One Solitary Life

"One Solitary Life" by James Allan Francis 

"Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another obscure village, where He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty, and then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never owned a home. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put his foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself. He had nothing to do with this world except the naked power of His divine manhood. While still a young man, the tide of public opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth while He was dying—and that was his coat. When he was dead He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone and today He is the centerpiece of the human race and the leader of the column of progress. I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever were built, and all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that One Solitary Life."

Your Love Never Fails

"Your Love Never Fails"

by Jesus Culture

"Nothing can separate
Even if I ran away
Your love never fails

I know I still make mistakes
But You have new mercies for me everyday
Your love never fails

Chorus:
You stay the same through the ages
Your love never changes
There maybe pain in the night but joy comes in the morning

And when the oceans rage
I don't have to be afraid
Because I know that You love me
Your love never fails

Verse 2:
The wind is strong and the water's deep
But I'm not alone in these open seas
Cause Your love never fails

The chasm is far too wide
I never thought I'd reach the other side
But Your love never fails

Bridge:
You make all things work together for my good"

Psalm 30:5b [NLT] ~ "Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning."


Hebrews 13:8 [ESV] ~ "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."


Romans 8:38-39 [Amplified Bible] ~ "For I am persuaded beyond doubt (am sure) that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers, Nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."


Psalm 46:1-3 [TNIV] ~ "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging."

Broken Cisterns

"What does not satisfy when we find it, was not the thing we were desiring." 
-C. S. Lewis


"If only you had this or that," the world lies to us, "then you would be happy." How come then, once we do achieve whatever goal we have set for ourselves, or attain whatever possession or relationship we were chasing after, that the satisfaction from it never lasts for long? We are always left wanting more.


Maybe the reason is because we thought we knew what we wanted, but actually we were way off target. Maybe what we really were desiring was fulfillment, and we thought we knew where we could find it--money, success, popularity, approval from others, a relationship, status, whatever else it may be. However, we were going to the wrong places to find this fulfillment. We thought things and people in this world could satisfy us, but in reality, these things do not have the power to fulfill us. God and God alone can give us complete satisfaction in Him.


Psalm 16:2 [NIV 2011]: "I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing."


In the book of Jeremiah, the people go after all sorts of other things, rather than following God. They have deserted God to chase after things that do not fulfill. It's a painful realization to see how often I can be like these people... I try to fill myself up with things that (intellectually) I know do not satisfy.


Jeremiah 2:13 [NIV]: "My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water."


I did a little online research to find out what a cistern actually was, and here's what I found...


Cistern definition: "a receptacle for water, either conducted from an external spring or proceeding from rain-fall."


From John Wesley: "Verse 13 -- Of living waters - A metaphor taken from springs, called living, because they never cease, or intermit; such had God's care and kindness been over them. Cisterns - Either their idols, which are empty vain things, that never answer expectation, or the Assyrians, and Egyptians. Indeed all other supports, that are trusted to besides God, are but broken vessels."


In short, the people had forsaken God, and pursued idols. Just a few thoughts on idols from Jeremiah...


Jeremiah 2:5 [NLT]: "This is what the Lord says: "What did your ancestors find wrong with me that led them to stray so far from me? They worshiped worthless idols, only to become worthless themselves.""


Jeremiah 10:5 [NLT]: "Their gods are like helpless scarecrows in a cucumber field! They cannot speak, and they need to be carried because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of such gods, for they can neither harm you nor do you any good."


Jeremiah 10:8 [Amplified Bible]: But they are altogether irrational and stupid and foolish. Their instruction is given by idols who are but wood [it is a teaching of falsity, emptiness, futility]!


Jeremiah 10:15 [NLT]: "Idols are worthless; they are ridiculous lies! On the day of reckoning they will all be destroyed."


"Idols always break the hearts of their worshipers."
-C. S. Lewis

Well said... If you are giving your life to something that cannot save, you are bound to be let down.

I am so thankful for the way God pursues me so persistently; even when I mess up, He loves me still the same. I am so thankful for his unending mercies, so thankful for how His love never fails.


Psalm 116:5 [NIV 2011]: "The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion."


Lamentations 3:22-23 [NLT]: "The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning."

Look To You

Love finding sweet OT stuff :) I really like King Jehoshaphat's prayer in 2 Chronicles 20...

2 Chronicles 20:6-12 [NLT] ~ He [King Jehoshaphat] prayed, “O Lord, God of our ancestors, you alone are the God who is in heaven. You are ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth. You are powerful and mighty; no one can stand against you! O our God, did you not drive out those who lived in this land when your people Israel arrived? And did you not give this land forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham? Your people settled here and built this Temple to honor your name. They said, ‘Whenever we are faced with any calamity such as war, plague, or famine, we can come to stand in your presence before this Temple where your name is honored. We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear us and rescue us.’
 “And now see what the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir are doing. You would not let our ancestors invade those nations when Israel left Egypt, so they went around them and did not destroy them. Now see how they reward us! For they have come to throw us out of your land, which you gave us as an inheritance. O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help.”

What a sweet, honest prayer, "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you." [ESV]. Totally trusting that God has a plan and God will deliver them... Where is my focus, especially when there are problems in my life and I don't know what to do? Is it on me, thinking my own strength will be the solution? Is my focus on the ground, on what's in front of me right now, instead of on God--who He is, what He has done, His promises? Do I believe the lie that my problems are too big for God? Too big for a God who created everything, who loves me beyond anything I can imagine? When my focus is on myself, rather than trusting God, this essentially is what I am saying.

This reminds me of one of my favorite passages... Hebrews 12:1-3 [NIV] ~ "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." 


2 Corinthians 4:18 [NIV] ~ "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."


Back to 2 Chronicles 15-17 [ESV] ~ Thus says the LORD to you, 'Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel.  You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you."


"See the salvation of the Lord on your behalf." I love this... In this passage, it is talking about the specific battle that Judah was fighting, but I think it also applies when thinking about the salvation we have through Christ Jesus. Jesus' sacrifice on the cross paid it all. He paid the price I could never pay. My assurance in Christ is not about what I have done, it is solely about what Christ did for me. On my behalf.


Hebrews 7:25 [NLT] ~ "Therefore He [Jesus] is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through Him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf."

Beautiful Ending

“Beautiful Ending” by BarlowGirl 


"Oh, tragedy,
Has taken so many.
Love lost 'cause they all
Forgot who You were.
And it scares me to think
That I would choose
My life over You.
Oh, my selfish heart
Divides me from You,
It tears us apart.


So tell me,
What is our ending?
Will it be beautiful,
So beautiful?


Oh, why do I
Let myself let go
Of Hands that painted the stars
And hold tears that fall?
And the pride of my heart
Makes me forget
It's not me but You
Who makes the heart beat.
I'm lost without You
And dying from me


So tell me,
What is our ending?
Will it be beautiful,
So beautiful?


Will my life
Find me by Your side?
Your love is beautiful,
So beautiful


At the end of it all,
I wanna be in Your arms.
At the end of it all,
I wanna be in Your arms.
At the end of it all,
I wanna be in Your arms.
At the end of it all,
I wanna be in Your arms.


So tell me,
What is our ending?
Will it be beautiful,
So beautiful?
Will my life
Find me by Your side?
'Cause Your love is beautiful,
So beautiful"

BarlowGirl's reason for writing this song goes along so well with what I’ve been reading lately, 2 Chronicles. This scenario seems to play out again and again—the leaders and kings of Judah seem to be so on track with following the Lord, He has blessed them with great ministries… but then, something happens and they turn away. They become distracted. Something else seems to become greater than God. Here is the story that sticks out to me the most right now.

King Asa’s Story:

Chapters 14 to 16 of Second Chronicles talk about King Asa’s reign in Judah. 2 Chronicles 14:2 says, “And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God.” He “commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment” (14:4).

King of Judah, Asa, and his army of 300,000 men are about to fight the Ethiopians’ army of a million men (14:9). “And Asa cried to the Lord his God, “O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you" (14:11). And the Lord gave victory to Judah.

“And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought Him with their whole desire, and He was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around (15:15). King Asa must have hated sin and idolatry because he destroyed an idolatrous image that his own mother had (15:16). 2 Chronicles 15:17 says “The heart of Asa was wholly true all his days.” For the first 35 years of his ruling as King of Judah, Asa had followed the Lord.

The 36^th year is where Asa falls into trouble. “But in the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, Baasha king of Israel attacked. He started it by building a fort at Ramah and closing the border between Israel and Judah to keep Asa king of Judah from leaving or entering” (16:1 [The Message]). Instead of crying out to the Lord for help, he took matters into his own hands. He sent gold and silver from The Temple of God to send to Ben-hadad, king of Syria to make a treaty with him.

2 Chronicles 16:7-9 of The Message says, "Just after that, Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said, "Because you went for help to the king of Aram and didn't ask God for help, you've lost a victory over the army of the king of Aram. Didn't the Ethiopians and Libyans come against you with superior forces, completely outclassing you with their chariots and cavalry? But you asked God for help and he gave you the victory. God is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout for people who are totally committed to him. You were foolish to go for human help when you could have had God's help. Now you're in trouble—one round of war after another."" King Asa had forgotten what the Lord had done for him in the past. He had forgotten how the Lord had delivered him.

And what was Asa’s response to this rebuke? Asa’s heart hardened toward the Lord. He threw the seer in prison and was cruel to some of the people (16:10). In the 39^th year of his reign, King Asa got a terrible foot disease. “Yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but sought help from physicians” (16:12). King Asa, who had started out following the Lord so strongly in the beginning, lost sight of who God is, how BIG He is, how He alone is able to SAVE.

How easily I can forget who God is and how much He loves me. How easily my focus shifts from the Lord and onto myself.

How essential it is to trust in God’s character and His promises. God's character doesn't change with our circumstances. No matter what I am facing or how I am feeling, His love remains.


"Though our feelings come and go, God's love for us does not." -- C.S. Lewis


Romans 8:37-39: "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Obedience

Hidden Work by Elizabeth Elliot

"Few of us accomplish without delay or interruption what we set out to accomplish. Plans are made, and they fail. We dream dreams, and they are not fulfilled. Even what seem to be soberly realistic schedules are interrupted by unforeseen demands. Often we are tempted to quit our efforts altogether, to take a careless attitude, or to give in to helplessness, despair, and frustration.

When the apostle Paul's itinerant ministry was brought to a standstill by his imprisonment in Rome, he had plenty of human reasons for giving up. He wrote to the Christians at Philippi, who themselves were suffering persecution, reminding them of the humble obedience of Christ. "You too, my friends, must be obedient, as always.... You must work out your own salvation in fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you, inspiring both the will and the deed, for his own chosen purpose. Do all you have to do without complaint or wrangling" (Phil 2:12-14 NEB).

Imprisonments, persecutions, late planes, an attack of the flu, an uninvited guest, or an unpleasant confrontation--never mind. Be obedient as always! Such a simple directive. So hard to carry out--unless we also remember that we are not by any means alone in our effort. God also is at work in us, always accomplishing what we could not accomplish if left to ourselves: his own chosen purpose."