Living in Narnia

Friday, July 11, 2003

Redeemer, Saviour, Friend

I know You had me on Your mind
When You climbed up on that hill
For You saw me with eternal eyes
While I was yet in sin
Redeemer, Saviour, Friend

Every stripe upon Your battered back
Every thorn that pierced Your brow
And every nail drove deep through guiltless hands
Said that Your love knows no end
Redeemer, Saviour, Friend

Redeemer, redeem my heart again
Saviour, come and shelter me from sin
You're familiar with my weakness
Devoted to the end
Redeemer, Saviour, Friend

So the grace You've poured upon my life
Will return to You in praise
And I'll gladly lay down all my crowns
For the Name by which I'm saved
For the Name by which I'm saved

Monday, July 07, 2003

O God, may the wonder of your love fill me now and always. Till the point that I desire nothing else, no other earthly pleasure, but You alone. Till the point that I throw down all my pride and am utterly humbled before You, at Your work on the Cross, and in our lives. To the point that Your love flows so naturally to all around me, and I am not afraid to shout Your love from the mountaintops. Till the point that I hate and despise sin, because I LOVE YOU LORD. To the point that my every breath, my every thought, my every sinew, my entire life, is Yours and Yours alone. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Do we understand the depth of God's love for us? We read the many verses in the Bible that describe its greatness, but deep within our heart, do we really understand and feel the depth of God's love? Our faith cannot be based on just pure knowledge alone, neither can it be built around feelings. It must be a combination of both- the mind's understanding, and the heart's response. We can easily describe how wonderful God's love is, and quote the Bible on it. But do we really, deep within our hearts, feel and understand it? I say this because I believe that if we really did, our lives would not be what they are now.

Think about the worst sin you have ever committed. Think about those times you have wilfully disobeyed Him. When I think back upon my own life I am so deeply ashamed to see the depth of my own sin, and the wickedness of my own heart. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Jeremiah 17:9. And the worst thing is that even after being forgiven, my heart again and again slips back into sin and pride, with astonishing speed.

One thing we must never do is to deny this. John the Baptist preached, "The time is fulfulled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." Mark 1:15. To repent we must face our sin and recognise how deep it runs. Perhaps Satan has dulled our senses and fed us a set of false, diminished standards; it is no wonder that the world today has such a warped, perverted sense of what is right. There are even people who believe that there is no such thing as sin. Yet a simple comparison of our lives to the three chapters of Matthew 5-7, Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, would show us how deep our sin runs. Some of us deeper than others, perhaps, but all have sinned.

It is only when we come to see how wicked and unfaithful we are, that we can begin to understand how deep God's love is for His people. Even the worst sin that you and I have committed, He took upon Himself when He endured silently the lashes of the cruel whips. The unfaithfulness that we are guilty of, He took upon Himself when He was nailed to the Cross. And the wicked nature that runs so deep in us, He took upon Himself when He suffered and died on Calvary. Four thousand years of disobedience and sin, and still God loves His people with the same everlasting love (Jer. 31:3). Not only does He forgive our sins, He opens the door to a life lived with Him, a life full of unspeakeable joy and peace, and an eternity beside Him. Take a while to reflect on how deep this love really is!

And why do I say that our lives can never be the same again? When we consider the depth of God's love for us, are we living our lives in a way that reflects gratitude for that love? Again when I look back on my own life, I am so deeply ashamed that despite the knowledge of God's love, my life still reflects so much of the old life- sin, unfaithfulness, pursuit of other things besides God. Hear the words of the song The Wondrous Cross-

Were the whole realm of nature mine
That were a present far too small
Love so amazing, so divine
Demands my soul, my life, my all

Such a love! Even if truly every single breath of our lives, every waking moment, were dedicated to Him, it would be insufficient to repay the debt of love that we owe our Saviour. To that we must aspire, but in truth even of that we are incapable! But God's love does not end there; He does not expect us to repay Him. He will not judge us on how well we have lived our lives, and love us in different measures. No, His Love is the same forever. Such a love!

The beautiful thing is, we do not change our lives in order to receive His love, a common misconception many non-Christians have. His love changes our lives. When we begin to grasp the depth of His love, all other earthly pursuits pale in comparison. We will learn to hate sin like never before, and love righteousness. We will want, very naturally, to dedicate every minute of our lives to Him. We will want to shout His love from the mountaintops, to every nation, every people. Too extreme? Too radical? Nothing is too radical in the light of God's love. And as we respond as radically as we can, God's love will become even more real and beautiful to us as we are filled with the knowledge of Him, to the point that His love is our all, our everything.

I am so deeply humbled when I realise how far I am from that. But I pray that the power of God's love will drive me relentlessly onwards to seek Him, and I pray that it will do the same for you.



Sunday, July 06, 2003

Three beautiful songs that have brought me much joy....

Knowing You by Graham Kendrick

All I once held dear, built my life upon
All this world reveres and wars to own
All I once thought gain I have counted loss
Spent and worthless now compared to this

Knowing You Jesus, knowing You
There is no greater thing
You're my all, You're the best
You're my joy, my righteousness
And I love You Lord

Now my heart's desire is to know you more
To be found in you, and known as yours
To possess by faith what I could not earn
All surpassing gift of righteousness

Oh to know the power of Your risen life
And to know You in Your sufferings
To become like You in Your death my Lord
So with You to live and never die

The Love of God by Frederick Martin Lehman

The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell
It goes beyond the highest star, and reaches to the lowest hell
The guilty pair, bowed down with care, God gave His Son to win
His erring child He reconciled, and pardoned from his sin

O love of God, how rich and pure
How measureless and strong
It shall forevermore endure
The saints’ and angels’ song

When years of time shall pass away, and earthly thrones and kingdoms fall
When men, who here refuse to pray, on rocks and hills and mountains call
God’s love so sure, shall still endure, all measureless and strong
Redeeming grace to Adam’s race the saints’ and angels’ song

Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made
Were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade
To write the love of God above, would drain the ocean dry
Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky

Just Let Me Say by Darlene Zschech

Just let me say
How much I love you
Let me speak of your mercy and grace
Just let me live
In the shadow of your beauty
Let me see you face to face
and the earth will shake
as your word goes forth
And the heavens
can tremble and fall
but let me say how much I love you
O my savior, my Lord and friend

Just let me hear
your finest whispers
As you gently call my name
And let me see
Your power and your glory
Let me feel your spirit's flame
Let me find you in the desert
'Til this sand is holy ground
And I am found completely surrendered
To you, my Lord and friend

So let me say
how much I love you
With all my heart I long for you
For I am caught
in the passion of knowing
This endless love
I've found in you
And the depth of grace, the forgiveness found
To be called a child of God
Just makes me say
How much I love you
O my savior, my Lord and friend

If you are facing big decisions and not sure about whether you're making the right one, maybe this page will help you...

http://www.gospelcom.net/rbc/ds/q0704/page4.html