It was joy for Jesus
To lay down his crown
And pick up the mantle of a servant
It was love for Jesus
To lay down his life
And save us
In a world of me me me
Lord teach me your joy
Lord teach me your love
You laid down your life for me
Teach me oh Lord
To lay down my life for others
There in the death of me
I’ll find You
And your joy
And your love
It’s shiny
And it looks like gold
But it’s made
From a plastic mold
It carries no real
Authority nor power
But it’s the object of our desire
We each been given
A real crown
With real power
And real authority
But we lay it down
And pick up
A plastic crown
Oh Lord Jesus come,
My idols have been crushed and burned
And my altars are turned over
Come Lord and forgive me
Forgive me for rebelling against you
Oh Lord Jesus come,
Come take your place in my heart
The place that you prepared long ago
Come into my heart and sit on your eternal throne
Come let me crown you as my King
Oh Lord Jesus come,
I want to know your heart
And see your eyes
Come and dine with me
Let us share your body and your blood
Oh Lord Jesus come.
Entertainment or Enlightenment
We’ll be a seeker of one
But not the other
Entertainment is the side show barker
The neon signs and the roaring crowd
They call us to escape the here and now
For passing fantasy
Enlightenment is the quiet hillside
The narrow gate and path
They lead us to something more than ourselves
They lead us to the cross
Entertainment’s lesson is about self love
While enlightenment teaches about true love
Entertainment is the fog this world
While enlightenment is the sun that burns away the fog
To seek constant escape
is to seek destruction
The death of life
And to embrace only fantasy
To seek truth
Is to seek true life
The death of self love
And to embrace the cross
Passover is one of my favorite holidays
For much the same reason that
Football is my favorite sport
The Steelers are my favorite team
My Dad
Passover was a special time
A time for just he and I
Whether throwing the football
Or passing the matzah
It wasn’t what we were doing
But who I was with that made it special
It was a time for connection
I was with my Father
And he was with me
From him I learned about
Our heavenly father
He may not be around anymore
but his fingerprints are still visible
everywhere where I look
God has a funny way of talking to us sometimes.
I have been praying for awhile about certain thing that I believe God wants me to do and to work on and to do that I need a certain tool. To get moving and to get started I’ve been thinking of ways to get the money to buy it. This past Sunday I was talking God about it and then read a couple of things as devotional and both of them talked about being patient in the place that God has you. I took the hint.
Later that day in worship the thought occurred to me that I didn’t know what God meant by patience. So I asked God to teach me what he meant by be patient. As worship ends my Pastor gets up and the first words out of her mouth were “Patient means to wait on God”.
It’s funny how God speaks to me at times. I’m thankful for ears and a heart that hear, and a God that speaks to me.
I’m waiting on God. He’ll provide all that I need.
God has shown his love to me in amazing ways
Ways I don’t deserve
Ways I don’t understand
He showed his love for me
when he placed me in the arms of my parents
vulnerable and unproven He loved me anyway
He showed his love for me
when he brought my dad home to Him
lost and wayward He loved me anyway
He showed his love for me
when he placed my wife and daughter in my arms
undeserving He loved me anyway
I haven’t deserved it
I don’t deserve it
I won’t deserve it
He loves me anyway
We had a discussion today at church about “unfulfilled” promises of God that brought back a lot of memories.
Five years ago (which seems like an amazingly long and short time ago) my Dad was in the hospital in a drug induced coma. And a friend came by to see him. This friend, a serious man of God, prophesied over my sleeping Dad that he would walk out of the hospital. A little over a day later my Dad passed away.
Was this friend off his rocker? Or did God break his promise? Logically it would have to be one of these questions. But that is looking at the situation only in the physical, a very limited scope when considering a God who is Spirit.
I believe, his prophecy was accurate and God kept his promise. My Dad, walked, ran, sprinted, and danced out of that hospital and into the presence of his King. I know how much he loved God and how much joy he would have finally getting to see his face.
The point here is that God is faithful to his word. But he does not always do things in ways that we expect or can see immediately.
I just got finished reading “Wrecked” by Jeff Goins. A friend and hiking buddy :).
Jeff’s book is a practical guide to spiritual awakening (being wrecked) and puts you on the path to spiritual maturity. And he does that largely by telling his own story. About how God turned his life upside down and how God used that to transform his life. It’s a great and challenging book, so check it out!
We are each a river
flowing from inner to outer
soul to sea
Our waters flow from
thoughts
to words
to actions
It’s our words and actions
that impact the sea of this world
these flow from a common source
The question then is
what is your source
life or death?
Life is more than
just good, rich, and pleasureful
its eternal, true, and sacred
There is only one true source of eternal life
Jesus, the source of
living waters
Living waters overflow with
faith, hope, and love
they carry miracles, dreams, promises
and the glory of God
What are you filling this world with
death and darkness
or life and light?
Mighty Anchor 