Worthy Is The Lamb

I used to hear about Hillsong's music and think that it was all just a bit too "showy" - big concerts, people screaming... I thought the musicians and singers were just being idolized. It wasn't until I actually watched a video that I realized their music is so God-centered, and that although there's lots of cheering and everything, it's more that they're cheering for God rather than for the "group." Since then, I regularly listen to their music and pop on their DVDs... it makes for a great time of singing/worship! I was very wrong about Hillsong with my first impression. There are countless songs that are SO lyrically beautiful, and I want to post just a few of my favourite parts of some of my favourite songs. :)

You saw me when You took a crown of thorns,

And Your blood washed over me.

You loved me through the nails that You bore,

And Your blood washes over me.

~~*~~

I have nothing more than all You offer me;
There is nothing else that’s of worth to me.
And I love You Lord –
You rescued me.
You are all that I want,
You are all I need.

~~*~~

All to You, God, for all You are to me.
There is nothing like Your love.

~~*~~

Beholding Your beauty is all that I long for.
To worship You, Jesus, is my soul’s desire.
For this very heart you have shaped for your pleasure –
The purpose to lift Your name high.

~~*~~

Worthy is the Lamb, seated on the throne;
Crown You now with many crowns –
You reign victorious!
High and lifted up –
Jesus, Son of God.
The Darling of heaven crucified.
Worthy is the Lamb.

I Trust You

Today I want to share just a very simple, but beautiful quote :)

“In love and gratitude I want to say in times of fear and distress, ‘My Father, I do not understand You, but I trust You.’”

- Unknown

Don't Forfeit Your Peace

A devotional reading by Elisabeth Elliot:

Don't Forfeit Your Peace

It would not be possible to exaggerate the importance hymns and spiritual songs have played in my spiritual growth. One of the latter, familiar to most of you, has this line: "O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer" (Joseph Scriven). Prayerlessness is one of many ways by which we can easily forfeit the peace God wants us to have. I've been thinking of some other ways. Here's a sampling:

1. Resent God's ways.
2. Worry as much as possible.
3. Pray only about things you can't manage by yourself.
4. Refuse to accept what God gives.
5. Look for peace elsewhere than in Him.
6. Try to rule your own life.
7. Doubt God's word.
8. Carry all your cares.

If you'd rather not forfeit your peace, here are eight ways to find it (antidotes to the above eight):

1. "Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them" (Psalm 119:165 KJV). "Circumstances are the expression of God's will," wrote Bishop Handley Moule.
2. "Don't worry about anything whatsoever" (Philippians 4:6, PHILLIPS).
3. "In everything make your requests known to God in prayer and petition with thanksgiving. Then the peace of God... will guard your hearts" (Philippians 4:6,7, NEB).
4. "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me... and you will find rest" (Matthew 11:29, NIV).
5. "Peace is my parting gift to you, my own peace, such as the world cannot give" (John 14 27, NEB).
6. "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts" (Colossians 3:15, NIV).
7. "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing" (Romans 15:13, KJV).
8. "Cast all your cares on him for you are his charge" (1 Peter 5:7, NEB).

"Grant, O Lord my God, that I may never fall away in success or in failure; that I may not be prideful in prosperity nor dejected in adversity. Let me rejoice only in what unites us and sorrow only in what separates us. May I strive to please no one or fear to displease anyone except Yourself. May I seek always the things that are eternal and never those that are only temporal. May I shun any joy that is without You and never seek any that is beside You. O Lord, may I delight in any work I do for You and tire of any rest that is apart from You. My God, let me direct my heart towards You, and in my failings, always repent with a purpose of amendment."
--St. Thomas Aquinas

My Times Are In Your Hands

Here is another reading from Kay Arthur:

When God does not seem to answer you or move on your behalf, when you cannot seem to go on, what do you do?
Let me encourage you to meditate on Psalm 31:14-15, which says: “But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD, I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in Your hands.”
Your times are in His hands! This truth will sustain you when there seems no relief in sight and when you are weak and weary of fighting the good fight, of running the race with endurance.
Habakkuk 3:17-18 reveals magnificent faith as God’s prophet contented himself with God’s timetable and plan:
Though the fig tree should not blossom
And there be no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive should fail
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold
And there be no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will exult in the LORD,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.

God does not want compliant resignation. When life is difficult, God wants us to have a faith that trusts and waits. He wants us to have a faith that doesn’t complain while waiting but rejoices because we know our times are in His hands – nail-scarred hands that labour for our highest good.

Design of the Week

I very often buy clothing from a company online called C28.com - I absolutely love their designs of Christian-based art. The main "brand" there is called NOTW (Not Of This World), and I particularly love their work. So every week I want to post an example of their work... just a pic to show the kind of stuff they offer. :)

I'll start with my favourite:

Looking To Jesus

“It is always the Holy Spirit’s work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus. But Satan’s work is just the opposite. He is constantly trying to make us look at ourselves instead of Christ. He insinuates, ‘Your sins are too great for pardon. You have no faith. You do not repent enough. You will never be able to continue to the end. You do not have the joy of His children. You have such a wavering hold on Jesus.’ All these are thoughts about self, and we will never find comfort or assurance by looking within. But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self. He tells us that we are nothing, but that Christ is everything.

Remember therefore, it is not your hold of Christ that saves you – it is Christ. It is not your joy in Christ that saves you – it is Christ’s blood and merits. Therefore, do not look so much to your hand with which you are grasping Christ, as to Christ. Do not look to your hope, but to Jesus – the source of your hope. Do not look to your faith, but to Jesus – the founder and perfector of your faith. We will never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our deeds, or our feelings. It is what Jesus is – not what we are – that gives rest to the soul. If we are to overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by looking to Jesus. Keep your eyes simply on Him.

Let His death, His sufferings, His merits, His glories, His intercession be fresh upon your mind. When you waken in the morning, look to Him. When you lie down at night, look to Him. Do not let your hopes or fears come between you and Jesus. Follow hard after Him, and He will never fail you.”
- C.H. Spurgeon

Christ or Else I Die

The following hymn is taken from the Gadsby Hymnal. It is one of my absolute favourite hymns... I'm really excited to share it today :)

Christ or Else I Die
(Words by William Hammond, 1719 – 1783)

Gracious Lord, incline thy ear;

My requests vouchsafe to hear;

Hear my never-ceasing cry;

Give me Christ, or else I die.

Wealth and honor I disdain,

Earthly comforts, Lord are vain;

These can never satisfy:

Give me Christ, or else I die.

All unholy and unclean,

I am nothing else but sin;

On thy mercy I rely;

Give me Christ, or else I die.

Thou dost freely save the lost;

In thy grace alone I trust.

With my earnest suit comply;

Give me Christ, or else I die.

Thou dost promise to forgive

All who in thy Son believe;

Lord, I know thou canst not lie;

Give me Christ, or else I die.

Everlasting, Unconditional Love

The following is from Kay Arthur's Lord, I Give You This Day...

God loves you with an everlasting, unconditional love. Can you accept that truth and cling to it, no matter what?
When you don’t like who you are or what you’ve done, or when the enemy comes whispering in your ear, knocking at the door of your mind, telling you that you are nothing, agree with your adversary. Then give him the truth. Tell him that apart from Jesus Christ you are nothing and you can do nothing that has eternal worth or value.
Also tell Satan that God loves you when you are nothing, accepts you just the way you are, and loves you with an everlasting, unconditional love that is transforming you into His image. Tell the devil that you are secure in God’s love, that the love of God has been poured out within your heart “through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5), and nothing “will be able to separate [you] from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
Martin Luther had it right when he said, “God does not love us because we are valuable, but we are valuable because God loves us.”
If ever you’re tempted to doubt God’s love for you, think of what He’s already done to demonstrate His commitment. First John makes it clear: “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (4:10).

We Need Not See

Why should I bother my head about [something in particular] if I've turned it over to Him? If the Word of the Lord to us is that we are "predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with his purpose" (Ephesians 1:11, NIV), we may apprehend this fact by faith alone. By believing that God means just what He says, and by acting upon the word (faith always requires action), we apprehend it--we take hold of it, we make it our own. We cannot make it our own by mere reason-- "I don't see how such-and-such an incident can possibly have anything to do with any divine 'plan.'"

Why should we see how! Is it not sufficient that we are told that it is so? We need not see. We need only believe and proceed on the basis of that assured fact.

Do you understand what is going on in the invisible realm of your life with God? Do you see how the visible things relate to the hidden Plan and Purpose? Probably not. But you do see at least one thing, maybe a very little thing, that He wants you to do. "Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult [other translations say too hard, too wonderful] for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven.... nor is it beyond the sea.... no, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it" (Deuteronomy 30:11-14, NIV).

Let it suffice you, as it sufficed Mary [when she was told she would give birth though she was a virgin], to know that God knows. If it's time to work, get on with your job. If it's time to go to bed, go to sleep in peace. Let the Lord of the Universe do the worrying.

- Elisabeth Elliot

We Must Run Aground

Well, I have my computer back and am hoping to get back into posting on here regularly again! I have a lot of great Elisabeth Elliot quotes/excerpts I would like to share, so I'll start with one of them today:

Nevertheless We Must Run Aground

Have you ever put heart and soul into something, prayed over it, worked at it with a good heart because you believed it to be what God wanted, and finally seen it "run aground"?
The story of Paul's voyage as a prisoner across the Adriatic Sea tells how an angel stood beside him and told him not to be afraid (in spite of winds of hurricane force), for God would spare his life and the lives of all with him on board ship. Paul cheered his guards and fellow passengers with that word, but added, "Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island" (Acts 27:26, NIV).
It would seem that the God who promises to spare all hands might have "done the job right," saved the ship as well, and spared them the ignominy of having to make it to land on the flotsam and jetsam that was left. The fact is He did not, nor does He always spare us.
Heaven is not here, it's There. If we were given all we wanted here, our hearts would settle for this world rather than the next. God is forever luring us up and away from this one, wooing us to Himself and His still invisible Kingdom, where we will certainly find what we so keenly long for. "Running aground," then, is not the end of the world. But it helps to make the world a bit less appealing. It may even be God's answer to "Lead us not into temptation"--the temptation complacently to settle for visible things.