Your grace and mercy provide the way
But rebellion’s price must be paid
For man was made to reflect Your face
But for a lie we rejected Your grace
Yet redemption was Your ultimate gift
A sacrifice of Your lovingkindness
One True God to You we call
May we humbly before You bow
May we seek Your face as well as Your hand
Resolute in You we will make our stand
For man is but a vapor upon this earth
And being with You is eternity’s worth
And I shall forever proclaim -
Your grace and mercy restore me
Your righteousness and holiness uphold me
Your lovingkindness surrounds me
Saturday, January 24, 2009
the eye of the Lord is upon us
He sees all of us, He looks out over us
He who fashions our hearts and understands our worries
And where does our hope come from ?
Is it in the people and things of this world ?
That is surely a false hope…
For our hope is found only in the Lord -
- those who seek His face
- those who wait on the Him
- those who trust in His Holy Name
- those who dwell in His lovingkindness
- those whose hearts rejoice in Him
Let your lovingkindness be upon us Lord,
According to our hope in You…
For the eye of the Lord is upon those who fear Him…
prb
The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry.
The face of the LORD is against evildoers, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
The righteous cry and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.
Evil shall slay the wicked; and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
The LORD redeems the soul of His servants; and none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.
Psalm 34:15-22
He who fashions our hearts and understands our worries
And where does our hope come from ?
Is it in the people and things of this world ?
That is surely a false hope…
For our hope is found only in the Lord -
- those who seek His face
- those who wait on the Him
- those who trust in His Holy Name
- those who dwell in His lovingkindness
- those whose hearts rejoice in Him
Let your lovingkindness be upon us Lord,
According to our hope in You…
For the eye of the Lord is upon those who fear Him…
prb
The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry.
The face of the LORD is against evildoers, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
The righteous cry and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.
Evil shall slay the wicked; and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
The LORD redeems the soul of His servants; and none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.
Psalm 34:15-22
Walk in His paths
In thinking about the Hebrew exodus from Egypt and how the multitude of the Hebrew people wanted relief from the trials and tribulations that Pharaoh had placed upon them and how they longed to be spared from the bondage and oppression that had taken place in their lives. Then God provides for their deliverance. And yet, shortly after their deliverance from that bondage, they were murmuring and complaining and saying they would be better off going back to Egypt ! They had witnessed and experienced the great salvation that the Lord had provided yet they became restless and rebellious about proceeding to the promised land. Yes, they must walk through the wilderness and the arid lands that separated Egypt from the promised land but God had promised to provide for all of their needs as they made their way. Follow Him and they would be taken care of…He gave a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day…water to drink and manna to eat…what more could those Hebrew people have asked for ? It seems that it wasn’t enough !
Although there were some who truly believed the Lord and trusted in Him as well as His promises I dare say most were only along for the initial relief from bondage and oppression – they were not willing to trust in the Lord enough to work out their salvation.
And then when you look at the ten men that went into spy out the promised land and only two of those ten men trusted enough in God to follow His leading while the other eight only saw with man’s vision. The picture is clear of a people not willing to humble themselves and follow the God that delivered them.
In the church (the body of Christ) today it appears that we probably have a comparable ratio of those who truly trust in God’s promises for His children and seek to walk in His paths. When I think about how weak the church is in our time, how we don’t stand firm on God’s truth, how we murmur and complain, how we are not satisfied with God’s provision, how we believe that man has a better idea and vision – it makes me wonder when our 40 years of wandering began…
Although there were some who truly believed the Lord and trusted in Him as well as His promises I dare say most were only along for the initial relief from bondage and oppression – they were not willing to trust in the Lord enough to work out their salvation.
And then when you look at the ten men that went into spy out the promised land and only two of those ten men trusted enough in God to follow His leading while the other eight only saw with man’s vision. The picture is clear of a people not willing to humble themselves and follow the God that delivered them.
In the church (the body of Christ) today it appears that we probably have a comparable ratio of those who truly trust in God’s promises for His children and seek to walk in His paths. When I think about how weak the church is in our time, how we don’t stand firm on God’s truth, how we murmur and complain, how we are not satisfied with God’s provision, how we believe that man has a better idea and vision – it makes me wonder when our 40 years of wandering began…
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
2009 - the narrow path
As we head into 2009 will we take the narrow path that leads to life or the wide road that leads to destruction ? As His church we are instructed to follow Jesus Christ so that we may be transformed as well as conformed into His image….Are we moving down that narrow way ?
Do we desire to be ‘dispensers’ of His grace and truth in all aspects of our lives ?
Or do we save that for Sundays…if even at all !
Scripture says that they will know (followers of the Lord Jesus) us by our love for one another...The question then becomes - does anyone ‘know’ us ?
Does the message of the Gospel exude through our lives to those around us? Or are we no different than the world in the way we live our lives.
Are we His disciples ? Or are we disciples of the ways of the world ?
One of the issues that appears to be prevalent in our church today is that we attempt to ‘accomplish’ what we earnestly believe to be God’s will (ie: following the narrow path) through our own strength, by our own accomplishments, via the ‘power’ of man’s wisdom. This is not the Biblical admonition !
We are called to crucify our flesh, abide in Him, allow the power of the Spirit to fill us and lead us into all truth and direct us in all facets of our lives as well as empower us to fulfill the will of our Father. The road we are called to as disciples is narrow and it is a difficult road to follow when we seek to do it on our own accord – through our own power and worldly wisdom. Jesus told us that His burden would be light if we were to follow Him and we would experience the abundant life…the condition is that it must be in the way that He has provided – not our ways ! And His Word is truthful if we would let Him abide in us. Yet we, in our pompous, prideful and usually arrogant ways, try to do it our way (or should I say the world’s way) and then we wonder why the road is so difficult and the abundant life appears to be so devoid of joy !
From a worldly perspective 2009 appears to be a year that will be fraught with more trials and tribulations. More economic stress, more social unrest, more intrusion into our lives by our government, more ‘persecution’ for those who follow the narrow path...less of God and more of man !
But therein lays an opportunity for those who will listen to and obey that still small voice…those that will allow the working of the Spirit to direct their lives and empower them to do the will of the Father. For in difficult times humanity seeks after that which is beyond itself…for it knows deep within that man does not have the answer to life and joy and peace…and it is in times of difficulty that the soul hungers after truth.
People of the Lord get ready….prepare for the harvest that the Lord is gathering…walk the path that is the narrow way…be filled with the Spirit so that you may be vessels of grace and truth….stand firm in His truth…and may His loving-kindness flow through His disciples as we enter this year that the Lord has made…may we rejoice that our God is in control.
Do we desire to be ‘dispensers’ of His grace and truth in all aspects of our lives ?
Or do we save that for Sundays…if even at all !
Scripture says that they will know (followers of the Lord Jesus) us by our love for one another...The question then becomes - does anyone ‘know’ us ?
Does the message of the Gospel exude through our lives to those around us? Or are we no different than the world in the way we live our lives.
Are we His disciples ? Or are we disciples of the ways of the world ?
One of the issues that appears to be prevalent in our church today is that we attempt to ‘accomplish’ what we earnestly believe to be God’s will (ie: following the narrow path) through our own strength, by our own accomplishments, via the ‘power’ of man’s wisdom. This is not the Biblical admonition !
We are called to crucify our flesh, abide in Him, allow the power of the Spirit to fill us and lead us into all truth and direct us in all facets of our lives as well as empower us to fulfill the will of our Father. The road we are called to as disciples is narrow and it is a difficult road to follow when we seek to do it on our own accord – through our own power and worldly wisdom. Jesus told us that His burden would be light if we were to follow Him and we would experience the abundant life…the condition is that it must be in the way that He has provided – not our ways ! And His Word is truthful if we would let Him abide in us. Yet we, in our pompous, prideful and usually arrogant ways, try to do it our way (or should I say the world’s way) and then we wonder why the road is so difficult and the abundant life appears to be so devoid of joy !
From a worldly perspective 2009 appears to be a year that will be fraught with more trials and tribulations. More economic stress, more social unrest, more intrusion into our lives by our government, more ‘persecution’ for those who follow the narrow path...less of God and more of man !
But therein lays an opportunity for those who will listen to and obey that still small voice…those that will allow the working of the Spirit to direct their lives and empower them to do the will of the Father. For in difficult times humanity seeks after that which is beyond itself…for it knows deep within that man does not have the answer to life and joy and peace…and it is in times of difficulty that the soul hungers after truth.
People of the Lord get ready….prepare for the harvest that the Lord is gathering…walk the path that is the narrow way…be filled with the Spirit so that you may be vessels of grace and truth….stand firm in His truth…and may His loving-kindness flow through His disciples as we enter this year that the Lord has made…may we rejoice that our God is in control.
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