"They say God is our crutch,
Naw, He's much more like my stretcher."
-KB "Here We Go"
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Gold: Weight & Glory by KB
Album: Weight & Glory
Artist: KB
"Open Letter" ft. Swoope, Trip Lee & Jai
"Heart Song" ft. Jasmine Le'Shea
Sunday, July 15, 2012
"The power of the Cross is not exemption from suffering but the very transformation of suffering. [...]
God never denies us our heart's desire except to give us something better. [...]
With what misgivings we turn over our lives to God, imagining somehow that we are about to lose everything that matters. Our hesitancy is like that of a tiny shell on the seashore, afraid to give up the teaspoonful of water it holds lest there not be enough in the ocean to fill it again. Lose your life, said Jesus, and you will find it. Give up, and I will give you all. Can the shell imagine the depth and plentitude of the ocean? Can you and I fathom the riches, the fulness, of God's love?"
- Elisabeth Elliot, Loneliness
God never denies us our heart's desire except to give us something better. [...]
With what misgivings we turn over our lives to God, imagining somehow that we are about to lose everything that matters. Our hesitancy is like that of a tiny shell on the seashore, afraid to give up the teaspoonful of water it holds lest there not be enough in the ocean to fill it again. Lose your life, said Jesus, and you will find it. Give up, and I will give you all. Can the shell imagine the depth and plentitude of the ocean? Can you and I fathom the riches, the fulness, of God's love?"
- Elisabeth Elliot, Loneliness
Friday, July 13, 2012
A Pure Faith
A pure faith
tested
as gold
by
the fire of trials
is
more precious to God
than
all
kinds of service
offered
as sacrifice
by
the work of my hands,
though
rendered to Him.
“[…] The only way she could learn trust and obedience was to
have things happen which she could not understand. That is where faith
begins—in the wilderness, when you are alone and afraid, when things don’t make
sense…She must hang onto the message of the Cross: God loves you. He loved you
enough to die for you. Will you trust Him?
I gave her St. Peter’s word about
the trial of faith being a more precious thing than gold—and even gold has to
go through fire to be purified. Fire is hot. Fire causes pain. But a pure faith
would be worth far more to God than all the service she had hoped to render if
poor health had not interrupted her plans.”
- Elisabeth Elliot, Loneliness,
pg. 20
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Gold: "Confessional" by Deraj
"Confessional" by Deraj is probably my favorite song of confession because of his transparency and his emphasis on how the gospel applies to his struggle. My favorite line is "But if I never had to fight like this ida’ never seen Christ like this," because the Lord brought him to the point of praising God for his sin struggle. This is huge. God used his struggle with sexual immorality for his good by allowing him to understand and appreciate the Person and work of Christ in a deeper way. I praise God for Deraj's boldness and humility to write this song because it has ministered to me greatly.
Lyrics:
I never thought I’d have to fight like this,
only pain make me write like this,
I’m feeling so ashamed of my ways on a night like this,
I swear I’ve never seen a sight like this,
looking at my frame in disgust,
cause the things I discuss,
in my heart and my brain,
premeditates lust,
I said my flesh I never would trust,
but I resurrect dust cause I love it so much,
I’ve filled my cup with a whole lot of stuff,
that I never should have,
and misplaced my trust,
and now I’ve had enough,
but I’m filling like I’m stuck,
cause I need a make over,
please move that bus,
if you’re listening then I’ll be real,
for the sake of another,
my pride be killed,
and yes I’ll spill all my flaws and failures,
even that stuff I said that I wouldn’t tell ya,
cause everything ain’t what it seems,
it parts inside of me I would hate to be seen,
I’m so perverse you would hate to be me,
when choosing sin it’s like I hate being free,
I never thought I’d have to fight like this,
thought I’d never touch a mic like this,
cause I done shows on the road on a night like this,
then I storm into porn so quick,
I felt so sick, but that ain’t even the half,
see me at church I’m all smiles and laughs,
but I’m feeling so hurt cause I’m allowing a mask,
just hoping they don’t ask,
just hoping they walk past,
barely surviving and lying,
flying on the highway with shades on,
so they can’t see that I’m crying,
on my way to work,
and I’m late because before I left out,
I’m doing things I hate
and I ain’t the only one,
someone here can relate and for you to be free,
I’ll say whatever it takes,
I’ll do whatever I can,
I’ll look like less of a man,
even though I’m ashamed of what I did with me hands,
but for you I will stand,
I don’t want to see you cry like this
and I don’t want to see you die like this,
feeling so ashamed cause you saved and you battling with this lust
and your flesh won’t quit,
I know how it feels,
I confessed to my peers,
confessed to my pastor,
and still fell after and read that chapter for months,
week after week,
I thought I wasn’t saved son I can’t even front,
and I’m standing in the pews trying to lead worship,
thinking that I could hide all of it under the surface,
I wanted to die,
I thought about suicide,
I wanted to run away,
just wanted to run and hide,
confessing it to my girl,
ashamed to look in her eyes,
just praying she understands hoping she won’t despise me,
at the end of my rope,
but hoping to hold on,
I’m needing another chance,
but I know that I’m so wrong,
But if I never had to fight like this ida’ never seen Christ like this,
He came down and He touched my face,
and when He died He had took my place,
it’s as if He was the one who had lied,
the one who had coveted,
the one who was struggling,
the one who was pleasing his flesh,
the one who’s misleading his steps,
knowing it would lead him to death,
the one who made excuses to fall,
the one who watched porn,
the one who slacked off,
the one who was lazy,
and wouldn’t wage war,
and whenever he did,
he did it with out a sword,
the one who was afraid,
afraid of rejection,
the one who let pride get in the way of confession,
the one who was insane,
and wouldn’t learn his lesson,
the one was ashamed,
ashamed of his own reflection,
that was the Christ I saw,
and my wrongs he had wore them all,
and wore them strong for joy set before Him,
and he showed grace even though I had ignored Him,
yeah I was a harlot,
they called me a loser,
and even though I fall He said where are your accusers?,
He said, "You are free now sin no more,
My child you are free,
to please your Lord cause you are in Me…"
Lyrics:
I never thought I’d have to fight like this,
only pain make me write like this,
I’m feeling so ashamed of my ways on a night like this,
I swear I’ve never seen a sight like this,
looking at my frame in disgust,
cause the things I discuss,
in my heart and my brain,
premeditates lust,
I said my flesh I never would trust,
but I resurrect dust cause I love it so much,
I’ve filled my cup with a whole lot of stuff,
that I never should have,
and misplaced my trust,
and now I’ve had enough,
but I’m filling like I’m stuck,
cause I need a make over,
please move that bus,
if you’re listening then I’ll be real,
for the sake of another,
my pride be killed,
and yes I’ll spill all my flaws and failures,
even that stuff I said that I wouldn’t tell ya,
cause everything ain’t what it seems,
it parts inside of me I would hate to be seen,
I’m so perverse you would hate to be me,
when choosing sin it’s like I hate being free,
I never thought I’d have to fight like this,
thought I’d never touch a mic like this,
cause I done shows on the road on a night like this,
then I storm into porn so quick,
I felt so sick, but that ain’t even the half,
see me at church I’m all smiles and laughs,
but I’m feeling so hurt cause I’m allowing a mask,
just hoping they don’t ask,
just hoping they walk past,
barely surviving and lying,
flying on the highway with shades on,
so they can’t see that I’m crying,
on my way to work,
and I’m late because before I left out,
I’m doing things I hate
and I ain’t the only one,
someone here can relate and for you to be free,
I’ll say whatever it takes,
I’ll do whatever I can,
I’ll look like less of a man,
even though I’m ashamed of what I did with me hands,
but for you I will stand,
I don’t want to see you cry like this
and I don’t want to see you die like this,
feeling so ashamed cause you saved and you battling with this lust
and your flesh won’t quit,
I know how it feels,
I confessed to my peers,
confessed to my pastor,
and still fell after and read that chapter for months,
week after week,
I thought I wasn’t saved son I can’t even front,
and I’m standing in the pews trying to lead worship,
thinking that I could hide all of it under the surface,
I wanted to die,
I thought about suicide,
I wanted to run away,
just wanted to run and hide,
confessing it to my girl,
ashamed to look in her eyes,
just praying she understands hoping she won’t despise me,
at the end of my rope,
but hoping to hold on,
I’m needing another chance,
but I know that I’m so wrong,
But if I never had to fight like this ida’ never seen Christ like this,
He came down and He touched my face,
and when He died He had took my place,
it’s as if He was the one who had lied,
the one who had coveted,
the one who was struggling,
the one who was pleasing his flesh,
the one who’s misleading his steps,
knowing it would lead him to death,
the one who made excuses to fall,
the one who watched porn,
the one who slacked off,
the one who was lazy,
and wouldn’t wage war,
and whenever he did,
he did it with out a sword,
the one who was afraid,
afraid of rejection,
the one who let pride get in the way of confession,
the one who was insane,
and wouldn’t learn his lesson,
the one was ashamed,
ashamed of his own reflection,
that was the Christ I saw,
and my wrongs he had wore them all,
and wore them strong for joy set before Him,
and he showed grace even though I had ignored Him,
yeah I was a harlot,
they called me a loser,
and even though I fall He said where are your accusers?,
He said, "You are free now sin no more,
My child you are free,
to please your Lord cause you are in Me…"
Friday, July 6, 2012
New Heaven, New Earth
Randy Alcorn's book Heaven has been really challenging me to look forward to Heaven, and ultimately the New Heaven and New Earth. Here's a section of the book that led me to worship God with great joy.
"[...] the future Heaven will be in the human realm, on Earth. Then the dwelling place of God will also be the dwelling place of humanity, in a resurrected universe: "'I saw a new heaven and a new earth....I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God....And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God'" (Revelation 21:1-3). Heaven, God's dwelling place, will one day be on the New Earth.
Notice that the New Jerusalem, which was in Heaven, will come down out of Heaven from God. Where does it go? To the New Earth. From that time on, 'the dwelling of God' will be with redeemed mankind on Earth. [...]
That God would come down to the New Earth to live with us fits perfectly with his original plan. God could have taken Adam and Eve up to Heaven to visit with him in his world. Instead, he came down to walk with them in their world (Genesis 3:8). Jesus says of anyone who would be his disciple, 'My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him' (John 14:23). This is a picture of God's ultimate plan--not to take us up to live in a realm made for him, but to come down and live with us in the realm he made for us." [...] The Incarnation is about God inhabiting space and time as a human being [(John 1:14)]--the new heavens and New Earth are about God making space and time his eternal home. As Jesus is God incarnate, so the New Earth will be Heaven incarnate. Think of what Revelation 21:3 tells us--God will relocate his people and come down from Heaven to the New Earth to live with them: 'God Himself will be with them.' Rather than our going up to live in God's home forever, God will come down to live in our home forever. Simply put, through the present Heaven is 'up there,' the future, eternal Heaven will be 'down here.' If we fail to see that distinction, we fail to understand God's plan and are unable to envision what our eternal lives will look like.
[...] Their [Heaven and Earth's] present incompatibility is due to a temporary aberration--Earth is under sin and the Curse. Once that aberration is corrected, Heaven and Earth will be fully compatible again (Ephesians 1:10). [...] the reality of Heaven on Earth--God dwelling with mankind in the world he made for us--will in fact be realized. It is God's dream. It is God's plan. He--not we--will accomplish it."
That's my favorite part of the book so far. For some reason, it only recently hit me that God's plan has always been to come down to dwell with man. This is so amazing and humbling to me! He didn't just come to seek and save us from the penalty of our sin, but He genuinely wants to dwell with us forever as our God and we as His people. I still can't articulate why this feels like new news to me, but I'm still chewing on it.
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