Monday, October 26, 2009
pectore ab imo suspiria - sighings from the bottom of the heart
Lord, contend with our hearts and seize it for your glory! excercise your sovereignty over us and cause us to abide in your love! open up our eyes that we may behold your beauty, open up our ears that we may hear your still small voice, give us hearts of understanding that we may desire to know the deep things of your heart, above all else, to know the height, the depth, the width, and length of your love for us...o God that we may burn with anguish and passion for you...align our hearts o Lord that it may beat with yours!
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
by His love
I don’t enter into heaven because I loved God, but because God loved me, that when I enter heaven, I realize that my love was not love at all, but that His love was my all in all...
a testimony from nature of His power and majesty...
the mountains and valleys embraced by the light of the day breaking through, once asleep but now waking to the call of your voice which has established the stars and seasons in their proper places, for when your voice reigns through the open skies, creation comes and bows at your every command, for surely your wisdom and understanding are revealed through the works of your might hands
and as the day overtakes the night
the deep blue sky is filled with dawns light
and i find myself captivated by this eternal dance
lost in this moment by just a single glance
at the beauty of your majesty
and the wisdom of your ways
for i can't help but marvel at the work of your hands
and this heart of mine finally begins to understand
that the mountains, the streams, the skies, the trees
in all their glory, could not compare to the love that you have for me
that although i am so small compared to this all
you came to rescue me and saved me from the fall
so along with creation this song to you i bring
my friend, my God, my Lord, my Savior...praise forever be to my humble King!
and as the day overtakes the night
the deep blue sky is filled with dawns light
and i find myself captivated by this eternal dance
lost in this moment by just a single glance
at the beauty of your majesty
and the wisdom of your ways
for i can't help but marvel at the work of your hands
and this heart of mine finally begins to understand
that the mountains, the streams, the skies, the trees
in all their glory, could not compare to the love that you have for me
that although i am so small compared to this all
you came to rescue me and saved me from the fall
so along with creation this song to you i bring
my friend, my God, my Lord, my Savior...praise forever be to my humble King!
you will know them by their fruit
In today’s entertainment driven culture, we are constantly flooded by things that distract us from what is truly important; intimacy with God that results in the growth of our character. We seem to get “bored” too easily and are constantly in search of the “bigger and better” things. Even in church, people many times focus more on the outward instead of the inward manifestations of the power of God; things that “wow” us, the so called “spiritual” or “supernatural,” rather than the things that cause us to grow in character, maturity, and integrity. Even if you ask some “Christians” about the evidence of the saving work of God in their lives, they will refer you to a time when they were “on fire” and when “signs and wonders” were performed through them: they spoke in tongues, casted out demons, healed the sick, etc. But is that what the Word says we should base the assurance of our salvation on; “signs and wonders?” What does the Word say on this? If we turn to Matthew 7, Jesus explains that in the end, many will say “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy, cast out demons, and perform many miracles in your name” and place their faith in the works that they did (signs and wonders) as their justification for entering into heaven, to which Jesus replies “away from me, you who practice lawlessness, I never knew you.”
So then how can we know that we are saved, where can we draw the assurance for our salvation? In 2 Corinthians 1 it says that “it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” So the Word indicates that it is God who makes us stand firm in Christ, not something that we can do or maintain on our own, and that this is done by Him sealing His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit that guarantees our salvation. But we are still left with the original question in a slightly modified form; if the assurance of salvation comes from the Holy Spirit entering into our hearts, how can we see evidence of this? In Matthew 7 it says, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, as bad trees bear bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and is thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” Although this particular verse explains fruit in the context of false prophets, it has a more general application to everyone; that a good tree cannot bear bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. So this verse clearly explains that those who are of God (with the Holy Spirit as the deposit) will bear good fruit and those who are not of God will bear bad fruit.
So then what is this “fruit” that will be evident in the lives of those who are genuinely saved? Ephesians 5 explains that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.” We can now begin to see a clearer picture; for those that have been given the Holy Spirit as a deposit (by a sovereign work of God and not of man), will by the Spirit begin and continue to bear the fruit of the Spirit, which can be summed up as, the character of Christ. That a genuine Christian should see that they are becoming more and more Christ-like with each and every day. Now this is not to say that we will immediately be a perfect person once we receive salvation, but that there must be a continual progression (in desire and action) toward holiness, godliness, righteousness, and love; a crucifixion of ones sinful nature and its passions and desires as evidence of the saving power of God working in us. So let’s ask ourselves then, “do I see the evidence of the Holy Spirit working in my life? Am I bearing the fruit of a good tree or a bad tree?” And understand, that fruit is not about how much we serve at church, but how Christ-like we act outside of church. Because it also says in 2 Timothy 2 that, “God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and, ‘Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”
“But wait, I have good fruit and bad fruit, how does this make sense, how can God expect me to be prefect, is it works or is it by faith?” As it says in Ephesians 2 that “it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” So we see here that faith does not come from ourselves, but comes from God, and this faith, as it says in James 2, must be accompanied by works, or else it is dead. In other words, artificial faith that comes from ourselves stays stagnant and cannot save us, but genuine faith that comes from God produces works as evidence of salvation. And let me make it clear, it is not faith and works by which we obtain salvation, but a faith given and maintained by God that results as a lifestyle of repentance that produces works as evidence of salvation.
A key to understanding these verses comes from an understanding that there are two types of sinners: one who is repentant and one who is not, one who truly feels guilty for their sins and one who justifies their sin. You see, in today’s contemporary Christian thinking, we somehow have come to believe that guilt is a bad thing, and even go as far as to say that it is from the devil. But what does the bible say on the issue? What is guilt? You see, many times people get the word guilt mixed up with the word condemnation; they are not the same thing. Guilt can lead to condemnation, but doesn’t always have to, primarily because of the blood of Jesus Christ. Let me clarify, condemnation, if you are not saved, is the righteous judgment that God has in store for those who are living in sin, but if you truly are saved, thoughts of condemnation, namely, thoughts that God will reject you, are from the devil. Now guilt on the other hand is defined as: a feeling of culpability for offenses. In other words, guilt is the realization of sin, whereas condemnation is the just result of sin which Jesus paid for with His own blood for those who have been given repentance unto salvation.
See the difference? If you look at examples from the Word, time and time again you see people genuinely troubled with feelings of guilt for their sins to the point of putting on sackcloth and ash! A prime example can be found in the writings of King David in the book of Psalms. Over half of his psalms are of him crying out to God because he is troubled by his sins and his transgressions before the Lord. The guy that was known as the man after God's own heart, was continually filled with guilt and troubled when he sinned against the Lord. That regardless of his lowly estate, he continued to seek the Lord with all his might. It is what you do with the guilt that defines where you stand before God, that if you truly have an understanding about who you are in Christ, then how can guilt lead you to condemnation instead of repentance. Now, if you don't feel any guilt at all for your sins, I would have to say that you need to really question the genuineness of your salvation, because one of the primary workings of the Holy Spirit is to convict men of their sins in order to lead them to repentance (and convict is defined as: to convince of error or sinfulness). Now, regarding what you do with your guilt, you can go down one of two ways: you can either fall into condemnation and depravity and fall further away from the Lord or you can repent and cry out to the One who can pardon you. For as it says in the Word: a broken heart and a contrite spirit He will not despise. It is impossible to obtain salvation without genuine repentance. And there can be no repentance without a realization of sin through guilt, which is done by the work of the Holy Spirit and conviction of sin. And if the Holy Spirit is in you, you will continue to live a lifestyle of repentance, which is the process of sanctification and in accordance with bearing fruit in your life. In essence, you should feel guilty for your sins, because in that guilt, you come to a place of genuine repentance before the Lord. But, it also allows you to understand and appreciate His grace that much more, because there is no understanding of grace without an understanding of sin.
In Matthew 3, it says to “produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” So in light of this, let us rephrase the earlier question: “am I troubled by and truly repentant for my sins, or am I relying on my “good works” and a mere emotional encounter at an alter call and merely reciting the “sinner’s prayer” as my source of salvation?” For it says in Philippians 2, “to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,” and in Matthew 24 that, “because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Jesus did not come to appease the conscience of sinner’s which is flattery that leads to death, but rather to cause them to wrestle with the guilt of their conscience and come to a place of repentance and a true understanding that they are in need of a savior. For how can we repent without even knowing that we are sinners? How can we be saved without even knowing what it is we are in need of saving from? And just in case it isn’t clear how we have sinned against God, Romans 1 says that “since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave then over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.” In 1 Corinthians 5, it says, “But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler, with such a man do not even eat. In Ephesians 5 it says, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For this you can be sure: no immoral, impure or greedy person – such a man is an idolater – has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible.” And to be honest with you, these are all qualities that I see in myself and I’m sure you can see in yourself as well. We rebel against our parents, we gossip, we are boastful and arrogant, we make racist and obscene jokes, we put down others, we lack love for one another, we live for our own selfish pleasure, and so much more, and yet, we claim that we love God and say we want to see Him, when we have absolutely no idea of the ramifications of what it means to be able to see God without being utterly destroyed in light of His holiness and divine glory. We sing songs about how we love to worship Him and that to spend one day in His courts is better than thousands elsewhere and don’t even have the remotest desire to pray and read the Word; can we honestly sing such songs to Him in truth when we don’t show it in action?
Sadly, Christians many times don’t consider what it is they believe. They often seem to throw out the process of logic and reason and blindly believe what they are told without giving it a second thought. That in Sunday school, they teach you that if you pray a prayer, that God will definitely come into your heart; that a mere profession of Christ is enough, which I tell you now is absolute heresy. The biggest issue inherent within such a perspective is the fact that it prevents the person from coming to genuine salvation and maturing in their faith because their knowledge of God and the Word remains rudimentary at best, to which the person will not be able to recognize and discern what is from God and what is from the world. They will try to convince themselves in their own mind that they are saved when yet God had not done a supernatural redeeming work in their hearts, which is evident in the way they live their lives. And a tragedy of contemporary Christianity, particularly in the western churches, is the fact that the extent of ones (a person in the churches) understanding of anything remotely Christian consists primarily of the completely watered-down scripture that they learned growing up in Sunday school and the compromisingly seeker friendly sermons they hear over and over again from a compromised church. If you were to ask an average “Christian” today what it is they believe, they will probably regurgitate some general answer that “Well, Jesus died for my sins,” or “I believe in Jesus so that I can go to heaven.” Do Christians today have any idea what that means, that “Jesus died” for “my sins,” that He is not only my Savior but my LORD as well?
Sadly, these things aren't preached today in the American church. We have a completely watered down and skewed view of God and have forgotten that He is a holy and righteous God with furious anger that burns against unrepented sinners. We have turned Him into our "homeboy" and have forgotten that He is our Lord and King and Master. We say things like "me and Jesus have our own thing going on" and other such nonsense, and yet I fail to see any example of such attitude from the Word. Even Jesus, God's own Son, spoke to the Father with the utmost reverence and fear, how much more we, as mere humans, must give the utmost reverence to God. So the saying is true: that fools rush in where even angels fear to tread. That is how depraved we truly are, where we cannot even distinguish our left from our right, and have molded God into our own image and to our own liking. So then this saying is also true: that all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God, that not one is righteous, not a single one.
And one’s so called “faith” no matter how “great,” without works is dead and believing alone will not save you, for the Word says that even demons believe and shudder. Salvation is not a decision, it is a supernatural work of God, to which you are transformed and made into a “New Creation,” into the likeness of Christ. Jesus is not some “homeboy” or here to serve our every whim. The church, salvation, and heaven is not for us, but rather for the glory of God; that our salvation was merely a byproduct of the obedience of Christ to God the Father and for the glory of His Name. Sadly, Christianity has become a religion of mere cliché’s and generalities and not of substance: love, holiness, fellowship, worship; words which have lost complete meaning to the so called “contemporary” believer. What is love but to lead others to the knowledge of the saving grace of Christ, not of flattery and empty words that blind us to truth that leads to repentance, but to spur each other on toward the measure of perfection laid out by Christ. What is holiness, but to be set apart from the patterns and trends of this world, not of chasing after fashion, music, entertainment, and pleasure, but our selfish desires and ambitions all crucified with Christ. What is fellowship, but to pray for one another, to worship with one another, and to love and edify one another through Christ, not merely confining such things within the walls of the church, but that we be the church wherever we go. What is worship, but to give not just our service or our songs, but to give all of our hearts to Christ. Not only to sing songs and act Christian at church, but to live a lifestyle of worship wherever we go.
“That in the worship of God there is required a divine faith; but there can be no divine faith without a divine revelation of the will of God. Therefore, whatever is thrust into the worship of God that is not agreeable to divine revelation, cannot be done but by a human faith; which faith will not be profitable to eternal life.” Faith (from Pilgrim’s Progress)
So then let me ask you this question, how many of you have asked Jesus into your hearts? How many of you want to go to heaven? Are you sure? Then let me ask you another question, how many of you love to worship God? How many of you spend time with the Lord on a regular basis? How many of you like to pray and study the Word? Or do you get tired of these things and would rather spend time watching TV or hanging out or other worldly things? So let me ask again, are you sure you want to go to heaven? Are you sure you want to go to a place where you will be doing nothing but worshipping God? Because heaven is a place where you will be worshipping God for all eternity!
And yet, to obey all these is not possible by our strength alone, because the Law was not given to bring life, but to bring death, and that is why God’s grace is so amazing. His grace entails that as it says in Philippians 1 that “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” For as it says in Jeremiah 31, that “the time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, declares the Lord. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying know the Lord, because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord, for I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
And many times we don’t realize the implications of this promise of the New Covenant we have in Jesus Christ. That He will write His law upon our hearts so that no one has to teach each other, but that we will all know Him! A clear example of this can be seen in the revival occurring in China, where people many times don’t even have a bible, but their knowledge of God and the Word as shown by practice is far superior to that which is seen here in America, which is supposedly a “Christian” nation, where bibles and Christian material are readily available to us. And this is not to say that the bible is obsolete, but the key underlying difference is a heart that is hungry and desperate for God vs. a heart that is lukewarm in complacency and comfort.
But despite our sin and hypocrisy, the Lord’s heart is this as it says in Psalms 34 that “the Lord is close to those who are of a broken heart and saves such as are crushed with sorrow for sin and are humbly and thoroughly penitent,” and in Isaiah 50 that, “who among you fears the Lord and obey the word of his servant? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. But now, all you who light fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches, go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze. This is what you shall receive from my hand: You will lie down in torment.” God does not care about how much money we give to church or how much time we sacrifice to serve in church, He cares about our hearts; is it truly longing for Him above all else. Just because you look and act like everyone at church does not mean you are acting like Christ. We need to stop comparing ourselves to other people as our standard of righteousness and start comparing ourselves to the righteousness of Christ. We need to stop trying to find our own way with our own light and come broken before God, acknowledging that we are in utter sin and darkness without Him and in desperate need of a savior. We need to stop justifying our sins and begin to live a lifestyle of repentance, a lifestyle of holiness, a lifestyle marked out by Christ.
Character is more important than the size of your ministry or how powerfully you move in the Spirit, because signs and wonders are not a sign of your salvation, but rather love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control is the true mark of a believer. That just because God is getting glory out of you does not mean you are glorifying God because the heart of the matter is, it’s all a matter of the heart.
And the day of His new covenant is here, God is asking us to stop trying to appease our conscience by things that cannot justify us: signs and wonders, the size of our ministry, how much money we give to church, social justice, mission work. For as it says in Revelation 2 that “yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love, remember the height from which you have fallen, repent and do the things you did at first, if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” We need to stop trying to find our own way like the Israelites did, to stop running to idols of entertainment, music, sports, school, work, friends and even serving at church to appease our conscience, and turn back to Him and go back and do the things we used to do when we first met the Lord, when we first fell in love with Him.
How many of you are satisfied with where you are in your walk with Him? How many of don’t even care anymore? How many of you are dry and weary today and want the fire back? God is asking us to return to Him. To stop being busybodies and to be still and know that He is God. And please understand that I am not trying to condemn you or judge you in any way. I am merely asking you to look into your hearts and ask yourself, “am I where I need to be, am I bearing fruit in my life, do I see a growing desire within me to know the Lord and follow in His ways,” because it would be a shame, if the whole time you were thinking you were saved but you actually weren’t, that the substance of your faith was merely an emotional encounter and a reciting of the sinners prayer, and you see Jesus on the day of judgment, and He says that He doesn’t know you, that He only knows those who do the will of the Father, those who bear fruit by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And so if you don’t have assurance of salvation, if you are not sure, don’t worry, for as it says in 2 Peter 3 that “the Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness, He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
If you don’t have assurance, the question comes to, what are you going to do about it? Don’t just sit there and try to convince yourself in your own mind, ask yourself, “am I still living and bearing fruit in Christ today?” For it is better to enter into heaven with many scars than to enter into hell without difficulty. And don’t worry if you haven’t been bearing fruit lately, for it says in Matthew 3 to “produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” That you wrestle with the guilt of your conscience. That if you realize that you haven’t been living a Christ centered, fruit bearing life, just come to repentance, come back to Christ who is not going to condemn you for your sins. All He is asking is to return to Him, to come to Him in repentance. He knows you can’t be perfect and that is why He had to come and why He told us to live a lifestyle of repentance; that although I can’t be perfect in regards to sin, I must be perfect in regards to repentance.
Therefore, let us stop relying on some past event in our lives as the assurance of our salvation, because regardless of the past, the question is “do you see it continuing to work in your life today?” Contend in His grace and wrestle with the guilt of your sins, not trying to merely appease your conscience, but be made right and clean and pure before God through repentance, which is a grace of God, so that you may worship with clean hands and a pure heart. Because if you are trying to repent merely to appease your conscience, it means that you will gladly continue in your sins so long as you feel okay about it. That is a dangerous place to be. Genuine repentance comes when we are genuinely grieved for our sins. To eventually hate the things He hates and to love the things that He loves. Let us stop looking back on the so called “glory days” as our justification before God, and let us come humbly broken before Him, laying all our sins and shortcomings before Him, crying out “God, we need you, I need you, to come and change my heart, to take out my rebellious God hating heart and replace it with one that abides in you, one that desires to seek you and to obey you.” Don’t wait until you think you are “ready” to come back to Him, for how do you know that you won’t die tomorrow? Make today the day that you declare and say, that in your presence Lord I want to stay, to be yours forever Lord this prayer I pray, so come Lord Jesus and have your way!
So then how can we know that we are saved, where can we draw the assurance for our salvation? In 2 Corinthians 1 it says that “it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” So the Word indicates that it is God who makes us stand firm in Christ, not something that we can do or maintain on our own, and that this is done by Him sealing His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit that guarantees our salvation. But we are still left with the original question in a slightly modified form; if the assurance of salvation comes from the Holy Spirit entering into our hearts, how can we see evidence of this? In Matthew 7 it says, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, as bad trees bear bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and is thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” Although this particular verse explains fruit in the context of false prophets, it has a more general application to everyone; that a good tree cannot bear bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. So this verse clearly explains that those who are of God (with the Holy Spirit as the deposit) will bear good fruit and those who are not of God will bear bad fruit.
So then what is this “fruit” that will be evident in the lives of those who are genuinely saved? Ephesians 5 explains that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.” We can now begin to see a clearer picture; for those that have been given the Holy Spirit as a deposit (by a sovereign work of God and not of man), will by the Spirit begin and continue to bear the fruit of the Spirit, which can be summed up as, the character of Christ. That a genuine Christian should see that they are becoming more and more Christ-like with each and every day. Now this is not to say that we will immediately be a perfect person once we receive salvation, but that there must be a continual progression (in desire and action) toward holiness, godliness, righteousness, and love; a crucifixion of ones sinful nature and its passions and desires as evidence of the saving power of God working in us. So let’s ask ourselves then, “do I see the evidence of the Holy Spirit working in my life? Am I bearing the fruit of a good tree or a bad tree?” And understand, that fruit is not about how much we serve at church, but how Christ-like we act outside of church. Because it also says in 2 Timothy 2 that, “God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and, ‘Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”
“But wait, I have good fruit and bad fruit, how does this make sense, how can God expect me to be prefect, is it works or is it by faith?” As it says in Ephesians 2 that “it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” So we see here that faith does not come from ourselves, but comes from God, and this faith, as it says in James 2, must be accompanied by works, or else it is dead. In other words, artificial faith that comes from ourselves stays stagnant and cannot save us, but genuine faith that comes from God produces works as evidence of salvation. And let me make it clear, it is not faith and works by which we obtain salvation, but a faith given and maintained by God that results as a lifestyle of repentance that produces works as evidence of salvation.
A key to understanding these verses comes from an understanding that there are two types of sinners: one who is repentant and one who is not, one who truly feels guilty for their sins and one who justifies their sin. You see, in today’s contemporary Christian thinking, we somehow have come to believe that guilt is a bad thing, and even go as far as to say that it is from the devil. But what does the bible say on the issue? What is guilt? You see, many times people get the word guilt mixed up with the word condemnation; they are not the same thing. Guilt can lead to condemnation, but doesn’t always have to, primarily because of the blood of Jesus Christ. Let me clarify, condemnation, if you are not saved, is the righteous judgment that God has in store for those who are living in sin, but if you truly are saved, thoughts of condemnation, namely, thoughts that God will reject you, are from the devil. Now guilt on the other hand is defined as: a feeling of culpability for offenses. In other words, guilt is the realization of sin, whereas condemnation is the just result of sin which Jesus paid for with His own blood for those who have been given repentance unto salvation.
See the difference? If you look at examples from the Word, time and time again you see people genuinely troubled with feelings of guilt for their sins to the point of putting on sackcloth and ash! A prime example can be found in the writings of King David in the book of Psalms. Over half of his psalms are of him crying out to God because he is troubled by his sins and his transgressions before the Lord. The guy that was known as the man after God's own heart, was continually filled with guilt and troubled when he sinned against the Lord. That regardless of his lowly estate, he continued to seek the Lord with all his might. It is what you do with the guilt that defines where you stand before God, that if you truly have an understanding about who you are in Christ, then how can guilt lead you to condemnation instead of repentance. Now, if you don't feel any guilt at all for your sins, I would have to say that you need to really question the genuineness of your salvation, because one of the primary workings of the Holy Spirit is to convict men of their sins in order to lead them to repentance (and convict is defined as: to convince of error or sinfulness). Now, regarding what you do with your guilt, you can go down one of two ways: you can either fall into condemnation and depravity and fall further away from the Lord or you can repent and cry out to the One who can pardon you. For as it says in the Word: a broken heart and a contrite spirit He will not despise. It is impossible to obtain salvation without genuine repentance. And there can be no repentance without a realization of sin through guilt, which is done by the work of the Holy Spirit and conviction of sin. And if the Holy Spirit is in you, you will continue to live a lifestyle of repentance, which is the process of sanctification and in accordance with bearing fruit in your life. In essence, you should feel guilty for your sins, because in that guilt, you come to a place of genuine repentance before the Lord. But, it also allows you to understand and appreciate His grace that much more, because there is no understanding of grace without an understanding of sin.
In Matthew 3, it says to “produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” So in light of this, let us rephrase the earlier question: “am I troubled by and truly repentant for my sins, or am I relying on my “good works” and a mere emotional encounter at an alter call and merely reciting the “sinner’s prayer” as my source of salvation?” For it says in Philippians 2, “to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,” and in Matthew 24 that, “because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Jesus did not come to appease the conscience of sinner’s which is flattery that leads to death, but rather to cause them to wrestle with the guilt of their conscience and come to a place of repentance and a true understanding that they are in need of a savior. For how can we repent without even knowing that we are sinners? How can we be saved without even knowing what it is we are in need of saving from? And just in case it isn’t clear how we have sinned against God, Romans 1 says that “since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave then over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.” In 1 Corinthians 5, it says, “But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler, with such a man do not even eat. In Ephesians 5 it says, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For this you can be sure: no immoral, impure or greedy person – such a man is an idolater – has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible.” And to be honest with you, these are all qualities that I see in myself and I’m sure you can see in yourself as well. We rebel against our parents, we gossip, we are boastful and arrogant, we make racist and obscene jokes, we put down others, we lack love for one another, we live for our own selfish pleasure, and so much more, and yet, we claim that we love God and say we want to see Him, when we have absolutely no idea of the ramifications of what it means to be able to see God without being utterly destroyed in light of His holiness and divine glory. We sing songs about how we love to worship Him and that to spend one day in His courts is better than thousands elsewhere and don’t even have the remotest desire to pray and read the Word; can we honestly sing such songs to Him in truth when we don’t show it in action?
Sadly, Christians many times don’t consider what it is they believe. They often seem to throw out the process of logic and reason and blindly believe what they are told without giving it a second thought. That in Sunday school, they teach you that if you pray a prayer, that God will definitely come into your heart; that a mere profession of Christ is enough, which I tell you now is absolute heresy. The biggest issue inherent within such a perspective is the fact that it prevents the person from coming to genuine salvation and maturing in their faith because their knowledge of God and the Word remains rudimentary at best, to which the person will not be able to recognize and discern what is from God and what is from the world. They will try to convince themselves in their own mind that they are saved when yet God had not done a supernatural redeeming work in their hearts, which is evident in the way they live their lives. And a tragedy of contemporary Christianity, particularly in the western churches, is the fact that the extent of ones (a person in the churches) understanding of anything remotely Christian consists primarily of the completely watered-down scripture that they learned growing up in Sunday school and the compromisingly seeker friendly sermons they hear over and over again from a compromised church. If you were to ask an average “Christian” today what it is they believe, they will probably regurgitate some general answer that “Well, Jesus died for my sins,” or “I believe in Jesus so that I can go to heaven.” Do Christians today have any idea what that means, that “Jesus died” for “my sins,” that He is not only my Savior but my LORD as well?
Sadly, these things aren't preached today in the American church. We have a completely watered down and skewed view of God and have forgotten that He is a holy and righteous God with furious anger that burns against unrepented sinners. We have turned Him into our "homeboy" and have forgotten that He is our Lord and King and Master. We say things like "me and Jesus have our own thing going on" and other such nonsense, and yet I fail to see any example of such attitude from the Word. Even Jesus, God's own Son, spoke to the Father with the utmost reverence and fear, how much more we, as mere humans, must give the utmost reverence to God. So the saying is true: that fools rush in where even angels fear to tread. That is how depraved we truly are, where we cannot even distinguish our left from our right, and have molded God into our own image and to our own liking. So then this saying is also true: that all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God, that not one is righteous, not a single one.
And one’s so called “faith” no matter how “great,” without works is dead and believing alone will not save you, for the Word says that even demons believe and shudder. Salvation is not a decision, it is a supernatural work of God, to which you are transformed and made into a “New Creation,” into the likeness of Christ. Jesus is not some “homeboy” or here to serve our every whim. The church, salvation, and heaven is not for us, but rather for the glory of God; that our salvation was merely a byproduct of the obedience of Christ to God the Father and for the glory of His Name. Sadly, Christianity has become a religion of mere cliché’s and generalities and not of substance: love, holiness, fellowship, worship; words which have lost complete meaning to the so called “contemporary” believer. What is love but to lead others to the knowledge of the saving grace of Christ, not of flattery and empty words that blind us to truth that leads to repentance, but to spur each other on toward the measure of perfection laid out by Christ. What is holiness, but to be set apart from the patterns and trends of this world, not of chasing after fashion, music, entertainment, and pleasure, but our selfish desires and ambitions all crucified with Christ. What is fellowship, but to pray for one another, to worship with one another, and to love and edify one another through Christ, not merely confining such things within the walls of the church, but that we be the church wherever we go. What is worship, but to give not just our service or our songs, but to give all of our hearts to Christ. Not only to sing songs and act Christian at church, but to live a lifestyle of worship wherever we go.
“That in the worship of God there is required a divine faith; but there can be no divine faith without a divine revelation of the will of God. Therefore, whatever is thrust into the worship of God that is not agreeable to divine revelation, cannot be done but by a human faith; which faith will not be profitable to eternal life.” Faith (from Pilgrim’s Progress)
So then let me ask you this question, how many of you have asked Jesus into your hearts? How many of you want to go to heaven? Are you sure? Then let me ask you another question, how many of you love to worship God? How many of you spend time with the Lord on a regular basis? How many of you like to pray and study the Word? Or do you get tired of these things and would rather spend time watching TV or hanging out or other worldly things? So let me ask again, are you sure you want to go to heaven? Are you sure you want to go to a place where you will be doing nothing but worshipping God? Because heaven is a place where you will be worshipping God for all eternity!
And yet, to obey all these is not possible by our strength alone, because the Law was not given to bring life, but to bring death, and that is why God’s grace is so amazing. His grace entails that as it says in Philippians 1 that “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” For as it says in Jeremiah 31, that “the time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, declares the Lord. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying know the Lord, because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord, for I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
And many times we don’t realize the implications of this promise of the New Covenant we have in Jesus Christ. That He will write His law upon our hearts so that no one has to teach each other, but that we will all know Him! A clear example of this can be seen in the revival occurring in China, where people many times don’t even have a bible, but their knowledge of God and the Word as shown by practice is far superior to that which is seen here in America, which is supposedly a “Christian” nation, where bibles and Christian material are readily available to us. And this is not to say that the bible is obsolete, but the key underlying difference is a heart that is hungry and desperate for God vs. a heart that is lukewarm in complacency and comfort.
But despite our sin and hypocrisy, the Lord’s heart is this as it says in Psalms 34 that “the Lord is close to those who are of a broken heart and saves such as are crushed with sorrow for sin and are humbly and thoroughly penitent,” and in Isaiah 50 that, “who among you fears the Lord and obey the word of his servant? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. But now, all you who light fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches, go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze. This is what you shall receive from my hand: You will lie down in torment.” God does not care about how much money we give to church or how much time we sacrifice to serve in church, He cares about our hearts; is it truly longing for Him above all else. Just because you look and act like everyone at church does not mean you are acting like Christ. We need to stop comparing ourselves to other people as our standard of righteousness and start comparing ourselves to the righteousness of Christ. We need to stop trying to find our own way with our own light and come broken before God, acknowledging that we are in utter sin and darkness without Him and in desperate need of a savior. We need to stop justifying our sins and begin to live a lifestyle of repentance, a lifestyle of holiness, a lifestyle marked out by Christ.
Character is more important than the size of your ministry or how powerfully you move in the Spirit, because signs and wonders are not a sign of your salvation, but rather love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control is the true mark of a believer. That just because God is getting glory out of you does not mean you are glorifying God because the heart of the matter is, it’s all a matter of the heart.
And the day of His new covenant is here, God is asking us to stop trying to appease our conscience by things that cannot justify us: signs and wonders, the size of our ministry, how much money we give to church, social justice, mission work. For as it says in Revelation 2 that “yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love, remember the height from which you have fallen, repent and do the things you did at first, if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” We need to stop trying to find our own way like the Israelites did, to stop running to idols of entertainment, music, sports, school, work, friends and even serving at church to appease our conscience, and turn back to Him and go back and do the things we used to do when we first met the Lord, when we first fell in love with Him.
How many of you are satisfied with where you are in your walk with Him? How many of don’t even care anymore? How many of you are dry and weary today and want the fire back? God is asking us to return to Him. To stop being busybodies and to be still and know that He is God. And please understand that I am not trying to condemn you or judge you in any way. I am merely asking you to look into your hearts and ask yourself, “am I where I need to be, am I bearing fruit in my life, do I see a growing desire within me to know the Lord and follow in His ways,” because it would be a shame, if the whole time you were thinking you were saved but you actually weren’t, that the substance of your faith was merely an emotional encounter and a reciting of the sinners prayer, and you see Jesus on the day of judgment, and He says that He doesn’t know you, that He only knows those who do the will of the Father, those who bear fruit by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And so if you don’t have assurance of salvation, if you are not sure, don’t worry, for as it says in 2 Peter 3 that “the Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness, He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
If you don’t have assurance, the question comes to, what are you going to do about it? Don’t just sit there and try to convince yourself in your own mind, ask yourself, “am I still living and bearing fruit in Christ today?” For it is better to enter into heaven with many scars than to enter into hell without difficulty. And don’t worry if you haven’t been bearing fruit lately, for it says in Matthew 3 to “produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” That you wrestle with the guilt of your conscience. That if you realize that you haven’t been living a Christ centered, fruit bearing life, just come to repentance, come back to Christ who is not going to condemn you for your sins. All He is asking is to return to Him, to come to Him in repentance. He knows you can’t be perfect and that is why He had to come and why He told us to live a lifestyle of repentance; that although I can’t be perfect in regards to sin, I must be perfect in regards to repentance.
Therefore, let us stop relying on some past event in our lives as the assurance of our salvation, because regardless of the past, the question is “do you see it continuing to work in your life today?” Contend in His grace and wrestle with the guilt of your sins, not trying to merely appease your conscience, but be made right and clean and pure before God through repentance, which is a grace of God, so that you may worship with clean hands and a pure heart. Because if you are trying to repent merely to appease your conscience, it means that you will gladly continue in your sins so long as you feel okay about it. That is a dangerous place to be. Genuine repentance comes when we are genuinely grieved for our sins. To eventually hate the things He hates and to love the things that He loves. Let us stop looking back on the so called “glory days” as our justification before God, and let us come humbly broken before Him, laying all our sins and shortcomings before Him, crying out “God, we need you, I need you, to come and change my heart, to take out my rebellious God hating heart and replace it with one that abides in you, one that desires to seek you and to obey you.” Don’t wait until you think you are “ready” to come back to Him, for how do you know that you won’t die tomorrow? Make today the day that you declare and say, that in your presence Lord I want to stay, to be yours forever Lord this prayer I pray, so come Lord Jesus and have your way!
in Christ alone i truly live (part 2)
as I contemplate on the world around me, my heart begins to grieve and i find myself asking…
why do the wicked prosper in their ways
why do the people continue to stray
why do the people steal, kill, and destroy
why is violence and hate something we enjoy
why do the rich gain from the poor…
because we are all wicked down to the core
where has justice gone from this world
only to leave us with death and hell unfurled
wolves in sheep’s clothing and false prophets abound
to tell us we're all okay and repentance they confound
health, wealth, and faithless faith
all are just useless attempts to escape
for humanism has penetrated and the church is in defeat
compromised to the world and filled with every kind of deceit
for truth we did not seek, wisdom we did not long for
but empty words and promises is what we seem to adore
your best life now and God as a homeboy
all worthless trash that must be destroyed
contemporary garbage that comes from the pit of hell
but the Word and truth you don't have to sell
programs, revivals, events, and retreats
all false fire that leaves us in defeat
because truth is truth no matter how you tell it
so stop bending it to lies by trying to make it fit
for the truth must continue to be offensive
as the gates of hell should be on the defensive
Jesus said the world will hate you because of Him
so stop trying to please the peoples every whim
worried about empty seats instead of empty people
songs of compromise rising from the church steeple
for people hear what they want to hear
no matter how you try to make things clear
for all have fallen short and not a single one does right
and all have chased after darkness and choose to remain in the night
we claim to love you but choose our own way
our songs are lies and our hearts have gone astray
we talk of vision but don’t obey in the little things
disobedience disobedience is the worship that we bring
we serve you with flesh and not with our hearts
seeking our own glory and loving you in parts
we hate our neighbors and feed our own pride
and find ourselves wondering why our spirits have died
we blame you for our troubles and don’t take responsibility
and continue to treat you with contempt and proud hostility
we say we love you but don’t show it in action
and not in your Word but the world we find satisfaction
“tattoos, partying, drinking and smoking
who cares if I cuss I’m merely joking…”
…Lord, my heart is utterly breaking for your church
separate wheat from chaff and send out your search
forgive us Lord for we have all fallen short
for we do not have the strength to stand before your Holy court
we have sought our own way and not of yours
but every deceit and malice and things you abhor
we have followed after the world and all its sinful pleasures
and called it freedom from the law and removed all your Holy measures
we think that we have your favor because we work with our hands
when all you wanted was stillness before your presence and obedience to your commands
we sing songs to you of how much we love you
and yet we know not love because we do not seek you
we boast that our rights are an entitlement and not a gift
and do not submit in love but our words constantly shift
flattery and lies are what seem to flow
from our wicked hearts all the evil begins to show
forgive us Lord and do not turn your face away
cause your Spirit to convict our hearts that we would stay
near to your presence where healing can be found
near to your heart where your grace and love abound
i die to live, my life i give
for in Christ alone i truly live
why do the wicked prosper in their ways
why do the people continue to stray
why do the people steal, kill, and destroy
why is violence and hate something we enjoy
why do the rich gain from the poor…
because we are all wicked down to the core
where has justice gone from this world
only to leave us with death and hell unfurled
wolves in sheep’s clothing and false prophets abound
to tell us we're all okay and repentance they confound
health, wealth, and faithless faith
all are just useless attempts to escape
for humanism has penetrated and the church is in defeat
compromised to the world and filled with every kind of deceit
for truth we did not seek, wisdom we did not long for
but empty words and promises is what we seem to adore
your best life now and God as a homeboy
all worthless trash that must be destroyed
contemporary garbage that comes from the pit of hell
but the Word and truth you don't have to sell
programs, revivals, events, and retreats
all false fire that leaves us in defeat
because truth is truth no matter how you tell it
so stop bending it to lies by trying to make it fit
for the truth must continue to be offensive
as the gates of hell should be on the defensive
Jesus said the world will hate you because of Him
so stop trying to please the peoples every whim
worried about empty seats instead of empty people
songs of compromise rising from the church steeple
for people hear what they want to hear
no matter how you try to make things clear
for all have fallen short and not a single one does right
and all have chased after darkness and choose to remain in the night
we claim to love you but choose our own way
our songs are lies and our hearts have gone astray
we talk of vision but don’t obey in the little things
disobedience disobedience is the worship that we bring
we serve you with flesh and not with our hearts
seeking our own glory and loving you in parts
we hate our neighbors and feed our own pride
and find ourselves wondering why our spirits have died
we blame you for our troubles and don’t take responsibility
and continue to treat you with contempt and proud hostility
we say we love you but don’t show it in action
and not in your Word but the world we find satisfaction
“tattoos, partying, drinking and smoking
who cares if I cuss I’m merely joking…”
…Lord, my heart is utterly breaking for your church
separate wheat from chaff and send out your search
forgive us Lord for we have all fallen short
for we do not have the strength to stand before your Holy court
we have sought our own way and not of yours
but every deceit and malice and things you abhor
we have followed after the world and all its sinful pleasures
and called it freedom from the law and removed all your Holy measures
we think that we have your favor because we work with our hands
when all you wanted was stillness before your presence and obedience to your commands
we sing songs to you of how much we love you
and yet we know not love because we do not seek you
we boast that our rights are an entitlement and not a gift
and do not submit in love but our words constantly shift
flattery and lies are what seem to flow
from our wicked hearts all the evil begins to show
forgive us Lord and do not turn your face away
cause your Spirit to convict our hearts that we would stay
near to your presence where healing can be found
near to your heart where your grace and love abound
i die to live, my life i give
for in Christ alone i truly live
isaiah 30:15
the gospel is not advanced through human innovation and effort, but through a broken heart, a contrite spirit, and a lifestyle of repentance, and to associate results with validity is a fallacy. the premise for this can be drawn from the understanding that "just because God is getting glory out of you does not mean that you are glorifying God." He desires obedience (an inward context in reference to the condition of the heart) rather than sacrifice (an outward context in reference to works and mere superficiality), because you could hypothetically be the most "righteous" humanist and still remain as unregenerate as a child molester without the sanctifying and redeeming work of Christ: for the Word says our righteousness is as filthy rags. therefore, any presumed work and apparent fruits that manifest apart from that of Christ will be to no one's credit, even if it was "for Christ." it will be burned up in the fire of persecution and hardship and become like bitter gall in light of the holiness of God.
15 This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength..." Isaiah 30:15
15 This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength..." Isaiah 30:15
that you loved me in spite of me...
Lord, in all things i can only look to the cross
your Spirit as fire cleansing away the dross
and thus i give you everything much more so than just a part
uprooting things buried deep within as confessions from my heart:
for i am an adulterer a murderer and a thief at heart
jealous and angry and from holiness apart
my best intentions
stand as my worst contentions
even my best confessions
stand as mere pretensions
not knowing the difference from left to right
and consistently choosing the darkness over light
naked and poor, wretched and blind
in myself or this world no hope i could find
but your grace shines bright through the darkest of night
like stars that twinkle in the night sky so bright
and you reached down and saw my helpless estate
and gave me your love and by grace changed my fate
and without rhyme or reason
despite my sin and treason
you came and changed the seasons
of my heart and gave me a reason
to live to love to hope and dream
as you lead me beside the gentle stream
watering the tree once fruitless and dead
now blossoming to life bearing fruit instead
that your love for me stands forever the same
and in the light of this truth i will remain
that you loved me in spite of me
that you loved me in spite of me
and in this truth i am finally set free
your Spirit as fire cleansing away the dross
and thus i give you everything much more so than just a part
uprooting things buried deep within as confessions from my heart:
for i am an adulterer a murderer and a thief at heart
jealous and angry and from holiness apart
my best intentions
stand as my worst contentions
even my best confessions
stand as mere pretensions
not knowing the difference from left to right
and consistently choosing the darkness over light
naked and poor, wretched and blind
in myself or this world no hope i could find
but your grace shines bright through the darkest of night
like stars that twinkle in the night sky so bright
and you reached down and saw my helpless estate
and gave me your love and by grace changed my fate
and without rhyme or reason
despite my sin and treason
you came and changed the seasons
of my heart and gave me a reason
to live to love to hope and dream
as you lead me beside the gentle stream
watering the tree once fruitless and dead
now blossoming to life bearing fruit instead
that your love for me stands forever the same
and in the light of this truth i will remain
that you loved me in spite of me
that you loved me in spite of me
and in this truth i am finally set free
whispers in the moonlight
as i gaze into the gray midnight sky
the stars twinkle and dance in the moonlit night
the air is calm as crickets play their nightly tunes
the streets all empty and illuminated by the moon
i find myself at peace as i listen to the whispers of my heart
the Lord reminding me that His love in me will never ever part
for no sin is too great or too small
for His love and grace has covered it all
that whether by night or by day
His Spirit is in me forever to stay
and for this i thank you Lord
and in Jesus name i pray...amen
the stars twinkle and dance in the moonlit night
the air is calm as crickets play their nightly tunes
the streets all empty and illuminated by the moon
i find myself at peace as i listen to the whispers of my heart
the Lord reminding me that His love in me will never ever part
for no sin is too great or too small
for His love and grace has covered it all
that whether by night or by day
His Spirit is in me forever to stay
and for this i thank you Lord
and in Jesus name i pray...amen
where you begin to walk on water
the christian life is like walking on a lake...
when you first start off, you walk along the waters edge, near to the shore, where the water is most shallow, but as you begin to grow, you start walking toward the center of the lake, away from the safety of the shore and land, and as you keep walking to the place where the water is at its deepest, you find yourself in a place where you can do nothing but drown without the presence of God, utterly helpless without Him, a place where all self reliance and self worth are out of reach, where comfort and worldly pleasure are left back at the distant shoreline, a place where you are abandoned in worship, a place where faith truly begins...
a place where you begin to walk on water
when you first start off, you walk along the waters edge, near to the shore, where the water is most shallow, but as you begin to grow, you start walking toward the center of the lake, away from the safety of the shore and land, and as you keep walking to the place where the water is at its deepest, you find yourself in a place where you can do nothing but drown without the presence of God, utterly helpless without Him, a place where all self reliance and self worth are out of reach, where comfort and worldly pleasure are left back at the distant shoreline, a place where you are abandoned in worship, a place where faith truly begins...
a place where you begin to walk on water
"homies for life"
"homie, i'll die for you, i'll take a bullet for you"
funny how these words come out so easily from people's mouths...
"homies for life!"
"best friends forever"
and yet, when a so called "friend" or "homie" does something to disappoint you, you so readily let go and don't even try to reconcile, even when they try to come and apologize, you turn them away, all those countless hours you spent hanging out together, all those times you forsook your own family to be with your "friend," all for what? to be thrown away and forgotten just like that? my friend, that is not friendship at all, in fact, that is a bunch of nonsense and all the times you said "homies for life" and even calling me your "friend" was just a lie...and understand your hypocrisy, that even though you many times forsook your own family for your friend, they still took you back without question, then why can't you show the same the love to your so called "friend"...but i'll show you true friendship, that even if you turn away from me, even if you stop calling me friend because of a mistake, i will still take you back without a question, i will still seek reconciliation with you, because my friendship was not out of convenience or circumstance, if i consider you friend, you are a friend for life, no if's, ands, or buts...that i don't care if you don't consider me friend, i will continue to love you and be concerned for you, because the friend who can never disappoint me, the friend who will never turn me away, commands me to do so, even if you now consider me your enemy...that i will try to turn the other cheek to your blows in hopes that you will come to your senses and understand what true friendship is...
funny how these words come out so easily from people's mouths...
"homies for life!"
"best friends forever"
and yet, when a so called "friend" or "homie" does something to disappoint you, you so readily let go and don't even try to reconcile, even when they try to come and apologize, you turn them away, all those countless hours you spent hanging out together, all those times you forsook your own family to be with your "friend," all for what? to be thrown away and forgotten just like that? my friend, that is not friendship at all, in fact, that is a bunch of nonsense and all the times you said "homies for life" and even calling me your "friend" was just a lie...and understand your hypocrisy, that even though you many times forsook your own family for your friend, they still took you back without question, then why can't you show the same the love to your so called "friend"...but i'll show you true friendship, that even if you turn away from me, even if you stop calling me friend because of a mistake, i will still take you back without a question, i will still seek reconciliation with you, because my friendship was not out of convenience or circumstance, if i consider you friend, you are a friend for life, no if's, ands, or buts...that i don't care if you don't consider me friend, i will continue to love you and be concerned for you, because the friend who can never disappoint me, the friend who will never turn me away, commands me to do so, even if you now consider me your enemy...that i will try to turn the other cheek to your blows in hopes that you will come to your senses and understand what true friendship is...
in repentance and rest
as the tears drop upon the ashes of this broken heart
the dry and weary places are watered once again to life
a fragrance of spring and beauty and peace overtake my steps
and fills my soul with joy everlasting
flowers begin to bloom as they bask in the warmth of the sun
and the gentle stream glistens as it trickles down its old familiar path
a pleasant breeze gently blows through the endless meadows of green
as ripples seamlessly flowing across tranquil waters
my soul is at peace
and my heart finds rest in the familiarity of this dwelling place...
for in repentance and rest is my salvation
in quietness and trust is my strength
truly your love it covers me, your love it sustains me, your love it beckons me
until the very end
thank you Lord Jesus
the dry and weary places are watered once again to life
a fragrance of spring and beauty and peace overtake my steps
and fills my soul with joy everlasting
flowers begin to bloom as they bask in the warmth of the sun
and the gentle stream glistens as it trickles down its old familiar path
a pleasant breeze gently blows through the endless meadows of green
as ripples seamlessly flowing across tranquil waters
my soul is at peace
and my heart finds rest in the familiarity of this dwelling place...
for in repentance and rest is my salvation
in quietness and trust is my strength
truly your love it covers me, your love it sustains me, your love it beckons me
until the very end
thank you Lord Jesus
in Christ alone i truly live
Lord i want to run away
from this wicked world that makes me stray
i hate this world, this life, this pain
all worthless vanity and selfish gain
all meaningless meaningless utterly meaningless
this world, this life, this pain all meaningless
for each day the sun rises and sets
and all the empty gain only leaves us with regrets
for what is wealth, money, power, and fame
all burned in the fire all just the same
as ashes to ashes and dust to dust
all is destroyed by moth and rust
and at the end of this life its all the same
no power, no wisdom, no glory or fame
for we live to die and die to live
with nothing left at the end to give
and all is gone no tears to cry
for by and by we live to die
but to live is Christ and die is gain
so in His presence i'll always remain
for this life is not worth living in comfort and rest
if it leads me to hell and it's eternal unrest
but my life my strength He will sustain
my salvation assured, His Spirit remains
so i die to live, my life i give
for in Christ alone i truly live
from this wicked world that makes me stray
i hate this world, this life, this pain
all worthless vanity and selfish gain
all meaningless meaningless utterly meaningless
this world, this life, this pain all meaningless
for each day the sun rises and sets
and all the empty gain only leaves us with regrets
for what is wealth, money, power, and fame
all burned in the fire all just the same
as ashes to ashes and dust to dust
all is destroyed by moth and rust
and at the end of this life its all the same
no power, no wisdom, no glory or fame
for we live to die and die to live
with nothing left at the end to give
and all is gone no tears to cry
for by and by we live to die
but to live is Christ and die is gain
so in His presence i'll always remain
for this life is not worth living in comfort and rest
if it leads me to hell and it's eternal unrest
but my life my strength He will sustain
my salvation assured, His Spirit remains
so i die to live, my life i give
for in Christ alone i truly live
torn apart
feels like my mind is being torn apart
trying to feel with what remains of a broken heart
wherever i go i find no rest
even when i try to pray and beat upon my chest
all i hear is an uneasy silence
with thoughts that try to force me into compliance
to the lies that continue to surround me
slowly making me believe i can never be free
how long o Lord will you be far away
you promised me that you would always stay
but my heart is dying within
is it the devil or is it my sin
that is causing me to feel this way
please help me Lord before i begin to stray
from the path you have laid out before me
the only road that leads to eternity
for wide is the road that leads to hell
but sometimes i feel i'm on it just as well
when o Lord will this suffering end
when o Lord will you take and mend
this broken heart that's dying inside
change it Lord with one that abides
to the call of your beautiful voice
irresistible grace that leaves us without choice
for in our choice we chose not your ways
but continually chose to stubbornly stray
so would you finish the work you’ve started within
so that my life, my faith, my worship may truly begin
trying to feel with what remains of a broken heart
wherever i go i find no rest
even when i try to pray and beat upon my chest
all i hear is an uneasy silence
with thoughts that try to force me into compliance
to the lies that continue to surround me
slowly making me believe i can never be free
how long o Lord will you be far away
you promised me that you would always stay
but my heart is dying within
is it the devil or is it my sin
that is causing me to feel this way
please help me Lord before i begin to stray
from the path you have laid out before me
the only road that leads to eternity
for wide is the road that leads to hell
but sometimes i feel i'm on it just as well
when o Lord will this suffering end
when o Lord will you take and mend
this broken heart that's dying inside
change it Lord with one that abides
to the call of your beautiful voice
irresistible grace that leaves us without choice
for in our choice we chose not your ways
but continually chose to stubbornly stray
so would you finish the work you’ve started within
so that my life, my faith, my worship may truly begin
the model of genuine conversion
so i recently started reading a book called "Pilgrim's Progress" and it has been a huge blessing to me, just wanted to share an excerpt from it that i feel shows a clear example of the genuine conversion of a sinner to salvation, to which it has served as a reminder in my personal walk with the Lord of how amazing His grace truly is =)
Pilgrim's Progress: Part 1 Stage 9
Christian: I will sing you first this song:
“When saints do sleepy grow, let them come hither,
And hear how these two pilgrims talk together;
Yea, let them learn of them in any wise,
Thus to keep open their drowsy, slumb’ring eyes.
Saints’ fellowship, if it be managed well,
Keeps them awake, and that in spite of hell.”
Then Christian began, and said, I will ask you a question. How came you to think at first of doing what you do now?
Hopeful: Do you mean, how came I at first to look after the good of my soul?
Christian: Yes, that is my meaning.
Hopeful: I continued a great while in the delight of those things which were seen and sold at our fair (vanity fair); things which I believe now would have, had I continued in them still, drowned me in perdition and destruction.
Christian: What things were they?
Hopeful: All the treasures and riches of the world. Also I delighted much in rioting, reveling, drinking, swearing, lying, uncleanness, Sabbath-breaking, and what not, that tended to destroy the soul. But I found at last, by hearing and considering of things that are divine, which, indeed, I heard of you, as also of beloved Faithful, that was put to death for his faith and good living in Vanity Fair, that the end of these things is death, Rom. 6:21-23; and that for these things’ sake, the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience. Eph. 5:6.
Christian: And did you presently fall under the power of this conviction?
Hopeful: No, I was not willing presently to know the evil of sin, nor the damnation that follows upon the commission of it; but endeavored, when my mind at first began to be shaken with the word, to shut mine eyes against the light thereof.
Christian: But what was the cause of your carrying of it thus to the first workings of God’s blessed Spirit upon you?
Hopeful: The causes were, 1. I was ignorant that this was the work of God upon me. I never thought that by awakenings for sin, God at first begins the conversion of a sinner. 2. Sin was yet very sweet to my flesh, and I was loth to leave it. 3. I could not tell how to part with mine old companions, their presence and actions were so desirable unto me. 4. The hours in which convictions were upon me, were such troublesome and such heart-affrighting hours, that I could not bear, no not so much as the remembrance of them upon my heart.
Christian: Then, as it seems, sometimes you got rid of your trouble?
Hopeful: Yes, verily, but it would come into my mind again; and then I should be as bad, nay, worse than I was before.
Christian: Why, what was it that brought your sins to mind again?
Hopeful: Many things; as,
1. If I did but meet a good man in the streets; or,
2. If I have heard any read in the Bible; or,
3. If mine head did begin to ache; or,
4. If I were told that some of my neighbors were sick; or,
5. If I heard the bell toll for some that were dead; or,
6. If I thought of dying myself; or,
7. If I heard that sudden death happened to others.
8. But especially when I thought of myself, that I must quickly come to judgment.
Christian: And could you at any time, with ease, get off the guilt of sin, when by any of these ways it came upon you?
Hopeful: No, not I; for then they got faster hold of my conscience; and then, if I did but think of going back to sin, (though my mind was turned against it,) it would be double torment to me.
Christian: And how did you do then?
Hopeful: I thought I must endeavor to mend my life; for else, thought I, I am sure to be damned.
Christian: And did you endeavor to mend?
Hopeful: Yes, and fled from, not only my sins, but sinful company too, and betook me to religious duties, as praying, reading, weeping for sin, speaking truth to my neighbors, etc. These things did I, with many others, too much here to relate.
Christian: And did you think yourself well then?
Hopeful: Yes, for a while; but at the last my trouble came tumbling upon me again, and that over the neck of all my reformations.
Christian: How came that about, since you were now reformed?
Hopeful: There were several things brought it upon me, especially such sayings as these: “All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” Isa. 64:6. “By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” Gal. 2:16. “When ye have done all these things, say, We are unprofitable,” Luke 17:10; with many more such like. From whence I began to reason with myself thus: If all my righteousnesses are as filthy rags; if by the deeds of the law no man can be justified; and if, when we have done all, we are yet unprofitable, then is it but a folly to think of heaven by the law. I farther thought thus: If a man runs a hundred pounds into the shopkeeper’s debt, and after that shall pay for all that he shall fetch; yet if his old debt stands still in the book uncrossed, the shopkeeper may sue him for it, and cast him into prison, till he shall pay the debt.
Christian: Well, and how did you apply this to yourself?
Hopeful: Why, I thought thus with myself: I have by my sins run a great way into God’s book, and my now reforming will not pay off that score; therefore I should think still, under all my present amendments, But how shall I be freed from that damnation that I brought myself in danger of by my former transgressions?
Christian: A very good application: but pray go on.
Hopeful: Another thing that hath troubled me ever since my late amendments, is, that if I look narrowly into the best of what I do now, I still see sin, new sin, mixing itself with the best of that I do; so that now I am forced to conclude, that notwithstanding my former fond conceits of myself and duties, I have committed sin enough in one day to send me to hell, though my former life had been faultless.
Christian: And what did you do then?
Hopeful: Do! I could not tell what to do, until I broke my mind to Faithful; for he and I were well acquainted. And he told me, that unless I could obtain the righteousness of a man that never had sinned, neither mine own, nor all the righteousness of the world, could save me.
Christian: And did you think he spake true?
Hopeful: Had he told me so when I was pleased and satisfied with my own amendments, I had called him fool for his pains; but now, since I see my own infirmity, and the sin which cleaves to my best performance, I have been forced to be of his opinion.
Christian: But did you think, when at first he suggested it to you, that there was such a man to be found, of whom it might justly be said, that he never committed sin?
Hopeful: I must confess the words at first sounded strangely; but after a little more talk and company with him, I had full conviction about it.
Christian: And did you ask him what man this was, and how you must be justified by him?
Hopeful: Yes, and he told me it was the Lord Jesus, that dwelleth on the right hand of the Most High. Heb. 10:12-21. And thus, said he, you must be justified by him, even by trusting to what he hath done by himself in the days of his flesh, and suffered when he did hang on the tree. Rom. 4:5; Col. 1:14; 1 Pet. 1:19. I asked him further, how that man’s righteousness could be of that efficacy, to justify another before God. And he told me he was the mighty God, and did what he did, and died the death also, not for himself, but for me; to whom his doings, and the worthiness of them, should be imputed, if I believed on him.
Christian: And what did you do then?
Hopeful: I made my objections against my believing, for that I thought he was not willing to save me.
Christian: And what said Faithful to you then?
Hopeful: He bid me go to him and see. Then I said it was presumption. He said, No; for I was invited to come. Matt. 11:28. Then he gave me a book of Jesus’ inditing, to encourage me the more freely to come; and he said concerning that book, that every jot and tittle thereof stood firmer than heaven and earth. Matt. 24:35. Then I asked him what I must do when I came; and he told me I must entreat upon my knees, Psa. 95:6; Dan. 6:10, with all my heart and soul, Jer. 29:12,13, the Father to reveal him to me. Then I asked him further, how I must make my supplications to him; and he said, Go, and thou shalt find him upon a mercy-seat, where he sits all the year long to give pardon and forgiveness to them that come. Exod. 25:22; Lev. 16:2; Num. 7:89; Heb. 4:16. I told him, that I knew not what to say when I came; and he bid say to this effect: God be merciful to me a sinner, and make me to know and believe in Jesus Christ; for I see, that if his righteousness had not been, or I have not faith in that righteousness, I am utterly cast away. Lord, I have heard that thou art a merciful God, and hast ordained that thy Son Jesus Christ should be the Saviour of the world; and moreover, that thou art willing to bestow him upon such a poor sinner as I am-and I am a sinner indeed. Lord, take therefore this opportunity, and magnify thy grace in the salvation of my soul, through thy Son Jesus Christ. Amen.
Christian: And did you do as you were bidden?
Hopeful: Yes, over, and over, and over.
Christian: And did the Father reveal the Son to you?
Hopeful: Not at the first, nor second, nor third, nor fourth, nor fifth, no, nor at the sixth time neither.
Christian: What did you do then?
Hopeful: What? why I could not tell what to do.
Christian: Had you not thoughts of leaving off praying?
Hopeful: Yes; an hundred times twice told.
Christian: And what was the reason you did not?
Hopeful: I believed that it was true which hath been told me, to wit, that without the righteousness of this Christ, all the world could not save me; and therefore, thought I with myself, if I leave off, I die, and I can but die at the throne of grace. And withal this came into my mind, “If it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, and will not tarry.” Hab. 2:3. So I continued praying until the Father showed me his Son.
Christian: And how was he revealed unto you?
Hopeful: I did not see him with my bodily eyes, but with the eyes of my understanding, Eph. 1:18,19; and thus it was. One day I was very sad, I think sadder than at any one time in my life; and this sadness was through a fresh sight of the greatness and vileness of my sins. And as I was then looking for nothing but hell, and the everlasting damnation of my soul, suddenly, as I thought, I saw the Lord Jesus looking down from heaven upon me, and saying, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Acts 16:31.
But I replied, Lord, I am a great, a very great sinner: and he answered, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” 2 Cor. 12:9. Then I said, But, Lord, what is believing? And then I saw from that saying, “He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst,” John 6:35, that believing and coming was all one; and that he that came, that is, that ran out in his heart and affections after salvation by Christ, he indeed believed in Christ. Then the water stood in mine eyes, and I asked further, But, Lord, may such a great sinner as I am be indeed accepted of thee, and be saved by thee? And I heard him say, “And him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:37. Then I said, But how, Lord, must I consider of thee in my coming to thee, that my faith may be placed aright upon thee? Then he said, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” 1 Tim. 1:15. He is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes. Rom.10:4, and chap. 4. He died for our sins, and rose again for our justification. Rom. 4:25. He loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood. Rev. 1:5. He is the Mediator between God and us. 1 Tim. 2:5. He ever liveth to make intercession for us. Heb. 7:25. From all which I gathered, that I must look for righteousness in his person, and for satisfaction for my sins by his blood: that what he did in obedience to his Father’s law, and in submitting to the penalty thereof, was not for himself, but for him that will accept it for his salvation, and be thankful. And now was my heart full of joy, mine eyes full of tears, and mine affections running over with love to the name, people, and ways of Jesus Christ.
Christian: This was a revelation of Christ to your soul indeed. But tell me particularly what effect this had upon your spirit.
Hopeful: It made me see that all the world, notwithstanding all the righteousness thereof, is in a state of condemnation. It made me see that God the Father, though he be just, can justly justify the coming sinner. It made me greatly ashamed of the vileness of my former life, and confounded me with the sense of mine own ignorance; for there never came a thought into my heart before now that showed me so the beauty of Jesus Christ. It made me love a holy life, and long to do something for the honor and glory of the name of the Lord Jesus. Yea, I thought that had I now a thousand gallons of blood in my body, I could spill it all for the sake of the Lord Jesus.
Pilgrim's Progress: Part 1 Stage 9
Christian: I will sing you first this song:
“When saints do sleepy grow, let them come hither,
And hear how these two pilgrims talk together;
Yea, let them learn of them in any wise,
Thus to keep open their drowsy, slumb’ring eyes.
Saints’ fellowship, if it be managed well,
Keeps them awake, and that in spite of hell.”
Then Christian began, and said, I will ask you a question. How came you to think at first of doing what you do now?
Hopeful: Do you mean, how came I at first to look after the good of my soul?
Christian: Yes, that is my meaning.
Hopeful: I continued a great while in the delight of those things which were seen and sold at our fair (vanity fair); things which I believe now would have, had I continued in them still, drowned me in perdition and destruction.
Christian: What things were they?
Hopeful: All the treasures and riches of the world. Also I delighted much in rioting, reveling, drinking, swearing, lying, uncleanness, Sabbath-breaking, and what not, that tended to destroy the soul. But I found at last, by hearing and considering of things that are divine, which, indeed, I heard of you, as also of beloved Faithful, that was put to death for his faith and good living in Vanity Fair, that the end of these things is death, Rom. 6:21-23; and that for these things’ sake, the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience. Eph. 5:6.
Christian: And did you presently fall under the power of this conviction?
Hopeful: No, I was not willing presently to know the evil of sin, nor the damnation that follows upon the commission of it; but endeavored, when my mind at first began to be shaken with the word, to shut mine eyes against the light thereof.
Christian: But what was the cause of your carrying of it thus to the first workings of God’s blessed Spirit upon you?
Hopeful: The causes were, 1. I was ignorant that this was the work of God upon me. I never thought that by awakenings for sin, God at first begins the conversion of a sinner. 2. Sin was yet very sweet to my flesh, and I was loth to leave it. 3. I could not tell how to part with mine old companions, their presence and actions were so desirable unto me. 4. The hours in which convictions were upon me, were such troublesome and such heart-affrighting hours, that I could not bear, no not so much as the remembrance of them upon my heart.
Christian: Then, as it seems, sometimes you got rid of your trouble?
Hopeful: Yes, verily, but it would come into my mind again; and then I should be as bad, nay, worse than I was before.
Christian: Why, what was it that brought your sins to mind again?
Hopeful: Many things; as,
1. If I did but meet a good man in the streets; or,
2. If I have heard any read in the Bible; or,
3. If mine head did begin to ache; or,
4. If I were told that some of my neighbors were sick; or,
5. If I heard the bell toll for some that were dead; or,
6. If I thought of dying myself; or,
7. If I heard that sudden death happened to others.
8. But especially when I thought of myself, that I must quickly come to judgment.
Christian: And could you at any time, with ease, get off the guilt of sin, when by any of these ways it came upon you?
Hopeful: No, not I; for then they got faster hold of my conscience; and then, if I did but think of going back to sin, (though my mind was turned against it,) it would be double torment to me.
Christian: And how did you do then?
Hopeful: I thought I must endeavor to mend my life; for else, thought I, I am sure to be damned.
Christian: And did you endeavor to mend?
Hopeful: Yes, and fled from, not only my sins, but sinful company too, and betook me to religious duties, as praying, reading, weeping for sin, speaking truth to my neighbors, etc. These things did I, with many others, too much here to relate.
Christian: And did you think yourself well then?
Hopeful: Yes, for a while; but at the last my trouble came tumbling upon me again, and that over the neck of all my reformations.
Christian: How came that about, since you were now reformed?
Hopeful: There were several things brought it upon me, especially such sayings as these: “All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” Isa. 64:6. “By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” Gal. 2:16. “When ye have done all these things, say, We are unprofitable,” Luke 17:10; with many more such like. From whence I began to reason with myself thus: If all my righteousnesses are as filthy rags; if by the deeds of the law no man can be justified; and if, when we have done all, we are yet unprofitable, then is it but a folly to think of heaven by the law. I farther thought thus: If a man runs a hundred pounds into the shopkeeper’s debt, and after that shall pay for all that he shall fetch; yet if his old debt stands still in the book uncrossed, the shopkeeper may sue him for it, and cast him into prison, till he shall pay the debt.
Christian: Well, and how did you apply this to yourself?
Hopeful: Why, I thought thus with myself: I have by my sins run a great way into God’s book, and my now reforming will not pay off that score; therefore I should think still, under all my present amendments, But how shall I be freed from that damnation that I brought myself in danger of by my former transgressions?
Christian: A very good application: but pray go on.
Hopeful: Another thing that hath troubled me ever since my late amendments, is, that if I look narrowly into the best of what I do now, I still see sin, new sin, mixing itself with the best of that I do; so that now I am forced to conclude, that notwithstanding my former fond conceits of myself and duties, I have committed sin enough in one day to send me to hell, though my former life had been faultless.
Christian: And what did you do then?
Hopeful: Do! I could not tell what to do, until I broke my mind to Faithful; for he and I were well acquainted. And he told me, that unless I could obtain the righteousness of a man that never had sinned, neither mine own, nor all the righteousness of the world, could save me.
Christian: And did you think he spake true?
Hopeful: Had he told me so when I was pleased and satisfied with my own amendments, I had called him fool for his pains; but now, since I see my own infirmity, and the sin which cleaves to my best performance, I have been forced to be of his opinion.
Christian: But did you think, when at first he suggested it to you, that there was such a man to be found, of whom it might justly be said, that he never committed sin?
Hopeful: I must confess the words at first sounded strangely; but after a little more talk and company with him, I had full conviction about it.
Christian: And did you ask him what man this was, and how you must be justified by him?
Hopeful: Yes, and he told me it was the Lord Jesus, that dwelleth on the right hand of the Most High. Heb. 10:12-21. And thus, said he, you must be justified by him, even by trusting to what he hath done by himself in the days of his flesh, and suffered when he did hang on the tree. Rom. 4:5; Col. 1:14; 1 Pet. 1:19. I asked him further, how that man’s righteousness could be of that efficacy, to justify another before God. And he told me he was the mighty God, and did what he did, and died the death also, not for himself, but for me; to whom his doings, and the worthiness of them, should be imputed, if I believed on him.
Christian: And what did you do then?
Hopeful: I made my objections against my believing, for that I thought he was not willing to save me.
Christian: And what said Faithful to you then?
Hopeful: He bid me go to him and see. Then I said it was presumption. He said, No; for I was invited to come. Matt. 11:28. Then he gave me a book of Jesus’ inditing, to encourage me the more freely to come; and he said concerning that book, that every jot and tittle thereof stood firmer than heaven and earth. Matt. 24:35. Then I asked him what I must do when I came; and he told me I must entreat upon my knees, Psa. 95:6; Dan. 6:10, with all my heart and soul, Jer. 29:12,13, the Father to reveal him to me. Then I asked him further, how I must make my supplications to him; and he said, Go, and thou shalt find him upon a mercy-seat, where he sits all the year long to give pardon and forgiveness to them that come. Exod. 25:22; Lev. 16:2; Num. 7:89; Heb. 4:16. I told him, that I knew not what to say when I came; and he bid say to this effect: God be merciful to me a sinner, and make me to know and believe in Jesus Christ; for I see, that if his righteousness had not been, or I have not faith in that righteousness, I am utterly cast away. Lord, I have heard that thou art a merciful God, and hast ordained that thy Son Jesus Christ should be the Saviour of the world; and moreover, that thou art willing to bestow him upon such a poor sinner as I am-and I am a sinner indeed. Lord, take therefore this opportunity, and magnify thy grace in the salvation of my soul, through thy Son Jesus Christ. Amen.
Christian: And did you do as you were bidden?
Hopeful: Yes, over, and over, and over.
Christian: And did the Father reveal the Son to you?
Hopeful: Not at the first, nor second, nor third, nor fourth, nor fifth, no, nor at the sixth time neither.
Christian: What did you do then?
Hopeful: What? why I could not tell what to do.
Christian: Had you not thoughts of leaving off praying?
Hopeful: Yes; an hundred times twice told.
Christian: And what was the reason you did not?
Hopeful: I believed that it was true which hath been told me, to wit, that without the righteousness of this Christ, all the world could not save me; and therefore, thought I with myself, if I leave off, I die, and I can but die at the throne of grace. And withal this came into my mind, “If it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, and will not tarry.” Hab. 2:3. So I continued praying until the Father showed me his Son.
Christian: And how was he revealed unto you?
Hopeful: I did not see him with my bodily eyes, but with the eyes of my understanding, Eph. 1:18,19; and thus it was. One day I was very sad, I think sadder than at any one time in my life; and this sadness was through a fresh sight of the greatness and vileness of my sins. And as I was then looking for nothing but hell, and the everlasting damnation of my soul, suddenly, as I thought, I saw the Lord Jesus looking down from heaven upon me, and saying, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Acts 16:31.
But I replied, Lord, I am a great, a very great sinner: and he answered, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” 2 Cor. 12:9. Then I said, But, Lord, what is believing? And then I saw from that saying, “He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst,” John 6:35, that believing and coming was all one; and that he that came, that is, that ran out in his heart and affections after salvation by Christ, he indeed believed in Christ. Then the water stood in mine eyes, and I asked further, But, Lord, may such a great sinner as I am be indeed accepted of thee, and be saved by thee? And I heard him say, “And him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:37. Then I said, But how, Lord, must I consider of thee in my coming to thee, that my faith may be placed aright upon thee? Then he said, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” 1 Tim. 1:15. He is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes. Rom.10:4, and chap. 4. He died for our sins, and rose again for our justification. Rom. 4:25. He loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood. Rev. 1:5. He is the Mediator between God and us. 1 Tim. 2:5. He ever liveth to make intercession for us. Heb. 7:25. From all which I gathered, that I must look for righteousness in his person, and for satisfaction for my sins by his blood: that what he did in obedience to his Father’s law, and in submitting to the penalty thereof, was not for himself, but for him that will accept it for his salvation, and be thankful. And now was my heart full of joy, mine eyes full of tears, and mine affections running over with love to the name, people, and ways of Jesus Christ.
Christian: This was a revelation of Christ to your soul indeed. But tell me particularly what effect this had upon your spirit.
Hopeful: It made me see that all the world, notwithstanding all the righteousness thereof, is in a state of condemnation. It made me see that God the Father, though he be just, can justly justify the coming sinner. It made me greatly ashamed of the vileness of my former life, and confounded me with the sense of mine own ignorance; for there never came a thought into my heart before now that showed me so the beauty of Jesus Christ. It made me love a holy life, and long to do something for the honor and glory of the name of the Lord Jesus. Yea, I thought that had I now a thousand gallons of blood in my body, I could spill it all for the sake of the Lord Jesus.
God saved you from Himself, for Himself, and by Himself
the Lord is righteous in His judgments, He is righteous when He condemns the wicked to eternal damnation, His ways are true, His ways are just, for He is Holy, for who can dare question Him, who can dare lift himself above the Lord, for there is non other than the Lord who reigns over all creation, He reigns alone and shares His glory with no one. and what is man, but lower than dirt, like a brazen prostitute who has not only turned away from what is righteous, but boasts of her sins and her wickedness and rebellion against God. entitled to nothing but an eternity in hell, where the wrath of the Lord burns forever, a place where creation looks down to and applauds His justice and righteous judgments. this is the inheritance of those who live in rebellion against the Lord, those who live in idolatry and know not the ways of the Lord. for creation testifies against us and calls forth our transgressions before the Lord to put an end to our rebellion. because the justice of the Lord must be satisfied, He cannot leave sin unpunished for He is just. to pardon our sins by forsaking justice would make Him out to be unjust, for those who do such are by His own words called an abomination. but He made a way, in our helpless estate, He made a way, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. for it says in the Word that He was pierced for our transgressions and that it pleased the Lord to crush Him. the wrath and righteous judgment of the Lord was satisfied as Christ drank ever last drop from the cup that belonged to us, the cup of God's wrath and judgment, and thus, have justified those who will call on His Name. He was able to do this because only He had the authority to lay down His life and take it back up again, the only one that could satisfy the wrath and justice of God and thus destroy the power of sin and death for all those who would call on His Name. and the One that has overcome the world has called forth sinners to repent and forsake their lives that they may truly live. to lay down their lives and take up the cross that His Spirit may live through them and thus bring life back into them. and His Spirit is not weak and does not grow weary, for He who started a good work in you has the strength to finish that work in you. so you who are made into a new creation, who have received life, praise Him for you will by His power and discipline continue to walk down the straight and narrow path marked out before you and enter through the narrow gate. for if you are of Him, you are no longer of yourself, no longer of this world, and no longer of the ways that lead to death, for to accept Him is to reject yourself, your dreams, ambitions, desires, all crucified with Christ. and God is not in the business of leaving His work unfinished. what glorious Grace bestowed unto us through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ!
John 3:16
John 3:16
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
This is the most profound and critical part of our faith as Christians, by which the mystery of the universe, unknown to the world since its creation, was made known to us by the grace and mercy of God the Father through the obedience of His beloved Son and by the leading and ministry of the Holy Spirit. Sadly, we many times forget to study and look deeper into this amazing verse and forget how fundamental it is not only to our faith, but to all of creation.
For God so loved the world
That God had a special plan and a place in His heart for man since the beginning. To the extent of making man in His own image and personally breathing life into him and assigning him privilege and favor over the rest of creation by giving him rule over every creature. And that God personally walked with Adam in the garden and talked with Him. That God Himself, would converse with man and delight, above the rest of creation, in man, what glorious privilege, favor, and grace given unto us from the very beginning.
(God painted an image of Himself on the canvas of creation, which was man, and as death and sin covered the canvas, He had to come into the painting itself to bring it back to life)
That He gave His one and only Son
That although we rejected Him and turned our faces away from Him and prostituted ourselves to sin, God came down to us, that He reached out His hand to reconcile us to Himself, that a Holy and Mighty and Righteous God, who created and reigns over the entire universe, chose “not to consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!” Phillipians 2:6-8. I cannot even begin to comprehend such a love, that while I was still His enemy, while I was nailing Him to the cross and mocking Him, He chose to endure the shame, the humiliation, the suffering, and the pain of the cross, all so that a worthless sinner like me could be reconciled to Him.
That whoever believes in Him
To believe means that we acknowledge our transgressions through repentance before Him and admit our weaknesses and fully surrender under His Lordship and Sovereignty over our lives. To believe means that we die to ourselves daily by putting to death our fleshly and worldly desires to take up the desires of the Lord, to allow Christ to live through us by the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Shall not perish but have eternal life
That because of Jesus, we are reconciled to God and can now spend eternity with Him, in His Wonderful, Magnificent, and Glorious Presence, where He will personally wipe away every tear and where we are completely and utterly lost in worship to Him. That we are set free, not free for the sake of being free, but free to serve and worship the Living God!
Lord, I thank you for your never ending love for me. That you would choose to reveal yourself to me and shower me with your love while I was still your enemy. Lord, I am without excuse before you, my transgressions are laid bare and I acknowledge my weakness and failure before your presence. Teach me to live what I believe and to believe that you live in and through me. Because you are the source of my joy and my life; apart from you there is no other Way, no other Truth, no other Life, no other God. Amen.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
This is the most profound and critical part of our faith as Christians, by which the mystery of the universe, unknown to the world since its creation, was made known to us by the grace and mercy of God the Father through the obedience of His beloved Son and by the leading and ministry of the Holy Spirit. Sadly, we many times forget to study and look deeper into this amazing verse and forget how fundamental it is not only to our faith, but to all of creation.
For God so loved the world
That God had a special plan and a place in His heart for man since the beginning. To the extent of making man in His own image and personally breathing life into him and assigning him privilege and favor over the rest of creation by giving him rule over every creature. And that God personally walked with Adam in the garden and talked with Him. That God Himself, would converse with man and delight, above the rest of creation, in man, what glorious privilege, favor, and grace given unto us from the very beginning.
(God painted an image of Himself on the canvas of creation, which was man, and as death and sin covered the canvas, He had to come into the painting itself to bring it back to life)
That He gave His one and only Son
That although we rejected Him and turned our faces away from Him and prostituted ourselves to sin, God came down to us, that He reached out His hand to reconcile us to Himself, that a Holy and Mighty and Righteous God, who created and reigns over the entire universe, chose “not to consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!” Phillipians 2:6-8. I cannot even begin to comprehend such a love, that while I was still His enemy, while I was nailing Him to the cross and mocking Him, He chose to endure the shame, the humiliation, the suffering, and the pain of the cross, all so that a worthless sinner like me could be reconciled to Him.
That whoever believes in Him
To believe means that we acknowledge our transgressions through repentance before Him and admit our weaknesses and fully surrender under His Lordship and Sovereignty over our lives. To believe means that we die to ourselves daily by putting to death our fleshly and worldly desires to take up the desires of the Lord, to allow Christ to live through us by the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Shall not perish but have eternal life
That because of Jesus, we are reconciled to God and can now spend eternity with Him, in His Wonderful, Magnificent, and Glorious Presence, where He will personally wipe away every tear and where we are completely and utterly lost in worship to Him. That we are set free, not free for the sake of being free, but free to serve and worship the Living God!
Lord, I thank you for your never ending love for me. That you would choose to reveal yourself to me and shower me with your love while I was still your enemy. Lord, I am without excuse before you, my transgressions are laid bare and I acknowledge my weakness and failure before your presence. Teach me to live what I believe and to believe that you live in and through me. Because you are the source of my joy and my life; apart from you there is no other Way, no other Truth, no other Life, no other God. Amen.
guilt is not the same as condemnation
have you heard this saying before, that (for christians) feelings of guilt and condemnation are from satan. personally, i hear this all the time from people around me, and i totally ate it up without even thinking about it. this saying, that guilt and condemnation are from the devil is only a half truth (which makes it a lie). in actuality (for a genuine christian), condemnation is from satan, but guilt is from God and we as christians should feel guilty for our sins. now you may be thinking that i am out of my mind for saying this, but reason with me for a second. can you show me a verse from the bible that says that guilt comes from the devil? because i can't seem to find it. lets look at the definitions of the words to get a better idea. guilt is defined as: a feeling of culpability for offenses. condemnation is defined as: to pronounce guilty (sentence, doom). in other words, guilt is the realization of sin, whereas condemnation is the just result of the sin. see the difference? if you look at examples from the Word, time and time again you see people genuinely troubled (feelings of guilt) for their sins to the point of putting on sackloth and ash! a prime example can be found in the writings of king david in the book of psalms. over half of his psalms are of him crying out to God because he is troubled by his sins and his transgressions before the Lord. the guy that was known as the man after God's own heart, was continually filled with guilt and troubled when he sinned against the Lord. that regardless of his lowly estate, he continued to seek the Lord with all his might. it is what you do with the guilt that defines where you stand before God. now, if you don't feel any guilt at all for your sins, i would have to say that you need to really question the genuiness of your salvation, because one of the primary workings of the Holy Spirit is to convict men of their sins (convict: to convince of error or sinfulness) to lead them to repentance. now, regarding what you do with your guilt, you can go down one of two ways: you can either fall into condemnation (depravity) and fall further away from the Lord or you can repent and cry out to the One who can pardon you. for as it says in the Word: a broken heart and a contrite spirit He will not despise. it is impossible to obtain salvation without genuine repentance. and there can be no repentance without a realization of sin (guilt), which is done by the work of the Holy Spirit (conviction of sin). and if the Holy Spirit is in you, you will continue to live a lifestyle of repentance, which is the process of sanctification and in accordance with bearing fruit in your life. in essence, you should feel guilty for your sins, because in that guilt, you come to a place of genuine repentance before the Lord. but, it also allows you to understand and appreciate His grace that much more, because there is no understanding of grace without an understanding of sin. sadly, these things aren't preached today in the american church. we have a completely watered down and skewed view of God and have forgotten that He is a holy and righteous God with furious anger that burns against unrepented sinners. we have turned Him into our "homeboy" and have forgotten that He is our Lord and King and Master. we say things like "me and Jesus have our own thing going on" and other such nonsense, and yet i fail to see any example of such attitude from the Word. even Jesus, God's own Son, spoke to the Father with the utmost reverance and fear, how much more we, as mere humans, must give the utmost reverence to God. so the saying is true: that fools rush in where even angels fear to tread. that is how depraved we truly are, where we cannot even distinguish our left from our right, and have molded God into our own image and to our own liking. so then this saying is also true: that all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God, that not one is righteous, not a single one. and therefore, let us repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand! wake up the sleeping christians in the sleeping churches, and sound the battle cry, because the days are short, and there is much at stake. break off and crucify your selfish ambitions, your hopes, and your dreams, and take up your cross and follow Him that He may get glory out of you, unless, you don't even have the remotest desire to do so which would indicate that you have not been regenerated. unless you have been deceived into thinking that you are saved just because you prayed a prayer once, which is completely unbiblical. for as it is written: He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD. and this very much applies to the american church today, where we have made the process of salvation into a conveyer belt of formulas and strategies, and have declared righteous what God has not deemed righteous, that we have tricked people into thinking that they are saved just because they recited the sinners prayer, when they have absolutely no sense of the enormity of their sins and their insult against Deity because God did not impart His Spirit upon that person. as a pastor was saying before, that you cannot cover up bad gospel with discipleship, that the reason so called christians come in through the front of the church and leave through the backdoor is not because of a lack of discipleship, but because the gospel wasn't preached and they weren't christian to begin with. God is not weak, His Spirit is not weak, His grace is not weak. if He started a work in you, He will finish it, and if you don't see that work in you, you didn't have Him to begin with. therefore, let us be wise, for the days are utterly depraved, and our own hearts are wickedly deceptive. let us trust in our Lord Jesus Christ, and seek Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. let us repent and make our high places low, that He may come and make our low places high, for blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God! it is impossible to be perfect in regards to sin, therefore let us be perfect in regards to repentance!
It is not about a works-based salvation but about a works-producing salvation
"it is because He saved me that i truly desire to live in righteousness, that i no longer desire the things from my depraved nature because He brought me to grips with His righteousness and holiness and in light of that changed my rebellious heart and made me aware of my transgressions by the conviction of the Holy Spirit and has begun a mighty work in my life, to make me more like Him and has given me a continual desire to seek after Him in humility, love, and utter dependence on His leading"
It is not about a works-based salvation but about a works-producing salvation
"it is because He saved me that i truly desire to live in righteousness, that i no longer desire the things from my depraved nature because He brought me to grips with His righteousness and holiness and in light of that changed my rebellious heart and made me aware of my transgressions by the conviction of the Holy Spirit and has begun a mighty work in my life, to make me more like Him and has given me a continual desire to seek after Him in humility, love, and utter dependence on His leading"
Lord send revival today!
Lord my soul is dry and weary
breath life back into these dry bones
fill my soul with living water
for your heart is what i'm longing for
search my heart o Lord and bring to light the wickedness within
break my heart o Lord and bring me to repentance for my sins
take my heart o Lord and bring my selfish dreams and ambitions to the ground
change my heart o Lord and bring me to a place where in your truth i am found
fill my heart o Lord and bring life back into these weary bones that wane
use my heart o Lord and bring back the lost for the glory of your beautiful Name
for your heart is what i seek
your heart is what i hunger for
your heart is what i need
your heart is what i'm yearning for
i will seek you in brokeness, my spirit is made low
because you make the low places high and the high places low
repentance, repentance, is what the world needs to know
not health or wealth or faithless faith which are all just for show
so bring back truth to the pulpit, your gospel to this nation
and restore unto us the joy and truth of your wonderful salvation
let the anthem be raised from the lips of true believers
those that have been filled by the Spirit and not just deceivers
for faith leads to repentance, and repentance to salvation
and any other gospel of health, wealth, and faithless faith brings only damnation
from salvation comes the overflow to worship and obey
so come Lord Holy Spirit and sweep through this nation today
breath life back into these dry bones
fill my soul with living water
for your heart is what i'm longing for
search my heart o Lord and bring to light the wickedness within
break my heart o Lord and bring me to repentance for my sins
take my heart o Lord and bring my selfish dreams and ambitions to the ground
change my heart o Lord and bring me to a place where in your truth i am found
fill my heart o Lord and bring life back into these weary bones that wane
use my heart o Lord and bring back the lost for the glory of your beautiful Name
for your heart is what i seek
your heart is what i hunger for
your heart is what i need
your heart is what i'm yearning for
i will seek you in brokeness, my spirit is made low
because you make the low places high and the high places low
repentance, repentance, is what the world needs to know
not health or wealth or faithless faith which are all just for show
so bring back truth to the pulpit, your gospel to this nation
and restore unto us the joy and truth of your wonderful salvation
let the anthem be raised from the lips of true believers
those that have been filled by the Spirit and not just deceivers
for faith leads to repentance, and repentance to salvation
and any other gospel of health, wealth, and faithless faith brings only damnation
from salvation comes the overflow to worship and obey
so come Lord Holy Spirit and sweep through this nation today
footprints in the sands of time
i start along the path on this sandy shore
not knowing what to expect and so much to explore
i look out at the horizon where the land meets the sea
and i am filled with such amazement as how all this came to be
an eternal struggle between water and land
like life and death admist which i find myself to stand
and as i look back to the place from which i parted
i see an endless row of footprints from the place this journey started
each step each print individually so small
but without which the journey would not have been possible at all
a marvelous masterpiece
laid out for a short while before the waves cause them to cease
like footprints in the sands of time
only to be swept away without any reason or rhyme
and as i look forward i see a bend in the shoreline
like a lesson learned and wisdom gained in the mind
and what to expect at the horizon's bend
but the conclusion to this stories end?
that on and on the journey continues
and where you will reach is not the issue
but the path you took and each print you make
for each step is precious to the last step you ultimately take
not knowing what to expect and so much to explore
i look out at the horizon where the land meets the sea
and i am filled with such amazement as how all this came to be
an eternal struggle between water and land
like life and death admist which i find myself to stand
and as i look back to the place from which i parted
i see an endless row of footprints from the place this journey started
each step each print individually so small
but without which the journey would not have been possible at all
a marvelous masterpiece
laid out for a short while before the waves cause them to cease
like footprints in the sands of time
only to be swept away without any reason or rhyme
and as i look forward i see a bend in the shoreline
like a lesson learned and wisdom gained in the mind
and what to expect at the horizon's bend
but the conclusion to this stories end?
that on and on the journey continues
and where you will reach is not the issue
but the path you took and each print you make
for each step is precious to the last step you ultimately take
the tides of life
what is life but a collection of memories past
time like grains of sand once buried deep within our souls
only to be swept away by the tides of this life
as the present is our memories unfolding now
and the future merely unseen memories yet to be realized
life is swept away as footprints in the sands of time
forever gone, never to be found again in the tides of life
as we walk along the waters edge
but His Love never changes
time like grains of sand once buried deep within our souls
only to be swept away by the tides of this life
as the present is our memories unfolding now
and the future merely unseen memories yet to be realized
life is swept away as footprints in the sands of time
forever gone, never to be found again in the tides of life
as we walk along the waters edge
but His Love never changes
when the feelings fade
hungry but no appetite
willingness but no desire
full of thoughts yet empty in vision
crying but no tears to shed
desperate yet complacent
seeing the end but no beginning
awake yet stuck in a dream
sympathy for apathy
hopelessly seeking hope
and a silent war violently rages on
and i see a light shining in the darkness
a moment of calrity admist the confusion
calm before the storm or storm before the calm i ask
but,
His Love is greater
greater than the hunger
greater than the desire
greater than the thoughts
greater than the feelings
the author and perfecter of my faith
is the beginning and the end
is more real than life itself
understands my shortcomings
the source of hope
my God
my King
my Savior and Redeemer
my Rock and Firm Foundation
i will forever praise you
i will forever seek you
i will forever serve you
and forever love you
even when the feelings fade
willingness but no desire
full of thoughts yet empty in vision
crying but no tears to shed
desperate yet complacent
seeing the end but no beginning
awake yet stuck in a dream
sympathy for apathy
hopelessly seeking hope
and a silent war violently rages on
and i see a light shining in the darkness
a moment of calrity admist the confusion
calm before the storm or storm before the calm i ask
but,
His Love is greater
greater than the hunger
greater than the desire
greater than the thoughts
greater than the feelings
the author and perfecter of my faith
is the beginning and the end
is more real than life itself
understands my shortcomings
the source of hope
my God
my King
my Savior and Redeemer
my Rock and Firm Foundation
i will forever praise you
i will forever seek you
i will forever serve you
and forever love you
even when the feelings fade
obedience is better than sacrifice (1 Sam. 15:22)
i thank you Lord for your wonderful mercy
that you chose me while i was still your enemy
you brought me out of dark waters where i was drowning in my transgressions
and broke off these chains through repentance and my guilty confession
with tears of freedom i was baptized into your Name
your Holy Spirit taking away the guilt and the shame
now you beckon me into your arms of grace
so now and forever will i ever seek your face
i thank you Lord for molding and refining me through the fire
that i may emerge as an empty vessel to be used solely for your desire
that in your rebuke i find the truth,
your discipline showing me the way
to bring you more and more glory with each passing day
for burnt offerings and scarifice was not always right
but a life of obedience was your hearts delight
obedience in worship and worship through obedience
not to follow you only out of mere convenience
that if even after all this i was still bound for hell
i still bring you praise and worship just as well
because this faith, this life, this world is not made for me
but for God alone who deserves all the glory
that our happiness is not the end of all being
and the end does not justify the mean
but the end of all being is for the glory of God alone
who is seated in heaven above all He is enthroned
so teach me Lord to follow your ways
and bring me back Lord when my heart begins to stray
fill me Lord but not for my own sake
but for your glory Lord this prayer i make
that you chose me while i was still your enemy
you brought me out of dark waters where i was drowning in my transgressions
and broke off these chains through repentance and my guilty confession
with tears of freedom i was baptized into your Name
your Holy Spirit taking away the guilt and the shame
now you beckon me into your arms of grace
so now and forever will i ever seek your face
i thank you Lord for molding and refining me through the fire
that i may emerge as an empty vessel to be used solely for your desire
that in your rebuke i find the truth,
your discipline showing me the way
to bring you more and more glory with each passing day
for burnt offerings and scarifice was not always right
but a life of obedience was your hearts delight
obedience in worship and worship through obedience
not to follow you only out of mere convenience
that if even after all this i was still bound for hell
i still bring you praise and worship just as well
because this faith, this life, this world is not made for me
but for God alone who deserves all the glory
that our happiness is not the end of all being
and the end does not justify the mean
but the end of all being is for the glory of God alone
who is seated in heaven above all He is enthroned
so teach me Lord to follow your ways
and bring me back Lord when my heart begins to stray
fill me Lord but not for my own sake
but for your glory Lord this prayer i make
my hearts desire (a psalm of praise and worship to the Lord)
as the storms of this life rage over me
and my eyes grow dark that i can no longer see
the beauty of your light seems to fade amidst the shadows of the deep
but your laws will i forever love and keep
this world grows more wicked by each passing hour
yet i still yearn for you my hearts true desire
in you alone will my confidence be
for in you oh Lord am i truly free
as the storms raged and the heavens divided
your glory came and this wicked world subsided
all honor, glory, wisdom, and power
by your great Name your enemies were devoured
as cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night
you led your people, your hearts delight
all that could be seen was your infinite glory
for we were all made blameless, righteous, and holy
by the blood of the lamb that was shed on the cross
you showed us your grace and your life was the cost
you brought me out of the waters deep
where death surrounded me, my soul trapped in its keep
my true love for you and my unwavering faith in your Word
because your Words are life and through it my salvation is assured
you Lord are my source of joy, peace, and righteousness
so never let me leave your Holy presence
that my sins would not cause you to turn your face away
because your discipline brings me back when i go astray
you let me come before your throne with boldness
that in you i may know the fullness
of being chosen by your sovereign grace
and until my dying day
will i ever seek your face
let this be the cry of my heart
to give you more than just a part
of this life that you have given me
i die to myself that others may see
for it is written that God is true and every man a liar
so i forsake this world that you may be my hearts only desire
your glory Lord shining through and through
your Words are life and forever true
blessed is the one whose confidence is in the Lord
for he is like a tree watered along the eternal shore
a sea of glass that sits before the very throne
of God the creator who reigns over all alone
for there is no higher name,
than the one who took all the blame
worthy are you Lord Jesus
for by your blood you have reconciled us
so come Lord and fill me with fire
for you alone are my hearts true desire
we exalt you to the highest place
for you alone are worthy of praise
we worship you Lord for your great love
a love that came to us as gracefully as a dove
so gentle are you to those you called by name
and to you i return this love the same
how wondrous, and marvelous, and glorious your ways
i sing to you songs of extravagant praise
not just empty words that have no sense of meaning
but with groanings deep within my soul i keep seeking
your wonderful presence is a consuming fire
so burn me Lord, for you are my hearts true desire
and my eyes grow dark that i can no longer see
the beauty of your light seems to fade amidst the shadows of the deep
but your laws will i forever love and keep
this world grows more wicked by each passing hour
yet i still yearn for you my hearts true desire
in you alone will my confidence be
for in you oh Lord am i truly free
as the storms raged and the heavens divided
your glory came and this wicked world subsided
all honor, glory, wisdom, and power
by your great Name your enemies were devoured
as cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night
you led your people, your hearts delight
all that could be seen was your infinite glory
for we were all made blameless, righteous, and holy
by the blood of the lamb that was shed on the cross
you showed us your grace and your life was the cost
you brought me out of the waters deep
where death surrounded me, my soul trapped in its keep
my true love for you and my unwavering faith in your Word
because your Words are life and through it my salvation is assured
you Lord are my source of joy, peace, and righteousness
so never let me leave your Holy presence
that my sins would not cause you to turn your face away
because your discipline brings me back when i go astray
you let me come before your throne with boldness
that in you i may know the fullness
of being chosen by your sovereign grace
and until my dying day
will i ever seek your face
let this be the cry of my heart
to give you more than just a part
of this life that you have given me
i die to myself that others may see
for it is written that God is true and every man a liar
so i forsake this world that you may be my hearts only desire
your glory Lord shining through and through
your Words are life and forever true
blessed is the one whose confidence is in the Lord
for he is like a tree watered along the eternal shore
a sea of glass that sits before the very throne
of God the creator who reigns over all alone
for there is no higher name,
than the one who took all the blame
worthy are you Lord Jesus
for by your blood you have reconciled us
so come Lord and fill me with fire
for you alone are my hearts true desire
we exalt you to the highest place
for you alone are worthy of praise
we worship you Lord for your great love
a love that came to us as gracefully as a dove
so gentle are you to those you called by name
and to you i return this love the same
how wondrous, and marvelous, and glorious your ways
i sing to you songs of extravagant praise
not just empty words that have no sense of meaning
but with groanings deep within my soul i keep seeking
your wonderful presence is a consuming fire
so burn me Lord, for you are my hearts true desire
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