Journal for Christ

Saturday, March 5, 2016

We all stumble

The title for today's blog comes not from my study in the Word, but from the witness portion of my journal.

September 15, 2015

Worship: Joy of The Lord by Rend Collective Experiment

"Joy Of The Lord"

Though the tears may fall my song will rise
My song will rise to You
Though my heart may fail my song will rise
My song will rise to You
While there's breath in my lungs
I will praise you Lord

In the dead of night I’ll lift my eyes
I’ll lift my eyes to You
Though the waters rise I’ll lift my eyes
I’ll lift my eyes to You
While there's hope in this heart
I will praise You Lord

The joy of the Lord is my strength
The joy of the Lord is my strength
In the darkness I’ll dance
In the shadows I’ll sing
The joy of the Lord is my strength

When I cannot see You with my eyes
Let faith arise to You
When I cannot feel Your hand in mine
Let faith arise to You
God of mercy and love
I will praise You Lord

How You shine with glory Lord of light
I feel alive with You
In Your presence now I come alive
I am alive with You
There is strength when I say
I will praise You Lord

The joy of the Lord is my strength
The joy of the Lord is my strength
In the darkness I’ll dance
In the shadows I’ll sing
The joy of the Lord is my strength

When sorrow comes my way
You are the shield around me
Always You remain
My courage in the fight

I hear You call my name
Jesus I am coming
Walking on the waves
Reaching for Your light

The joy of the Lord is my strength
The joy of the Lord is my strength
In the darkness I’ll dance
In the shadows I’ll sing
The joy of the Lord is my strength

A-Z Lyrics REND COLLECTIVE EXPERIMENT Lyrics

https://youtu.be/x3gLeCiMJqI?list=RDx3gLeCiMJqI

Witness:

It’s late and I am not feeling well. I think it is because I am fasting and have a cold and am very tired. Yet it gets my spirit down as well. Yesterday was a high followed today by a low. The Elijah syndrome I call it. If you are not sure what that is go read 1 Kings 18:20 through 19:18. Today I judged a brother who asked us to fast for him on Tuesday. He had sent us a devotional on sacrifice and teamwork a few days ago. Today he confessed that he had come home and ate something. Well I was mad (I was already grumpy). So I got down on my knees and confessed my anger and judgmental attitude. I acknowledge that we all stumble and I want to be forgiven when I stumble. I prayed for him and then got up and went out into the living room. One of my grandsons had eaten some of the popcorn I brought home from the movies yesterday. He had dropped some on the floor so I picked one up and popped it into my mouth (okay the 5 second rule had expired but my floor was clean). I went into the kitchen to take my blood pressure medicine then I went back into the bedroom to fold some sox. Then the Holy Spirit zapped me. What was I chewing? Fasting eh? Judging your brother eh? I laughed and rejoiced in God’s chastisement and repented.

WORD:

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
A Psalm of David.
KJV

1The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

2He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters,

3he refreshes my soul.

He guides me along the right paths

for his name’s sake.

4Even though I walk

through the darkest valley,^a

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

5You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

6Surely your goodness and love will follow me

all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord

forever.

Time has slipped by and my weary mind needs to rest for a few minutes before I go to work. I will not leave without sharing what I came across by Warren Wiersbe. He takes the first 3 verses and applies some of the names of God to them.

Psalms 23:1-3

The LORD" is Jehovah God, the covenant making God of Israel. The compound names of Jehovah in the Old Testament reflect the contents of this psalm.

"I shall not want" — Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord will provide" (Gen 22:14)

"still waters" — Jehovah-Shalom, "the Lord our peace" (Judg 6:24)

"restores my soul" — Jehovah-Rophe, "the Lord who heals" (Ex 15:26)

"paths of righteousness" — Jehovah-Tsidkenu, "the Lord our righteousness" (Jer 33:16)

"you are with me" — Jehovah-Shammah, "the Lord is there" (Ezek 48:35)

"presence of my enemies" — "Jehovah-Nissi, "the Lord our banner" (Ex 17:15)

"anoint my head" — Jehovah-M'Kaddesh, "the Lord who sanctifies" (Lev 20:8)

Friday, March 4, 2016

Lord lead and guide us: Part 3

These studies on God's leading and guiding have been helpful to me, even as I review them again. I share them with you and ask for your feedback on them. If anyone reads this between now and Monday, please pray for me as I travel to see and speak with my wife, who I have not seen for over a year. Thank -you my brothers and sisters in Christ!

September 14, 2015:

Worship: The Unmaking by Nichole Nordeman

This is where the walls gave way
This is demolition day
All the debris, and all this dust
What is left of what once was
Sorting through what goes and what should stay

Every stone I laid for You
As if You had asked me to
A monument to Holy things
Empty talk and circling
Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do

What happens now
When all I’ve made is torn down
What happens next
When all of You, is all that’s left

This is the unmaking
The beauty in the breaking
Had to lose myself
To find out who You are
Before each beginning
There must be an ending
Sitting in the rubble
I can see the stars
This is the unmaking

The longer and the tighter that we hold
Only makes it harder to let go
But love will not stay locked inside
A steeple or a tower high
Only when we’re broken, are we whole

What happens now
When all I’ve made is torn down

This is the unmaking
The beauty in the breaking
Had to lose myself
To find out who You are
Before each beginning
There must be an ending
Sitting in the rubble
I can see the stars
This is the unmaking
This is the unmaking

I’ll gather the same stones where
Everything came crashing down
I’ll build You an altar there
On the same ground

‘Cause what stood before
Was never Yours

Had to lose myself
To find out who You are

https://youtu.be/VQkHD15J7HI - official video

https://youtu.be/P9560Ccwd_E - Nichole explaining the song

Witness:

I can relate to this song. Looking back at my life as a Christian; I see a crooked path of success and failure. I once wrote a piece comparing my life to a rollercoaster. Much of my life has been a failure here and a failure there. Fear and idols mark the way. Distraction after distraction kept me from growing and maturing in the Lord. Perhaps others saw it differently, but that is how I have seen it. However, that is not how I see it now (Oh the old feelings still haunt me from time to time, but the Lord restores my soul and they disappear again). You see, I could say: “Why has it taken so long to get through to me?”;“Why have you chosen such a time as this to reach me?”. Yet, I know the two fold stream of truth that flows through Scripture; of my responsibility and His sovereignty. I see God working in people like Jacob and Moses, where transformation took years to make them into the men God used to form and lead a nation to the promise land. There were years of unmaking and breaking before God could use them, but all in God’s eternal plan and sovereign purpose. The alter built at Bethel by Jacob in Genesis 28:18-22 surely had fallen into ruin when years later he finally returned to Bethel and built a new altar to God (Genesis 35:14). It’s been years, but now God through a series of events in my life that began last year, has begun to demolish my past attempt at building a work dedicated to His glory, which was shamefully a work built more for my glory, if there was any work at all. In the midst of the rubble, He is rebuilding through me a work that I believe will glorify Him, and so I begin my prayer time each day with the petition and desire that He would be glorified in everything I do and say.

Word:

1The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

2He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters,

3he refreshes my soul.

He guides me along the right paths

for his name’s sake.

4Even though I walk

through the darkest valley,^a

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

5You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

6Surely your goodness and love will follow me

all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord

forever.

A little more on God’s guidance; J.I. Packer in his classic masterpiece, Knowing God, devotes a whole chapter to the subject. He begins the chapter with these words:

For many Christians, guidance is a chronic problem. Why? Not because they doubt that divine guidance is a fact, but because they are sure it is. They know that God can guide, and has promised to guide, every Christian believer. Books and friends and public speakers tell them how guidance has worked in the lives of others. Their fear, therefore, is not that no guidance should be available for them, but that they may miss the guidance which God provides through some fault of their own. When they sing:

Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,

Pilgrim through this barren land,

I am weak, but Thou art mighty,

Hold me with Thy powerful hand:

Bread of heaven

Feed me now and evermore

—they have no doubt that God is able both to lead and to feed, as they ask. But they remain anxious, because they are not certain of their own receptiveness to the guidance God offers. (from Digital version of: Knowing God, ©1973 by J. I. Packer. Published in the United States of America by Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, with permission from Hodder and Stoughton Limited, London. Text Americanized and completely retypeset in 1993, p 225)

For some, it is a problem of ignorance. They are ignorant of how God guides His flock and they do not look for His presence in their life. For some, they have let something get between them and the Shepherd and cannot see where He is leading. Some are driving a pick-up and have put the guide back in the truck bed with the window shut, and depending on whether they have him by the window or back by the tailgate, is how well they will hear him. However, God takes no backseat, or truck bed for that matter. He wants to ride shotgun, the place of privilege, or He will not come along for the ride. Of course, all analogies break down and by now, some of you are ready to tear them apart. I understand the analogy of a guide on a trip breaks down, because in life the guide directs someone to where they want to go. With God as guide we are to go where He wants to go and in some ways, God is not only the guide but the driver as well.

Enough of these analogies! Some do not follow our Shepherd at all because of another kind of ignorance. Ignorance of who God is is at an all-time premium these days. Theology is out, or just for the “professionals” (Seminary Professor and students, and of course, the pastor or elder). People erect an image of God made in the image of man. Note what Packer says in the same chapter:

Not all, however, have yet come so far. In our day, as we have frequently noted already, knowledge of God has been obscured—turned, in effect, into ignorance of God—by the twisting of our thoughts about God. Thus, the reality of God’s rule, God’s speech, God’s independence, God’s moral goodness, even God’s personality, has been queried not only outside the church but inside it also. This has made it hard for many to believe that divine guidance can exist at all. How can it, if God is not the sort of being who can, or will, give it?—and that is what, in one way or another, all these suggestions imply. (p. 225)

Just two more things and I will move on. First, I cannot caution you more on how one approaches Divine guidance. Many weird things have been done in the name of Divine guidance. Packer says:

Earnest Christians seeking guidance often go wrong, Why is this? Often the reason is that their notion of the nature and method of divine guidance is distorted. They look for a will-o’-the-wisp*; they overlook the guidance that is ready at hand and lay themselves open to all sorts of delusions. Their basic mistake is to think of guidance as essentially inward prompting by the Holy Spirit, apart from the written Word. This idea, which is as old as the false prophets of the Old Testament and as new as the Oxford Group and Moral Rearmament, is a seed-bed in which all forms of fanaticism and folly can grow. (p. 226)

[*A person or thing that is difficult or impossible to find, reach, or catch.]

And later he says:

But the true way to honor the Holy Spirit as our guide is to honor the holy Scriptures through which he guides us. The fundamental guidance which God gives to shape our lives—the instilling, that is, of the basic convictions, attitudes, ideals and value judgments, in terms of which we are to live—is not a matter of inward promptings apart from the Word, but of the pressure on our consciences of the portrayal of God’s character and will in the Word, which the Spirit enlightens us to understand and apply to ourselves. (p. 231)

He warns:

So never expect to be aided to marry an unbeliever, or elope with a married person, as long as 1 Corinthians 7:39 and the seventh commandment stand! The present writer has known divine guidance to be claimed for both courses of action. Inward inclinations were undoubtedly present, but they were quite certainly not from the Spirit of God, for they went against the Word. The Spirit leads within the limits which the Word sets, not beyond them. “He guides me in paths of righteousness” (Ps 23:3)—but not anywhere else. (p. 231)

Finally, Divine guidance is not ultimately about us, nor should it be. Remember, it’s His plan and ultimately it’s to bring glory to Himself, for to do less would be idolatry. He wants to satisfy not gratify and that can only be found when we find our ultimate joy in Him and are satisfied in Him alone. This can only be done when He does all things for His glory. Packer reminds us:

Again, God seeks his glory in our lives, and he is glorified in us only when we obey his will. It follows that, as a means to his own end, he must be ready to teach us his way, so that we may walk in it. Confidence in God’s readiness to teach those who desire to obey underlies all Psalm 119. In Psalm 23:3 David proclaims the reality of God giving guidance for his own glory—“he guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” (p.226)

I could just continue to quote from J.I. Packer on guidance. Instead, I will recommend that you get the book and read it or download the Digital version on-line. Mine only cost $9.88 to download from CBD. I have the paperback version, but it is easier to copy and paste it than to copy it from the paperback version. Also, review John Pipers article from the previous day. Go to the Desiring God website and search for more articles and sermons on the subject.

From the Celtic Book of Prayer:

Blessing
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you,
wherever He may send you.
May He guide you through the wilderness,
protect you through the storm.
May He bring you home rejoicing
at the wonders He has shown you.
May He bring you home rejoicing
once again into our doors.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

May the God of peace and grace and truth be your guide as you begin your day. May he go ahead of you and prepare the way. May he come behind you and protect you. May he surround you and make you aware of his presence. 31 Days of Blessing

by Max Lucado • March 22

https://maxlucado.com/read/topical/31-days-of-blessing/

Acts 17:11

Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

2 Peter 1:19

We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Lead us and guide us: Part 2

Life is compared to a vapor or a mist in God's word (James 4:14). In that very passage it speaks of those who boast of there plans without seeking God's guidance and are guilty of presumption in light of God's sovereignty. This was a crucial study in my journey. As I write this little intro Lauren Daigle is singing "Trust in You". This is an important thing to remember when looking for guidance - patience and trust.

"When You don't move the mountains I'm needing You to move
When You don't part the waters I wish I could walk through
When You don't give the answers as I cry out to You
I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in You!

You are my strength and comfort
You are my steady hand
You are my firm foundation; the rock on which I stand

Your ways are always higher
Your plans are always good
There's not a place where I'll go, You've not already stood"

from the song Trust in You by Lauren Daigle

September 13, 2015

Worship: Sing For Jesus by Fernando Ortega

Come and see, look on this mystery
The Lord of the universe, nailed to a tree
Christ our God, spilling His Holy blood
Bowing in anguish, His sacred head

Sing to Jesus, Lord of our shame
Lord of our sinful hearts, He is our great redeemer
Sing to Jesus, honor His name
Sing of His faithfulness, pouring His life out unto death

Come you weary and He will give you rest
Come you who mourn, lay on His breast
Christ who died, risen in Paradise
Giver of mercy, Giver of life

Sing to Jesus this is the throne
Now and forever He is the King of Heaven
Sing to Jesus, we are His own
Now and forever sing for the love our God has shown

Sing to Jesus, Lord of our shame
Lord of our sinful hearts
He is our great redeemer
Sing to Jesus, honor His name

Sing to Jesus this is the throne
Now and forever He is the King of Heaven
Sing to Jesus, we are His own
Now and forever sing for the love our God has shown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VWuDZ0az-c4

Witness:

The up and coming week is going to be full. I will need the green pastures and those quiet, restful waters. The annual district meeting for the company I work for, going to the movies to see War Room then dinner with my mom, fasting on Tuesday for a brother who is going to speak on Thursday, meeting on Wednesday with two brothers for dinner and fellowship, Thursday the district picnic and Band of Brothers.

Saturday night the satanic attack reared its ugly head again. A question asked of me designed by the Devil to upset and discourage me and cause doubt in my mind. However, God my Shepherd, wielded His blessed rod and warded off the lion who sought to devour me (1 Peter 5:8) and by His Word He fed and encouraged me (Psalm 23:2-3) from the prophet Isaiah:

“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” Isaiah 12:2 ESV

WORD:

1The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

2He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters,

3he refreshes my soul.

He guides me along the right paths

for his name’s sake.

4Even though I walk

through the darkest valley,^a

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

5You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

6Surely your goodness and love will follow me

all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord

forever.

I left off talking about the leading and guiding of God. I said these two words were different but complimentary. Perhaps that is too strong of a statement for often we use these words synonymously. However, it is possible to distinguish between the two else praying “lead and guide us” would be redundant and superfluous.

When we say “lead” we are confessing that we are followers who don’t know the way to go. When want to go somewhere and we don’t know how to get there, we will say to someone who is driving to the same destination: “You lead and we will follow you”. The word “lead” implies a leader. One who is in charge and knows where they are going and it would be foolish not to follow them. One must follow closely. Let something get in-between you and the leader and you can soon lose sight of them and get lost. This is what happens when we let things come between us and our Shepherd Leader. The wonderful thing is that the good shepherd always seeks out His lost sheep. The leader and the follower on a trip may lose each other and we may lose sight of our Shepherd Leader but He never loses sight of us. He always knows where we are!

Now sometimes when we go on a trip and we don’t know how to get there; we may ask someone to come with us who does. That person is there to “guide” us to our destination. As our guide they instruct us on how to get there. Guidance implies verbal instruction. One submits themselves to the guidance of the guide. One can still get lost if they don’t pay attention to the guide, or they think they know better than the guide, or they misunderstand the guide. I don’t think I have to belabor the point I’m making here, as Allister Begg often says in his sermons: “you are intelligent people and can figure it out for yourselves”.

How does our Shepherd lead and guide us? We would wish He was visually out in front of us leading and guiding us in life’s journey, but we know that’s not the way He works. Needless to say (why do we say that when we go ahead and say it anyway?); we know from scripture that we have the mind of Christ, the illumination of the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God itself for that. Yes, God uses other believer’s and circumstances to guide us as well, but these three must be seen as involved in the advice given by other believer’s and circumstances. We should ask: “Is this what Jesus would do? Is the Holy Spirit confirming this from God’s Word?” Just because circumstances seem to be falling into place doesn’t make it right. If I leave late to get to work and I start speeding down the road to get to work on time and all the lights are turning green for me; I could think: “well God is surely blessing me so it must be okay to break the speed limit”. However, we know from scripture (Romans 13:1-6) that breaking the speed limit, in such instances, would be a sin. The Holy Spirit would remind us of this if we are listening with our spiritual ears.

I believe I will finish with an article written by John Piper on the way God Leads.

Four Ways God Leads His People

October 1, 1996

· by John Piper

· Topic: Knowing God's Will

· Series: Taste & See Articles

I see at least four methods that God uses to leads us in his will. I put them in four "D’s" to help me remember them.

1) Decree: God sovereignly decrees and designs circumstances so that we end up where he wants us to be even if we don’t have any conscious part in getting there. For example, Paul and Silas found themselves in jail, and the result was the salvation of the jailer and his household (Acts 16:24-34). This was God’s plan, but not Paul’s. God does this often—putting us in places that we did not plan or decide to be. This is the leading of decree. It is unique above the other three leadings because it includes them (since God’s decrees include all our decisions) and because it happens infallibly (since “no purpose of [God’s] can be thwarted,” Job 42:2). The other three leadings of God involve our being consciously led.

2) Direction: This is simply what God does for us by giving us the commands and teachings of the Bible. They direct us specifically what to do and what not to do. The Ten Commandments are one example. Don’t steal. Don’t kill. Don’t lie. Or the Sermon on the Mount: Love your enemies. Or the Epistles: Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Put on humility. This is the leading of direction. God reveals his directions in the Bible.

3) Discernment: Most of the decisions we make are not spelled out specifically in the Bible. Discernment is how we follow God’s leading through the process of spiritually sensitive application of biblical truth to the particularities of our situation. Romans 12:2 describes this: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” In this case God does not declare a specific word about what to do. But his Spirit shapes the mind and heart through the word and prayer so that we have inclinations toward what would be most glorifying to him and helpful to others.

4) Declaration: This is the least common means of God’s leading. He simply declares to us what we should do. For example, according to Acts 8:26, “An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, ‘Arise and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.’” And according to Acts 8:29, “The Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go up and join this chariot.’”

* * *

Notice three implications. First, we should always rest in the decrees of God. They will always be for our good if we love him and are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). This should remove worry from our lives and put us at peace as we seek the "directed," "discerned" and "declared" leading of the Lord.

Second, there is the implication that God’s leading of decree may bring about acts that are contrary to his leading of direction, discernment, or declaration. In other words, he may direct, “You shall not kill,” but decree the murderous death of his Son (Acts 4:28). There are mysteries here, but it is manifest in dozens of places in the Bible that God wills that some things come to pass which he forbids in his word.

Finally, our confidence that we are tracking accurately with God in each of these leadings increases as we move from the bottom to the top of this list. Subjectively perceived declarations from God are the least common and most easily abused of all the ways God leads. Our confidence that we have known the will of God in this method will not be as great as in the other methods which relate directly to God’s written word. Discerning what to do on the basis of biblical principle when we do not have a specific command for our exact decision will yield less confidence than when we have an explicit direction in the Bible. And the truth that God is sovereign and guides all things is the rock bottom confidence under all others. It is a good place to rest.

Pastor John

John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books.

All the Way My Savior Leads Me

Author: Fanny J. Crosby

Composer: Robert Lowry

Tune: All the Way (Lowry)

Scripture: 1 Pet 2:25; Heb. 13:20; John 10:16

1 All the way my savior leads me;

What have I to ask beside?

Can I doubt His tender mercy,

Who thro’ life has been my guide?

heav’nly peace divinest comfort,

Here by faith in Him to dwell!

For I know whate’er befall me,

Jesus doeth all things well;

For I know whate’er befall me,

Jesus doeth all things well;

2 All the way my Savior leads me;

Cheers each winding path I tread,

Gives me grace for ev’ry trial,

Feeds me with the living bread;

Tho’ my weary steps may falter,

and my soul athirst may be,

Gushing from the Rock before me,

Lo! a spring of joy I see;

Gushing from the Rock before me,

Lo! a spring of joy I see;

3 All the way, my Savior leads me;

Oh, the fullness of His love!

Perfect rest to me is promised

In my Father’s house above:

When my spirit, clothed immortal,

Wings its flight to realms of day,

This my song thro’ endless ages:

Jesus led me all the way;

This my song thro’ endless ages:

Jesus led me all the way;

Amazing Grace

The song “Amazing Grace” follows this hymn. I accidently included the title when I was copying and pasting, but I left it there because I thought it was a perfect ending to the hymn and to this journal entry!

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

My fears in light of who I am and Whose I am

Fear falls and faith fills when we know who we are and Whose we are. When we know whose world this is and we know His WORD. This is an ongoing battle in our lives until we are received into glory either at the end of our life or the end of the age - which ever comes first. We need to ever be reminded of who created this world and controls it. When we hear a bird sing or see the sunrise or smell a sweet smelling flower or feel a cool or warm breeze blowing in our face we are reminded that this is our father's world. When we face a trial or temptation. When we receive an unexpected blessing. We are reminded from Scripture of who we are and Whose we are and Who is the source for strength and deliverance and blessing!

September 12, 2015

Worship: This is My Father’s World

This Is My Father's World

Words: Maltbie D. Babcock

Music: "Terra Beata" traditional English melody; arranged by Franklin L. Sheppard

This is my Father's world, and to my listening ears

All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.

This is my Father's world: I rest me in the thought

Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;

His hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father's world, the birds their carols raise,

The morning light, the lily white, declare their Maker's praise.

This is my Father's world: He shines in all that's fair;

In the rustling grass I hear Him pass;

He speaks to me everywhere.

This is my Father's world. O let me ne'er forget

That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.

This is my Father's world: why should my heart be sad?

The Lord is King; let the heavens ring!

God reigns; let the earth be glad!

This is my Father's world, dreaming, I see His face.

I ope my eyes, and in glad surprise cry, "The Lord is in this place."

This is my Father's world, from the shining courts above,

The Beloved One, His Only Son,

Came-a pledge of deathless love.

This is my Father's world, should my heart be ever sad?

The lord is King-let the heavens ring. God reigns-let the earth be glad.

This is my Father's world. Now closer to Heaven bound,

For dear to God is the earth Christ trod.

No place but is holy ground.

This is my Father's world. I walk a desert lone.

In a bush ablaze to my wondering gaze

God makes His glory known.

This is my Father's world, a wanderer I may roam

Whate'er my lot, it matters not,

My heart is still at home.

https://youtu.be/JEBmj7JO_Os

Witness:

This has been a short day for me. I went to men’s Bible Study this morning. We discussed the character of Jesus. Courage was one of the characteristics of our Lord. I think He had courage because He knew who He was and He knew whose He was. My great difficulty is fear. Fear of what? See if you can identify with any of these. Fear of ridicule. Fear of rejection. Fear of inadequacy (the fear that I can’t answer their questions or arguments). Is it because I am not sure of who and Whose I am?

Fear of ridicule? Precious profit!

"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Matthew 5:11-12

Fear of rejection? Precious prompting!

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’^b If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

John 15:18-20

Fear of inadequacy? Precious profession!

Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

2 Corinthians 3:5-6

Who am I? Whose am I?

I am a child of the God of the Universe, a child of the King of King and Lord of Lords. I was chosen before the foundation of the world, redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, sealed by the Holy Spirit for the day of redemption, glory bound having been qualified to share in the inheritance along with the rest of the saints in light. To God be the glory great things He has done!

WORD:

1The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

2He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters,

3he refreshes my soul.

He guides me along the right paths

for his name’s sake.

4Even though I walk

through the darkest valley,^a

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

5You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

6Surely your goodness and love will follow me

all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord

forever.

Time is up for today. I have to go to work. Never-the-less, God did not let me go to work without getting into the Word at all. In the witness section God drove me to the Word and for that I am grateful.

God’s Word is great

God’s Word is good

God’s Word is our daily food

For faith and strength

For wisdom and grace

For guidance in the spiritual race

―Amen

Saturday, March 5, 2016

We all stumble

Friday, March 4, 2016

Lord lead and guide us: Part 3

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Lead us and guide us: Part 2

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

My fears in light of who I am and Whose I am

About Me