A New Year

It is hard to believe that it is already a new year. For me it felt like 2009 flew by. Julie and I had a great New Years Eve. We had a great dinner with friends with great conversation. The highlight of the night for me was when we went around the table to talk about Christ's mercies on our lives within the past year. It was amazing to see His provision for us and how He poured out His grace and mercy. The verse that was circling my heart that night was Isaiah 55:8-9 which says "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts". I began to think about how many times in our lives we try and force things to happen because we think they are best for us. But in the end God has a better plan which we may not understand, but his plan saves us from ourselves and our selfish hearts.

My prayer for this coming year is that we would cling to the cross more than we did in 2009. That we would trust God's provision for us and walk in obedience. That we would not live according to the flesh which brings death, but rather live by the spirit which springs forth life (Rom 8:13). I pray that we would look back at the end of 2010 and rejoice in the grace and mercies of Christ.

Merciful God,

I know that my heart is bent to live life out of my flesh. Lord help me to live my life out of the spirit which brings life. Thank you for your lavish love and grace and mercy which I do not deserve. Save us from ourselves. We need you. I pray that we would love you so much more than we do. Help us Lord. Amen

He is The Radiance of The Glory of God... Heb 1:3

This morning is quiet and calm. It is cold and rainy. I love it. As I sat in my office this morning I was reading Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ by Dr. John Piper. This whole book is about the Glory of Christ. I recommend it to everyone.

In our culture we glorify things that are fleeting. We put time and effort into so many things that just simply do not matter. We exchange God's glory for lesser things (Rom. 1:23). Everything we glorify over God will in the end be no more. Psalm 102:25-27 says it perfectly like this "Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end". No matter how much we take care of our stuff, everything will pass away. Christ is the only one who will remain.

Dr. Piper talks about glory in this way, "We are all starved for the glory of God, not self. No one goes to the grand canyon to increase self-esteem. Why do we go? Because there is greater healing for the soul in beholding splendor than there is in beholding self". We were created to worship and glorify. No one can deny this. We desire to be apart of something bigger then ourselves, that is why we seek things like fame and money. The problem is when we attain those things we still feel empty.

Christ is our prize and our only hope. We will never be fully satisfied until He returns. But while we are here on this earth we are called to do everything for His glory and be satisfied in Him.

Hebrews 1:3 He (Christ) is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His Power.

Come quickly Lord.

Merciful Lord,

Forgive me for exchanging your glory for lesser things. You are my only hope and I have no life apart from you. Help me Lord. My soul is restless in waiting for you to come. Amen.

David Crowder "How He Loves"

This is David Crowder's new song "How He Loves". The words are rich and spoke to me deeply. The words are below, go listen to it and buy it on itunes! Lord, thank you for loving us so deeply and passionately! Teach us to have the same love for you. Amen.

He is jealous for me,

Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,

Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.

  When all of a sudden,

    I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,

And I realize just how beautiful You are,

And how great Your affections are for me.

Pre-Chorus:

And oh, how He loves us so,

Oh how He loves us,

How He loves us all

Chorus 1:

Yeah, He loves us,

Whoa! how He loves us,

Whoa! how He loves us,

Whoa! how He loves.

Yeah, He loves us,

Whoa! how He loves us,

Whoa! how He loves us,

Whoa! how He loves.

Verse 2:

We are His portion and He is our prize,

Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,

If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.

So Heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss,

And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,

I don’t have time to maintain these regrets, 

When I think about, the way…

Fear

So I can't believe it has been this long since I have posted anything! Man I am a slacker! I want to talk about something that has been on my mind a lot lately and that is fear. Fear is a funny dangerous thing. We fear so many things like animals, pitch dark, being alone, or as my beautiful wife fears, little bugs. I think the fear that has haunted me the most and continues to haunt me is, the fear of not knowing.

Not knowing for me is horrible. I am the type of person who wants to know everything before it happens. I want to be in control of it all, because in some aspect it makes me feel better because then I have nothing to "fear". My father's health for the past year has not been good, he seems to be continually in and out of the hospital, and the worst part about it is I cannot control any of it. His health is out of my hands and is even out of the doctors hands. Our being and our existence rests solely in the hands of Jesus. He is the one who controls, heals, and takes care of us. I have no control over anything. Those times that I feel like I have control or I force things to happen, are the times when things usually fall through. Psalm 46 talks about God being our refuge and strength and help when we are in trouble. It says "Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way..." I am trying to rest in His promise.

Fear has revealed my heart and where my faith really lies at times, which is in myself wanting to know, wanting to control. My heart is wicked, and doubtful at times, but thanks be to Jesus who restores and saves and loves me.

Lord, forgive me. Forgive me for relying on myself and not trusting. Help me God, you are my only hope, you are the only one who gives life, and heals and rescues us.

Amen

Good Friday:

Good Friday calls us to remember. To remember the sacrifice that was made in order that we may live free and gain the ultimate gift of salvation, and to be in a deep intimate relationship with Jesus. On this day over 2000 years ago, our precious savior was beaten beyond recognition (Isaiah 52:14), His flesh ripped, His body bruised, and then was placed on an old rugged cross covered in other men's blood sweat and tears. Nails were driven into His hands and feet, He was then raised up on the cross to be cursed at, spit on, and mocked all the while saying "Father, forgive them for the know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). Then Jesus absorbed the wrath of God and bore our sins in order to fulfill the scriptures. Let us not forget and always remember why we have life, and a Savior who passionately loves, forgives and pursues us. 

Oh Lord, how we forget so easily the sacrifice that you made. Forgive us for forgetting. Help us to always remember. We do not deserve you oh God. Lord save our wicked hearts and restore them to you. Thank you for your never ending Grace and Mercy. We long to love you so much more then we do, so help us Lord. Thank you for saving me from myself and sacrificing so much that I may live with you for eternity. Amen

Hallelujah, God is Here!

Worshiping God through Prayer

Theologian and Pastor John Piper says this about worship: "true worship comes from people who are deeply emotional and who love deep and sound doctrine. Strong affections for God rooted in truth are the bone and marrow of biblical worship. Biblical worship involves some kind of outward act. The very word in Hebrew means to bow down. Worship is bowing, lifting hands, praying, singing, performing rites of eating, cleansing, ordaining and so on."

Worship stirs affections for our God. Worship is not just singing it is a way of life. One of the most powerful ways we can worship is through prayer. Through prayer we show gratitude and adoration, we come and bow before Him and lay ourselves at His throne, prayer is a very precious and intimate time of worship with our Lord. David through the Psalms shows us what it is to worship God through prayer.

In Psalm 69:1-3 we see David crying out to the Lord to save and restore him:

"Save me, O God, for the waters have threatened my life. I have sunk in deep mire, and there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and a flood overflow me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched; my eyes fail while I wait for my God...." This verses shows the great worth of our God, and how David feels about Him. David is saying here that no matter what happens to him and how bad life may get, that the potential, the very thought of God is better then any substance of anything else. David is worshiping God; he is acclaiming his worth and greatness. The book of Psalms are prayers worshiping God, knowing that He is far greater, that His ways and thoughts are higher then ours and there is nothing better. (Isaiah 55:9)

God created us to worship. Every time we pray we are worshiping, even if our prayers are crying out in grief, anger, or joy they are still glorifying God. As we pray may we not forget that we are worshiping, I pray we take the time to engage Him and allow Him to speak to us. As we come in on Sunday mornings for a time of corporate worship, may it be an overflow of what God has done and revealed to us that week. 

Lord, thank you for who you are and all you do. May we worship you in all ways of our life. Thank you for hearing our prayers and allowing us to worship you. Help us Lord! Amen.

Hallelujah, God is Here!