This song relays a key event in Moses' life. In Exodus 3, he has an encounter with the living God. And God has a task for him- go down to Egypt and set His people free! Moses had some excuses but God provided for each one and He got a fire burning in Moses fueled by The Holy Spirit coming upon him and God used him to do just what He said He was going to do for Israel! Moses followed the game plan God had for his life. This was the theme for the soccer camp I helped with that my church sponsored in the summer of 2014 and that definitely inspired this parody. :-)
Bush on Fire
(parody of "Girl on Fire" by Alicia Keys; copyright Nathan Ludwick 9/29/2014)
(Exodus 3-4, Isaiah 40:28-31, Hebrews 11:23-29, Hebrews 12:28-29)
He's from Israel and he's out hiding
Slaughtered an Egyptian peep- Moses hits the highway
He's sitting by a well and gets a fight on
Filled troughs- watered the sheep- Girls' hero- gets invited to stay
Ohhhh oh oh oh oh!
"Please God," groan people out loud
And He's heard Israel now
Ohhhh oh oh oh oh
At Mt. Horeb He comes down
And Moses (is) walking 'round
This bush is on fire!
This bush is on fire!
It burns without dying!
This bush is on fire!
Looks at the bush and it's in flames
Some sight- Moses turns his eyes
Exodus 3- I'd say, "Wayz!"
You can bet that he'll never forget that day
He hears God call his name
Holiest Lord God then does say
Ohhhh oh oh oh
"Take shoes off feet- it's holy ground"
"Israel's burdened- go down!"
"Goooo go go go go!"
God has heard His door pound
But Mo's got excuses now
This mouth has a stutter
I'm 'bout to retire
They'll balk and require
Some sign I've seen Father
(Ohhh!)
Every doubt he airs, The Lord provides
'Cause He can feel the pain that Israel cries
Balking? Then just show them these 3 signs
You're gonna go and meet Aaron- he'll speak
And if they want I.D.
Then you go tell 'em "I AM has sent me, baby"
This God came as fire
There's no one who's higher
He's a consuming fire!
This God will not tire
Oh, oh, oh, oh, ohhhhh
oh, oh, oh, ohhh,
oh, oh, oh, ohhhh (x4)
He got Israel set free by His power!
...................................................................
Sunday, September 28, 2014
What Can Wash Away My Sin? (poem)
Okay- and now I want to present a poem I wrote the as kind of a follow up in some ways to a poem I wrote some years ago
that I called “What Can Make Me Whole Again?” Both that poem and this one
follows the same format- a series of questions. I hope that in them everyone
can truly see The Answer who holds an exclamation point for every question
mark. :-)
“What Can Wash Away My Sin?”
(original poem by Nathan Ludwick 9/6/2013)
(Romans 1, Hebrews 2:1-4, 2 Peter 3:8-18, Romans 5:8, Romans 10:9, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, 2 Corinthians 5:18-21)
When did sex become so casual?
When did we start having friends with benefits?
When did baby daddy become a family member?
When did partners and special friends get united in holy matrimony?
When did sexuality become our god?
When did we reinvent its meaning?
When did we begin experimenting with new sexual identities, partners and acts?
When did rape, lust, pornography and torture devices become aspects of love?
When did the world and life itself become our personal centerfold for masturbation?
When did clothing become optional?
When did streaking exhibitionism become inhibition freeing expressionism?
Why can’t we censor anything at all?
When did free speech become our excuse for any vulgarity?
When did our quest for natural and artificial highs trump everything else no matter how low we have to go?
When did it become me and not us?
When did hedony become our manifest destiny?
When did violence become our common expression of feelings?
When did murder become our aversion to boredom?
When did ridicule and sarcasm become our native tongue?
When did babies become an inconvenience to be disposed of instead of a gift?
When did life itself become ours to give and take, whether our own or those we’ve grown tired of caring for anymore?
When did our self-actualization become our empowerment to think, say and do as we please?
Who died and made us god?
Why do we assume the mantle and assume there is none higher to judge us?
Why do we do everything to avoid our funeral instead of prepare for it?
When did our barns become so full of stuff that we have to rent storage sheds to hold it all?
When did our wallets get so fat and our hearts become so small?
When did we trade discipline and responsibility for our perceived personality and personal freedom to do anything we can possibly think to do?
When did we reject all authority but our own?
When did we become such scoffers of truth, justice, love and redemption?
When did we exchange the truth for a lie?
When did we become cynical misers seeking only to save ourselves?
When did we fool ourselves into believing we have?
When did the love of God poured and flowing through a bloody cross and empty tomb become such an outdated and laughable story in a book of fairy tales to us?
Why do we tremble at we don’t even claim to believe?
How shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?
“What Can Wash Away My Sin?”
(original poem by Nathan Ludwick 9/6/2013)
(Romans 1, Hebrews 2:1-4, 2 Peter 3:8-18, Romans 5:8, Romans 10:9, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, 2 Corinthians 5:18-21)
When did sex become so casual?
When did we start having friends with benefits?
When did baby daddy become a family member?
When did partners and special friends get united in holy matrimony?
When did sexuality become our god?
When did we reinvent its meaning?
When did we begin experimenting with new sexual identities, partners and acts?
When did rape, lust, pornography and torture devices become aspects of love?
When did the world and life itself become our personal centerfold for masturbation?
When did clothing become optional?
When did streaking exhibitionism become inhibition freeing expressionism?
Why can’t we censor anything at all?
When did free speech become our excuse for any vulgarity?
When did our quest for natural and artificial highs trump everything else no matter how low we have to go?
When did it become me and not us?
When did hedony become our manifest destiny?
When did violence become our common expression of feelings?
When did murder become our aversion to boredom?
When did ridicule and sarcasm become our native tongue?
When did babies become an inconvenience to be disposed of instead of a gift?
When did life itself become ours to give and take, whether our own or those we’ve grown tired of caring for anymore?
When did our self-actualization become our empowerment to think, say and do as we please?
Who died and made us god?
Why do we assume the mantle and assume there is none higher to judge us?
Why do we do everything to avoid our funeral instead of prepare for it?
When did our barns become so full of stuff that we have to rent storage sheds to hold it all?
When did our wallets get so fat and our hearts become so small?
When did we trade discipline and responsibility for our perceived personality and personal freedom to do anything we can possibly think to do?
When did we reject all authority but our own?
When did we become such scoffers of truth, justice, love and redemption?
When did we exchange the truth for a lie?
When did we become cynical misers seeking only to save ourselves?
When did we fool ourselves into believing we have?
When did the love of God poured and flowing through a bloody cross and empty tomb become such an outdated and laughable story in a book of fairy tales to us?
Why do we tremble at we don’t even claim to believe?
How shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?
What Can Make Me Whole Again? (poem)
What can make me whole again?
(by Nathan Ludwick- August 5, 2007)
What am I to you but just another pretty face?
What are any of us but carbon-based space?
Are we but a breath in the span of an eternal sigh?
Is our definition of life straining to fill a void inside?
In our Babylonian thinking, must there be another day?
Are we trying to live or outlive our own fantasy?
Are we partakers or does the wind elude us eternally?
Does what we're looking for ever really satisfy?
Is utopia purchased with a pot of gold over the rainbow?
What is the connection that makes existence tolerable?
Do lovers and dreamers construct myths to confine?
Does anyone ever really look out for the other guy?
Why is it easier to say labels than to name names?
Is philanthropy ever truly unselfish gain?
Is routine our code for controlled chaos?
Do our mirrors reflect more than Narcissus and Icharus?
Do our treasures and gold serve only to cap a cavity?
Does our primal carnality outweigh instrinsic capacity?
Does the heart of eternity still beat in our withered forms?
Can this mortal coil transcend immortal throes?
Is the song of the pack the call of the wild in our souls?
Is death where we begin and life where we end?
Does the roar of Judah's Lion still resound in our fleshy heart?
In Androcles' kindness, do we embrace the wounded paw?
Do celestial heights raise the plane of our existence?
When will Aslan be on the move from the land beyond the sea?
When will we read the first chapter of the Greatest Story of all?
(by Nathan Ludwick- August 5, 2007)
What am I to you but just another pretty face?
What are any of us but carbon-based space?
Are we but a breath in the span of an eternal sigh?
Is our definition of life straining to fill a void inside?
In our Babylonian thinking, must there be another day?
Are we trying to live or outlive our own fantasy?
Are we partakers or does the wind elude us eternally?
Does what we're looking for ever really satisfy?
Is utopia purchased with a pot of gold over the rainbow?
What is the connection that makes existence tolerable?
Do lovers and dreamers construct myths to confine?
Does anyone ever really look out for the other guy?
Why is it easier to say labels than to name names?
Is philanthropy ever truly unselfish gain?
Is routine our code for controlled chaos?
Do our mirrors reflect more than Narcissus and Icharus?
Do our treasures and gold serve only to cap a cavity?
Does our primal carnality outweigh instrinsic capacity?
Does the heart of eternity still beat in our withered forms?
Can this mortal coil transcend immortal throes?
Is the song of the pack the call of the wild in our souls?
Is death where we begin and life where we end?
Does the roar of Judah's Lion still resound in our fleshy heart?
In Androcles' kindness, do we embrace the wounded paw?
Do celestial heights raise the plane of our existence?
When will Aslan be on the move from the land beyond the sea?
When will we read the first chapter of the Greatest Story of all?
Sunday, September 14, 2014
How to Die
"It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go
to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living
should take this to heart." (Ecclesiastes 7:2)
Do you know what
everyone in the history of the world, with a very few exceptions, have in
common? They are all either dead, dying or will die. Like taxes, you can't
evade it. (Just ask Al Capone. Well, wait- you can't. He's dead.)
If the abolition of
man is his ultimate destiny, as C.S. Lewis told us, then it seems like we
should take time to prepare to die. And guess what else? The great irony of
this is: when you learn how to die, you also learn how to live.
* Parents: Your mom
and dad help bring about your physical life on this Earth. From the moment of
conception to your last day, they will always be the ones who will be concerned
about you and taking care of you as much as they can. Parents are a wonderful
gift and are people to be treasured and respected.
* Means of death:
While there are a variety of options out there for dying, including
asphyxiation, incineration, drowning, and being eaten alive by wild animals, I
would say the best option is still old age. I would certainly take this route
if possible. However, this is one area you will not need to worry about, as the
means of death will be provided for you in the dying process. So, unless you do
something to increase the likelihood of one particular means of death over
another, it will most likely come as a surprise and that's probably best.
* These are really
the main two things one needs in order to die. As you can see, death is a
pretty easy and natural thing to do. It is something that comes to each person,
so it is not something one need worry about seeking out. It will come in its
own time. However, I would posit that a third thing is needed in order to die
truly prepared.
* Right relationship
with God: "Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face
judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people;
and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to
those who are waiting for Him." (Hebrews 9:27-28)Herein is the crux of the
matter. In order to have a successful death, one is only required to die with
no decision made regarding God's position in one's life. However, in order to
have a successful and triumphant death, one is required to put all hope and
faith in Jesus Christ prior to dying. This is a very crucial point to make, as
one only gets one shot at this. Once you're dead, you're dead and nothing
outside of God's intervention can change that. All people are by default bound
to die and spend eternity in Hell, due to our own evil natures and the evil
thoughts and acts we do while on Earth. However, since God is not willing that
any should perish, but all should come to repentance (see 2 Peter 3:9), He has
instead made it possible for people to die and go to Heaven. His sole provision
in revolutionizing the whole dying process came through His Son, Jesus Christ.
When Jesus died on the cross for all the wrong things anyone ever has done or
is doing or will do, Heaven's admission price was paid for everyone. By Jesus
rising again from the dead, He proved His Lordship and made it possible for
people to die with triumph. "But if Christ is in you, your body is dead
because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the
Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised
Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit,
who lives in you." (Romans 8:10-11) Those who choose to die in this manner
can take hope in knowing that their death isn't merely a successful physical
expiration of life, but it leads to a continued spiritual existence full of
life. And here is the eternally essential and most vital component of the dying
process, which absolutely must take place before the dying process is
completed. "That 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) Upon making this cry of the heart known to God
through prayer, one can feel the security of being truly prepared for dying.
One should then find counsel in a Christian church as well as Christian friends
to help in the journey to triumphant death. Daily Bible reading and prayer are
also a must in this process. Having done all this, one can now truly understand
how being truly ready to die makes one truly ready to live. "For to me, to
live is Christ and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21)
Knowing how to die should also inform how to live. Once one
has made Christ the Lord of one's life, the remaining time spent living should
be spent living for Christ in everything. One great way to do this is to tell
others how to die a triumphant death as well.
This is a limited time offer. Just as no one knows what day
they will die, in the same way no one knows if Jesus will return before you
die. And since it could be today or it could be 1000 years from now (see 2
Peter 3:8-9), one should act on this information immediately. 2 Corinthians 6:2
says that today is the day of salvation!
* "Therefore
keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come."
(Matthew 24:42)
Patient God/Love That Won't Let Go (song)
This song should be a soft sell to everyone on the love that won't let go from the patient God Who lavishes grace upon us. Even though I so often bring such tainted love to Christ, He always loves me and forgives me and never lets go of me. Praise God for His love!
"Patient God/Love That Won't Let Go"
(parody of "Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go" by Soft Cell [extended single version]; copyright Nathan Ludwick 6/25/2014)
(Hebrews 13:5, Numbers 14:13-20, Genesis 6:5-8, Jeremiah 31:3, Psalms 139, Habakkuk 2:4, 2 Corinthians 5:7, Philippians 3:7-20, Matthew 11:28-30, Hosea 2, Hosea 11, 1 John 1:9, Psalms 28, Psalms 32, Psalms 38, Psalms 40, Psalms 42, Psalms 51, Psalms 66:16, Psalms 80:1-7, Psalms 103, Psalms 136, Psalms 138, Hebrews 4:14-16, Jude 1:24-25, 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, Matthew 14:22-33, 2 Peter 3:8-9, John 6:35-40, Romans 6:14-18, Romans 7:14-25)
Sometimes I feel You're going to
Run away- You've got to
Get away
From the pain I drive into the heart of You
Your love and care
Clings and goes nowhere
I'm not lost- (just) defiant
Need to stop and turn- help me, Jesus Christ!
Once I ran to You (I ran)
Now I run from You
This tainted love I've given
You gave me all- Oh, Lord- forgive me
Take my tears and cast my sins all...out!
...Tainted love
Patient God
Now I know I've got to
Just obey- I've got to
Walk by faith
You don't really want sacrifice from me
To make things right
A heart broken- You won't despise
When I read Psalms 138 [one three eight]
Lord, I'm sorry and I pray verse 8
Once I ran from You (I ran)
Now I come to You
Sustaining Love's forgiven
I gave You all my wrongs- You tell me,
"Take My yoke and find rest for your soul!"
Oh....Trust My Love
...Patient God
Just trust Me please
I will not hand you over- see?
I love you though you hurt Me so
I won't come in wrath- My heart recoils
...Thank You, God- Patient God (x2)
Touch me, Savior- Tame my lusts!
Touch me, Savior- Teach me trust!
Teach me Love
Thank You, God
Patient God! (Patient God!)
....................
Baby, baby
Where did your trust go?
Oh, just believe Me
Won't ever leave you alone
Lord God, Your Word encourages, spurs me- (but) feelings entwine me
They mystify me
Then I doubt my Dad
You came into my life
So tenderly
With eternal love
Jer. 31:3
And now Lord, I surrender
I'm helpless, but
You know I believe
Your blood has saved me
Oh, baby, baby
Where did your trust go?
Oh, just believe me
Won't ever leave you alone
Oh, baby, baby
Where did your trust go?
Oh, just believe Me
Won't ever leave you alone
I gave to You my life
Wholeheartedly
(And) like 1:9 1st. John
My sins since that day
I know when I'm surrendered
And confessing
I know You hear me
You then forgive me
Savior, Savior
Why'd I take control?
Oh, Savior, Savior
Won't You lead me once more?
I had this burning, churning, turning feeling inside me
Deep inside me
And it hurt so bad
Savior, Savior, (Savior)
There's where Your love flowed
You forgave me
And You lead me once more
I know Your love's forever- so help me see
In Hebrews 13, You won't ever leave me
Oh, Savior, Savior
There's where Your love flowed
You never let go
Here, there, everywhere-
It's forever!
So help us see
In Hebrews 13, You won't ever leave me
Oh, Savior, Savior
There's where Your love flowed
Here, there, everywhere
Oh, Savior, Savior
You never let go
Oh, Savior- I know You won't leave me
Your love's eternal, eternal, eternal- I feel it inside me
Oh, deep inside me
And it makes me glad
Oh, Savior, Savior...
"Patient God/Love That Won't Let Go"
(parody of "Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go" by Soft Cell [extended single version]; copyright Nathan Ludwick 6/25/2014)
(Hebrews 13:5, Numbers 14:13-20, Genesis 6:5-8, Jeremiah 31:3, Psalms 139, Habakkuk 2:4, 2 Corinthians 5:7, Philippians 3:7-20, Matthew 11:28-30, Hosea 2, Hosea 11, 1 John 1:9, Psalms 28, Psalms 32, Psalms 38, Psalms 40, Psalms 42, Psalms 51, Psalms 66:16, Psalms 80:1-7, Psalms 103, Psalms 136, Psalms 138, Hebrews 4:14-16, Jude 1:24-25, 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, Matthew 14:22-33, 2 Peter 3:8-9, John 6:35-40, Romans 6:14-18, Romans 7:14-25)
Sometimes I feel You're going to
Run away- You've got to
Get away
From the pain I drive into the heart of You
Your love and care
Clings and goes nowhere
I'm not lost- (just) defiant
Need to stop and turn- help me, Jesus Christ!
Once I ran to You (I ran)
Now I run from You
This tainted love I've given
You gave me all- Oh, Lord- forgive me
Take my tears and cast my sins all...out!
...Tainted love
Patient God
Now I know I've got to
Just obey- I've got to
Walk by faith
You don't really want sacrifice from me
To make things right
A heart broken- You won't despise
When I read Psalms 138 [one three eight]
Lord, I'm sorry and I pray verse 8
Once I ran from You (I ran)
Now I come to You
Sustaining Love's forgiven
I gave You all my wrongs- You tell me,
"Take My yoke and find rest for your soul!"
Oh....Trust My Love
...Patient God
Just trust Me please
I will not hand you over- see?
I love you though you hurt Me so
I won't come in wrath- My heart recoils
...Thank You, God- Patient God (x2)
Touch me, Savior- Tame my lusts!
Touch me, Savior- Teach me trust!
Teach me Love
Thank You, God
Patient God! (Patient God!)
....................
Baby, baby
Where did your trust go?
Oh, just believe Me
Won't ever leave you alone
Lord God, Your Word encourages, spurs me- (but) feelings entwine me
They mystify me
Then I doubt my Dad
You came into my life
So tenderly
With eternal love
Jer. 31:3
And now Lord, I surrender
I'm helpless, but
You know I believe
Your blood has saved me
Oh, baby, baby
Where did your trust go?
Oh, just believe me
Won't ever leave you alone
Oh, baby, baby
Where did your trust go?
Oh, just believe Me
Won't ever leave you alone
I gave to You my life
Wholeheartedly
(And) like 1:9 1st. John
My sins since that day
I know when I'm surrendered
And confessing
I know You hear me
You then forgive me
Savior, Savior
Why'd I take control?
Oh, Savior, Savior
Won't You lead me once more?
I had this burning, churning, turning feeling inside me
Deep inside me
And it hurt so bad
Savior, Savior, (Savior)
There's where Your love flowed
You forgave me
And You lead me once more
I know Your love's forever- so help me see
In Hebrews 13, You won't ever leave me
Oh, Savior, Savior
There's where Your love flowed
You never let go
Here, there, everywhere-
It's forever!
So help us see
In Hebrews 13, You won't ever leave me
Oh, Savior, Savior
There's where Your love flowed
Here, there, everywhere
Oh, Savior, Savior
You never let go
Oh, Savior- I know You won't leave me
Your love's eternal, eternal, eternal- I feel it inside me
Oh, deep inside me
And it makes me glad
Oh, Savior, Savior...
Saturday, September 6, 2014
The Meaning of Life
"We want more than this world's got to offer....we want more than this world's got to offer... we want more than the wars of our fathers...And everything inside screams for second life.......We were meant to live for so much more...have we lost ourselves?"- "Meant to Live" by Switchfoot
"You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that, life will never make sense." - Rick Warren
As Rick Warren talks about in his best-selling book, "The Purpose Driven Life", we and all those philosophers that have come before us and the ones here now often can't find the purpose for our lives because we start at the wrong place. As human beings we have a natural tendency to focus in ourselves and so we look to defining life and its purpose in terms of how it affects our own lives particularly. But that's the wrong approach. As Rev. Warren's book states in the first line- "It's not about you."
Now that's just an affront to our self-centered fragile egos. It takes some real humbling on our parts to remember that there are many things in the world so much bigger than ourselves and everything does not revolve around us. We are but dust blowing in the wind, as Kansas said. But though we started out as dust, God makes something more of us through Jesus. And here we get to the purpose and meaning of life when we change the focus to the One bigger than us- bigger than everything else in the world. Life starts with God Himself- because He is Life. In fact, as Jesus said in John 14:6, He is The Way, The Truth and The Life. No man comes to the Father except through Him.
After spending most all the time and money in the world on women, wine and song, King Solomon concluded that all of life is vanity! " 'Everything is meaningless,' says The Teacher." (see Ecclesiastes 1:1) What a bleak outlook on life! But read the whole book- that is exactly what life is like without God. It's all meaningless without God. Without God, it's nothing but a set amount of time to kill before time kills us. The kicker is there at the end of the book. "The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)
Okay then- so if we start this quest for the meaning of life by looking outward to God instead of inward, where does that take us? Well, here are some Bible verses that speak to this point. God Himself tells us plainly our position in the universe and our purpose. While the Psalmist marvels that God should think of us at all- "What is man that You are mindful of us?" (see Psalms 8). Yet God made us "a little lower than the angels." (again, see Psalms 8). And since Genesis 1:26 tells us that God made us, male and female, in His image- we have an infinite booster shot's worth of self-worth right there! Of course, our worth is not in us- it's in Jesus. It's because we are made in His image that we are infinitely important and valuable. And God loves us with an eternal love because we are His creation. (Jeremiah 31:3)
And why were we created? What are we here on earth for? What are we? When are we? Where are we? Who are we? Why are we? Well, we need look no further than God. And He says that He created all things- and they were all created "for His pleasure". (Revelation 4:11) That's it right there. We were created to bring God pleasure. Unfortunately, too often we have brought Him nothing but heartache and grief, as Genesis 6:5-8 attests. Fortunately, that's where Jesus comes in- both figuratively and literally. Though we were created to bring God pleasure- and nothing brings Him more pleasure than our willing obedience to Him and worship of Him- we chose instead our own pleasure and chose to sin against God. And the wages of sin is death- and not just physical death. There is also the spiritual death we dwell in outside of Christ- and the eternal second death in Hell. However, after Adam and Eve's sin brought corruption to the whole earth and tainted the human race's bloodline with a sin nature, God still had a plan in mind to put right what once went wrong. And much like Dr. Sam Beckett quite literally in some ways becomes one with the person he Leaps into (on "Quantum Leap"), God became one of us in the person of Jesus Christ. And Jesus paid the price for us and made the sacrifice of His own life for all the sins of the world. And because He lives again, we have forgiveness from God and a restored relationship, all free for the asking. Romans 10:9 says if we confess Jesus as Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. And we can know we have an eternity with Him in Heaven instead. Praise God for His love! (see Philippians 2:1-11)
When we are in a right relationship with our Creator, everything falls into place. As we seek more and more to obey God and be more like Christ, we come to fulfill one of God's other purposes for our lives. We are created for His pleasure and one of the ways God gets the most pleasure is when we worship Him as He rightfully deserves and thus bring Him glory. He formed and made us for His glory. (see Isaiah 43:7). And the crazy cool thing is this- when we live in right relationship with God and seek to bring Him glory, we also find ourselves most fulfilled and find purpose in our lives. In becoming more like Christ, we become more ourselves than ever before, as C.S. Lewis once noted. Of course, there is a good reason for this. This is how God designed us to be- this is His original intent. He is a relational God and He desires us all to have a relationship with Him. And only in that relationship with Jesus can we truly find the fulfillment and purpose and meaning we are looking for in life. It just doesn't work any other way. Try to save your life- you'll lose it. Try to get ahead and win in life- ultimately, you'll fail and lose. What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul? If you want to know peace, fulfillment, purpose and meaning in life- they only come in following Jesus. Forget the pursuit of the temporal and rather pursue the eternal. Not only is the eternal all that will last- it's all that really matters in the end. The eternal not only rewards our permanent dwelling in Heaven with Christ- it enriches our time allotted in the land of our sojourn.
We are here for a reason. God has a purpose in mind for each one of us. He loves us with an eternal love and He has placed eternity in our hearts. To live for His glory and bring Him pleasure is built into our DNA- but it's only realized when we make the choice to follow His call and accept Christ as Savior through faith in His death and Resurrection as payment for all our sins and then live in union with Him- the way that He designed all along. To reject Him and His love is truly a living hell on earth that extends for eternity. To accept Him and His love is pure ecstasy- pure rapture for a captured heart that eternally dwells in His presence in His heavenly realms. He is the meaning of Life-He's The Way of enlightenment and understanding and wisdom- He is The Truth- there is no other. We either live with anathema or we can join an anthem of the everlasting Hallelujah chorus! Praise God for His love. :-)
So the call goes out to us all- forget about our own lives and pursuits- deny them all; yes, deny our very selves- take up our own cross and follow Jesus. It's a daily process and thankfully, one that He prearranges and ordains and maintains all the while working through our surrendered will and being. (See Matthew 6:24-28).God is faithful- even when we're not. (1 Corinthians 1:4-9). And what is His command? Love The Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind and strength- and love thy neighbor as thyself. And speak The Truth in Love. (See Matthew 22:34-40 and Ephesians 4:15). Love undergirds everything. So keep walking in fellowship with Jesus and live a life of purpose on purpose- just as He purposed it all along. That's The Way He planned it. There is no other way to truly live. This is The Life! And that's The Truth. :-)
"You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that, life will never make sense." - Rick Warren
As Rick Warren talks about in his best-selling book, "The Purpose Driven Life", we and all those philosophers that have come before us and the ones here now often can't find the purpose for our lives because we start at the wrong place. As human beings we have a natural tendency to focus in ourselves and so we look to defining life and its purpose in terms of how it affects our own lives particularly. But that's the wrong approach. As Rev. Warren's book states in the first line- "It's not about you."
Now that's just an affront to our self-centered fragile egos. It takes some real humbling on our parts to remember that there are many things in the world so much bigger than ourselves and everything does not revolve around us. We are but dust blowing in the wind, as Kansas said. But though we started out as dust, God makes something more of us through Jesus. And here we get to the purpose and meaning of life when we change the focus to the One bigger than us- bigger than everything else in the world. Life starts with God Himself- because He is Life. In fact, as Jesus said in John 14:6, He is The Way, The Truth and The Life. No man comes to the Father except through Him.
After spending most all the time and money in the world on women, wine and song, King Solomon concluded that all of life is vanity! " 'Everything is meaningless,' says The Teacher." (see Ecclesiastes 1:1) What a bleak outlook on life! But read the whole book- that is exactly what life is like without God. It's all meaningless without God. Without God, it's nothing but a set amount of time to kill before time kills us. The kicker is there at the end of the book. "The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)
Okay then- so if we start this quest for the meaning of life by looking outward to God instead of inward, where does that take us? Well, here are some Bible verses that speak to this point. God Himself tells us plainly our position in the universe and our purpose. While the Psalmist marvels that God should think of us at all- "What is man that You are mindful of us?" (see Psalms 8). Yet God made us "a little lower than the angels." (again, see Psalms 8). And since Genesis 1:26 tells us that God made us, male and female, in His image- we have an infinite booster shot's worth of self-worth right there! Of course, our worth is not in us- it's in Jesus. It's because we are made in His image that we are infinitely important and valuable. And God loves us with an eternal love because we are His creation. (Jeremiah 31:3)
And why were we created? What are we here on earth for? What are we? When are we? Where are we? Who are we? Why are we? Well, we need look no further than God. And He says that He created all things- and they were all created "for His pleasure". (Revelation 4:11) That's it right there. We were created to bring God pleasure. Unfortunately, too often we have brought Him nothing but heartache and grief, as Genesis 6:5-8 attests. Fortunately, that's where Jesus comes in- both figuratively and literally. Though we were created to bring God pleasure- and nothing brings Him more pleasure than our willing obedience to Him and worship of Him- we chose instead our own pleasure and chose to sin against God. And the wages of sin is death- and not just physical death. There is also the spiritual death we dwell in outside of Christ- and the eternal second death in Hell. However, after Adam and Eve's sin brought corruption to the whole earth and tainted the human race's bloodline with a sin nature, God still had a plan in mind to put right what once went wrong. And much like Dr. Sam Beckett quite literally in some ways becomes one with the person he Leaps into (on "Quantum Leap"), God became one of us in the person of Jesus Christ. And Jesus paid the price for us and made the sacrifice of His own life for all the sins of the world. And because He lives again, we have forgiveness from God and a restored relationship, all free for the asking. Romans 10:9 says if we confess Jesus as Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. And we can know we have an eternity with Him in Heaven instead. Praise God for His love! (see Philippians 2:1-11)
When we are in a right relationship with our Creator, everything falls into place. As we seek more and more to obey God and be more like Christ, we come to fulfill one of God's other purposes for our lives. We are created for His pleasure and one of the ways God gets the most pleasure is when we worship Him as He rightfully deserves and thus bring Him glory. He formed and made us for His glory. (see Isaiah 43:7). And the crazy cool thing is this- when we live in right relationship with God and seek to bring Him glory, we also find ourselves most fulfilled and find purpose in our lives. In becoming more like Christ, we become more ourselves than ever before, as C.S. Lewis once noted. Of course, there is a good reason for this. This is how God designed us to be- this is His original intent. He is a relational God and He desires us all to have a relationship with Him. And only in that relationship with Jesus can we truly find the fulfillment and purpose and meaning we are looking for in life. It just doesn't work any other way. Try to save your life- you'll lose it. Try to get ahead and win in life- ultimately, you'll fail and lose. What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul? If you want to know peace, fulfillment, purpose and meaning in life- they only come in following Jesus. Forget the pursuit of the temporal and rather pursue the eternal. Not only is the eternal all that will last- it's all that really matters in the end. The eternal not only rewards our permanent dwelling in Heaven with Christ- it enriches our time allotted in the land of our sojourn.
We are here for a reason. God has a purpose in mind for each one of us. He loves us with an eternal love and He has placed eternity in our hearts. To live for His glory and bring Him pleasure is built into our DNA- but it's only realized when we make the choice to follow His call and accept Christ as Savior through faith in His death and Resurrection as payment for all our sins and then live in union with Him- the way that He designed all along. To reject Him and His love is truly a living hell on earth that extends for eternity. To accept Him and His love is pure ecstasy- pure rapture for a captured heart that eternally dwells in His presence in His heavenly realms. He is the meaning of Life-He's The Way of enlightenment and understanding and wisdom- He is The Truth- there is no other. We either live with anathema or we can join an anthem of the everlasting Hallelujah chorus! Praise God for His love. :-)
So the call goes out to us all- forget about our own lives and pursuits- deny them all; yes, deny our very selves- take up our own cross and follow Jesus. It's a daily process and thankfully, one that He prearranges and ordains and maintains all the while working through our surrendered will and being. (See Matthew 6:24-28).God is faithful- even when we're not. (1 Corinthians 1:4-9). And what is His command? Love The Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind and strength- and love thy neighbor as thyself. And speak The Truth in Love. (See Matthew 22:34-40 and Ephesians 4:15). Love undergirds everything. So keep walking in fellowship with Jesus and live a life of purpose on purpose- just as He purposed it all along. That's The Way He planned it. There is no other way to truly live. This is The Life! And that's The Truth. :-)
Biblical (song)
A lot of devils have gone out into the world-a lot of false prophets are out in the world. And we must always be on our guard. Test the spirits and see whether they're from God or not. In a world of constant communication and instant information to access, there is a lot of misinformation out there as well. And we must be able to tell The Truth from all the lies. The spiritual world that's unseen definitely affects our physical world. And while we're out in it, let's get Biblical and know The Scriptures which are able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
"Biblical" (parody of "Physical" by Olivia Newton-John; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 6/11/2014)
(Deuteronomy 4:2 and 6:1-25 and 12:32 and 13:1-4 and 18:14-22, Revelation 22:18-19, The book of Jude, Romans 12:1-2, Galatians 1:1-9, Joshua 1:1-9, Romans 16:17-20, 1 John 4:1-6, 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, 1 Peter 5:8-11, Matthew 7:15-20, Matthew 24:4-14 and 24:21-28, Ezekiel 13:6, Ezekiel 22:25-28, Psalms 119:9-11, John 8:32-36, Ephesians 6, 2 Peter 2:1-22, Matthew 13:1-43, Acts 17:10-11, Proverbs 30:5-9, 2 Timothy 1:14 and 2:15)
You're saying all the things that you know I'll like- flattery, smooth conversation
I gotta hang on to Truth of Christ- I know what you seek
You twist grace to mean "sin and just do what you want"- bend Truth to subjective reading
Add something else that "God left out"- 4:2- check in Deuteronomy
Chorus
Let's get Biblical, Biblical- I wanna get Scriptural- Press it in my frontal lobe
Let me hear from God- He talks! So God, please talk! Let me hear Your Word be taught!
(Repeat Chorus)
1[One] in Galatians- read it good! If we preach different- or an angel-
A different Word- they're condemned, man- Proverbs says in 19
The Word sown- understands- grows quite a few- there grows seed on the good soil, see?
You gotta know The Word's teaching- Watch out! The wolves dress as sheep!
Chorus 2
Let's get Biblical, Biblical- I wanna get Scriptural- Press it in my frontal lobe
Let men all have lying talk, but God- He's true. Let me hear His Word be taught.
(Repeat Chorus 2)
So don't get cynical, quizzical- I wanna get spiritual- Let The Holy Spirit show
Let we read 1 John 4:1- 'cause God- He taught- Test spirits- From God or not?
They're heretical animals- roaring, evil lion-o! Read it in Ezekiel!
22- The Word- it talks! Our God's distraught- Let we heed our God- He talks!
Let we hear our God- He talks!
Let we hear Your Word be taught!
"Biblical" (parody of "Physical" by Olivia Newton-John; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 6/11/2014)
(Deuteronomy 4:2 and 6:1-25 and 12:32 and 13:1-4 and 18:14-22, Revelation 22:18-19, The book of Jude, Romans 12:1-2, Galatians 1:1-9, Joshua 1:1-9, Romans 16:17-20, 1 John 4:1-6, 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, 1 Peter 5:8-11, Matthew 7:15-20, Matthew 24:4-14 and 24:21-28, Ezekiel 13:6, Ezekiel 22:25-28, Psalms 119:9-11, John 8:32-36, Ephesians 6, 2 Peter 2:1-22, Matthew 13:1-43, Acts 17:10-11, Proverbs 30:5-9, 2 Timothy 1:14 and 2:15)
You're saying all the things that you know I'll like- flattery, smooth conversation
I gotta hang on to Truth of Christ- I know what you seek
You twist grace to mean "sin and just do what you want"- bend Truth to subjective reading
Add something else that "God left out"- 4:2- check in Deuteronomy
Chorus
Let's get Biblical, Biblical- I wanna get Scriptural- Press it in my frontal lobe
Let me hear from God- He talks! So God, please talk! Let me hear Your Word be taught!
(Repeat Chorus)
1[One] in Galatians- read it good! If we preach different- or an angel-
A different Word- they're condemned, man- Proverbs says in 19
The Word sown- understands- grows quite a few- there grows seed on the good soil, see?
You gotta know The Word's teaching- Watch out! The wolves dress as sheep!
Chorus 2
Let's get Biblical, Biblical- I wanna get Scriptural- Press it in my frontal lobe
Let men all have lying talk, but God- He's true. Let me hear His Word be taught.
(Repeat Chorus 2)
So don't get cynical, quizzical- I wanna get spiritual- Let The Holy Spirit show
Let we read 1 John 4:1- 'cause God- He taught- Test spirits- From God or not?
They're heretical animals- roaring, evil lion-o! Read it in Ezekiel!
22- The Word- it talks! Our God's distraught- Let we heed our God- He talks!
Let we hear our God- He talks!
Let we hear Your Word be taught!
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