The Complete Package

I remember the first time I knew I was in love with my wife.  Those emotions and feelings that just well up inside and you feel like you are going to explode if you don’t find a way to let it out.

The way I let it out was to blurt out those three little words so she could hear what was taking my heart by storm – ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!  She might joke that I did fall in love with her when I found out merely three days into our communication that she was a Jayhawk basketball fan.

Truthfully, I was the first one to say I LOVE YOU in our relationship.  And yes, I was going to explode – and yes – I said it two weeks into our relationship.  But you know what – she said it right back!

The catch to this whole point is that we don’t necessarily keep those candied feelings and emotions – after a while, you start to learn that love is really a choice that you make regarding your relationships and not a feeling.

You start to learn that it becomes a process of growth in HOW to love them.  You must make a conscious decision each day to do what you have to do to acknowledge that love in the ways that will make your relationship grow and become stronger.  We have to make a choice to be willing to mold and change things in order to show our love.

This is just an example to help you understand this whole process of how Grace continues to work in our lives based on the choices that we have made.

We had a starting point: 

BEING DISCOVERED 

This is where we learned of the Prevenient Grace, the grace that exists and goes before our salvation – the love that God already has for us and His pursuit of us. Then we learned about what occurs in our life based on the choice to accept that love and relationship with God: 

PRODUCT & PROCESS

By making the choice to accept the Prevenient Grace as truth we are then able to move into receiving the Saving Grace of God.  This Saving or Justifying Grace is the product of the process that involves our repentance from our sin and a faith grounded in the acceptance of the truth that Jesus gave His life to save us.

Now, many Christians believe that it stops there – either that or they just don’t realize that there is more to this incredible gift of Grace.  See, the Prevenient has led us to the Saving and Justifying and that then leads us to: 

THE COMPLETE PACKAGE

Before we get directly into what this looks like, I need to know that you all understand what I mean.  What comes to your mind when you think about a COMPLETE PACKAGE?  I think a good illustration here are the amazing college basketball freshman that play each year.  We have a top 100 list and the top 10 of those are always talked about as having the complete package!  They have worked hard to apply themselves so they are strong in every area of their game. 

Honestly, there is really only one point to be made here regarding the complete package when it comes to the Grace that we are given from God – the complete package is first and foremost this: 

SANCTIFYING GRACE

But what does that mean?  What is the way we define this point?

DEFINING SANCTIFYING GRACE:

“The work of the Holy Spirit in our lives moving us toward perfection in love, truth and holiness.”

God’s Sanctifying Grace is what moves us from the discovery, product and process that we have found and chosen, a.k.a. the “Imputed Righteousness,” (what Christ did for us) to the completing package, a.k.a. “Imparted Righteousness,” (what Christ does IN us).

This is where the work of the Holy Spirit begins to mold us and shape us into a likeness of Christ.  This is where our hearts are to be cleansed from the CONTROL that sin had over us and that control being given over the Jesus in order that we are being set free from that bondage that we had in sin.

Look at Romans with me – this is where the truth of scripture speaks and reveals a great understanding of the Sanctifying Grace…

Romans 6:5-14

“For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to
sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin,
once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are
not under law but under grace.”

Now, we have read it, but walk through that with me here…

       5:  If we are united with Him in one way, we can be united with Him in the other

            6:  When we chose Grace, our old self died – remember – old has gone and new has come

            7:  That spiritual death we died brought FREEDOM

            8:  Again – one choice involves the other

            9:  Christ has conquered death

            10:  That death conquered sin and the life serves new purpose

            11:  Reiteration: if we chose the grace then we share in sins death and Jesus’ life

            12:  Thus, we give control to Jesus rather than to sin

            13:  All that we have, all that we are, everything should serve the grace we chose

            14:  We have become conquerors with Jesus – we can live in the GRACE we chose!

This Sanctifying Grace is not a destination that we are trying to reach – it is a direction that God is trying to take us!

We can know from God’s word that He promises that what He starts He will complete!  But the truth is it will not be complete until He returns to establish His Kingdom!  Thus the Sanctifying Grace that gives us direction in order that when He returns we will own the COMPLETE PACKAGE!

This is the continuation that occurs in order to make us whole in Christ.  As you can see, the choices must continue to be made.  Paul is speaking out for us to understand the purpose of those choices.  He continues a little later in chapter six:

Romans 6:19-22

“I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. For when
you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the
fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.”

This “Imparted Righteousness” a.k.a. the Sanctifying Grace that we have been speaking of is God delivering us from the control and power of sin so we are enabled to live in the victory of the sacrifice of God and in the Grace that results from it!  We are no longer under any law but set free from sin by GRACE!  If we have made the choice, the gift has been received and now God is giving us the power to USE IT!  

It may seem corny, but this I see this in where we began.  In my marriage, I am constantly moving forward from the choices I have made to learn and grow in my relationship with my wife.  My choice to love her no matter what and through everything is never going to come to full completion – but will always be a learning curve that I have to work on.

That is exactly the way our relationship with Christ through His grace is meant to exist.  We have human limitations, but through the choice we make to acknowledge, receive and pursue the Grace we can become slaves to Christ and not to sin.  We can allow God to make us holy as He is holy.

Like I have said before – this is not just fire insurance.

Don’t just sit back and become lazy.  The moral decay of the world around us and the affect it is having on the church is so disheartening.

This world needs to see the REAL DEAL – the REAL JESUS!  We need to take up the power that has been given us by the Holy Spirit through the process of sanctifying grace and allow the image of God to pour forth from us into all those we come in contact with in our lives.

I challenge you – don’t let sin be your master any more – let God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit begin to make you the complete package today!

Being Discovered

GRACE – it is a concept, a name, a word that we enjoy knowing.  It is a word that not only represents a subject but a description of that subject.

GRACE is a key word when it comes to the Christian faith but the question is do we really understand what it is and what it means?

For some of us, we feel unworthy of the Grace of God and others at times use Grace as an escape by which we can live however we choose.

We must take note, however, that we understand that there is ONE GRACE that is given from God but how we explain that Grace throughout scripture is very important.  We find different ways it is applied at different times in our lives and how it draws us closer to the Lord, transforming us into the likeness of Christ.

Today I want to write about the concept of PREVENIENT GRACE.  This is grace that hooks us and draws us in even when we are struggling to get away.  But what does that mean?  What does that look like?  What is the picture we have to understand this part of God’s Grace?

Point One:

            DEFINING PREVENIENT GRACE

First, look at it from the perspective of a famous Actor or Musician – They were “discovered.”  Put that idea into play in your head and apply it to when you had that “A-HA” moment with Jesus!

Lets put a dictionary style set of words to this second because I want you to understand the concept in order that as we look at the scriptures it will become more clear how this part of Grace is presented:

The Divine Grace that proceeds, that goes before our human decisions.  It is the Grace that exists prior to anything humanity has done and it is always calling to everyone.

See, humanity is corrupted because of sin, but Prevenient Grace goes before and allows people to use the FREE WILL God created within us to choose the salvation offered by God in Jesus Christ or to choose to walk away from it.

Now, the foundation for this Prevenient Grace is laid out wonderfully by Paul in his letter to the Ephesians.

Ephesians 2:1-10

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once
walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of
the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of
disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our
flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by
nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being
rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even
when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with
Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and
seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in
the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in
kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved
through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Look at the description we see here – we will break this down a bit:

We were dead in our sins

We were following the world

We were gratifying our sinful nature

We were objects of wrath

BUT – because of the love God had for us we are made alive and by GRACE are saved

Prevenient Grace is God putting into action his initiative to pursue us, to desire a relationship with us – urging us to turn to Him that we might be saved.  God, through His Prevenient Grace is acting like a form of a Catalyst…Picture it like this: Fiddler on the Roof – Matchmaker – He is the “Cosmic Yenta.”

God, through His Prevenient Grace is providing us an opportunity for a match “made in heaven.”  The contrast, this catalyst is seen in verses 3 and 4:

Verse 3 presents us with the discovery of humanity following its sinful nature – our indulgence in the evil desires and thoughts.  But the catalyst provided – the contrast we see in verse 4 – the indication that a change has taken place:  We are disobedient BUT because of God’s love for us we can be made alive in Christ and die to our sin.

That BUT GOD shows us that catalyst that God is – that it is He who initiates our desire to know Him and be saved – it shows the Prevenient Grace:

            BUT GOD:

We were dead – BUT GOD…

                        We were in bondage – BUT GOD…

                        We were lost – BUT GOD…

                        We were self-destructing – BUT GOD…

NEVER have we ever been so excited to read or hear a phrase or thought and actually have it followed up with BUT…!!!!!

In the midst of chaos and destruction, in the midst of deserving nothing but death – instead of pouring out wrath – God opens His arms and draws us to Him!  This is defining the part of Grace that proceeds us, but then how does that translate into our actions?

Point Two:

            WHAT CAN BE vs. WHAT IS

Prevenient Grace is developed within us so that we may come to understand the saving grace that will follow.  This allows us to not only see ourselves as lost, but shows us what our life could be WITH CHRIST!  This is that whole concept of BEING DISCOVERED!

Prevenient Grace is a process of preparation – we are being prepared for more.  It is making us ready and opening us up to be receptive to the salvation that is being described in verse 6 and following:

Ephesians 2:6-7

“and raised us up with him and
seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in
the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in
kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

Through God’s Prevenient Grace we are drawn to Him and we are drawn to Him because of the greatest emotion we encounter – LOVE!

One of the best parts about this translating into action is that we have NOTHING to do with it!  That’s right, we don’t control this or mold it or turn it on and off.  This is the faith aspect that comes from believing:

Ephesians 2:8-10

“For by grace you have been saved
through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

In the defining concept of Prevenient Grace, God himself takes the initiative toward us.  We don’t have to beg on our knees for this love and Grace.  GOD IS SEEKING US OUT!

This is a necessary part of the Grace of God.  Our salvation experience depends upon it.  Without the Prevenient existing, how would we be able to know or experience the salvation process?  It exists to open our eyes to what our life could be rather than what it is!  However, don’t misunderstand here – it does not blind us to reality – we know we are lost and disobedient – we know our lives were a mess – we can recognize that.

But instead of it reminding us who we already are, which we know, Prevenient Grace shows us what we can be through the love of Jesus Christ!

So what ultimate difference does this Prevenient Grace of God make in our lives?

The difference is the understanding it provides through a promise with the name of God behind it…  There is absolutely NOTHING that has the power to cease, stop, diminish or cause a questioning of God’s love for you.  No actions, thoughts, words, etc can stop it!

That love has already brought many of us into that saving relationship with God and for those who have already found that – a continued sanctification in that relationship.

See, it wasn’t by chance that you were brought to church on Sunday morning or any other morning or any other place for that matter.  God has you right where He wants you and He is actively pursuing you no matter what point you are at in your relationship with Him.

If you don’t know this love – I want to share it with you.  If you do but you are struggling to understand – I want to help you.  Seek out the One who is earnestly seeking after you!

You are not meant to escape this – you were meant to BE DISCOVERED!

MM – His Alone

Well, it has been poetry heavy lately, so today I bring you another song.

I wrote this back in 2004 so it certainly has some age on it at this point.

This song also seems to capture a lot of what is going around the Christian community right now.  Even in my own rants at times regarding all that is focused on and getting back to the heart of the gospel as our primary purpose.

Let’s just reflect this way…

If everything you knew, everything that you loved, everything that was a part of your life that supported and created foundation for you was taken from you in the blink of an eye, would it be enough to belong to God alone?

If there were nothing but an empty room, would it be enough to invite you into the presence of God and worship the almighty King knowing that His presence, when all else has faded is still all around you?

That is the overwhelming and heart-wrenching place where I stood when these words were pinned.

Thank you Jesus for always being enough and never, ever failing me!

HIS ALONE

Lyrics and Music by Luke David

Copyright ©2004 Luke David\ASCAP\All Rights Reserved

Verse 1

What if today everything was taken away

And the life that I’d known was no more

What if I’d wake opened my eyes and started to take

A breath of life that I’ve never lived before

Will it be, will it be

Chorus

God and God alone

God and God alone

When I’ve lost all that I’ve loved

When I’ve lost all that I’ve known

Will it still be God and God alone

Verse 2

What if I found my world turned upside down

When only moments ago all my world was right

What would I do if my heart was torn in two

I could try to hide but when I’d lose the fight

Would it be, would it be

Verse 3

Now that I’ve lost, the love of my heart the cost

Will I ever find a way to make it be, make it be

Chorus 2

I am Yours and Yours alone

I am Yours and Yours alone

Oh my God in heaven above

I could never ever earn Your love

And you will always be there to let me know

That I am Yours and Yours alone

I am His and His alone

Red Letters (Decisions)

A special series for you leading up to Easter… RED LETTERS –

Week One: Decisions –

We are in the season of Lent and we are closing in on the celebration of Easter.  How perfect is it that we choose then to focus on the words of Christ himself?  For the next four Friday’s I am going to take you through lessons from His direct words – the RED LETTERS.  Many versions of the Bible have red letters.  They tend to have a higher impact – because they are not words of man, but of God in the flesh, Jesus Christ.  They are not above the rest of scripture because we know that ALL scripture is God breathed – but they are special because they are the words of Christ himself.

A question for you – how often do you make a decision?  Our decisions, the choices we make have consequences and rewards right?  One thing for instance – when we choose to sleep in on a work day or when we are supposed to attend to something of importance!  Making that decision could affect us in very negative ways.  Am I right?  The decision to get up, to stay awake, to push through is a tough one that we all have to make each and every day!

Many times, a choice we made earlier can cause us to make another choice later – in the instance of sleep it could be something like staying up to late the night before!

As I am sure you all know, being sleep deprived can be an illness – our body’s need rest – and they also need to be active – we must find a healthy way to maintain a balance.  The same thing is true in our spiritual life for the health of our heart and relationship with Jesus.  Now, unlike our physical need to shut down and regenerate – nowhere in scripture does God tell us we are to shut down spiritually.  It does say that we need to rest, but never to fall asleep.

Our focus text is from the book of Mark.  I am sure most of us know this text – Jesus takes his main posse of three – Peter, James and John – into the Garden of Gethsemane to pray knowing his arrest and the betrayal are coming.  However, each time Jesus returned to them they were doing what?  SLEEPING!  Not just once, or twice, but three times.  Look at the whole passage with me:

Mark 14:32-42

And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.” And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. And he came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

Why is it that we fall asleep?  Why do we fall asleep in our faith?  How many of you are tired?  Forget physically – how many of you feel tired spiritually?  Why is it so easy for us to move away from God when we fall asleep in the spiritual sense?

Point One:

            Sleeping occurs in our faith because of difficulties we face

What is it about the difficult times, the times of trouble, the times of sorrow that affect our ability to stay awake and alert in our faith?  Look at verse 34:

Mark 14:34

And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.”

For over three years the disciples had been with Jesus – they knew Him – His mood was their mood and they could understand and read His emotions and burdens.  The rendering, the meaning derived from the Greek word “overwhelmed or sorrowful” means troubled.  The difficulties of loss and sorrow can drain us of our spiritual strength.  The problems in life drain the vitality of a strong faith so quickly because we so quickly worry and take our eyes off of Jesus and focus on the problem.  This is a normal reaction – but Jesus stayed awake and focused himself on the Father and prayed – but the disciples as we see just fell asleep.  Everyone in here was, is, and will deal with difficulties in life but you can’t let them overwhelm you like the disciples, you can’t sleep in your faith – you have to WAKE UP!

Point Two:

            Sleeping occurs in our faith because of temptation

Mark 14:38a

“Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

Temptation does not necessarily come at us in obvious forms, but is subtle and we could call it a creeper – scripture would define it as, “the act of deception that takes us away from full surrender and obedience to Christ.”  Temptation itself is not the only problem here.  Everyone, even Jesus was tempted.  The difference is that Jesus never let temptation lead Him to sin.  However, even if we have not given in to our temptation, yielded to sin, the struggle alone makes us weaker – luring us to sleep in our faith.

Again, temptation has seized all of us at some point – no matter what it may be –the addictions and the lies – but even if you have not yielded to it and to sin, it may be wearing you down to make you spiritually weak.

Here is a great example of why the red letters lift up the text and create that higher impact – Jesus goes on in verse 38 in his encouragement to watch and pray:

Mark 14:38b

“The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

You see, our mind – our heart – they are willing to bear the temptation.  Our desire to do right is real and sincere but the sinful flesh can be overpowered by fear.  Faith may be strong – we may believe that we would not deny Christ – but He knows at the first sign of trouble our reaction is to retreat – He is asking us to look to Him in those times for our strength.  Jesus was doing that old 2×4 to the back of the head to Peter, James and John so the adrenalin would kick in, the Holy Spirit would strengthen them to keep them on guard against the weakness of the flesh that was causing them to fall asleep.

Point Three:

            Sleeping occurs in our faith because of the burdens of life

Mark 14:40

“And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him.”

In verse 39, Jesus had seen what was coming – He knew the hour was near and the crucifixion was inevitable!  Can you imagine the burden on Him at that time?  It was a heavy load, but a load that only He could bear to hold.  However, the load, that burden of life was also on the three posse!  Apparently that burden was too great for them – they were weak and they fell asleep.

We all understand that some days are tough – some tougher than others.  Has this past week or even today been like that for you?  Are you overwhelmed by the things of life?  Marriage, job, finances, family issues, etc.  I know there are times when I am completely exhausted – and my wife would say “whatever” cause of how she takes care of our son – but that is just it, life is not always neatly put together for us – it is not always a big bag of candy!  I am sure we can all sit here and think of things that so easily and quickly bring us down.

But that is just the point overall isn’t it?  Our focus?  Where do we fix our eyes in these times?  Is it completely on the overwhelming aspects of life?  The temptations, the burdens, the difficulties?  Or do we fix our eyes on the author and perfecter of our faith?

David says in the Psalms, “I lift up my eyes to the hills.  From where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”

If you feel yourself falling asleep – it’s time to WAKE UP!  When the difficulties arise, when the temptations creep in, when the burdens are weighing us down – don’t let the overwhelming feelings bring you down – instead – Lift your eyes UP!  Remember where your help comes from – from the Him who bled on a cross to save you – from His Red Letters!

Tune-ology: Lifesong

When we set out on the journey of discovery after choosing to follow Jesus we are not prepared for what is coming around the bend!  I am not saying that as a bad thing, but sometimes we mistake the joy of Christianity and a relationship with Jesus as cushy and comfortable.

Myth: We get to lay back, relax and enjoy the ride.

Fact: We have WORK to do!

And with that work comes a joy that is unspeakable and that overflows.  Ultimately, when we choose to follow Christ we choose to accept a life that will no longer be our own but will be a symphony of glory for God.

Casting Crowns captures this idea so beautifully in their song, “Lifesong.”

Back around 2003, I was blessed with a birthday gift by a good friend of tickets to a concert with Casting Crowns, Chris Tomlin and Steven Curtis Chapman…honestly that was not a concert it was a giant worship service!  Out of that experience, I was blessed to meet a guitar player who told me that the tour would be coming back through later that month and that I should come back and find him and hang out.  His name was Justin.  I did as he asked and when the tour came back through I went to see and visit him.

But the big blessing came when at that second show I went back stage to listen to a youth talk at intermission with Mark Hall and Casting Crowns.  I was working in youth at the time and thought it might be beneficial to hear what they had to say.

I was asked to help hand out some information to everyone at the end of that meeting and as people left to go back for the second half of the show, I stuck around to try to figure out who needed the left over hand outs I still was holding.

At that time, a gentleman approached me and thanked me for my help and introduced himself as Juan DeVevo. Come to find out, he was the guitar player for Casting Crowns.  He and I spent the next 45 minutes talking about music and ministry with Mark Hall and Chris Tomlin dropping in the conversation here and there.  It was honestly a very humbling and yet exciting 45 minutes.

From that moment on, Juan and I became friends and have kept in contact as best we can.  I have been to many shows and connected back up with him, his wife and the band over the years and still love and support their music and ministry at the highest level.

It was in that initial conversation as well as others Juan and I have had that his encouragement to me for life and ministry was a true blessing.  And when the song, “Lifesong” came out, it really spoke through music and lyrics in a deep and powerful way to me based on those conversations I had with him.  He may not realize it, but in some of the simplest ways, he has been a mentor and guide for me through various situations.

When we choose Jesus, we choose a life that honors and glorifies Him.  Based on the song, this is our LIFESONG!

I love the way an old saying known as the “Musician’s Prayer” puts it:

May my life be like a finely tuned instrument upon which the Master musician creates a melody

that bring His peace to all that may hear.

Overall, the concept we see in this wonderful song is the purpose of our lives in Jesus.  If our life is not overflowing with the love of God, then where do we stand?  If we are not growing in Jesus and seeking what He desires then what purpose do we really serve?

We should be fighting each day to win the battle of letting our lifesong sing the glory of God.

I love this metaphor…I love the idea of our LIFESONG – it is a great picture through music.  One might be able to understand more clearly this concept if we simply changed it to say our LIFEBLOOD…that is JESUS CHRIST!!!

And one of the most powerful and yet simple theologies of our Christian walk is summed up in one small section of the lyrics:

So may the words I say
And the things I do
Make my lifesong sing
Bring a smile to you

May this song encourage you and if necessary, set you back on the path of the narrow way following the lead of our great Lord and Savior.

Lifesong

by Casting Crowns

Empty hands held high
Such small sacrifice
If not joined with my life
I sing in vain tonight

May the words I say
And the things I do
Make my lifesong sing
Bring a smile to You

Let my lifesong sing to You
Let my lifesong sing to You
I want to sign Your name to the end of this day
Knowing that my heart was true
Let my lifesong sing to You

Lord, I give my life
A living sacrifice
To reach a world in need
To be Your hands and feet

So may the words I say
And the things I do
Make my lifesong sing
Bring a smile to you

Let my lifesong sing to You
Let my lifesong sing to You
I want to sign Your name to the end of this day
Knowing that my heart was true
Let my lifesong sing to You

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Let my lifesong sing to You

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Let my lifesong sing to You

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Let my lifesong sing to You

Let my lifesong sing to You
Let my lifesong sing to You
I want to sign Your name to the end of this day
Knowing that my heart was true
Let my lifesong sing to You

Let my lifesong sing to You
Let my lifesong sing to You
Let my lifesong sing to You (Jesus, let my lifelong sing to You)
I want to sign Your name to the end of this day
Knowing that my heart was true
Let my lifesong sing to You

MM – Blind

Blind

I close my eyes

I long to see more than darkness

but I cannot

I am blind because of my sin

I am lost

I need someone to guide me

I open my hands

I feel a presence surrounding me

someone takes my hand

but I am still afraid to walk

the I feel love

His arms embrace me with mercy

He is my eyes

I trust Him to lead me safely

MM – Poem 8 (Questions of the Holy)

The “Poetic Octet” concludes with part 8…

The perspective of the one from heaven now unfolds in the conclusion of our eight part series.  We have seen the battle that takes place from earthly relationship and perspective and how it moved toward an understanding and relative connection to the ultimate relationship with the God of the universe.

The expression of feelings, emotion, desires and needs of us – here on earth…

We long to be needed, wanted, LOVED!

But sometimes, in that selfishness, we forget that we live under a God who wants the same relationship in return.

This final installment captures the other side of the relationship in all its glory.  Enjoy the final piece and conclusion of the “Poetic Octet.”

Poem 8 (Questions of the Holy)

Can you see Me

can you hear Me

I Am your King

can you feel Me

can you sense Me

I Am your Savior

can you accept Me

can you trust Me

please live for Me

MM – Poem 7 (That Place)

The “Poetic Octet” continues with part 7…

The contemplated aspect of part 6 is now unfolded to a new level of understanding with Poem 7.  The relationship that is now being brought to light is even more clearly witnessed.  What was once a reliance on someone here has now turned to a foundation of what is beyond.

Uncovering this mystery is what the whole process has been about.  This week and next week we see the answers come to light from the perspective of the one on earth and then the one in heaven.

What is so forthright and powerful this week is the picture painted of the one thing that followers of Jesus can truly hold fast to – HOPE!

Enjoy!

Poem 7 (That Place)

I know a place not far from here

I know a place where no one sheds a tear

I know a place where people freely roam

I know a place where sorrow is not known

 

In that place people have no fear

In that place He is so near

 

Safe in that place

I will be home

Tune-ology: Smell the Color 9

Today I just want to share one of my favorite songs with you…

Chris Rice has always been to me an amazing songwriter.  His ability to paint a picture of metaphor with his words is a true gift.  The song “Smell the Color 9” is no exception to this rule.  The metaphor contained within these words is one of the greatest truths I think we can grasp and use as believers in Christ when it comes to the process of Apologetics.

I don’t want to sit here and break down a novel on this song today – I want you to just listen and hear for yourself.  Let the truth of the words Chris writes speak to you and your heart and find something meaningful in them for your own strength and foundation!

Enjoy this great song!

Smell the Color 9

Lyrics and Music by Chris Rice

I would take no for an answer
Just to know I heard You speak
And I’m wonderin’ why I’ve never
Seen the signs they claim to see
Are the special revelations
Meant for everbody but me?
Maybe I don’t truly know You
Or maybe I just simply believe

‘Cause I can sniff, I can see
I can count up pretty high
But these faculties aren’t getting me
any close to the sky
But my heart of faith keeps poundin’
So I know I’m doin’ fine
But sometimes finding You
Is just like trying to
Smell the color nine

Now I’ve never ‘felt the presence’
But I know You’re always near
And I’ve never ‘heard the calling’
But somehow You’ve lead me right here
So I’m not looking for burning bushes
Or some divine graffiti to appear
I’m just begging You for some wisdom
And believing You’re putting some here

Smell the color nine?
But nine’s not a color
And even if it were you can’t smell a color
That’s my point exactly