"Father of lies, coming to steal, kill and destroy,
All my hopes of being good enough.
I hear him saying, cursed are the ones who can't abide.
He's right, hallelujah, he's right.
The devil is preaching the song of the redeemed.
That I am cursed and gone astray,
I cannot gain salvation.
Embracing accusation.
Could the father of lies be telling the truth of God to me tonight?
That if the penalty of sin is death, then death is mine.
I hear him saying, cursed are the ones who can't abide.
He's right, hallelujah, he's right.
The devil is preaching the song of the redeemed.
That I am cursed and gone astray,
I cannot gain salvation.
The devil's singing over me an age old song,
That I am cursed and gone astray.
Singing the first verse so conveniently over me,
he's forgotten the refrain:
Jesus saves!!!"
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Monday, October 1, 2007
Life's a Reality Show
As I saw my housemates, friends, and coworkers, hustle bustle their way to total exhaustion this September, I finally realized that summer's over, and that real school life is back. This reminded me of something someone said to me last September. I guess back then I was really raving to him about Westside, but he said "Westside's OK, but you can't stay in that sort of bubble once you're in the REAL world." Something about that sentence has always stuck with me, and it popped back in my mind as I was preparing for this devo.
I realized it reminded me of how I was in undergrad, I had the discipline to go to fellowship on Fridays, and church on Sundays, that's how I dealt with God, that's just how it had to work if I were to get to where I wanted to be. That was what the "real" world handed me, and I have to deal with it, with God or in spite of. I used to make it sound like I didn't have a choice in the matter. But as I think back I realize there IS a choice, in fact, it is the fundamental choice to Christians; whether to face the world of your own accord, power, and ability, or to trust God to change your world AND the way you face it. That decision presents itself from the moment you wake up, and the consequences of which will either encourage you, or haunt you, when you go to bed. In hindsight, I let Satan talk me into believing that my present situation, school and marks and career planning, was all there was to my life, and I'd just have to deal with it the best I could. I know now that when I give myself completely to being used by God, He will change EVERYTHING in my life, in every event and situation, for for the greater good of me and those around me. But perhaps that's what my friend meant when he said bubble, that I now try to see everything in light of Christ.
In the end, being a proper Christian, giving yourself fully to God, that's not the bubble. In undergrad when I was playing along with world's rules, pursuing what others have convinced me to pursue, keeping an image that I thought I had to portray as an asian male that was good at math, THAT'S a bubble. The more I think about my life versus the life that Christ wants me to live, the more I realize that He's goes out to pop ALL my bubbles; to release all the things we had wrapped up and held onto for ourselves.
What I really felt compelled to pray for this week is, are there any areas of your life; school, work, future, finances, relationships; where you're living in the world's bubble? Before we lay a single claim on any of our ministries this afternoon, are there any areas of your life that have not been recast in the light of Christ? Let's really ask God to search our hearts; what parts of you are in the world, and which parts are of the world?
I realized it reminded me of how I was in undergrad, I had the discipline to go to fellowship on Fridays, and church on Sundays, that's how I dealt with God, that's just how it had to work if I were to get to where I wanted to be. That was what the "real" world handed me, and I have to deal with it, with God or in spite of. I used to make it sound like I didn't have a choice in the matter. But as I think back I realize there IS a choice, in fact, it is the fundamental choice to Christians; whether to face the world of your own accord, power, and ability, or to trust God to change your world AND the way you face it. That decision presents itself from the moment you wake up, and the consequences of which will either encourage you, or haunt you, when you go to bed. In hindsight, I let Satan talk me into believing that my present situation, school and marks and career planning, was all there was to my life, and I'd just have to deal with it the best I could. I know now that when I give myself completely to being used by God, He will change EVERYTHING in my life, in every event and situation, for for the greater good of me and those around me. But perhaps that's what my friend meant when he said bubble, that I now try to see everything in light of Christ.
In the end, being a proper Christian, giving yourself fully to God, that's not the bubble. In undergrad when I was playing along with world's rules, pursuing what others have convinced me to pursue, keeping an image that I thought I had to portray as an asian male that was good at math, THAT'S a bubble. The more I think about my life versus the life that Christ wants me to live, the more I realize that He's goes out to pop ALL my bubbles; to release all the things we had wrapped up and held onto for ourselves.
What I really felt compelled to pray for this week is, are there any areas of your life; school, work, future, finances, relationships; where you're living in the world's bubble? Before we lay a single claim on any of our ministries this afternoon, are there any areas of your life that have not been recast in the light of Christ? Let's really ask God to search our hearts; what parts of you are in the world, and which parts are of the world?
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