Lord, You're The Inspiration! (song)

(Note: Another favourite from the archives. It's always a good day to praise The Lord! Psalms 118:24)

This one is a favorite of mine by, by far, the best rock band with a brass section that I’ve ever heard! And Relient K did an awesome cover of the original classic on their “Is For Karaoke” album in 2011. (Which I do believe is what really introduced me to this song, though I had been familiar with the band for much longer.) And The Lord gave me a blessing in getting to visit the namesake of this band the year I wrote this along with some beloved friends. And through it all- He is the One who makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him. And He’s the One who drives me to write, live and do anything. He’s The Inspiration! 

“Lord, You’re The Inspiration”
(parody of “You’re The Inspiration” by Chicago)
(parody copyright by Nathan Ludwick 3/1/2013)
(John 10:1-16, John 10:27-30, John 6:37, Isaiah 61:10-11, Luke 19:10, Psalms 27:10, Jude 1:20-25, John 15, Hosea 1-3, Hosea 11, Jeremiah 31:3, Isaiah 26:3, 1 John 3:16, Romans 10:8-13, John 3:16-17, Psalms 25, Psalms 103, Psalms 19, Psalms 104, Psalms 189, Psalms 73:22-26, 1 John 4:19, Colossians 3:1-4, Psalms 8, Malachi 3:6, Titus 3:4-8, 1 John 3:1)

I know our love is meant to be
The kind of love that lasts forever
And I want You here with me
From tonight on past the end of time 
You sure know everywhere I go
You’re always on my mind, in my heart, in my soul 

Savior- You’re the Meaning in my life (Lord,) You’re The Inspiration!
You bring feeling to my life
You’re The Inspiration!
Wanna have You near me
I wanna have You hear me saying
You know I need You, Lord- yes, I need You! 

And I know, and I know, yes I know- 1 John 4:19
We only love ‘cause You first loved us!
Now I know, now I know, that I need You here with me
I’m with Christ on past the end of time 
You sure know everywhere I go
You’re always on my mind,
(You’re) in my heart, (You’re) in my soul 

You’re The Meaning in my life
You’re The Inspiration!
You bring feeling to my life
You’re The Inspiration!
Gonna have You near me
Gonna have You hear me saying
You know I need You, Lord- yes, I need You! 

Ohhh……. 

Always have You near me
Always want You (to) hear me saying
You know I need You, Lord- yes, I need You!  You’re The Meaning in my life
You’re The Inspiration!
You bring feeling to my life
You’re The Inspiration! (Always have You near me)- [background vocal]
When you love Somebody- Past the end of time
When you love Somebody- Always on my mind
You know I need You, Lord- tonight
When you love Somebody- Past the end of time
When you love Somebody- Always on my mind
(I need You, Lord- tonight)[background vocal] ……………………………………………………………………………….. 

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow! Praise Him all creatures here below! Praise Him above, ye Heavenly hosts! Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost! Amen!  Peace and love of Christ to you. Hebrews 13:20-22 (especially verse 22- you guys know how short I keep these things. ;-)) 

God's Love (song)

 (Note: Another favourite from the archives. It's always a good day to praise The Lord! Psalms 118:24)

     And now for something we hope You’ll really like! These next two posts are love songs to God- to the God of my life who fills my life with His life and makes life worth living! And it’s all through God’s Love shown to us in Jesus. Praise God for His love!

  “God’s Love” (parody of “My Love” by Petula Clark)
 (parody copyright by Nathan Ludwick 3/1/2013)
(Malachi 3:6, Psalms 25, Psalms 8, Psalms 73:22-26, Psalms 139:17-18, Psalms 103, Zephaniah 3:17, Psalms 104, Psalms 19, Hosea 1-3, Hosea 11, Isaiah 61:10-11, Luke 19:10, Psalms 27:10, Matthew 23:37, John 15:9-17, Romans 8:37-39, Romans 8:1-4, John 6:37, John 10:1-16, John 10:27-30, 1 John 4:19, Isaiah 49, 1 John 4:7-21, Romans 10:8-13, Titus 3:4-8, 1 John 3:16, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Jeremiah 31:3, John 3:16-17, 2 Peter 3:8-9, 1 John 3:1, Jude 1:20-25, Revelation 20-22)

My God is warmer than the warmest sunshine
Softer than a sigh
My God is deeper than the deepest ocean Wider than the sky
My God is brighter than the brightest star That shines every night above
And there is nothing in this world
That can ever change my God!
Something happened to my heart the day that I met You
Something that I never felt before
You are always in my life no matter what I do
And every day I see that I want You, Lord

My God is warmer than the warmest sunshine
Softer than a sigh
My God is deeper than the deepest ocean Wider than the sky
My God is brighter than the brightest star That shines every night above
And there is nothing in this world
That can ever change my God!

Once I thought Your Love was meant for anyone else but me
Once I thought You’d never call my name Now I always know like Gomer found, You still love me
For now I hear You tell me every page

My Love is warmer than the warmest sunshine
Softer than a sigh
My Love is deeper than the deepest ocean Wider than the sky
My Love is brighter than the brightest star That shines every night above
And there is nothing in this world
That can ever change My Love!
My Love is warmer than the warmest sunshine
Softer than a sigh
My Love is deeper than the deepest ocean Wider than the sky
My Love is brighter than the brightest star That shines every night above
And there is nothing in the world
That can ever change My Love!
.................................................................

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow! Praise Him all creatures here below! Praise Him above, ye Heavenly hosts! Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost! Amen!  Peace and love of Christ to you. Hebrews 13:20-22 (especially verse 22- you guys know how short I keep these things. ;-)) 

Raise a Praise to the God Who Saves! (Thank You and Love You, Lord Jesus)

My God is warmer than the warmest sunshine- Softer than a sigh- My God is deeper than the deepest ocean- Wider than the sky- My God is brighter than the brightest star that shines every night above And there is nothing in this world that can ever change my God or His love. :-) (thanks to Petula Clark for help with the words. ;-)) I hear You tell me every page of Your Word, Lord Jesus- I have loved you with an everlasting love. (Jeremiah 31:3- and I hear it echoed in every other verse too.) Your love never fails and Your mercy endures forever. (Psalms 136). Thank You for saving me and knowing me, Jesus. I know You have always loved me- I love You too because You first loved me. (1 John 4:19) And You proved it by taking my place and dying for me and rising again- You are the risen King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Nothing happens except that You allow it to happen. Thank You for being in control, Lord God Jesus. Thank You for Your friendship and for never leaving me and always holding on to me no matter what. Thank You for family and friends and for all those whose lives radiate with Your Spirit! It's so beautiful to see (Psalms 133). Thank You for the ways You have shined Your light through my life- keep using it and all I have and am for Your glory. Thank You for Your presence, guidance, justice, and jugment and wrath- and thank You that in Your wrath and judgment, You remember Your love, mercy and grace. You don't treat me as my sins deserve, but You shower me with love instead, just like the prodigal son's Dad. :-) (Psalms 103, Luke 15:20) Bless The Lord, O my soul- let all that is within me praise His holy Name- and forget not all His benefits. Thank You for all Your blessings, Lord Jesus and Your Holy Spirit Who guides and counsels me. Father God, use me to be a blessing to others. Our Father, Who art in Heaven. Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come- Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever- Amen. :-)
I'll tell the world that I'm a Christian- I'm not ashamed to bear Christ's Name- He's not ashamed to call me His brother. (Hebrews 2:11, Romans 1:16) It's the power of God to save for all who will call upon His Name. "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9) Thank You for loving us all, Lord Jesus. :-)

Something for Nothing

As the saying goes, the world owes us nothing and this is true. And we owe the world nothing. Of course, God owes us nothing too, but God gives us everything through Christ Jesus. He had no obligation to save us at all. He would have been totally justified in destroying all of humanity and everything He had made in Genesis 3. But because of His great mercies, we are not consumed! (Lamentations 3:22-23) God is always faithful- we are the ones who have been unfaithful. We are the ones who went a-whoring after the false gods of self, hedony, idols, money, power, etc.- in spite of all this, God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) And He not only died for us, but He also rose again, in accordance with the Scriptures. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
        We owe God everything but we can never repay Him and we can never earn His love- and we never have to. God knew we can't so He did it for us. What we can and should do is thank Him ad infinitum forever and ever to infinity and beyond! (And those who put faith in Christ for salvation and follow Him will do just that in Heaven!) Jesus, be forever praised! We will all bow and declare You The Lord of all one day. (Philippians 2:10-11) Do it now willingly and lovingly before you are forced to do it kicking and screaming one day or in a desperate attempt at a bargain plea too late. God has loved us with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3) but there is a time limit on God's free offer of love and forgiveness. (Hebrews 9:27-28) That's why today is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:2)
         It's the devil who seeks to destroy lives. Jesus said clearly that the thief comes only to kill, steal and destroy, but He came to give us life and life more abundant! (John 10:10) As Jesus told James and John in Luke 9:55 [read the little note in your Bible about the part that some ancient manuscripts include]- The Son of Man didn't come to destroy people's lives but to save them! Amen. Thank You, Lord, for Thy salvation! Though we are nothing without You and we can see nothing in ourselves that You should think of us, You choose to love us anyway. (Psalms 8 and John 15). Thank You for Your love. May Your eternal Love flow through me in all I say and do. Make me all the more thankful and grateful for Your sacrifice and give me opportunities and the boldness to proclaim Your love, judgment, grace and mercy to everyone.

God is Good All the Time (And All The Time God is Good)! (Bless The Lord at ALL Times) :-)

We're not quite to the end of the year, but I've seen a lot of people write 2016 off as a loss. (I know it may be in jest at times or it may be a statement of true frustration and exasperation with the outcome of events.) And it's okay to express honest feelings at times, in polite terms.

And we should be honest with the course of events- a lot of bad things have happened in the world- natural disasters, refugee crises, warring conflicts, the sad loss of life for so many- and many other things. (Of course, on a side note with that- I notice that a lot of people mourn for celebrities they've never met and don't really know- which is by no means wrong; it's very sad to hear of their deaths. However, it's weird that we don't mourn for the deaths in every single one of the obituaries in all the newspapers of the world that are published every day as well. Everyone's equally important and it's sad when anyone dies.)

It's really sad to me to see the hopelessness in so many people- especially after the 2016 US election. (And as a qualifier here, let me reiterate again that I did vote, but not for either of the major candidates- and I'm not particularly happy or upset with the outcome. I just have faith that God is in control as always and He will take care of me as always. He allows people to be in power and He also takes them down. His will will be done. "Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?.... The Lord in Heaven laughs at their plans. Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve The Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him." (see Psalms 2))

I was rather surprised at the election results and as I said- wasn't particularly happy with them or particularly sad- but I was hopeful and trusting that God knows what He's doing. And since I've been in a mood to listen to a lot of Rich Mullins lately (okay- that's pretty much all the time :-))- I had a time of worship playing some of his classics- "Sing Your Praise To The Lord", "Awesome God" and "Sometimes by Step". It wasn't because I was particularly happy with the results- it was because praising The Lord is always the appropriate response. It's because He is God and He reigns forever and He has done good things and my soul will bless the Lord and forget not all His benefits. He loves me enough to send Jesus to die and pay for all my sins and rise again! He has forgiven me through my faith in Him and He continues to make me more like Him as I seek to follow Him. He has promised me eternity in Heaven with Him! I have every reason to always be optimistic- yes, even in times when I may feel anything but.

"Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in The Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, The Lord, is my strength; He makes my feet like the deer's; He makes me tread on my high places. (To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.)" (Habakkuk 3:17-19) (i.e. Yo! Strike up the music, bro! Let's get some praise on for The Lord Almighty! :-))

Note the verses don't say, "Because all these bad things are happening." They say, "In spite of these bad things, I'm still going to praise God." Just like Job's response- hey, Job- you've just lost all your cattle (i.e. food and wealth), and all your kids- what are you going to do now? "Naked I came from the womb and naked I will depart- may the Name of The Lord be praised!" Do what? You mean you don't want to go with the flow like your wife said and just curse God and die? "Nah, bro- shall we receive good from God and not receive evil?" Even after you just got these awful sores all over you? Yep- even so, it is well with my soul. (Now, to be fair- Job did get pretty bummed (to say the least- he was near suicidal at some points, arguably)- but at the end of the book, God restores all of Job had lost- he has more kids and he gets his cattle and wealth back. In fact, he gets twice as much as he had before. And God points out that Job spoke rightly of Him (versus his three friends Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar).

Especially with the time of Thanksgiving coming up in the USA- it seems really appropriate to take time to thank Jesus for all He's done and praise Him! :-) 2016 has been a hard year in some ways for my family personally- but that could be true every year. God has also done some awesome things this year for my family- He provided my dad with a new job! He provided my brother and his wife with a new house they recently bought! He provided my other brother a new job! My sister's daughter got baptized this year and my dad was able to perform the baptism! :-) He provided my grandmother with better health. He provided one of my aunts a new job! He provided a new house for my other aunt and uncle! He provided me with a chance to visit some of my dearest friends in the world this summer! And He's provided me opportunities to have medical work done in the last few years and that's been a blessing. He provides for me financially all the time and just in general in life all the time. (As my mom says, He must have like a multitude of guardian angels working overtime with me. ;-))

So yeah- no matter what the situation is- my response is this: "Give thanks to The Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods, for His steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His steadfast love endures forever." (Psalms 136:1-3- by the way, that refrain is stated 26 times in that chapter- and usually that happens in The Bible because God really wants us to remember it! :-))

To the One Who is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love- the One who doesn't deal with us as our sins deserve and repay us according to our iniquities- the One Whose love is as great for us as the heavens are high above the earth- the One who removes our transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west- the One who shows compassion to those who fear Him- Whose steadfast love is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him- all praise, honor, glory and power be given! "The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all." (Psalms 103:19- just read the whole thing.)

I will bless The Lord at ALL times- His praise shall CONTINUALLY be in my mouth! (Psalms 34:1)

So yes- 2016 has had its sad moments- but it's also had its awesome moments! Praise The Lord for 2016 and all other moments of life He allows me to have! I call this to mind and therefore I have hope always:

"The steadfast love of The Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in Him.' The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of The Lord. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him; let him put his mouth in the dust- there may yet be hope; let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults. For The Lord will not cast off forever, but, though He cause grief, He will have compassion according to the abundance of His steadfast love; for He does not afflict from His heart or grieve the children of men. To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth, to deny a man justice in the presence of the Most High, to subvert a man in his lawsuit, The Lord does not approve. Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless The Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come? Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins? Let us test and examine our ways, and return to The Lord! Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in Heaven..." (see Lamentations 3:21-41- better yet, just read the whole chapter and the whole book.)

(Keep in mind that the context of this chapter is of Jeremiah lamenting over the destruction of Jerusalem, which happened as punishment for the people's sins. And there is a time when we need to test and examine ourselves and let God examine us- see if there be any wicked way in us- and repent and let God cleanse us! [see Psalms 139] But there are also times that calamity comes because we live in a fallen world- but even when God might cause grief, He doesn't do it from His heart! He doesn't do it to grieve people! He isn't a sadist! In the midst of it, He has compassion according to the abundance of His steadfast love! As Jesus said in John 9, sometimes bad things happen so that the glory of God can be seen in our lives- just like what happened with the blind dude in that chapter that Jesus made see again!)

So yeah- even when things feel like a nightmare and it's like I'm locked in prison- I'll make like Paul and Silas did while in jail in Acts 16:25 and be praying and singing hymns to God! I'll make like Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane and say, "Lord, not my will, but Thine be done." And The Lord's will might be that I need to go through some suffering. Even so- I'll count it all joy because I know the testing of my faith is going to produce steadfastness! And boy- do I need steadfastness to be full in effect in my life. And what great joy it is to know that I've got steadfast Love that never ceases that keeps following me everywhere I go! :-) (Seriously- you just can't shake it. Surely goodness and mercy- (or as other translations render it)- steadfast love- shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of The Lord forever. (see Psalms 23:6)

So wait- what was I complaining about again? "The joy of The Lord is my strength." (according to Nehemiah 8:10) It's God's will in Christ Jesus for me to be rejoicing always and praying without ceasing and giving thanks in ALL circumstances. (Word up! 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) (Again- not necessarily for them, but definitely in them- and in the long run, I may even wind up being glad for them because they helped me get somewhere that I needed to be that I wouldn't have been otherwise. It's like the "DuckTales" theme song- "The worst of messes become successes. DuckTales- Woohoo!") And like Romans 8:28 says, "We know that all things work together for good, to the good of those who love God and who are called according to His purpose." So I best be busting out those spiritual songs and psalms and hymns and sing and make some melody to The Lord with my heart- and give Him thanks for everything- just like The Holy Spirit led my man Paul to say over in Ephesians 5:19-20. (Dude man reiterated this whole attitude of being joyful and the command to rejoice in The Lord always- and again I say, rejoice- over in Philippians 4:4. And don't forget that he was doing the jailhouse rock while writing those lines down.)

Check out how back in the day the walls of Jericho came down- when Joshua and his Israelite peeps obeyed The Lord and marched around the town for 7 days (7 times on the last day- and ended things with a shout to The Lord! :-) I daresay they were getting some praise chants on there.)

Jumping Jehoshaphat! He was probably doing some of that and getting down in 2 Chronicles 20, when Jahaziel laid out the game plan for battle and let him know that the battle wasn't his, but rather God's. And so Jehoshaphat put the singers first before the army- and they went out singing and praising The Lord and The Lord brought victory!

What more can I say? If God is for us, who can be against us? (It's a rhetorical question, but the answer is, "No one!") (see Romans 8:31- and read the whole chapter while you're at it and read about the amazing grace and love of God for us that nothing can ever separate us from!)

As Psalms 137 talks about, how can we sing God's praise in a foreign land? ('Cause we are foreigners in this land, but nonetheless- as Rich Mullins called it- it's the land of my sojourn and I will sing His song in the land of my sojourn!) So may my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth like peanut butter if I forget New Jerusalem- if I forget The Lord- and don't make Him my highest joy and praise! How can I keep from singing? Praise God for all His many blessings- the Giver of all good things! (James 1:17) Praise The Lord with singing and dancing! (see Psalms 149)
Let everything that hath breath praise The Lord! (Psalms 150) Our God is an awesome God! :-) (see Deuteronomy 7:21)

"Whom have I in Heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." (Psalms 73:25-26) "Make a joyful noise to The Lord, all the earth! Serve The Lord with gladness! Come into His presence with singing! Know that The Lord, He is God! It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His name! For The Lord is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations." (Psalms 100) "Praise The Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty heavens! Praise Him for His mighty deeds; praise Him according to His excellent greatness! Praise Him with trumpet sound; praise Him with lute and harp! Praise Him with tambourine and dance; praise Him with strings and pipe! Praise Him with sounding cymbals; praise Him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise The Lord! Praise The Lord!" (Psalms 150) (Sounds like a heavy metal concert going on there! :-) Or any style music- it doesn't really matter. Just praise The Lord! :-) Praise Him with singing and dancing and with how you live. :-))

"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." (Jude 1:24-25)

The little heading in my ESV Bible calls these verses the "Doxology" section of Jude. So, to reference one of my favorite singers ever again once more, as Rich Mullins was fond of doing at the end of his concerts, let's end this off with the Doxology song-

"Praise God from Whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above ye Heavenly host. Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen." :-)

Seen and Not Heard With a Heart of Gladness

       Have you ever heard that saying we sometimes hear in church- "How close can I get to sin without it actually being sin?" Why do we love getting so close to the wrong? There's something in it that calls to us, of course. Ultimately, we all have a sin nature that draws us to the wrong naturally. And it drives us to do so many wrong and stupid things because we think we find pleasure and fulfillment in them.
      We play blackjack, roulette (and maybe even Russian roulette) and the gambling tables at casinos. We play the lottery faithfully each week. We play the ponies at the racing horse gambling hall. We do stupid (and often wrong) things because someone triple dog dared us or called us chicken for not doing it. And because we want to fit in with the rest of the world, we give in.
       All of us have a desire to be loved and accepted and we'll take them anywhere we can get them. And we find ourselves syncing up with people who lead us down a negative and unholy path so we can get their approval- approval from people who need love and acceptance just as much as if not more so than us. And we walk down a broad path that makes a lot of empty promises that it never fulfills and find ourselves instead in the way of destruction- and ultimately, death.
       So we go ahead and see how much we can smoke without getting lung cancer. How drunk can we get without damaging our liver or crashing our cars? How many drugs can we take without overdosing? How much sex can we have with anyone and everyone without getting any STDs?
        These questions are just some of the more obvious ones that come to mind. There are other probing things to consider that we often don't. How much pornographic material can we consume before we are corrupted in our thinking regarding people? How much violence can we view on television, in movies or video games or read about before we decide to engage in it ourselves? How much vulgar language can we hear before we start to repeat it ourselves? How much can we engage in the world's methods for getting ahead in life before realizing that the ways of Babylon are so anti-Christ? (See Revelation 18.)
       It is really easy to fall into this slippery slope as a Christian quite possibly because of the one reason that should inspire the exact opposite attitude. Our God is a gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy- a long-suffering God. Of course, He is also a jealous God Who will have no rivals for the worship He alone deserves. He is a God who also punishes and will pour our His righteous judgments upon the earth one day- and He already chastises us with judgment when we need it, because every father disciplines his sons and daughters. And God disciplines everyone He accepts as a son or daughter. (Hebrews 12:1-12)
          So, rather than taking on the principles of Ephesians 2:8-10 and Philippians 2:12-13- to go and do the good deeds God created for us in advance to do all along, never in our strength but in God powering us to live like Christ, we instead go and do the opposite. We take the grace that God gave us through Jesus' cruel death on the cross and His glorious Resurrection and turn it into a license to sin. What then? Shall we sin more so that grace may abound more? By no means! (That sounds familiar. ;-) See Romans 6:1) That's just what those dudes in Jude were doing! Read that whole book and see what The Bible says about them- they're like trees without roots, clouds without rain and they're blown about by the wind....and they're also reserved for darkness and gnashing of teeth! Yeah- God's grace doesn't mean we can go and do whatever we want because Jesus is always ready and willing to forgive us! It's kinda like the same abuse some people do with the welfare system when they aren't really going out and looking for work like they're supposed to be doing, but instead just sponging on the system and doing whatever they want to do with the money that the government is supplying. (I say this as someone who has been there before and who God brought through there! Praise The Lord! :-))
          Grace is not meant to be abused the way that it gets abused so often. Since we know that to be true, what should we do then? Well, let's be careful here because we can quickly go the other way too. We can get so nail-biting anxious that we're hurling ourselves down steps and physically punishing our bodies as much as possible like Martin Luther because we are so scared of messing up- and so scared knowing that we still mess up so many times anyway- and maybe the physical wounds can purge the evil in our hearts. Physical pain might certainly help correct our actions to some degree- that's why our parents discipline us in that way, besides the fact that Proverbs commands it a number of times, but it doesn't really speak to the issue of the heart. As has been said before, the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart.
        And a heart that is truly set free by Jesus Christ should be so consumed by the amazement and wonder that God would deign to care for this dead dog and save the life of such a worm as I that our souls and entire beings are enraptured with delight in Christ and obeying His Word. Infinitely stronger than Chewbacca's to Han Solo, we owe Jesus a life debt that we can never repay. And the crazy thing is that- though we should feel that indebtedness to Him- He tells us that we don't owe Him a thing. As Romans 6:23 tells us, the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. It's all free- we don't have to pay anything. And that's a really good thing- because we could never pay anything that would make us worthy. (Isaiah 64:6- even what we think are our good deeds are nothing more than filthy rags before the Holy God.)
         So what can we do? Jesus died and rose to set us free for all eternity! How shall we respond to such amazing lovingkindness? Romans 5:8 has long been one of my favorite Bible verses because it describes the circumstances that this happened in when Jesus did that. It wasn't like Jesus came to die for the righteous who were already seeking Him. No- there's no one righteous- no, not one! But the only Righteous One, God Himself, became man in Jesus Christ. Jesus, the GodMan- fully God and fully Man- He went to the cross for us and died for us when we were sinners. When we hated God, desecrated His laws, mocked His Name and ran from Him. And no matter how much we reject and despise Him and insist we don't want Him- God insists to us- "I have loved you with an everlasting love." Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the House of The Lord forever. (The last part being true for any of us who have decided to make Jesus Lord of our lives, of course.) And that's just it- Love will never leave you alone. He (and Love is a He- because God Himself is Love- 1 John 4:8) keeps following us and desperately calls to us and cajoles us with carols of His amazing love and grace that wants to forgive and accept us- not condemn us. (John 3:16-17)
          It's not about trying to live a pious life of righteousness in an effort to please or placate God. It's not about living life for ourselves and leaning back on that fire insurance policy that we treat Jesus like sometimes. And for those on either end of it, that hellfire insurance policy we hold to doesn't work like that. Jesus really isn't concerned about sacrifices- as Psalms 51 says, that's not really what He's looking for anyway. What He wants is a broken and contrite heart- that He won't despise. Jesus saves anyone who comes to Him sincerely in faith. But The Bible tells us that whatever doesn't proceed from faith is sin. (Romans 14:22-23). If we have faith in Jesus, then we trust Him with all our life and live our life for Him. If we ignore His offer and try to live out a life of righteousness and hope it's good enough to please God, then we live out of fear of God and not from faith in Christ- and we're still in sin. (Remember that Perfect Love casts out all fear. 1 John 4:18) And if we listen to Christ and claim His offer, but choose to ignore His commands and expect His grace to pull us out of the fire in the end, we're living in a false hope that is still self-centered and is not from faith in Christ- and we're still in sin. Real, saving faith in Christ brings us salvation. But salvation means that we are saved from what we used to be- we're saved from the wholly depraved person we used to be- we are now redeemed, bought back with a heavy price (though we don't pay it) and we are called and chosen to be a picture of God's redemption in the world. We are called to show the world God's love through Jesus. And as Colossians 3:1-4 says, we no longer live, but our identity is now totally found in Christ. He lives in us (Galatians 2:20) and we no longer live for ourselves, but rather for Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. What other response is there to this kind of Love but to love others in kind? That is the response we should have- a heart of infinite gratitude that lovingly seeks to obey Jesus and share His truth and love with others. Love God with all we've got and love our neighbor as ourselves. Speak the Truth in Love.
            We love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19) So go out in the world and show them that love. Not because you're scared to death of going to hell and hoping that enough good deeds will make you good enough for God- because that won't work. And don't brag to the world of all the things you can get away with because you know we have a Savior who loves to forgive us and has set us free from The Law. He forgives those who truly repent. And true repentance requires us to turn away from our sin and seek to obey Christ instead. So that laissez-faire attitude towards Jesus doesn't work either. The way of salvation is through Jesus alone- through giving Him all our fears and pathetic attempts at goodness- through acknowledging to Him that we are miserable sinners who desperately need His love and forgiveness- and trusting Him to do just what He said He would- and following Him as Savior and Lord. And in thankfulness to Him, we seek to obey His every word and love Him more and more each day.
          And yeah- I totally identify with Romans 7. We're still not perfect. We don't get it right every time. We get sucked back into that old world of darkness and shame so many times over. But the difference is now we don't stay there. We get back up and come back to God and move forward again. 1 John 1:9 is there for a reason and it does work. Jesus is always faithful even when we're not. Thank God for His faithfulness. And no matter how we may doubt and perhaps even deny, He is still there loving us and assuring us of His presence and care for us. And The Love that wilt not let us go keeps drawing us back to Himself and keeps us going forward. And then He reminds us that it was never by our might or power anyway- it's always by His Holy Spirit. (Zechariah 4:6) And The Holy Spirit keeps infusing all of our being and driving us to be different in this crazy world and be the bastion of righteousness and faithfulness and truthfulness and love in this place. We not only reflect The Son, we've got a Sontan that replaces our old skin and gives us new skin instead so that we want to please Jesus in all we do. And even when we fall away for a while, He picks us back up when we ask Him for forgiveness and He gets us going right again. And He is faithful to do this all the way to Heaven's gates! (Jude 1:24-25, 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)
            So we can't just talk the talk and not walk the walk. That's hypocrisy. And we can't just walk the walk and not talk the talk. That's a misguided and futile effort. We must be real and true in all we do and worship in spirit and truth by following Jesus with all we've got. We must let our light shine so that people will see our good works and praise our Father Who is in Heaven. (Matthew 5:16) And lovingly tell them about Jesus, Who loves us all with an undying love. :-) Real Love and Life demands nothing less.

(And for those wondering, yes- I was totally inspired by this classic Petra song, "Seen and Not Heard", for the title of the blog. One of my favorites. :-))
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZUdLCE6EIg

Another one of my all time favorite Petra songs- "St. Augustine's Pears"- also speaks to a lot of what I've been trying to say here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yCP1gOpvpc )