they stay where they lie
Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Ezekiel 36:25-27 (nkjv)
This morning I was worshipping God with some songs on the radio, during a time I love on Sunday mornings they call a River of Praise on the station I was listening to. It's so good to hear non-stop worship on the radio.
I'll fly away, Oh Glory
I'll fly away;
(in the morning)When I die,
Hallelujah, by and by,
I'll fly away (I'll fly away).
When I'm worshipping Jesus, I don't want to be interrupted. And I definitely could do without knowing if Chris - or any other worship leader for that matter - wears boxers or briefs. Talk about killing the Spirit. The enemy is so subtle. We are in the end times, and the enemy is breathing his foul breath on anything marked for God's glory. He tries his very best to taint and twist what God has done.
There is a dent in my wall that the new homeowner will probably not appreciate. It's from when I threw a book across my kitchen after hearing a segueway into commercial after a radio station played Forever. "That was Forever by Chris Tomlin. Hey, does it seem like forever since you've been on vacation? Well, let me tell you about blah blah..." It wasn't the first time I heard it and it just makes me anger rise up in my spirit every time. I'm jealous with a godly jealousy for this city to know God.
I know I don't need to defend my God. He is my Defender. But I am asking Him to open our eyes to the ways we play into the enemy's strategies to numb us to the truth, to soften us into apathy. To dull our passion, to turn our hearts. Satan wants idol worship to happen of worship leaders - of any of God's leaders - because he knows it will turn our hearts from the Lord.
The Lord says there is a harvest coming in. Believe it. The days before Jesus comes back are getting fewer.
Be glad then, you children of Zion,
And rejoice in the LORD your God;
For He has given you the former rain
faithfully,
And He will cause the rain to come
down for you -
Joel 2: 23
The rain is coming. That passage so comforts me as I think of all He has done, and all He is going to do.
I love the movie The Last of the Mohicans. The unseen warpath we tread on every day could be embodied in the passageways the Mohicans use to take flight in this movie. Our paths can be perilous, dark, with certain enemies quietly waiting in thick surroundings to ambush us. Yet God's glory cuts through it like a knife, as His Glory rides in on a white horse, His eyes like fire as a double-edged sword comes sharp and gleaming out of His mouth. I long for that day. I mean really long for it. Yet He is here with me now, his arms quick to pick me up and put me on the back of His horse before the enemy can move in for the kill. He is my Beautiful Saviour.
There is a scene I love in the movie, where Daniel Day-Lewis' character Nathaniel discovers the slain bodies and burnt home of his close friends. The woman he is leading through the woods doesn't realize they are his friends and angrily accuses him of being unfeeling, uncaring as he sees them and then continues on his way.
He turns back to her and with great restraint and tears in his eyes that flash anger, he says "They are not strangers to me. And they stay where they lie." He knows if he buries the bodies the enemy will notice and be on their trail.
In the wreckage of my own life, there are times when God lifts His hand and lets me be as wheat on the threshing floor, staying where I lie. The enemy cannot kill me but perhaps I am allowed to be sifted as wheat. I know He does it with tears in His eyes because of His great love for me. I cry out to Him, but He knows in the threshing I will be delivered. I may think God is cruel, is unfeeling, when I'm on the floor. But His great heart knows feeling, knows love I cannot even begin to fathom the depths of. Isaiah 41.
In His mighty mercy and protection, He is doing the one thing that will keep me alive. That will keep my heart from straying from Him. So I pray that you will be strong in the Lord as well in your own testing, that you will know you are so loved by Him. You are His beloved and nothing can separate you from His love. Let us boast in His name alone!
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life,
nor angels nor principalities nor powers,
nor things present nor things to come,
nor height nor depth, nor any other
created thing, shall be able to separate us from the
love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38,39 (nkjv)
This morning I was worshipping God with some songs on the radio, during a time I love on Sunday mornings they call a River of Praise on the station I was listening to. It's so good to hear non-stop worship on the radio.
I'll fly away, Oh Glory
I'll fly away;
(in the morning)When I die,
Hallelujah, by and by,
I'll fly away (I'll fly away).
Love that song. As the song ends, the deejay starts talking about Chris Tomlin; how he lives in Austin -then he plays a clip from an old interview they did with him. Does Chris wear boxers or briefs? Does Chris like blondes or brunettes? Does Chris like Spiderman or Superman?... the questions go on.
Before I write anything else, let me just say that I trust Chris Tomlin's heart is about Jesus. It's not like this was his idea. And I'm not dogging the radio station people either. I know our war is not with flesh and blood, but with the principalities of the air.When I'm worshipping Jesus, I don't want to be interrupted. And I definitely could do without knowing if Chris - or any other worship leader for that matter - wears boxers or briefs. Talk about killing the Spirit. The enemy is so subtle. We are in the end times, and the enemy is breathing his foul breath on anything marked for God's glory. He tries his very best to taint and twist what God has done.
There is a dent in my wall that the new homeowner will probably not appreciate. It's from when I threw a book across my kitchen after hearing a segueway into commercial after a radio station played Forever. "That was Forever by Chris Tomlin. Hey, does it seem like forever since you've been on vacation? Well, let me tell you about blah blah..." It wasn't the first time I heard it and it just makes me anger rise up in my spirit every time. I'm jealous with a godly jealousy for this city to know God.
I know I don't need to defend my God. He is my Defender. But I am asking Him to open our eyes to the ways we play into the enemy's strategies to numb us to the truth, to soften us into apathy. To dull our passion, to turn our hearts. Satan wants idol worship to happen of worship leaders - of any of God's leaders - because he knows it will turn our hearts from the Lord.
The Lord says there is a harvest coming in. Believe it. The days before Jesus comes back are getting fewer.
Be glad then, you children of Zion,
And rejoice in the LORD your God;
For He has given you the former rain
faithfully,
And He will cause the rain to come
down for you -
Joel 2: 23
The rain is coming. That passage so comforts me as I think of all He has done, and all He is going to do.
I love the movie The Last of the Mohicans. The unseen warpath we tread on every day could be embodied in the passageways the Mohicans use to take flight in this movie. Our paths can be perilous, dark, with certain enemies quietly waiting in thick surroundings to ambush us. Yet God's glory cuts through it like a knife, as His Glory rides in on a white horse, His eyes like fire as a double-edged sword comes sharp and gleaming out of His mouth. I long for that day. I mean really long for it. Yet He is here with me now, his arms quick to pick me up and put me on the back of His horse before the enemy can move in for the kill. He is my Beautiful Saviour.
There is a scene I love in the movie, where Daniel Day-Lewis' character Nathaniel discovers the slain bodies and burnt home of his close friends. The woman he is leading through the woods doesn't realize they are his friends and angrily accuses him of being unfeeling, uncaring as he sees them and then continues on his way.
He turns back to her and with great restraint and tears in his eyes that flash anger, he says "They are not strangers to me. And they stay where they lie." He knows if he buries the bodies the enemy will notice and be on their trail.
In the wreckage of my own life, there are times when God lifts His hand and lets me be as wheat on the threshing floor, staying where I lie. The enemy cannot kill me but perhaps I am allowed to be sifted as wheat. I know He does it with tears in His eyes because of His great love for me. I cry out to Him, but He knows in the threshing I will be delivered. I may think God is cruel, is unfeeling, when I'm on the floor. But His great heart knows feeling, knows love I cannot even begin to fathom the depths of. Isaiah 41.
In His mighty mercy and protection, He is doing the one thing that will keep me alive. That will keep my heart from straying from Him. So I pray that you will be strong in the Lord as well in your own testing, that you will know you are so loved by Him. You are His beloved and nothing can separate you from His love. Let us boast in His name alone!
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life,
nor angels nor principalities nor powers,
nor things present nor things to come,
nor height nor depth, nor any other
created thing, shall be able to separate us from the
love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38,39 (nkjv)