Getting my knees dirty.....

I have been listening to Matt Redman's new album in the past few days.

I would strongly suggest you go to iTunes and buy the album for yourself and make an investment into your own spirit. It's great contemporary music for worship. But without a doubt there is one key song on the album which is speaking into my heart.

 

It is the song "Mercy".

The lyrics are .....

"I will kneel in the dust

at the foot of the cross,

where mercy paid for me.

Where the wrath I deserve,

it is gone, it has passed.

Your blood has hidden me.

Mercy, mercy,

as endless as the sea.

I'll sing Your hallelujah

for all eternity.

We will lift up the cup

and the bread we will break,

remembering Your love.

We were fallen from grace,

but You took on our shame

and nailed it to a cross.

Mercy, mercy,

as endless as the sea.

I'll sing Your hallelujah

for all eternity.

[repeat]

May I never lose the wonder,

oh, the wonder of Your mercy.

May I sing Your hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Amen.

[repeat 3x]

May I never lose the wonder,

oh, the wonder of Your mercy.

May I sing Your hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Amen.

[repeat]

I will kneel in the dust

at the foot of the cross,

where mercy paid for me. "

Read more: Matt Redman - Mercy Lyrics | MetroLyrics

I need God's mercy. His grace. His forgiveness. His love. His power. His anointing. His complete influence over my life.

Over the past few weeks I have felt a strong sense that my little world and all that I treasure and cherish has been under some kind of attack.

I feel a lot of things which I perhaps should keep to myself, some things after all are deeply personal, however ....I find myself singing along with Matt....

"May I never lose the wonder,
oh, the wonder of Your mercy.
May I sing Your hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Amen. "

I think its possible to lose or forget the wonder of the cross, to grow tired of waiting, to be distracted by the temptations, and earthly things that happen around us, to the point where we find ourselves starting to function in auto pilot or settling for less than God's very best. You know, just going through the motions.

I don't want to be that kind of Christian leader.

May I never lose the wonder of your mercy. That's my prayer. That's my hope.

God has done much for me throughout my life and he just continues to do so. Everyday I am gob smacked by his grace and faithfulness.

What I don't deserve, I get.

What I do deserve, I am spared from.

I pray that this day, Gods mercy and grace will shine through me, and in me.....

I want to get my knees dirty, so that my soul may be clean.

To kneel in the dust at the foot of the cross.

My soul needs cleansing, purifying.....constantly.

A couple of sundays ago, when we worshipped at Darwin Salvos, they sang the song....

Purify my heart, refiners fire....

Make me clean...

And that's my prayer...

That as my knees get dirty, my soul may get clean and pure and holy.

And all because of his mercy........

MERCY

Posted with Blogsy

The sin that so easily entangles.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3 NIV)

 

I was reading this verse in Hebrews this morning in my quiet time and these words jumped out at me.

Sin easily entangles.

It seams easier to sin than it does to not sin.

How do you define sin ?

Missing the mark, missing the target, ......has been my best ever definition for my life, and it seams that for some, maybe you, and certainly for me... Its easy to sin. Its easy to miss the mark, to miss the target of my life.

Why ? What ? When ? How ?

Those questions are sometimes easy to answer to, but I don't want this blog to be negative, I want it to be positive... A blessing to someone who has missed the mark today and is reading this blog.

When we sin, some of us, feel shame, guilt embarrassment, even disgust in ourselves. But the writer to the Hebrews says .... Throw off the sin that so easily entangles. Don't dwell on it. " fess" it up to God and get back on the bike so to speak. Run your race, the one marked out for you....

Run it with perseverance, run it with resolve, run it with confession and repentance, run it with grace, run it in mercy, run it in forgiveness, run your race...not someone else's ...run your race.

Don't give up, becuase you hit a hurdle and tripped up.

Don't give up because you fell over on the sprint.... Get yourself back up, shake off the dust, and start your race again.

Don't ever give up.

Ever

Ever

Ever.

Sometimes it seams easier to know what the sin is, but way harder to identify the why behind your action.

So... Understand Hebrews ,

Throw off everything that hinders you...whatever that is.... A bad thought, a wrongful action, a lie, lust, greed, a bad habit, an inner thought which trips you every time, ...whatever it is...throw it off... And leave it off.

The sin that so "easily" entangles you ( me )

And get back on track.

It dawned on me today, that this sin easily gets us. We were born sinners right ?

It's often more natural for us to sin than be holy.

And that's where Jesus comes in, for He gives us an ability to be holy and to enable and empower us to throw away the sin.

So...fix your eyes upon Him, and not your sin.

Trust in him! to pick you up when you fall and fail.

Ultimately He loves us with love that we do not truly comprehend.

He extends grace to us when we least deserve it. And that's what grace is.... God's unmerited favour.

 

So if today, perhaps you are reading this and you have messed it all up. Made a mistake, fell over, hit the hurdle in your race and taken a tumble....

Don't stay down. Get back up. And get back into the race.

Satan would have us defeated and down. Jesus lifts us back up.

The rest is a our choice to position ourselves in one of those camps. Either with Satan or with Jesus.

Yep the sin easily entangles.

But Jesus is the great "un-entangler" . He loves us so much that if we will trust Him, he will help us sort out the tangles and get things back in order once again.

 

I have found, that when I have fallen in my past, that when I own that, confess it to him! receive his forgiveness and mercy! that he restores me... That he truly lifts me, that He allows me to see the error of my ways, and then gently...lovingly....he walks beside me until I am receiving and starting to run again this race marked out for me.

 

That's my God. Ever faithful. Never failing.

He is your God too.

Posted with Blogsy

The things that puzzle me !!!

Often in my life I get puzzled. I get confused by things that happen around me, and often, by things that happen to me and the stupid choices I sometimes make for myself.

However there are some other things about life that puzzle me, and make me question a few things about myself, but also faith.

Here are a few of my puzzles....

1. Why someone can accept Christ and his kingdom! and walk in his ways! and then just turn around and walk away from the love of Jesus and serving in his house, the church ?!?!?! Now I get it that churches mess with people's heads, and that the demands and expectations from the church over people is sometimes way over the top, I also get it that sometimes our heirarchy systems leave a bad taste in people's mouths ....but walk away from Jesus ..? .... I have seen some who have had active roles in leadership, in helping others get their head around Jesus and his love, in church! only for them to turn around and walk away! seeing church and Jesus as secondary to everything else that might pop up.

It puzzles me !!!!

 

2. Why at times I make stupid decisions . It puzzles me about myself that even though I know what the correct choice is, I sometimes still choose the incorrect one. Sigh.

It puzzles me.

 

3. How a person can become a soldier after going through recruits classes, and stating an understanding of faith and doctrine about TSA. And then live a life compromised, or .....in uniform one day and not the next, or stop wearing it completely, or break all the promises they had made in covenant of soldiership.... Or just choose to go backwards away from the commitments they have made.

It puzzles me.

 

4. That a person can state something, about something..... And then be moved into position where they can change that something, and then they don't. Instead, becoming part of the problem rather than the cure. (sound cryptic ? Sorry...trying to protect myself)

It puzzles me.

 

Now I know I am going to get all kinds of responses of defence and justification and excuses why people choose this stuff for themselves. Some may even be angry over my puzzles, and comments..... Seriously, don't even bother.... I am just puzzled by it. And I don't need anyone to solve the puzzle by justifying or putting up excuses or playing the blame game.

 

I have enough trouble myself ..... But I always come back to Jesus. When I fail or fall down I always strive to get back up and back into the love relationship with Jesus! who accepts me as I am but doesn't want me to stay the same.

 

Do I need church to do that ? Maybe... Less you criticize and complain about that too, church isn't my idea its Gods idea. Its His Plan "A". And there is no other plan.

 

Jesus saves us from our sin, and saves us from ourselves.

Jesus is the answer, ..........what was the question ?

Jesus still saves people.

Jesus hasn't finished with you, in fact he hasn't even started yet what he wants to do in your life and mine.

It's always about Jesus.

TSA is about Jesus, even if we get confused and think it isn't, it is, and always has been and always will be.

Even if TSA looks like its more concerned about other things, deep down inside our core, it is Jesus that motivates us.

When life is over, it will be Jesus.

There will be No more puzzles then.

 

If you have wandered away from Him, please find your way back to Him.

 

I will list a few more of my life's puzzles at the end of this blog, but remember this... A great quote I read the other day...

Failure isn't falling down.... Failure is staying down when you fall.

 

Other puzzles of My life...

Why we don't ask God to heal us when we get sick. When He has the power to do so.

Why we think that by doing things the same way we might get a different result.

Why we hold on to traditions that worked a hundred years ago but don't work anymore.

Why some compete with others, when we are on the same team.

Why we live for the moment and not our Eternal destiny.

Why we criticize other churches who are getting the results, when we are not.

Why we isolate people who are radical and are having a crack.

Why some think that they are better than others, or that their work is the only work that is important, when everyone is the same in Gods eyes, and that everyone has a part to play...everyone. Even you. Even me.

 

Sigh.... The puzzles of life and ministry. !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Posted with Blogsy