Resting on this truth today:
“We put our hope in the LORD. He is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. Let your unfailing love surround us, LORD, for our hope is in you alone.”
Psalm 33:20-22
Amazing Hope Giver,
You are all knowing, all powerful, all sufficient,…You are perfect.
I know it.
I trust it.
Blessed be Your amazing name!
d
In the midst of the “stuff of life” happening lately in my circle of family and friends, just thought I would share this song…
[BTW, it you’re not familiar with Ben Shive, I highly recommend picking up his The Ill-Tempered Klavier album.]
x
Rise Up
Ben Shive
Every stone that makes you stumble,
and cuts you when you fall;
every serpent here that strikes your heel,
to curse you when you crawl,
the King of Love one day will crush them all.
And every sad seduction
and every clever lie,
every word that woos and wounds
the pilgrim children of the sky,
the King of Love will break them by and by.
And you will rise up in the end.
You will rise up in the end.
I know the night is cruel, but the day is coming soon
when you will rise up in the end.
If the thief had come to plunder
when the children were alone,
If he ravaged every daughter
and murdered every son,
Would not their Father see this?
Would not His anger burn?
And would He not repay the tyrant
in the day of His return?
Await, await the day of His return.
Cause He will rise up in the end.
He will rise up in the end.
I know you need a Savior. He is patient in His anger.
But He will rise up in the end.
And when the stars come crashing to the sea.
The high and mighty fall down on their knees.
When you see the Son descending in the sky.
The chains of death will fall around your feet.
You will rise up in the end.
You will rise up in the end.
You will rise up in the end.
Maranatha!
This song and its truth have been rattling around in my head since I got Fee’s new album a few weeks ago…
The story:x
The song:
WOW and AMEN.
x
Everything Falls
Steve Fee
from Hope Rising
You said You’d never leave or forsake me, when You said this life is shake me.
You said this world is gonna bring trouble on my soul. This I know.
When everything falls apart, Your arms hold me together.
When everything falls apart You’re the only hope for this heart.
When everything falls apart and my strength is gone, I find You mighty and strong.
You keep holding on, You keep holding on.
When I see darkness all around me, when I see tragedy has found me, I still believe.
Your faithful arms will never let me go. Still I know
Sorrow will last for the night, but hope is rising with the sun, it’s rising with the sun.
There will be storms in this life, but I know You have overcome, You have overcome
I have one of these on my desk. I’ve had it for a while, although it did get pushed to the back by magazines and papers (I have some piles…don’t judge me). As I was cleaning the desk the other day, I saw it and got to thinking about how, if we are honest with ourselves (and God), we would much rather have something like this in life than depend completely upon God or even come before Him in prayer.
We are in good company. In Mark 9:14-29, we see that Jesus’ disciples (the ones He picked to follow Him first), still occasionally defaulted to primarily relying on their own ability (sound familiar?). In this passage, we read that they couldn’t cast out a demon from a possessed child…and the crowds and the boy’s father are not happy. The bible doesn’t describe that scene, but can you imagine the disciple’s frustration and repeated attempts? Not to be sacrilegious, but the image of trying to start a lawnmower repeatedly comes to mind…
Perfected Motion. Just following the theme from two posts last week (Perfect Posture…AWE & Perfect Assurance…From Our Perfecter). I thought would share this song from another artist I like who has great lyrics and is generally not mainstream, Jason Morant (check him out).
I think we’ve all had those days when we’ve said, “Take me home Lord! I just can’t take it anymore!” – I know I have. At it’s core, that’s a pretty selfish and arrogant statement if you think about it. We’re saying to God, “I know best and deserve my way. So God, if life get’s hard (yes, the one that I’ve given you divine control of), the best resolution would be to just take me Home in advance of Your perfect plan and will.” Um, not too compelling of an argument before the Sovereign, all-knowing, all-powerful, ever-present, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords!
Life is hard, rough, scary, sad, etc. before and after we decide to give our life to Christ. There isn’t a promise in the Bible, that says “accepteth Christ and thy life willith be rosey” (my best effort and King James talk). The fact is, Jesus promised His Disciples (and us) that we would have trouble:
“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
BTW, aren’t you glad he didn’t end with “trouble” or even “Take Heart!” NO, He has overcome; and by His victory, so have we (not can…have overcome, through the power of the Holy Spirit)!
How easily we allow the “STUFF” in life to impact our assurance (and sometimes our confidence) in our Heavenly Father. The fact is that while our situation, circumstance, whatever may change:
HE NEVER CHANGES! HE IS THE SAME
YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER!
While I can’t recall a specific example right now, I’m sure there were times growing up when I was afraid to do something, but my dad said “Dennis, trust me.” When I remained afraid, I’m sure he was frustrated, but he still assured me that it was OK – “Dennis, trust ME.” I’m sure in my heart I knew that he had my safety and security in mind, but still…“Dad, I’m afraid!”
So, after much prodding, I probably begrudgingly did it and I’m sure I got hurt or it didn’t “go right” a time or two – but my dad’s love and care never ceased…even when I may have thought, “Wait a second!”
How much more is our Heavenly Father
trustworthy, caring, and constantly on our side!
Two posts today…I just had to share this.
I picked up a few CDs the other day (it’s weird to by music that way…most everything is from iTunes now days) – one of them was Jadon Lavik’s Life On The Inside. This CD is from 2006 and I’ll admit that I had not heard of him before…not sure how I missed his music, but this CD is GREAT! I actually bought this without a pre-listen, since the bar code on the listening system was not working – the cover looked interesting!
Anyway – every once in a while I’ll hear a song where the lyrics hit a chord in me and I immediately press the repeat on the iPhone, letting the lyrics wash over me and just sink in (this doesn’t happen too often, but when it does – wow). What a sweet time of worship on Monday’s drive home and today’s drive in. The song below brought to mind these promises of God:
“Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.” – Isaiah 49:15-16
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
– Jeremiah 29:11
“…in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33
“…for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” -Hebrews 13:5-6
Thank You Lord – Praise Your Mighty and Faithful Name!
DENNARR(dot)COM 