‘Are You Safe?’

The following (including the scripture) was taken from chapter five of Corrie Ten Boom’s Not I , But Christ.

 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
1 Peter 1:3-9

 

“Obedience is very important. Love and obedience belong together. The winds may blow, but there is peace. Jesus was obedient, yes, willing to die on the cross for you and for me. What love!”
“If we are hidden with Jesus in God, the peace remains. ‘Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea’ (Ps. 46:2).
“Although it may be night, we shall experience: ‘He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty’ (Ps. 91:1).”

 

 

Obama Prayer List

My pastor gave this list several weeks ago of things we should pray on behalf of President Obama:

1. That he would have a dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ.
2. That the Lord would guide him in all truth.
3. That he would be a man of much prayer.
4. That he would act in a biblical manner in every decision.

    

These may seem like impossible things to pray for, but when my pastor gave this list he cited the following verse:
The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases. ~ Proverbs 21:1

President Obama, whether he wishes it or not, is in God’s hands and under His control. God is more than capable of answering these prayers, if we would only be faithful in praying them. The final statement my pastor made about this (more as a reminder to make us think than with the intention of accusation) was that if we Christians are not willing to pray, then we are ultimately responsible for where this country ends up because we are the ones with access to the One who controls it all.

I personally was very encouraged by what he said, especially the scripture he mentioned. I hope by posting this here that others will be too.

Keep the faith!

 

Another glimpse at the pages of my journal…

“God, you see where I hurt. You know the things I’m struggling with—the things that weigh on my heart. Please carry them for me, for I cannot. Grant me the wisdom to know how I must live; peace to rest in; and the serenity I need to go on and still reflect You to others. Oh, please wrap me Your grace, and keep me covered in the palm of Your hand.”

“Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One Who is leading. It is a life of faith, not of intellect and reason, but a life of knowing Who makes us ‘go.’ The root of faith is the knowledge of a Person, and one of the biggest snares is the idea that God is sure to lead us to success.
“….The life of faith is not a life of mounting up with wings, but a life of walking and not fainting. It is not a question of sanctification; but of something infinitely further on than sanctification, of faith that has been tried and proved and stood the test.” ~ Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

“Think of the last thing you prayed about—were you devoted to your desire or to God? Determined to get some of the Spirit of God or to get at God? ….The point of asking is that you may get to know God better. ‘Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.’ Keep praying in order to get a perfect understanding of God Himself.” ~ Oswald Chambers, MUfHH

“Faith is not a pathetic sentiment, but a robust vigorous confidence built on the fact that God is holy love. You cannot see Him just now, you cannot understand what He is doing, but you know Him. Shipwreck occurs where there is not the mental poise which comes from being established on the eternal truth that God is holy love. Faith is the heroic effort of your life; you fling yourself in reckless confidence to God.” ~ Oswald Chambers, MUfHH

 

The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.”
Isaiah 32:17

 

 

Martyrs and Thieves by Jennifer Knapp

There’s a place in the darkness that I used to cling to
It presses harsh hope against time
In the absence of martyrs there’s a presence of thieves
Who only want to rob you blind
They steal away any sense of peace
Though I’m a king I’m a king on my knees
And I know they are wrong when they say I am strong
As the darkness covers me

So turn on the light and reveal all the glory
I am not afraid
To bare all my weakness knowing in meekness
I have a kingdom to gain
Where there is peace and love in the light, in the light
Oh I am not afraid
To let Your light shine bright in my life, in my life

There are ghosts from my past who’ve owned more of my soul
Than I thought I had given away
They linger in closets and under my bed
And in pictures less proudly displayed
A great fool in my life I have been
Have squandered till pallid and thin
Hung my head in shame and refused to take blame
For the darkness I know I’ve let win

So turn on the light and reveal all the glory
I am not afraid
To bare all my weakness knowing in meekness
I have a kingdom to gain
Where there is peace and love in the light, in the light
Oh I am not afraid
To let Your light shine bright in my life, in my life

Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?

Well I’ve never been much for the baring of soul
In the presence of any man
I’d rather keep to myself all safe and secure
In the arms of a sinner I am
Could it be that my worth should depend
By the crimson stained grace on a hand
And like a lamp on a hill Lord I pray in Your will
To reveal all of You that I can

So turn on the light and reveal all the glory
I am not afraid
To bare all my weakness knowing in meekness
I have a kingdom to gain
Where there is peace and love in the light, in the light
Oh I am not afraid
To let Your light shine bright in my life, in my life

There’s a place in the darkness that I used to cling to
It presses harsh hope against time…

 

For my friends who need it:

“Lord, thank You for Your unfailing, never-ending promise that no matter how hard and hectic this life is I can look forward to complete peace and absolute joy when I make it home. Jesus, be my strength and joy today. Fill me with Yourself and be glorified in me. Let others see You in me…in spite of my talent to get in the way of their view.” ~ February 16, 2007

“Lord, I ache today. Please surround me with Your love and fill me with You. Touch my heart and let Your joy be my strength. Carry me close to You. Thank You, Jesus, for Your faithfulness. And thank You that I can trust You with my life!” ~ May 12, 2008
(These prayers from my journal are not meant to be an expression of any personal issues; but rather are being shared in the hopes that someone else can possibly relate to them, make them their own, and be encouraged.)

For those who are worn out, overwhelmed or just need to feel God’s gentle peace:
The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace. Psalm 29:11

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Psalm 68:19

Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. Psalm 63:7-8

When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your love, O Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul. Psalm 94:18-19

For those who are filled with longing:
The Lord is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. Psalm 145: 17-19

for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. Psalm 107: 9

Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:23-26

For those who need filled with the Lord’s joy:
Light is shed upon the righteous and joy on the upright in heart. Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name. Psalm 97:11-12

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. Psalm 46:4-5 (This is one is a personal favorite.)

For everyone:
Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth. Hosea 6:3

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:16-19

May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance. 2 Thess. 3:5

“He is not all we would ask for (if we were honest), but it is precisely when we do not have what we would ask for, and only then, that we can clearly perceive His all-sufficiency. It is when the sea is moonless that the Lord has become my Light.” ~ Elisabeth Elliot

“My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen.”

 

Excerpts from my Journal

“Jesus, thank You for who You are. And thank You for remaining here with me. You’re awesome and good. Thank You that You never change. I believe You have plans for me and are watching over my path. Please guide me and keep me covered in You.” ~ October 13,2007

“Jesus, be in me and cause me to think and act in the consciousness of Your presence.” ~ February 18, 2007

“Draw me to You, Father. Please forgive my constant distractedness and my lack of a desire to get closer to You. Help me to not let my physical and mental fatigue be an excuse for slacking. Keep me strong. Thank You for Your Amazing Grace!” ~ February 21,2007

“Lord, thank You for Your many and faithful promises which flow from an abundant love. Thank You, Jesus, that because of You I am never alone. And thank You that I have freedom in You because of Your sacrifice.” ~ September 15,2007

“I believe we can rest assured that we are invulnerable so long as God does not give permission for us to be hurt. If He gives permission, He will not leave us alone. He goes with us through the valley, the deep water, the furnace. He will never, absolutely never, leave us or forsake us.” ~ Elisabeth Elliot, Keep a Quiet Heart

“Whatever thy grief or trouble be, take every drop in thy cup from the hand of Almighty God. He with whom ‘the hairs of thy head are numbered,’ knoweth every throb of thy brow, each hardly drawn breath, each shoot of pain, each beating of the fevered pulse, each sinking of the aching heart. Receive, then, what are trials to thee, not in the main only, but one by one, from His all-loving hands; thank His love for each; unite each with the sufferings of thy Redeemer; pray that He will thereby hallow them to thee. Thou wilt not know what He thereby will work in thee; yet, day by day, shalt thou receive the impress of the likeness of the ever-blessed Son, and in thee, too, while thou knowist not, God shall be glorified.” ~ E.B. Pusey as quoted in Keep a Quiet Heart

“[I]t is through the tender austerity of our very troubles that the Son of Man comes knocking. In every event He seeks an entrance to my heart, yes, even in my most helpless, futile, fruitless moments. The very cracks and empty crannies of my life, my perplexities and hurts and botched-up jobs, He wants to fill with Himself, His joy, His life. The more unsatisfactory my ‘performance,’ the more He calls me to share His yoke. I should know by now that mine makes me tired and overburdened. He urges me to learn of Him: ‘I am gentle and humble in heart.'” ~ Elisabeth Elliot, Keep a Quiet Heart

Psalm 105:4
Look to the LORD and his strength;
       seek his face always.

 

‘Wisdom’

This song has been running through my head a lot lately, and this is the path along which many of my prayers run.

Wisdom
I see a multitude of people,
some far away and some close by
They weave together new religion
from tiny remnants they have found
A bit of truth, a greater lie
And all the prophets stand and sing a pleasant song
A million cords that bind the spirit growing strong
My heart is breaking I must remind them

You are the only way
You are the only voice
You are the only hope
You are the only choice
You are the One True God
No matter what we say
You are the breath of life
You are the only way
Give us wisdom, give us wisdom

There is a moment of decision but all the days go rushing by
An undercurrent of confusion to threaten all that we believe
With little time to wonder why
And all the prophets sing the same familiar song
Even the chosen can be led to sing along
These hearts are breaking will You remind us

You are the only way
You are the only voice
You are the only hope
You are the only choice
You are the One True God
No matter what we say
You are the breath of life
You are the only way
Give us wisdom, give us wisdom

You choose the simple things to overcome the wise
Wisdom is granted in the name of Jesus Christ
In the name of Jesus Christ

You are the only way
You are the only voice
You are the only hope
You are the only choice
You are the One True God
No matter what we say
You are the breath of life
We need You here today
~ Twila Paris

 

Glorious Words of Encouragment

Romans 8:26-27
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.

Psalm 34:17-18
The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Psalm 43:3-5
Send forth your light and your truth,
let them guide me;
let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to the place where you dwell.
Then will I go to the altar of God,
to God, my joy and my delight.
I will praise you with the harp,
O God, my God.
Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

Psalm 71:19-21
Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God,
you who have done great things.
Who, O God, is like you?
Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter,
you will restore my life again;
from the depths of the earth
you will again bring me up.
You will increase my honor
and comfort me once again.

Psalm 57:2(ESV)
I cry out to God Most High,
to God who fulfills his purpose for me.

Psalm 138:8
The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
your love, O LORD, endures forever—
do not abandon the works of your hands.

 

In the Words of Others…

“One cannot be deeply responsive to the world without being saddened very often.” ~ Erich Fromm

“Our vision is so limited we can hardly imagine a love that does not show itself in protection from suffering. The love of God is of a different nature altogether.  It does not hate tragedy.  It never denies reality.  It stands in the very teeth of suffering.  The love of God did not protect His own Son.  That was the proof of His love—that He gave that Son, that He let Him go to Calvary’s cross, though ‘legions of angels’ mught have rescued Him.  He will not necessarily protect us-not from anything it takes to make us like His Son.  A lot of hammering and chisling and purifying by fire will have to go into the process.” ~ Elisabeth Elliot, Passion and Purity

Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. ~ The Book of Common Prayer

 

‘We will make the whole universe a noise in the end.

‘We have already made great strides in this direction as regards the Earth.’ …*

*Quote (including the title) from C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters, as written by the demon Screwtape.

One of my biggest pet peeves about churches today is the ever-increasing trend to hold their worship services at ludicrously high volume levels. I’ve been going to church all my life, and my faith in God is a very integral part of my life. However, while I love to worship the Lord in song and believe in the necessity of meeting regularly with other believers, I cannot believe that there is anything remotely spiritual about destroying my hearing for the sake of worship when I can worship in song just as (actually, more) easily at a much quieter level.

This frustration has come much closer to home recently, due to changes that have been made at my church. It used to be that one of the things this church had going for it was the fact that their services were pretty contemporary but not too loud. Not so anymore. Their biggest changes have been the addition of an amped bass guitar the switching of electric drums for acoustic drums. The results are unbearably loud. It has now become my habit to spend the music portion of each service walking the halls, where I can still hear everything perfectly. Though sometimes even out there it seems too loud! Often they keep it so loud that, if I sit in the sanctuary, not only are my ears in physical pain, but also I can just barely hear the leaders singing-if at all, and I can never hear the piano or the congregation singing (unless they have us sing acapella). Folks, this is absolutely ridiculous.

I don’t normally make a habit of voicing negative opinions about my church or any other, but this is something that concerns me for more than one reason.

I have often lamented that we cannot close our ears with as much ease as we can our eyes. ~Richard Steele

The first reason has already been mentioned and is the most obvious one. God made our ears and gave us the ability to hear. I do not believe that he would ever ask us to throw away our hearing to worship Him, since we do not need to reach such a destructive level for it to be legitimate worship.

Also, as Christians in the church, I do not believe it is good for us to force outsiders who visit to endure such damaging noise just so they can be exposed to the gospel. Blasting their ears out is not the best way to present God’s eternally significant truth to them. I mean, who would want to listen to someone who communicated by screaming in your face? No one ever puts up with that, yet many churches ask their members and visitors to put up with that same sort of thing every Sunday in deafening services.

You can hear the footsteps of God when silence reigns in the mind. ~Sri Sathya Sai Baba

The second reason this issue concerns me: it’s a major distraction from the real reason we’re in church in the first place. The Bible says God speaks in a still, small voice. How are we supposed to hear Him with all the noise going on around us? I can say from experience that it does make a difference! It has become nearly impossible for me to get into a worshipful mindset and really focus on God during the music part of the service (which in turn, affects my worshipful attitude during the sermon). My family members have said the same thing.

The sole purpose of going to church is to worship God. What matters is what comes from our hearts, not what comes from our instruments (or how many we have). So why do we place so much importance on that? I don’t go to church to hear the musicians play—I go to hear God, and yet I cannot concentrate on Him when what is being played pounds so intensely in my ears. Instead, I’m forced to be more focused on my surroundings and my aching ears. What is worshipful about listening to musicians who play loudly? And again, how does that affect people from the outside in regards to how well they are able to worship and sense God’s presence? Having a large amount of energy, enthusiasm, and noise in a service is not what makes it Spirit-filled.

“A “scream” is always just that-a noise and not music.” ~ Carl Gustav Jung

One big thing that really stands out for me in modern worship services is that in regard to music, the musicality has significantly lessened and it has become more just pure noise. It is one thing to turn down the volume, and it’s quite another thing to produce music versus noise. I say this because even though leaving the sanctuary reduces the volume level, what I hear still sounds more like a chaotic frenzy than music. I don’t bring this up to complain of anyone’s playing ability or preference. What bothers me is that when so much of that ‘chaotic frenzy’ is present, it detracts from the reverence with which we should approach God in our worship. Sometimes I feel like we worship as if we’re afraid He can’t/won’t hear us. Therefore, the louder and wilder we make it the greater our chances are of getting His attention and response. Our worship experience becomes more being part of a group performance when instead it should be a deeply intimate meeting before the throne of God. I think we need to really consider the manner in which we approach God in our worship. Are we more worried about how well we perform to Him, or about how much we honor Him in our attitude? Are we focused on humbly giving Him all the glory and adoration from our hearts? Are we reverent? These are the things that are important.

We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass – grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence…. We need silence to be able to touch souls. ~Mother Teresa

Note: I write this meaning no disrespect toward any church, including my own. It is not my intention to attack or accuse, so please don’t view what I’ve said in that light. What I have written is simply the result of much thought and prayerful questioning (as well as family discussion) in regards to how I personally can best honor Him in worship through music.