you love your spouse and do things around the house that you know will make them happy- that is God. When you love your neighbor and shovel off their doorstep before they have a chance to- that is God. The reason you say you do these things is- love, but if God is love, then the reason you do them is God- right?
So then we all have people in our lives that we love and we love them the best we can, but we are not God and we are not capable of unconditional (agape) love. I want to reflect on what perfect love is- because it makes me feel like I don't need to be someone i'm not, despite my flaws i am truly loved in every sense of the word by the God of the universe. This is where Brandon's song comes into play. And i know worship certainly is not always music, but this song for me feels like direct communication between God and i... when i hear it and close my eyes, my heart cries the words to Him in thanksgiving because He is all that the song says- He encompasses every aspect of the love that makes life worth living.
Love is not proud
Love does not boast
Love after all matters most (which we usually forget)
Love does not run (when you fight, when you're scared,)
Love does not hide (it bears its soul even when its scary to do so)
Love does not keep locked inside (it communicates with a spouse, tells kids you love them everyday)
Love will sustain
Love will provide (not only physical needs, but spiritual, emotional,etc)
Love will not cease at the end of time (God- never ends)
Love will protect (shield you from hurt, make you feel like you are worth protecting)
Love always hopes (without negativity which rubs off on other aspects of life)
Love still believes when you don't (in your marriage, in your broken heart, in YOU)
Love is right here (all around you- God)
Love is alive (amen He is alive and all around)
Love is the way, the truth and the life (needs no explanation)
Love is a river that flows through
(and best of all...) LOVE NEVER FAILS YOU.
Those words have provided more comfort for me lately than i have felt in so long. I am trying to learn not to seek comfort in anything earthly as these things are all temporary, but to put my trust and hope in the One who is neverending and who will never fail me no matter what i do or don't do :)
This blog didn't even scratch the surface of the way these words make me feel, but there are times when you just can't put your feelings into words- when your worship is between you and God and that is a wonderful feeling!
Happy Valentine's Day!
God is love- simple statement with tremendous reverberation when you actually think about what those 3 words mean. God and love are synonyms- everything amazing that love is for us- God is. And 1 John 4 talks about when we live in God, our love becomes more perfect- because God is not only the perfect example of loving behavior- He embodies the actual word. Hard to wrap your head around.
When you love your friends and keep your promises to them- that is God. When you love your spouse and do things around the house that you know will make them happy- that is God. When you love your neighbor and shovel off their doorstep before they have a chance to- that is God. The reason you say you do these things is- love, but if God is love, then the reason you do them is God- right?
So then we all have people in our lives that we love and we love them the best we can, but we are not God and we are not capable of unconditional (agape) love. I want to reflect on what perfect love is- because it makes me feel like I don't need to be someone i'm not, despite my flaws i am truly loved in every sense of the word by the God of the universe. This is where Brandon's song comes into play. And i know worship certainly is not always music, but this song for me feels like direct communication between God and i... when i hear it and close my eyes, my heart cries the words to Him in thanksgiving because He is all that the song says- He encompasses every aspect of the love that makes life worth living.
Love is not proud
Love does not boast
Love after all matters most (which we usually forget)
Love does not run (when you fight, when you're scared,)
Love does not hide (it bears its soul even when its scary to do so)
Love does not keep locked inside (it communicates with a spouse, tells kids you love them everyday)
Love will sustain
Love will provide (not only physical needs, but spiritual, emotional,etc)
Love will not cease at the end of time (God- never ends)
Love will protect (shield you from hurt, make you feel like you are worth protecting)
Love always hopes (without negativity which rubs off on other aspects of life)
Love still believes when you don't (in your marriage, in your broken heart, in YOU)
Love is right here (all around you- God)
Love is alive (amen He is alive and all around)
Love is the way, the truth and the life (needs no explanation)
Love is a river that flows through
(and best of all...) LOVE NEVER FAILS YOU.
Those words have provided more comfort for me lately than i have felt in so long. I am trying to learn not to seek comfort in anything earthly as these things are all temporary, but to put my trust and hope in the One who is neverending and who will never fail me no matter what i do or don't do :)
This blog didn't even scratch the surface of the way these words make me feel, but there are times when you just can't put your feelings into words- when your worship is between you and God and that is a wonderful feeling!
Happy Valentine's Day!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Addicted to God
Addictions are powerful things that affect most, if not all of our lives. We think of addictions to thinks such as alcohol, cigarrettes, other drugs, sex/pornography, but we can be addicted to anything. From a christian perspective, anything that is more important to us than God and that we spend more time with than we do with God seems to qualify as an addiction. We are to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind." How can we do this if something else is occupying our thoughts and attention?
I tend to judge those who have nicotine addictions, because i think it is disgusting, unhealthy, weak, and a lack of self-control. Recently this addiction has hit close to home and it caused me to step back and look at my own addictions or my lack of addiction to God. I have never had a substance addiction, so it is impossible for me to know the strength and self-control it takes to quit. Instead of criticizing and judging however, i realized i need to build-up, encourage and support those close to me trying to quit. Love doesn't make people feel like failures, love doesn't make them feel an inch tall because they couldn't do something immediately, love (God) forgives for slips and regressions over and over again. I need to take a step back and look at myself, look at how i show love, and look at my own addictions and the things that distract me from God.
My house and all the projects become addictions at times, my husband becomes an addiction, laziness, work, tv, music (christian or not) are all things i find myself filling my time with instead of the one thing i should be doing.
Pray for those who are trying but haven't quit their addictions yet, support them unconditionally, forgive them when they mess up, when they hide it from you because they are ashamed. Pray for yourself that you would not put material things and distractions before worshipping God and spending time with Him. "How can you say to your brother: Let me take the speck out of your eye, when you fail to notice the plank in your own." Luke 6:42
Just something i've been thinking about lately and struggling with in my own life. Think i was displacing my own ashamedness on others with addictions. An addiction is an addiction- it keeps you from the one thing you should be addicted to: serving, pleasing, worshipping, and obeying God. I can't emphasize enough how everything else pales in comparison to Him. Let us fall on our faces because we are naked and ashamed at the feet of the One who forgives all; the One who desires to be our addiction.
I tend to judge those who have nicotine addictions, because i think it is disgusting, unhealthy, weak, and a lack of self-control. Recently this addiction has hit close to home and it caused me to step back and look at my own addictions or my lack of addiction to God. I have never had a substance addiction, so it is impossible for me to know the strength and self-control it takes to quit. Instead of criticizing and judging however, i realized i need to build-up, encourage and support those close to me trying to quit. Love doesn't make people feel like failures, love doesn't make them feel an inch tall because they couldn't do something immediately, love (God) forgives for slips and regressions over and over again. I need to take a step back and look at myself, look at how i show love, and look at my own addictions and the things that distract me from God.
My house and all the projects become addictions at times, my husband becomes an addiction, laziness, work, tv, music (christian or not) are all things i find myself filling my time with instead of the one thing i should be doing.
Pray for those who are trying but haven't quit their addictions yet, support them unconditionally, forgive them when they mess up, when they hide it from you because they are ashamed. Pray for yourself that you would not put material things and distractions before worshipping God and spending time with Him. "How can you say to your brother: Let me take the speck out of your eye, when you fail to notice the plank in your own." Luke 6:42
Just something i've been thinking about lately and struggling with in my own life. Think i was displacing my own ashamedness on others with addictions. An addiction is an addiction- it keeps you from the one thing you should be addicted to: serving, pleasing, worshipping, and obeying God. I can't emphasize enough how everything else pales in comparison to Him. Let us fall on our faces because we are naked and ashamed at the feet of the One who forgives all; the One who desires to be our addiction.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Beautiful Lord
When the storm is raging all around me
You are the peace that calms My troubled sea
And the cares of this world Darken my day
You are the light that shines And shows me the way
Oh, the beauty of Your majesty
On the cross You showed Your love for me!
Beautiful Lord
Awesome and mighty
I’m captured by this love I see
Beautiful Lord
Tender and holy
Your mercy brings me to my knees
It’s Your mercy that has made me free
Beautiful Lord
When my sin is all that I can see
Your grace remains the shelter that I seek
And when my weakness is all I can give
Your gentle Spirit gives me strength again
And oh, the beauty of Your majesty
On the cross You showed Your love for me
Beautiful Lord
Awesome and mighty
I’m captured by this love I see
Beautiful Lord
Tender and holy
Your mercy brings me to my knees
It’s Your mercy that has made me free
Beautiful Lord
And I am lifted by Your love to sing!
It’s Your mercy that has made me free!
And I am lifted by Your love to sing!
It’s Your mercy that has made me free!
Oh, the beauty of Your majesty
On the cross You showed Your love for me!
Beautiful Lord
Awesome and mighty
I’m captured by this love I see
Beautiful Lord
Tender and holy
Your mercy brings me to my knees
It’s Your mercy that has made me free
Beautiful Lord
You’re beautiful, my Lord You’re beautiful, my Lord
He is so beautiful and we so often fail to acknowledge this. His love is perfect, unconditional, never ending and THAT makes Him so beautiful to me. His grace is freely given, no strings attached. His forgiveness is complete, it's over and over again until we think there's no WAY He could forget what we have done. THAT is what brings me to my knees.
This song is such a tender love song between a Father and His child- in our desperation and weakness, His gentle touch gives us strength to keep going. When we are overcome and devastated and think we've worn out all our "i'm sorry's" He listens to those words again and embraces us with His mercy, shows us the cross and casts our sins as far as the East is from the West.
Praise God above all else because He cares for us. The hands that placed each star, wove each blade of grass, placed each drop of water in the ocean longs for our affections. To go back to a previous blog post- He is jealous for us and our attention. Give Him all you have- He deserves that and so much more.
Thanks to my brother Timmy for posting this song on facebook- it was just what i needed today :)
You are the peace that calms My troubled sea
And the cares of this world Darken my day
You are the light that shines And shows me the way
Oh, the beauty of Your majesty
On the cross You showed Your love for me!
Beautiful Lord
Awesome and mighty
I’m captured by this love I see
Beautiful Lord
Tender and holy
Your mercy brings me to my knees
It’s Your mercy that has made me free
Beautiful Lord
When my sin is all that I can see
Your grace remains the shelter that I seek
And when my weakness is all I can give
Your gentle Spirit gives me strength again
And oh, the beauty of Your majesty
On the cross You showed Your love for me
Beautiful Lord
Awesome and mighty
I’m captured by this love I see
Beautiful Lord
Tender and holy
Your mercy brings me to my knees
It’s Your mercy that has made me free
Beautiful Lord
And I am lifted by Your love to sing!
It’s Your mercy that has made me free!
And I am lifted by Your love to sing!
It’s Your mercy that has made me free!
Oh, the beauty of Your majesty
On the cross You showed Your love for me!
Beautiful Lord
Awesome and mighty
I’m captured by this love I see
Beautiful Lord
Tender and holy
Your mercy brings me to my knees
It’s Your mercy that has made me free
Beautiful Lord
You’re beautiful, my Lord You’re beautiful, my Lord
He is so beautiful and we so often fail to acknowledge this. His love is perfect, unconditional, never ending and THAT makes Him so beautiful to me. His grace is freely given, no strings attached. His forgiveness is complete, it's over and over again until we think there's no WAY He could forget what we have done. THAT is what brings me to my knees.
This song is such a tender love song between a Father and His child- in our desperation and weakness, His gentle touch gives us strength to keep going. When we are overcome and devastated and think we've worn out all our "i'm sorry's" He listens to those words again and embraces us with His mercy, shows us the cross and casts our sins as far as the East is from the West.
Praise God above all else because He cares for us. The hands that placed each star, wove each blade of grass, placed each drop of water in the ocean longs for our affections. To go back to a previous blog post- He is jealous for us and our attention. Give Him all you have- He deserves that and so much more.
Thanks to my brother Timmy for posting this song on facebook- it was just what i needed today :)
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
what is worship
I thought i knew what worship was, i knew i wasn't great at it, but i thought it was music- singing my heart out to God. I guess i knew it was more than that, but i didn't know how to go about doing it. I'm reading "A Seeking Heart" by Alicia Williamson & Sarah Groves and i am learning so much about what it means to truly worship our God.
Worship takes a conscious effort of turning our mind's attention towards God and directing our heart's affection at Him. I have not been putting the effort in. It's like i show up at church or wherever and I say "OK God, here I am, come get me." What a lazy believer I am, that I can't meet God in the middle or take my steps first.
Under no conditions do i think my life is one of worship currently. Church once every 2 months and grace at suppertime doesn't qualify me as anything but a lazy, selfish sinner. But I've realized this.. and now it's time to change. That's the beauty of the grace of our God: yes i'm a sinner, this is a given. But i have received mercy and I now have the freedom to change my ways and take the path that was laid out for me. Praise God!
I hadn't read my Bible in I don't know how long and i realized over the last couple of days... there is some GOOD stuff in there!!! The verses have encouraged me, spurred me on toward living a righteous life that is pleasing to God. They have given me comfort in knowing my God is God of the universe, and that if i come near to Him, he will come near to me- easy as that.
I read today about loving God first and as many times as i've heard those words, they didn't sink in until just now. And let me just say that as awesome as He is, i think that is going to be very hard for me. I love my husband already more than i can comprehend, my family feels like they are my vital organs... how do i love more than that? I still do not know, but i will die trying.
It is going to take a lot of concentration to do each task each day for God and His glory. It will take even more to let my words glorify Him. I pray my words will uplift others and that God will be pleased when He hears them.
Worship is a form of loving God and to love Him, we must know Him. To know Him we must do what we do to know anyone- talk to Him, read what He has written for us, and spend time with Him often.
I have discovered that i am not as busy as i make myself out to be. The tv is on way too much and is just a distraction from what i could really be doing, which is building up the most important relationship in my life. There are so many things each day that tear us away from the place we really need to be. The devil makes us busy, distracts us from what is important, and then he wins. Slow down, let God set the pace of your life. Don't put worship into a little box that involves only music, or only praying. Let worship invade your life, cry, sing, pray, read, help others, whatever He tells you to do, do it and let all glory be His.
Worship cannot be put into words. As much as i'd like to sit down and read a book that tells me exactly how to worship and how to love God, it doesn't exist. It is personal, this relationship that we must develop. That is the beauty of it- it is between us and God and no one else. Revel in that fact and delve into the depths of His love... you might just find worship there.
Worship takes a conscious effort of turning our mind's attention towards God and directing our heart's affection at Him. I have not been putting the effort in. It's like i show up at church or wherever and I say "OK God, here I am, come get me." What a lazy believer I am, that I can't meet God in the middle or take my steps first.
Under no conditions do i think my life is one of worship currently. Church once every 2 months and grace at suppertime doesn't qualify me as anything but a lazy, selfish sinner. But I've realized this.. and now it's time to change. That's the beauty of the grace of our God: yes i'm a sinner, this is a given. But i have received mercy and I now have the freedom to change my ways and take the path that was laid out for me. Praise God!
I hadn't read my Bible in I don't know how long and i realized over the last couple of days... there is some GOOD stuff in there!!! The verses have encouraged me, spurred me on toward living a righteous life that is pleasing to God. They have given me comfort in knowing my God is God of the universe, and that if i come near to Him, he will come near to me- easy as that.
I read today about loving God first and as many times as i've heard those words, they didn't sink in until just now. And let me just say that as awesome as He is, i think that is going to be very hard for me. I love my husband already more than i can comprehend, my family feels like they are my vital organs... how do i love more than that? I still do not know, but i will die trying.
It is going to take a lot of concentration to do each task each day for God and His glory. It will take even more to let my words glorify Him. I pray my words will uplift others and that God will be pleased when He hears them.
Worship is a form of loving God and to love Him, we must know Him. To know Him we must do what we do to know anyone- talk to Him, read what He has written for us, and spend time with Him often.
I have discovered that i am not as busy as i make myself out to be. The tv is on way too much and is just a distraction from what i could really be doing, which is building up the most important relationship in my life. There are so many things each day that tear us away from the place we really need to be. The devil makes us busy, distracts us from what is important, and then he wins. Slow down, let God set the pace of your life. Don't put worship into a little box that involves only music, or only praying. Let worship invade your life, cry, sing, pray, read, help others, whatever He tells you to do, do it and let all glory be His.
Worship cannot be put into words. As much as i'd like to sit down and read a book that tells me exactly how to worship and how to love God, it doesn't exist. It is personal, this relationship that we must develop. That is the beauty of it- it is between us and God and no one else. Revel in that fact and delve into the depths of His love... you might just find worship there.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
He is jealous for me
I was riding to work the other day and with an hour and a half ride i have a lot of time to think, listen to music, pray, etc. Music moves me like few things do- i'm very much a lyric-listener and i soak in the words like a sponge. I wasn't thinking about anything in particular when "how he loves us" by David Crowder came on the radio and the minute the first line was sung tears started streaming down my face and i was overwhelmed by the love of God. The line is "He is jealous for me" - normally jealousy has a negative connotation to it, but when i thought of God wanting me so much He is "jealous" for me i was taken aback. I love being reminded that He wants me and just as i am. Some of the explainations for jealousy in the concordance are- 'apprehensive of the loss of another's affection' and 'vigilant in guarding something'- and those words just gave me the image of my Father sitting up all night and all day just waiting for me to surrender everything, to have an intimate relationship with him. He wants to protect us, He wants us for Himself- all for himself and some who don't know Him may call that selfish but i see it as loving. I want my husband, the person i love most on this earth all for myself so it only makes sense that the One who knit us together and knew every thought that we would ever have before we were born would desire our full attention and love. The God of the universe, creator of each blade of grass and every drop of water wants me and it pains Him to watch me put my faith and trust in things of this world that will never do for me what He can.
It's hard to put into words the worth i feel when i think about God's desire for my praise and intimacy with me. I guess it's like the song says that "all of a sudden.. i realize how beautiful you are and how great your affections are for me"- it just hits us and we fall on our faces in awe of this love that we cannot comprehend- agape-uncondition love.
Praise God for those moments that He just takes us in His arms and shows us how incredibly awesome He is and how much He cares for us. They make all other moments pale in comparison. i haven't stopped thinking about those words since i heard them-"HE is jealous for ME". He's jealous for you too.. soak it up :)
It's hard to put into words the worth i feel when i think about God's desire for my praise and intimacy with me. I guess it's like the song says that "all of a sudden.. i realize how beautiful you are and how great your affections are for me"- it just hits us and we fall on our faces in awe of this love that we cannot comprehend- agape-uncondition love.
Praise God for those moments that He just takes us in His arms and shows us how incredibly awesome He is and how much He cares for us. They make all other moments pale in comparison. i haven't stopped thinking about those words since i heard them-"HE is jealous for ME". He's jealous for you too.. soak it up :)
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