Month: September 2014

You have covered Yourself with a cloud, that prayer should not pass through.

IrmMa

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You have covered Yourself with anger
And pursued us;
You have slain and not pitied.
44 You have covered Yourself with a cloud,
That prayer should not pass through.
45 You have made us an off scouring and refuse
In the midst of the peoples.

46 All our enemies
Have opened their mouths against us.
47 Fear and a snare have come upon us,
Desolation and destruction.
48 My eyes overflow with rivers of water
For the destruction of the daughter of my people.

49 My eyes flow and do not cease,
Without interruption,
50 Till the Lord from heaven
Looks down and sees.
51 My eyes bring suffering to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.

52 My enemies without cause
Hunted me down like a bird.
53 They silenced my life in the pit
And threw stones at me.
54 The waters flowed over my head;
I said, “I am cut off!”

55 I called on Your name, O Lord,
From the lowest pit.
56 You have heard my voice:
“Do not hide Your ear
From my sighing, from my cry for help.”

57 You drew near on the day I called on You,
And said, “Do not fear!”

Oh the love of God…

IrmMa

Rich Mullins – The Love Of God Lyrics

There’s a wideness in God’s mercy
I cannot find in my own
And He keeps His fire burning
To melt this heart of stone
Keeps me aching with a yearning
Keeps me glad to have been caught
In the reckless raging fury
That they call the love of God
Now I’ve seen no band of angels
But I’ve heard the soldiers’ songs
Love hangs over them like a banner
Love within them leads them on
To the battle on the journey
And it’s never gonna stop
Ever widening their mercies
And the fury of His love
Oh the love of God
And oh, the love of God
The love of GodJoy and sorrow are this ocean
And in their every ebb and flow
Now the Lord a door has opened
That all Hell could never close
Here I’m tested and made worthy
Tossed about but lifted up
In the reckless raging fury
That they call the love of God
IrmMa

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Psalm 19:1-6 

The Perfect Revelation of the Lord

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

19 The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.
2 Day unto day utters speech,
And night unto night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor language
Where their voice is not heard.
4 Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world.

In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,
5 Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
And rejoices like a strong man to run its race.
6 Its rising is from one end of heaven,
And its circuit to the other end;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

Rich Mullins…Seventeen years later

IrmMa

Rich Mullins went to be with His Lord Sept. 19, 1997. Find a Grave Memorial 

Seventeen years later his music, the way he lived his life… still quickens the spirit of the people.

In 1997, the world lost Princess Diana, the Christian music industry lost Rich Mullins and I lost my mother. All in a matter of 105 days. It’s an awful feeling to hear that a loved one, a close friend, an acquaintance, or even someone we looked up…may not have known the Lord. All we can do is hope that at some point in their life they heard the gospel, even on their deathbed and accepted the message of the Cross. Even with my mother, I wondered. I had not lived in my hometown in over a decade, so I admit I had my doubts. It was not until 2004, when I encountered an old friend and we got to talking about my mother and his wife, that had also passed on a few years earlier, that I finally got an answer. Well…he (my friend) shared with me that while I was gone (we were a military family)…he and his wife had seen my mom on and off while I was away and during one encounter he presented the gospel to her and she accepted Jesus. I could not have been more ecstatic and thankful. I knew her as a woman of faith in the few years before she passed on, but I myself was not right with God, and we still lived in different towns, so talk of faith and God was nonexistent. I saw her when time allowed, which was usually when she had fallen ill, but I never asked her about her faith. I praise God that He is faithful even when we are not.

I gave up secular music after I was saved. Except for a little country music, all I listened to was Christian music. Well, very little CCM could reach me like the music of Rich Mullins. The last six years God has been using the music and message of Rich Mullins to draw me closer to Him. Twenty years ago the world was not ready for Rich Mullins. Twenty years later, his music, his message still resonates with the heart seeking God. Twenty years later, CCM lyrics are bit more watered down for the millennial’s that want everything there way. They want it quick. They want it now. They want it to feel good. If it feels good, do it! Just do it! They want to be overcomer’s, without going through the Refiner’s fire.  I could be wrong, but I just don’t see anyone seeking God with a whole heart bypassing the Refiner’s fire.

http://ragamuffinthemovie.com/

Surrender is not easy.

“Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” Francis of Assisi

“I am thinking now of old Moses sitting on a mountain – sitting with God – looking across the Jordan into the Promised Land. I am thinking of the lump in his throat, that weary ache in his heart, that nearly bitter longing sweetened by the company of God…

And then God – the great eternal God – takes Moses’ thin-worn, thread-bare little body into His hands – hands into whose hollows you could pour the oceans of the world, hands whose breadth marked off the heavens – and with these enormous and enormously gentle hands, God folds Moses’ pale lifeless arms across his chest for burial.

I don’t know if God wept at Moses’ funeral. I don’t know if He cried when He killed the first of His creatures to take its skins to clothe this man’s earliest ancestors. I don’t know who will bury me –

…Of God, on whose breast old Moses lays his head like John the Beloved would lay his on the Christ’s. And God sits there quietly with Moses – for Moses – and lets His little man cry out his last moments of life.

But I look back over the events of my life and see the hands that carried Moses to his grave lifting me out of mine. In remembering I go back to these places where God met me and I meet Him again and I lay my head on His breast, and He shows me the land beyond the Jordan and I suck into my lungs the fragrance of His breath, the power of His presence.”
― Rich Mullins

 

That Narrow Road…

That Narrow Road…

IrmMa

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Matthew 7:13-14 The Narrow and Wide Gates

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

True believers in Christ, the chosen are all on the same narrow path. There is little room for error in our walk, not because we don’t fail God many times, but because God never fails us. The road is narrow, yet not congested as one might expect. There is ample room for error, but God’s mercies are new everyday.

Lamentations 3:22-23 “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”

The narrow path, praise God has a definite end, a wonderful end. But the narrow road is a road that leads you through a process of transformation. When you enter in, you enter in with your own world view that seems to resemble that of God, and you take with you your ideas of what God wants from you, but once you’re on the road, the Lord begins to unravel His will for your life. And the struggle to surrender begins. As carnal minded beings we are not quick at giving up those things that satisfy our innate physical, psychological and emotional needs. It’s not an easy road, there are bumps on the road, twists and turns, potholes, hills and valleys you must traverse and all all sorts of storms that you must endure, but the Lord is gracious in guiding you through the rough terrain. I guarantee you by the time you are half way through your journey, you will not be the same person.

Psalm 66:10 “For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined. You brought us into the net; You laid affliction on our backs. You have caused men to ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water; But You brought us out to rich fulfillment.

You will have a divine perspective on life. You will have the Spirit of God reassuring you to fear not, for the Lord is with you. Nevertheless, you have moments of doubt and fear, but the Lord is quick to comfort. The journey is long and arduous depending on how much baggage you brought along.

We are all dying, not just in the flesh, the true believer is also slowly putting to death the fleshly desires that so easily ensnare and draw the children of God away from the things of Him. Only God can transform, but only if we accept His Son. The narrow road is otherwise blocked. We cannot change ourselves, we cannot renew our mind, or change our heart in our own power to gain access to God, or by doing a 12 step program that addresses only the carnality of man. God must first call you, then you must go through the blood of the Lamb if you want to know God.

And when you have started this process of spiritual transformation, the Lord will reveal Himself, and He will reveal many things in His word. The Lord will use people to reach you, but their messages will only lead you back to His word. And during this process, you will be more attuned to the state of the spirit man and you will judge, but it’s OK. That’s part of our humanity to judge, even Jonah the prophet, dealt with this issue. As true believers we know full well that the Lord is gracious and forgiving when we repent of our sinful ways. But we would rather God to slay the wicked…to destroy the abominations that pervert His name. Yes, we think this way, because we get fed up with the evil in this world and we just want it to go away, but God has a plan. And we cannot understand His ways. It is easier for us, as believers to judge one another, to rely on our own self-righteousness than to trust God that He is working all things according to His perfect will.

We must all have the last word. We must all be right and everyone else is just wrong. We must act on the side of caution rather than to trust in God’s sovereignty. On the narrow road, you learn to surrender your will, your thoughts, your carnality, your world view, for God’s sovereignty. And when the Lord gets you to where He can use you, you realize the narrow path is longer than you could have imagined. And then the Lord gives you understanding as to why the narrow road is not always a popular road and why many Christians prefer the wider road. They have no vision for the things of God.

These believers live for the here and now. They want to be like Martha, busy, busy, busy, judging others for not doing. They want their treasures on earth. Their desire is for the accolades of man and God. See all I do for you Lord? Is there anything wrong with that?

If, as Christians we are to be united in the Christ, why is there a narrow road and a wide road? The two with totally different destinations.

All I hear is…

Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”

Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Then as Paul said, we too shall be able to say…”I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Be blessed.