Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

I have been singing this song a lot recently and it is quickly becoming one of my favorite hymns. In reading the worlds and trying to decipher a meaning, I really see three ideas being weaved together. 


1) A longing to be in Heaven. 
2) Being pursued, and then bound to Christ. 
3) Our Earthly Bodies vs Spiritual Bodies. 

"Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

Prone to leave the God I love;

Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,

Seal it for Thy courts above."

This is definitely my favorite part of the hymn. It speaks so true to our natural tendencies to follow our own path. Especially coming off of a "spiritual high," we selfishly try and face the world without acknowledging our Lord. This only leads to despair. I love the plea at the end asking the Lord to keep our hearts in Heaven to avoid the frailty of this world. 

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,

Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;

Streams of mercy, never ceasing,

Call for songs of loudest praise.

Teach me some melodious sonnet,

Sung by flaming tongues above.

Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,

Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,

Till released from flesh and sin,

Yet from what I do inherit,

Here Thy praises I’ll begin;

Here I raise my Ebenezer;

Here by Thy great help I’ve come;

And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,

Safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,

Wandering from the fold of God;

He, to rescue me from danger,

Interposed His precious blood;

How His kindness yet pursues me

Mortal tongue can never tell,

Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me

I cannot proclaim it well.

O to grace how great a debtor

Daily I’m constrained to be!

Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,

Bind my wandering heart to Thee.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

Prone to leave the God I love;

Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,

Seal it for Thy courts above.

O that day when freed from sinning,

I shall see Thy lovely face;

Clothed then in blood washed linen

How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;

Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,

Take my ransomed soul away;

Send thine angels now to carry

Me to realms of endless day.

Steadfast Progression

Two verses today:

"For God is working in you the desire and the power to do what pleases him."

-- Philipians 2:13

"Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land."

--  Exodus 23:30

*Note: For some excellent commentary on the Exodus verse, visit the blog my friend Dan and his wife Jess  have. It's pretty sweet. 

Now I am just going to be completely open here. I used struggle a lot with lust. I still have my battles with it, but nothing compared to where I once was. I used to be addicted to it in a sense where my mind just felt permanently trapped with thoughts, images, etc. Glory be to our God for what he has done in my life to continue to win me over from this horrid stronghold Satan thinks he has on me. I often hear stories of how people have seemingly overcome an addiction or an idol in one night's sleep and I desperately wanted that. Then I came across the pair of verses and realized the lesson the Lord is teaching me. 

To me, both verses have a theme of progression. They speak about how the Lord, over time, does all things for His glory. 

In his post, Dan writes: "God doesn't drive all of our sin out the moment we become bound for the promised land and saved into the kingdom of God."

I have noticed in the past few battles that they are stronger and more persistent, but I have also recognized how the Lord is filling me with more and more strength. If the intensity of these battles were present maybe a few months ago, I would not have been able to stand as strongly in the Lord as I am today. "Little by little" with each battle, the Lord has sharpened me a little more. Maybe my resistance has lasted longer, I am quicker to avoid certain situations etc. God is working in me, this power to resist. 

A year or so ago if I would have woken up completely rid of all this sin, I probably would not have acknowledged that it was the Lord's doing. I would have gone on living without lifting a single praise. Now, the Lord is increasing my reliance on Him. Dan said it best with, "he takes time in sanctifying us to the point where we realize that we must be absolutely dependent on Him for everything." I am only stronger because of my Lord. Without him, I would be swallowed up by all this evil. 

One final point that is only the start of a further discussion, but these battles remind me of my desperate need for Jesus. The Lord knew I was going to need an atonement for my sins, he knows the future battles that I am going to need a savior for. What a wonderful God we have who already gave us this savior! It's Jesus! 

Mighty Creator

On Saturday, I took a day trip to a cousin's wedding in Virginia. The wedding was wonderful, minus the switch from an outside wedding to an indoor one because of rain. My uncle gave a great meditation on the importance of having a Christ centered marriage, and the food was excellent! When we were driving home that evening, we took a different route than normal because of our location. The drive turned out to be a huge blessing because of the scenery. 


For about the first hour and a half of the trip I found myself driving in a valley with mountains on either side of me. Fog was scattered on mountaintops and the whole view was just breathtaking. I could not help but find so much peace from the Lord. Coming off of a week where I have been struggling with a few things, seeing these mountains tower over me, brought a sense of security. I also knew that the security could only be found in Christ. Naturally I found myself praying a lot to the Lord during this time and mainly just glorifying His name. 


The view was similar to this picture courtesy of google images:

Philippians

"I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put her for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. what then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice."

-- Philippians 1:12-18 (ESV)

Question: Why does a "loving" God allow "terrible" things to happen to His "children?"

The previous question popped into mind upon reading the verses in Philippians. These are just some thoughts on the two.  

Paul experienced a lot in His journey proclaiming God's truth. He suffered from imprisonments, beatings, etc. Yet, His faith is solid as we know from 2 Corinthians 4:17 (ESV)

"For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison." 

 Paul, in verse 12 of Philippians 1,  gives his understanding for why he has faced what he has faced. He says it is for the advancement of the Gospel. It showed that there was no hindrance in spreading salvation. It also showed his faith in trusting that Lord will always take care of him, and it also proved his allegiance. He did not give in to his sufferings. He stayed bold in his faith preaching truth. 

So in our own lives I can view a few possible reasons for sufferings:

1. Tests of faith.  How are we going to respond when faced with a challenge? Will we rely on the Lord for strength, guidance, everything, or will we turn to worldly things that have no value?
2. Proof. I feel that some experiences serve as reminders that the things in this world are only temporary. We are in need of something greater. The greater being a savior, our Lord. 
3. Advancement. What we experience can be used to glorify God even more! It can open opportunities to share the Gospel with others who are experiencing the same battles. 

Hillsong United - Awakening

"Let your will be done, Lord let your will be done in me!"

This song comes from the newest Hillsong CD, which has been in my car for a few weeks now. It has sort of been an anthem in my life currently, just in dealing with a few things I have really felt my heart cry out to the Lord when I am immersed in this song!

Enjoy!