His Church

Many a times, we the Church look at people and approach them as projects based on their skill, weighing how we can use them for our benefit. We belittle individuals and cut them down in size yet appearing as if we care and want the best for them.

The church is meant to see people for who they are, as individual lives that are worthy of being loved and being known. They should never embrace someone because they want something out of them but because they yearn to love and affirm just as Christ does.
Our desire should be to see people grow, nourished, mature and  bear fruit through every season. Our goal is to love and bring hope for that very love that we express, that genuine relationship that we partake in transforms imperfect people and stirs them to serve not just God but His church in passion & thanksgiving.

Just as we go before God as we are for the first time.. in our brokenness and failure and just as His love overflows into our hearts only to change us into someone beautifully new so must the Church be transforming, spirit filled gracious, unconditional and genuine . We are his hands and feet. We are meant to be here for each other not to gain but to give. And in this giving comes reward as we become who we are meant to be.

The church does not exist to serve itself nor gain for itself through people but exists to glorify God and serve people for no gain of their own.

It is rare that we approach a person out of genuine desire to serve them and see them grow. It is rare that we put what’s best for them above what’s best for us. We ask ourselves, how will this investment benefit me? What do they have to give back? Perhaps they have nothing. Not now, anyway.
People are real. They are not meant to be pursued based on how much they can be used for the “apparent” glory of god . We the church are meant to serve the heart, soul & body. We are meant to be like Christ, to do as Christ . We are meant to be His Church.

Limitless

God is holy and unchanging and He takes His stand on things perfectly. I have known that He is limitless and that His ways are profound. His words do not hinder His ways, His holiness is no barrier to His compassion and His covenant does not stop his justice. He desolates the world for one beloved soul, never permitting His own laws to hold them captive.  Each divine command has it's own mystery that is revealed if one looks deeper and opens their heart. Yes, to all creation there is a limit but His ways are boundless.

God breaks no vow he makes but when oppression prevails He moves swiftly destroying that which man once used Him to put together. He is a God of second chances to the weak & weary. His commands do not leave lives bound and neither does He second those who hide behind His law for when injustice conceals itself behind God's command they cause more damage than they ever could on their own.

His laws don't bind.. They fulfill each other... justice  & mercy walk hand in hand.

Young hearts

Young hearts thrive with a passion that burns like fire. What they believe in has depth and intuition. Their thoughts surpass technicality and their discernment is strong and true. Passion gives dynamics to relationship. And when this passion meets honesty there is openess... there is power, greater than any wisdom of old. Such ardor causes God to share His mysteries and truth to them through His Spirit that lives in their heart. And that is why even though they are of youth they are further and deeper than age. He shares His heart with theirs, knowing their passion and burning to simply be a soul ignited

Freedom Fighters

I don’t know where you endure or who you are, yet I know you are somewhere out there, unnoticed and undone. Even more I know we share the mysteries of the same story.

Our prisons have no walls, our fears torment us and our voices go unheard. It has become the norm to be silenced. No one will see the world through our eyes, like a bird in her cage chasing freedom in every breath. Our lives are not our own yet only we know our own bitterness.

But let us believe that there is a God out there who is a an ever present witness to our lives, a God who doesn’t let any detail go unnoticed..One who will decree justice in our favour for the times we’ve borne the pain that our minds and bodies could not comprehend nor contain.

I hope you are fighting to live that you may make it out a freedom fighter

Dated: July 3rd 2010

Love

Christ lay down his life because He calls us friend. It was not his power nor authority that led him to sacrifice. It was never His law that left him obliged. It was simply that He loved us beyond reason to go the distance. He did this that we may be liberated. He did this because that’s what love does. His love shone brightly even in our darkest night.

Forever Faithful

Savoring new found freedom, I strive to walk out of the past and what it made me. Belittled and heavy laden no longer am I. Instead He calls me beloved one, in spite of my reckless guilt and shame. Holding on to the truth that lingers, I fight the lies that I've been told along, gloom that rings loud in my mind and heart. I fight to believe that I am not what they say but what you bespoke over me. In the chaos of my failures and depravity, I still know that I am not forsaken nor given up on. Walking out of the valley, I look to the light in your kind eyes that draws me away from the voices that embitter and I gaze upon the beauty of who you are and what you have done for me.

Most Holy and sovereign , you drew dear to me in my brokenness and drew me out of deep waters and now I am redeemed by your might hands. The hands that sustained me, now delivered me unto liberty and rest. Let your truth capture me and consume every condemnation. Let me believe that I am wanted and known, that I am of worth and a woman after your own heart in spite of my darkness. I plead that my love for you has never been a facade even though my heart and flesh have failed. And Your love kept me standing as I waited for you to come, it picked up my pieces when I broke my life apart, desperate that you would rescue me. You have always been my portion.. the life in my breath, the strength of my heart. Strong tower and my Savior, I could never compare the undeserved favor you show me to what has been given by any other. You are above all.

Help me find myself again, the person you created me to me, the person made in your image. Cast away the dusk of days gone by, the wounding words of those who no longer consider me their own. Redeem the shadows of who I have become to who I should be. Give me a new song. Pardon my falling out for it has been far too deep to be understood by anyone else but me and You. It was all I ever knew.. I never meant to take away. My testimony compromised by my own unintentional actions, I am tried by those holier than I. The storm, too fierce, my strength failed and I was greatly consumed.

Make all things new. Change hearts. Give them your eyes, that they may be merciful too. Make me better, better than I've ever been, let me seek your excellence in all I do and in who I have become. Tired of unsettling comparisons and doubts, I drown in what I only imagine and think I know. Humbly I come before you and hide no frailty but praise the One who saved one who deserved less.

Thank you for knowing me as I am and as I will be. You have always known my heart. Thank you for your loving kindness even when I deserve none. A sum of my mistakes, yet you died for me. You love me even in my sin and you see the pain that brought me here. You see me in ways no other does. It is your merciful perception that caused you to deliver me for no other man would have done so. Even though you are most holy, you chose to save a sinner, while those who have fallen short would never have. How wonderful you are to love me the way you do. How just you are not to over look the hurt caused to me even though I have hurt in return. You have never given up on me though I grew weary to see you come.

Forever faithful you are.

He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me. They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the Lord was my stay. He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me” (Psalms 18:16-19).

Patience

I can't stand to wait at the traffic signal, it so gets on my nerves. Even though I don't drive yet (yes, I will get my license soon in faith), I still can't wait. Most people are very impatient individuals, we as people want everything to be at our immediate disposal, everybody today wants to get rich overnight, wants to get famous overnight, wants success overnight. Then we wonder why God doesn't give us these things that we desire for, we wait one day and on the second day we're already tired of waiting. Sometimes we think that we've reached a point where we are faithful to God and believe that we deserve to get those things we desire, but, we're not quite there. When I woke up today God put a beautiful revelation into my heart: our God is the most sensitive and tasteful artist. He wants us, his creation to be perfect. If you observe a true artist, they won't care how much time it takes to perfect their work, they will make sure that they keep struggling to perfect it with all they have, are willing to go above their limits to perfect their art.

Our God is willing to take His time to make sure we become the perfect example of creation. God is so proud to have created us. A quote that spoke to my heart is Corinthians 13:4 "Love is patient, love is kind."

Our God is the God of love, He is patient.

God took time to make sure that David was worthy to become king when he did, David went through all sorts of hardships to become king, even though he had a heart for God, he had faith in God when he was younger, but God made sure that David would be a worthy king when he did, so David had to wait. Joseph had to spend years as a slave and then in prison before he was put in his position of authority. Moses had to spend sixty years in Midian before God sent Him to lead His people out of Egypt. When I was younger I wished to grow very fast, but now my heart has learnt patience and now I savor the journey with God.

Be like love. Be Patient.

Burning Guitar

Passion in my heart that I can't burn out,

Love so deep it runs into the ground,

Love so real I can find no impurity in this sound,

Playing the chords that bring my spirit closer to You,

Singing the songs of Your majesty,

Somehow these words of mine seem to be too few,

Singing these songs as my love to You I renew,

As I play and get lost in these patterns feeling a strange awe,

The sensations of Your presence seems to cover every flaw,

The melodies that play somewhere in my heart,

Playing in simple strums, rivers of grace flow through every part,

Calling out to Your name until these worlds falls apart,

Singing these songs in a fulfilling desire,

As this guitar is burning in Your fire...

Christ like

Many of my friends who are not believers, seem to think that being a Christian is the easiest thing in the world. They seem to think that Christians are allowed to do whatever they want. Mostly because the impression given by people who call themselves "Christians".

Sadly many Christians seem to think the same, that since Christ paid for their sins, they can do whatever they want and God will forgive their sins, others unaware of the fact they're even sinning. I wish they could know how much it breaks God's heart even when we say a simple swear word. I wish they could stop for a second and realize that their action is going to cost them ETERNITY.

I was one of those guys who would swear in every sentence that came out of my mouth, not knowing that the speech I'm given is a gift of God, that I could use the same speech to bless others. I'm ashamed to even think that was the life I was living... the number of my sins is difficult for me to even keep count of, but that life is over since my renewal in Christ.

I thank God for being tolerant. He forgives. But He also punishes. And the Word is very clear about that.

We need to live our lives with care and caution making sure we don't fall into pits of temptation. Being a Christian isn't easy as long as we're in flesh, but God also gives strength, I thought I would never be able to break free from sin, but God gave me strength to live a better life. The war is not over however, as long as we're living here there will be forces of temptation.

We need to re-evaluate ourselves and make sure whether we're really living a Christ like life. I wouldn't be the right person to give the best description of what Christ like is, but the description is there, the description is the Jesus Christ Himself.

And I'm still working to be more and more like Him.

Jesus is my Savior.