My wretched sinful heart. What kills me is that I don’t give a damn when I sin against God every single day. Not much remorse, unrepentant heart. It is only when my sin hurts and ruins those around me that I’m awakened to the fact that I need to pursue righteousness and need grace. It kills me that it has to get to that point before I want to change. Why can’t I love God more?
Give me clean hands, give me a pure heart. Let me be one who seeks your face oh God of Jacob.
What a blessing it is to love knowing that I am loved.
Thank you Lord, you were definitely my rear guard this weekend (Isaiah 58:8).
Wow, so happy at the moment. Braves just completed a four game sweep of the Mets. How do you like them apples Mets fans? That’s four in a row. And that’s what we’ll do again if we meet them in the playoffs, 1-2-3-4.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned this year can be summed up in a few words.
Show, don’t tell.
“My memory is nearly gone;
but I remember two things;
That I am a great sinner, and
that Christ is a great Saviour.”
-John Newton, pastor and writer of “Amazing Grace”
I was reading Matt. 14:13-21 and found it amazing that Jesus refused to send the people away hungry. He didn’t do his “work” and then call it a day. He saw all of their needs and knew they needed to be fed. I think in the same way He sees all of our needs and all the ones we don’t even know about. It’s a simple truth but I saw this…
No one that comes to Jesus hungry and broken will go away hungry. They will not leave without Jesus filling them up with what he has to give. Pharisees and other religious teachers came to him with a lot of pride and walked away dissatisfied even though Jesus still gave them something to think about. Think about that in your daily walk with Christ…no one that comes to the feet of Jesus with brokenness, spiritually thirsty and hungry will walk away without receiving his grace of being fed. The question for us then is this: Will we let go of struggling to meet our own needs and desires and come to the Giver of Life, the only one who can give real life, real joy, real peace, real love, and real strength?
I was reading Psalm 20 trying to get something out of an otherwise mostly wasted day by me and these verses struck me more than any other.
Psalm 20:7-8
7Some trust in(A) chariots and some in(B) horses,
(C) but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
8They collapse and fall,
but we rise and stand upright.
I don’t know what you can equate “chariots” and “horses” with to make you understand better. Maybe you can think of important things that truly make your life easier. They’re so important, we essentially put our faith in them. They could be a car, retirement savings plan, stocks, money, clothes, etc. Or you can even think about from a warring perspective with our faith in our high tech war machines such as Apaches, tanks, and F-16s. Whatever they maybe, this Psalm says if that is what you truly put all your faith into to make it all happen, those things will collapse and fall and take you with them. They will abandon you when you need them the most. It’s a guarantee.
But who will rise and stand upright? Those that trust in the name of the Lord our God. He will be our help on the day of battle (hey everyday is a day in this spiritual war). Put your trust in Him and you will never be put to shame. He is our strength, not just any strength, strength like no other. Don’t look at the palms of your hands for assurance in the face of overwhelming opposition, call upon your King who has power beyond comparison and is mighty to save. That is also a guarantee.
Acts 4:12
11This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.12And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
No other way baby. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. (John 14:6).
You Are My Strength by Hillsongs
You are my strength
Strength like no other
Strength like no other
Reaches to me
You are my hope
Hope like no other
Hope like no other
Reaches to me
In the fullness of your grace
In the power of your name
You lift me up
You lift me up
Unfailing love
Stronger than mountains
Deeper than oceans
Reaches to me
Your love O Lord
Reaches to the heavens
Your faithfulness
Reaches to the skies
One of the my favorite praise songs…
Saviour King by Hillsongs
Verse 1
Let now the weak say I have strength
By the Spirit of power that raised Christ from the dead
Let now the poor stand and confess
That my portion is Him and I’m more blessed
Pre-chorus
Let now our hearts burn with a flame
A fire consuming all for your Son’s holy Name
And with the heavens we declare
You are our King
Chorus
We love you Lord, we worship you
You are our God, you alone are good
You asked your Son to carry this
The heavy cross our weight of sin
I love you Lord, I worship you
Hope which was lost, now stands renewed
I give my life to honour this
The love of Christ, the Saviour King
Verse 2
Let now your church shine as your bride
That you saw in your heart as you offered up your life
Let now the lost be welcomed home
By the saved and redeemed those adopted as your own
Ending
I give my life to honour this
The love of Christ, the Saviour King
Entries (RSS)