Against My Idols
Ezekiel 6:3-4 “Proclaim this message from the Sovereign Lord against the mountains of Israel. This is what the Sovereign Lord says to the mountains and hills and to the ravines and valleys: I am about to bring war upon you, and I will smash your pagan shrines. All your altars will be demolished, and your places of worship will be destroyed.” Against my idols Storms the Lord They will be judged By the Lord Against the places Of idol-worship Storms the Lord They will be destroyed By the Lord Against the altars of idol-worship Storms the Lord Usurpers are judged By the Lord Against idolatry He will bring Desolation Destruction Devastation Demolishing Until He is acknowledged As the One true God Until He is known As God alone
0 Comments
The Battle
Psalm 76:2-3 Jerusalem is where he lives; Mount Zion is his home. There he has broken the fiery arrows of the enemy, the shields and swords and weapons of war. The Battle is the Lord’s Like a lion in its lair You look out and defend Your own You break the arrows, shields, and swords By the word of Your mouth Glorious are You in victories Defeated are Your foes By the word of Your mouth You are formidable in strength None can stand before You And the word of Your mouth You work deliverance When You rise to fight By the word of Your mouth Your wrath is to be praised As You restrain the proud By the word of Your mouth Let us bring You the gift of regard For the vows of our covenant and honor You who fight With the word of Your mouth Pure Hands and Heart
Psalm 24:3-4-NLT Who may climb the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies. Are my hands pure and free from sin? Free from touching the world’s defilements? Free from taking what’s not mine? Is my heart pure and free from sin? Free from desiring what God forbids? Free from savoring the vile? Only those with pure hand and hearts May dwell on the holy mountain Only those who keep their garments clean And free from the pollution of the world. They keep themselves from all idols The things the world clamors after Money, fame, sex, beauty, possessions All the good turned bad When they replace God. Honor and praise
Luke 19:35-38 “So they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it for him to ride on. As he rode along, the crowds spread out their garments on the road ahead of him. When he reached the place where the road started down the Mount of Olives, all of his followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen. ‘Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!’ ” Honor and praise are what You deserve Honor with with my life Praise with my lips Honor that values You More than my precious possessions Honor that refuses to hold on to My cherished things But gives them to Jesus Honor that's lasting Not transient like the fickle crowd Honor that is based on truth Not on my view of You Praise that jubilantly Voices all my heart's sentiments Praise that says You are worthy of my best My very all And freely sings Your praise Praise that is lasting Not transient like the fickle crowd Praise that cannot be silenced For the rocks to cry out You are Jesus, the King of an eternal kingdom Not a temporary one that is passing A kingdom not made with hands But eternal in the heavens and in our hearts. As Sweet as Honey
“Fill your stomach with this,” he said. And when I ate it, it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.” (Ezekiel 3:3) “I discovered your words, I devoured them. They are my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies.” (Jeremiah 15:16) “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.” (Revelation 3:20) Lord, make Your Word as sweet as honey to my taste May it feed, fill, and satisfy my soul. May I prefer it above all my other delights. And find joy in devouring it. May Your Word not be a dead, dry book to me A book of mere facts to fill my head with knowledge And puff me up with pride in the knowing. May I find it, instead, a place where I can meet with You - A garden where I fellowship with You in the sweetness of the day A pasture of green where my weary soul finds refreshing in the heat of the day Still waters where the turbulence within and the rough waves without are immediately stilled into the silence of calm Honey and the honeycomb of absolute sweetness where my soul has a continual feast Finest gold more precious than my most treasured possession Oh, may I invite You in To sup with me and I with You To enjoy the sweetest communion To bask in Your most lovely presence To bathe in Your glory Oh, give me the capacity to enjoy You above all else To have an appetite for Your Word and Your presence above all else To prefer You and eternal wealth above all else. May You be as sweet as honey to my taste. (References are from the New Living Translation NLT) A Searching to Know as I Am Known
Philippians 3:10a-NLT “I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead.” Psalm 139:1-NKJV “O Lord, You have searched me and known me.” I want to know You as You know me, Lord As You search me and know me So, I want to search Your Word and know You As You understand my thoughts I want to understand Your thoughts As You are familiar with my ways I want to be familiar with Yours As You know my heart before my words I want to know Your heart through Your Word As You stick close to me behind and before I want to stick close You on my knees I want to value You As You value me, Lord Prefer You As You prefer me Spend time thinking about You As You spend time thinking about me And when I wake up I want to be thinking about You As You think about me! Moments of Truth
John 8:32-NLT “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:36-NLT “So, if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.” Moments of truth Multiple moments of truth To overtake the soul To make it whole Truth to replace lies Lies embedded in the heart Lies informing the mind Lies directing the soul Truth to bring freedom Freedom to face who I am Freedom to be honest about who I am Freedom to do the hard work of cleaning out the junk in my soul Truth bringing purity of soul Truth is the call to humility and vulnerability Truth frees the soul like a caged bird set free Truth refreshes the soul like a stream bringing life Truth will set you free If you will If you have the guts to face your stuff Overturned and Set Right Matthew 21:12-NLT “Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves.” Driven out and overturned Cast out and knocked over Soul thoroughly cleansed for closeness to God Inner healing Lies in my head Expectations of others Ungrieved losses Misguided solutions Driven out and overturned Cast out and knocked over for closeness to God Inner healing Guilt and shame Anger and disappointment Depression and anxiety Driven out and overturned Cast out and knocked over for closeness to God Inner healing Compassionate Jesus, come and heal my soul! He comes to me and gives permission to take off the mask and grieve my loss to be fully real and share my need He comes to me and brings me help to uncover the pain and expose my shame to bare my soul and be made whole for closeness to God Inner healing Making God Look Good
The greatest motivator Making God look good The noblest desire Honoring God’s name With both words and actions We make God look good With choices that deny self We honor God’s name For being willing to look foolish So that God might look good We honor God’s name For being willing to fight For the welfare of those in our charge We make God look good To fight a clean fight For their pure and undivided devotion We honor God To sit back and relax And let the wolves devour our charge We dishonor the name of God To drift and coast along Never caring for the weak in our charge We make God look bad Be a Paul Care enough to sacrifice dignity And everything deemed important To fight for the welfare of your charge Moments of Truth John 8:32-NLT “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:36-NLT “So, if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.” Moments of truth Multiple moments of truth To overtake the soul To make it whole Truth to replace lies Lies informing the mind Lies embedded in the heart Lies directing the soul Truth to bring freedom Freedom to face who I am Freedom to be honest about who I am Freedom to do the hard work of cleaning out the junk in my soul Truth bringing purity of soul Truth is the call to humility and vulnerability Truth frees the soul like a caged bird set free Truth refreshes the soul like a stream bringing life Truth will set you free If you will If you have the guts to face your stuff |
|