Tonight I was helping at my church's Wednesday night Kids program, Kidzlife. Myself and another young lady help lead the music. These are not just kid songs that sing about animals going two by two, and putting your right foot in or out-shaking it all about, and about Jesus loving you this I know. These songs are deep (not saying those aren't...) and are so full of truths, and praise, and worship. One song in particular really struck me tonight. It is all about giving your all to God. As I was leading the song, I was looking at the kids faces and longed so much for them to mean the words they were singing...to live those words. Then, within a moment, I realized how beautiful it is when those precious kids actually DO mean the words they are singing, the faith they have in their Redeemer, oh, their childlike faith. And do we not have to have faith like a child to enter the Kingdom of Heaven? (Mark 10:15; Matthew 18:3)
So, this is the song, written by Hillsong for their Hillsong Kidz album, 'Tell the World.' I hope you enjoy it, and please don't read the lyrics just to read them. Absorb them, and give them back to your Father.
If I say I'll live for You for the glory of my King
If I say I'll count the cost and offer You my everything
If I pray with all my heart my way to be Your way
Then I just want to live the very words I say
My God I pray
Not my will but Yours alone
Let my life be not my own
Until everything I am is just for You
So far beyond the words I sing
I'm going to honor You as King
If You live in me, I can live for You.
Not my will but Yours alone
Let my life be not my own
Until everything I am is just for You
And I want so badly for everything I am to be just for my Redeemer.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Happiness vs. Joy
A couple of weeks ago I was reading about how much God loves us...and how much happiness is not a part of Him showing how much He loves us. By human standards, if you love someone, you try and make them happy. By God's perfect standards, He loves us by doing what is best for us, which sometimes grieves us, sometimes excites us, sometimes confuses us, and sometimes just outright gives us 'aggalio', or ecstatic joy.
It is not God's goal in life to make us happy. He desires that our lives bring Him glory. Glory through the way we live, the words we say, the thoughts we dwell on, the desires we have....our lives belong to Him. He is the incredible potter. We are the clay that He is melting, breaking, molding, and perfecting. What a blessing it is when His goal brings us overwhelming joy. But, as a Christian, are we not filled with overwhelming joy anyways? We have this treasure in jars of clay (2 Cor. 4:7) that God Himself has put within us. Oh, the Holy Spirit! The knowledge of God! The faith in Christ and His return! How could we, as daughters of the Most High, not be overflowing with joy? No--we may not always be happy. But I will take joy any day over happiness. Praise God for the way He plans our days. Our moments. Our steps. "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Eph. 2:10) And I praise Him when those plans lead me to happiness. But when they lead me to sorrow, may His peace resonate so deeply that joy vibrates out of my life.
It is not God's goal in life to make us happy. He desires that our lives bring Him glory. Glory through the way we live, the words we say, the thoughts we dwell on, the desires we have....our lives belong to Him. He is the incredible potter. We are the clay that He is melting, breaking, molding, and perfecting. What a blessing it is when His goal brings us overwhelming joy. But, as a Christian, are we not filled with overwhelming joy anyways? We have this treasure in jars of clay (2 Cor. 4:7) that God Himself has put within us. Oh, the Holy Spirit! The knowledge of God! The faith in Christ and His return! How could we, as daughters of the Most High, not be overflowing with joy? No--we may not always be happy. But I will take joy any day over happiness. Praise God for the way He plans our days. Our moments. Our steps. "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Eph. 2:10) And I praise Him when those plans lead me to happiness. But when they lead me to sorrow, may His peace resonate so deeply that joy vibrates out of my life.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Deserve
"I'll stop this pretending that I can somehow deserve what I already have." -Barlow Girl
Good evening. That lyric up above is from a song that I hear often, yet yesterday on our way home from Tennessee, I really paid attention to it. I pretend all the time that I can deserve God's love. Not out in public, of course. But in my devotional time....in my prayer time...my one-on-one time with my All Sufficient Father and Redeemer, I pretend that I can deserve His love. Like I can do enough, or say enough...or spend enough time with Him.
But I can't. The truth is, we don't deserve His love. Not in the slightest bit. We are evil to our core. Born into sin. Master manipulators and justifiers of wrongs. We don't even deserve to ponder His greatness! Yet, here we are. His creation. Made for His glory. And He loves us. Oh how He loves us! So dearly, and so entirely. He will never leave nor forsake us. He loves us more than we can ever understand. What we do understand of His love is overwhelming. Crushing. And I hunger for more of Him...and I hunger to learn how to love Him more.
Friends, we don't deserve His love. But He pours it out on us anyways. I need to learn to accept it, cherish it, and love Him more rather than 'doing' to 'gain His love.' Oh how perfect He is. How perfect I'm not! And He loves me anyways. Praise God!
Good evening. That lyric up above is from a song that I hear often, yet yesterday on our way home from Tennessee, I really paid attention to it. I pretend all the time that I can deserve God's love. Not out in public, of course. But in my devotional time....in my prayer time...my one-on-one time with my All Sufficient Father and Redeemer, I pretend that I can deserve His love. Like I can do enough, or say enough...or spend enough time with Him.
But I can't. The truth is, we don't deserve His love. Not in the slightest bit. We are evil to our core. Born into sin. Master manipulators and justifiers of wrongs. We don't even deserve to ponder His greatness! Yet, here we are. His creation. Made for His glory. And He loves us. Oh how He loves us! So dearly, and so entirely. He will never leave nor forsake us. He loves us more than we can ever understand. What we do understand of His love is overwhelming. Crushing. And I hunger for more of Him...and I hunger to learn how to love Him more.
Friends, we don't deserve His love. But He pours it out on us anyways. I need to learn to accept it, cherish it, and love Him more rather than 'doing' to 'gain His love.' Oh how perfect He is. How perfect I'm not! And He loves me anyways. Praise God!
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