We stand for God
Before i begin this post, i must share this joke which i saw at mass one day.
We stand for God was the recessional hymn a few Sundays back, and as the congregation was singing with gusto, we stand for God, and for His glory; there were about a third of the congregation leaving their pews and making their way out of the church. So much for standing for God! (haha)
Recently i realised:
1. That the peace and gentle fortitude in God may sometimes be taken for granted. That the inaction from the surety in Christ may seem 'boring' when viewed with the lenses of the world. To be secure in God is to be pulled out of the rollercoaster ride of our lives, only to realise that we are called to be Christ, i.e. to die to ourselves, and to die to the world. However, many step out of one rollercoaster, out of darkness, into His marvellous light, expecting to find an even more exciting ride to be on. Well, yes, living in the spirit sure is exciting. But perhaps not in the ways we imagine it to be. After all, God's ways aren't our ways right?
Stop craving for the next dip in your life(as masochistic as this may sound), perhaps to the extent of creating it for yourself. (e.g. choosing to sin to fall out of God's grace. or thinking to yourself..."hmm, i haven't touched the kettle in a long time...let's see if it's still hot.)
Let's let go and let God do the cooking here in the household.
2. It's hard when the thing that God is asking you to do is nothing. That you should just remain as you are, despite all of your mental and emotionally faculties screaming for you to move on with life. It's hard when God says, no, now is not the time. But does not give any reasons why, nor tells you when, nor shows the way. I realise true obedience and surrender is about chasing God's will, period. That Jesus Himself felt anguish when crucified on the cross, rejected by his closest friends, to cry, "Father, why have you forsaken me?!" That the cliche phrase of "hang in there" does make perfect CATHOLIC sense, in hanging on when on the little crosses of our lives, perhaps it'll hurt less if we stop trying to struggle and move in the process of dying to self.
3. That making a definitive choice for God, His will, His precepts, His people, doesn't make it any easier to live out. i.e. it doesn't become easier just because you decided to do so. After perhaps struggling within yourself for the longest time to say yes, you'll soon realise why there was such a struggle to say 'yes' in the first place. Oh well, they say the word of God is alive. How else can it come alive than in you and i being living testaments that 'His grace is sufficient for us" and that "His strength is made perfect in our weakness"
4. That in worship ministry, the gift of music and song jumps and trumpets truth in your life when you least expect it. E.g. in point no 2 about "hanging on the cross" or being tested in point no 3, i realise that i've been singing about it for the longest time, perhaps with varying degrees of understanding.
Songs like, "Lord prepare me, to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true."
or "In Christ alone, i place my trust and find my glory in the power of the cross"
5. That as i discover more and more how God is so infinitely marvellous, infinitely wonderful, infinitely loving, forgiving, infinitely small, i realise how infinitely weak i am. Really. Praise God.
Take My Life by Chris Tomlin
Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord for thee
Take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise
Take my hands and let them move, at the impulse of Thy love
Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee
Take my voice and let me sing, always, only for my King
Take my lips and let them be, filled with messages from Thee
Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold
Take my intellect and use every power as You choose
Here I am, all of me
Take my life, it's all for Thee
Take my will and make it Thine, it shall be no longer mine
Take my heart it is Thine own, it shall be Your royal throne
Take my love my Lord i pour at Your feet it's treasure store
Take myself and I will be ever, only, all for Thee
Here I am, all of me
Take my life, it's all for Thee
Rhino No. 7
We stand for God was the recessional hymn a few Sundays back, and as the congregation was singing with gusto, we stand for God, and for His glory; there were about a third of the congregation leaving their pews and making their way out of the church. So much for standing for God! (haha)
Recently i realised:
1. That the peace and gentle fortitude in God may sometimes be taken for granted. That the inaction from the surety in Christ may seem 'boring' when viewed with the lenses of the world. To be secure in God is to be pulled out of the rollercoaster ride of our lives, only to realise that we are called to be Christ, i.e. to die to ourselves, and to die to the world. However, many step out of one rollercoaster, out of darkness, into His marvellous light, expecting to find an even more exciting ride to be on. Well, yes, living in the spirit sure is exciting. But perhaps not in the ways we imagine it to be. After all, God's ways aren't our ways right?
Stop craving for the next dip in your life(as masochistic as this may sound), perhaps to the extent of creating it for yourself. (e.g. choosing to sin to fall out of God's grace. or thinking to yourself..."hmm, i haven't touched the kettle in a long time...let's see if it's still hot.)
Let's let go and let God do the cooking here in the household.
2. It's hard when the thing that God is asking you to do is nothing. That you should just remain as you are, despite all of your mental and emotionally faculties screaming for you to move on with life. It's hard when God says, no, now is not the time. But does not give any reasons why, nor tells you when, nor shows the way. I realise true obedience and surrender is about chasing God's will, period. That Jesus Himself felt anguish when crucified on the cross, rejected by his closest friends, to cry, "Father, why have you forsaken me?!" That the cliche phrase of "hang in there" does make perfect CATHOLIC sense, in hanging on when on the little crosses of our lives, perhaps it'll hurt less if we stop trying to struggle and move in the process of dying to self.
3. That making a definitive choice for God, His will, His precepts, His people, doesn't make it any easier to live out. i.e. it doesn't become easier just because you decided to do so. After perhaps struggling within yourself for the longest time to say yes, you'll soon realise why there was such a struggle to say 'yes' in the first place. Oh well, they say the word of God is alive. How else can it come alive than in you and i being living testaments that 'His grace is sufficient for us" and that "His strength is made perfect in our weakness"
4. That in worship ministry, the gift of music and song jumps and trumpets truth in your life when you least expect it. E.g. in point no 2 about "hanging on the cross" or being tested in point no 3, i realise that i've been singing about it for the longest time, perhaps with varying degrees of understanding.
Songs like, "Lord prepare me, to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true."
or "In Christ alone, i place my trust and find my glory in the power of the cross"
5. That as i discover more and more how God is so infinitely marvellous, infinitely wonderful, infinitely loving, forgiving, infinitely small, i realise how infinitely weak i am. Really. Praise God.
Take My Life by Chris Tomlin
Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord for thee
Take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise
Take my hands and let them move, at the impulse of Thy love
Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee
Take my voice and let me sing, always, only for my King
Take my lips and let them be, filled with messages from Thee
Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold
Take my intellect and use every power as You choose
Here I am, all of me
Take my life, it's all for Thee
Take my will and make it Thine, it shall be no longer mine
Take my heart it is Thine own, it shall be Your royal throne
Take my love my Lord i pour at Your feet it's treasure store
Take myself and I will be ever, only, all for Thee
Here I am, all of me
Take my life, it's all for Thee
Rhino No. 7
posted by Rhino for God! at 11:28 PM
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