Monday, April 20, 2009, 7:00 a.m. – I woke with this song in my head:
Undo / Rush of Fools
I've been here before, now here I am again
Standing at the door, praying You'll let me back in
To label me a prodigal would be
Only scratching the surface of who I've been known to be
I focused on the score, but I could never win
Trying to ignore, a life of hiding my sin
To label me a hypocrite would be
Only scratching the surface of who I've been known to be
Make every step lead me back to
The sovereign way that You
Turn me around pick me up
Undo what I've become
Bring me back to the place
Of forgiveness and grace
I need You, need Your help
I can't do this myself
You’re the only one who can undo
What I've become
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read II Timothy 4:
My understanding: This song began going through my head sometime in the middle of the day yesterday. So I began praying, asking the Lord if he was trying to tell me something; if I was being hypocritical in anything I was doing. And, if so, I asked that he would reveal to me any hypocrisies in my life. Yet, he has not shown me anything.
Then, again this morning I woke with this song in my head, but it doesn’t appear to fit with the passage of scripture, except in vv. 17-18 where Paul talks about those who deserted him in ministry and who opposed the message of the gospel. The Lord gave him strength and delivered him from the “lion’s mouth.” And, he expressed that he knew that the Lord would rescue him from every evil attack.
Satan can put good Christian songs in our heads, too, to try to imitate God in trying to convict us of sin, only he does so by vague accusations, whereas the Holy Spirit convicts of specific sin. I did not ignore the possibility that this was the Holy Spirit speaking to my heart. I opened up myself before the Lord and inquired of him as to what he might be trying to tell me through the lyrics of this song, but still I have not received any specific word from the Lord in this matter.
Last evening, at Bible study, we studied Romans 8 where it says: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death…
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
… "For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen!
Hypocrite: “fraud; somebody who pretends to have admirable principles, beliefs, or feelings but behaves otherwise” (Encarta Dictionary & Thesaurus).
On further examination of the scriptures, I do see that this passage of scripture is talking about teachers who tell people what their itching ears want to hear. They pretend to be ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and yet what they spew out are messages that are not sound in doctrine; that turn away from the truth; and that turn aside to myths. So, in essence, they are hypocrites.
Myth: “a widely held but mistaken belief; a set of often idealized or glamorized ideas and stories surrounding a particular phenomenon, concept, or famous person.” (Encarta Dictionary)
The encouragement here first of all, whenever we sense that the Holy Spirit might be speaking to our hearts, is that we should listen, that we should pray, and that we should examine our hearts, but that we should be cognizant, also, of how Satan attacks with vague accusations. We need to entrust ourselves to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, trusting that He will convict of specific sin and then leave it there with Him to do His work.
Secondly, we need to be in the Word so that we will be discerning of those teachers who are speaking what people’s “itching ears” want to hear. We need to know the truth so that we can be discerning of doctrinal error. We need to be followers of and teachers of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And, we need to not be disheartened by those who desert the faith, who persecute and who reject us. We need to be encouraged in knowing that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord, and in knowing that the Lord will stand by our side and will give us strength if we are walking in communion with and obedience to Him.
The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Undo / Rush of Fools
I've been here before, now here I am again
Standing at the door, praying You'll let me back in
To label me a prodigal would be
Only scratching the surface of who I've been known to be
I focused on the score, but I could never win
Trying to ignore, a life of hiding my sin
To label me a hypocrite would be
Only scratching the surface of who I've been known to be
Make every step lead me back to
The sovereign way that You
Turn me around pick me up
Undo what I've become
Bring me back to the place
Of forgiveness and grace
I need You, need Your help
I can't do this myself
You’re the only one who can undo
What I've become
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read II Timothy 4:
My understanding: This song began going through my head sometime in the middle of the day yesterday. So I began praying, asking the Lord if he was trying to tell me something; if I was being hypocritical in anything I was doing. And, if so, I asked that he would reveal to me any hypocrisies in my life. Yet, he has not shown me anything.
Then, again this morning I woke with this song in my head, but it doesn’t appear to fit with the passage of scripture, except in vv. 17-18 where Paul talks about those who deserted him in ministry and who opposed the message of the gospel. The Lord gave him strength and delivered him from the “lion’s mouth.” And, he expressed that he knew that the Lord would rescue him from every evil attack.
Satan can put good Christian songs in our heads, too, to try to imitate God in trying to convict us of sin, only he does so by vague accusations, whereas the Holy Spirit convicts of specific sin. I did not ignore the possibility that this was the Holy Spirit speaking to my heart. I opened up myself before the Lord and inquired of him as to what he might be trying to tell me through the lyrics of this song, but still I have not received any specific word from the Lord in this matter.
Last evening, at Bible study, we studied Romans 8 where it says: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death…
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
… "For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen!
Hypocrite: “fraud; somebody who pretends to have admirable principles, beliefs, or feelings but behaves otherwise” (Encarta Dictionary & Thesaurus).
On further examination of the scriptures, I do see that this passage of scripture is talking about teachers who tell people what their itching ears want to hear. They pretend to be ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and yet what they spew out are messages that are not sound in doctrine; that turn away from the truth; and that turn aside to myths. So, in essence, they are hypocrites.
Myth: “a widely held but mistaken belief; a set of often idealized or glamorized ideas and stories surrounding a particular phenomenon, concept, or famous person.” (Encarta Dictionary)
The encouragement here first of all, whenever we sense that the Holy Spirit might be speaking to our hearts, is that we should listen, that we should pray, and that we should examine our hearts, but that we should be cognizant, also, of how Satan attacks with vague accusations. We need to entrust ourselves to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, trusting that He will convict of specific sin and then leave it there with Him to do His work.
Secondly, we need to be in the Word so that we will be discerning of those teachers who are speaking what people’s “itching ears” want to hear. We need to know the truth so that we can be discerning of doctrinal error. We need to be followers of and teachers of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And, we need to not be disheartened by those who desert the faith, who persecute and who reject us. We need to be encouraged in knowing that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord, and in knowing that the Lord will stand by our side and will give us strength if we are walking in communion with and obedience to Him.
The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
