WOWed by these benefits (repost)

(i originally wrote and posted this to renown on February 8, 2010.)

This is such an awesome song I read the lyrics to on Friday. I have been thinking about it ever since. I read it again today and still can't get away from it.

It was written by this songwriter guy named David. Maybe you've heard of him? It goes like this:

"Praise the LORD, my soul;
       all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the LORD, my soul,
       and forget not all his benefits—

who forgives all your sins
       and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit
       and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things
       so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

The LORD works righteousness
       and justice for all the oppressed." - Psalm 103:1-6

I am seriously WOWed by these benefits from God. Just look at that. I'm blown away and have been for 4 days in a row now. I can't move on from this song. I'm just reveling in awe of who this God is.

And if that weren't enough, the song goes on to say this about our God:

"The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
       slow to anger, abounding in love." (Psalm 103:8)

I really don't feel like there's a whole lot i need to say (or can say). Just dwell on this song with me. I'm still just basking in the awesomeness of it.

I wish I had some musical talent and I would write some music for it... Maybe David or Scottie or somebody will do that one day?

stooping down

when i think about stooping down i think about plugging something into an outlet. those things are always way down there at shin level. kind of annoying.

i feel like most of the time i'm bent over and wedged into some place i only halfway fit into and it's dark and i'm trying to plug something in. i can't quite see or reach the outlet so it takes forever and i get frustrated with it easily.



or generally i hate stooping down to plug something in because my knees are really bad and i just can't handle the stooping down part. i wouldn't mind if all outlets were like eye level or chest level.



but they're not. so i have to stoop down. and i have to stoop down for all kinds of little stuff. i have to stoop down for all kinds of stuff that's way down below me.



ever wonder what kind of stuff God stoops down for?



God is SO HIGH and so HOLY & Unique that He actually stoops down just to look on the heavens and earth!!! just to get low enough to see!



"Who is like the LORD our God? [implied answer = "NOBODY!"]

the One who sits enthroned on high,

who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?"



nobody is like that! That's the freaking awesome God we know! He's so big, so other, so unlike anything we can compare Him too... that the heavens & the earth are like a tiny little wall outlet that He has to stoop down to even see.



wow. no wonder this same Psalm says "From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised."



for a God like this, i would say so.

"so that" (stuck on it)

(This was originally posted to renown on September 16, 2009. And i'm happy to say - i'm STILL stuck on it.)

I
read this 3 weeks ago in my new fav morning "nature" spot I've been
chillin' with God at every morning these last several weeks. I've been
reading & PRAYING this following passage every morning since. I'm
gonna memorize it and pray it all the time. Check it:





"May God be gracious to us and bless us

and make His face shine on us— SO THAT Your ways may be known on earth,

your salvation among all nations.

May the peoples praise You, God;

may all the peoples praise You.

May the nations be glad and sing for joy,

for You rule the peoples with equity

and guide the nations of the earth.

May the peoples praise you, God;

may all the peoples praise You.

The land yields its harvest;

God, our God, blesses us.

May God bless us still,

SO THAT all the ends of the earth will fear Him." (Psalm 67)



this is my prayer & song to God. That is my heart's passion!



This
is the only reason I want to be blessed. This is the only reason God
gives blessings to me & to my wife and to us as a family = SO THAT
we will take those blessings and use them for His renown!

His
fame & renown in all the earth is the only reason we've been
blessed with a pimp house and 2 cars and jobs and food on our table and
iPhones and health and minds and speech and sight and abilities...
It's
the only reason I've been blessed with this computer to write this blog
and the fingers that are typing it. It's the reason I've been blessed
with the breath I am taking right now. "SO THAT" all the peoples & nations & ends of the earth will know & fear & be in AWE of God's renown.



So
I would be an idiot to not recognize that's what all these blessings
are for. I'd be an idiot to think they're just blessings for the sake of
making me richer or something...



This should remind us all of the beginning of the Story (Genesis 12) when God said His whole purpose for blessing a "people" was so that they would BE A BLESSING to the rest of the peoples! and the whole Story shows how all those blessings are SO THAT His renown would spread throughout the world!

This
is still the story we're in = God is making His Name famous in all the
world & He's blessing us "so that" we'll be a part of that
renown-spreading story!

awe & joy & hope

(I originally posted this on August 24, 2009.)

most awesome way to start my Monday was singing this song David wrote a long time ago...

"God our Savior,
the HOPE of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas,
who formed the mountains by Your power,
having armed Yourself with strength,
who stilled the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
and the turmoil of the nations.
The whole earth is filled with AWE at Your wonders;
where morning dawns, where evening fades,
You call forth songs of JOY."
- David the songwriter (Psalm 65:5-8)
beautiful. I'm stoked that God, our Savior, is the hope of all the ends of the earth! That's amazing. That's awesome. I am completely filled with awe this morning... God has captured my sense of wonder because of all his amazing wonders. This morning I am singing songs of joy. I can't hold them back.

rich in love

(I originally posted this on November 14, 2008.)

Sometimes I enjoy reading back through my journal... just looking at what I said to God and what He said to me. Reviewing the conversation we've had for the past months... years...

I came across a really cool day from about 1 year ago. I think I can actually remember the day - where I was, etc... Most of what I said is much too personal to share here, but I read something that day in the Psalms that still amazes me and I think it's one of those phrases we easily glaze over when reading...

Psalm 145:8 -> "The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love."

YES! That is SO COOL. I mean, it's really amazing that our God is gracious and compassionate and slow to anger. Without those parts of His character we would be screwed for sure. I love God for those things. I want to be just like God = full of grace, full of compassion for everyone, and patient (not get angry)! I really want to live that.

BUT, the big thing that astonishes me every time I read it is that last phrase about God!

"RICH IN LOVE"

Whoa. What do you think when you hear that. Where does your mind race too? What about just the word "rich"? Obviously someone "rich in money" is someone with so much money that they really don't have to worry about money anymore. You know? They don't give any thought to paying for stuff. Maybe the coolest thing about being "rich in money" would be to be able to

give huge heaps of money away and not even worry about it.

***Do you really want to know what image comes to my mind when I think of the word "rich"? I'm sure at least one of you wants to know... you might laugh. Ok, do you remember the cartoon back in the day... I think it was called Duck Tales? You remember what I'm talking about right? (no, not Darkwing Duck, although I did watch that one too.) Well, there was always a part of the show where the rich uncle (can't remember his name) would go to his safe/vault to check on all his money. (He was the richest duck in the world by the way). The thing was set up like a swimming pool! The rich uncle would go diving into all his money off a diving board. He was so rich he would just swim around in his money! In fact I just found a clip of the opening of the show... watch below and you can see some shots of all the money & him diving in like I'm talking about.

I just remember thinking as a kid that that is the height of "richness". If you have enough money to make it into a swimming pool then you're definitely rich.

I think sometimes we skip over phrases in the Scripture that are HUGE and have a lot of power. (read HERE for another post about that idea.)

SO, when I think of God being RICH IN LOVE... I'm in awe. First of all, of course He's rich in love!... He invented love. Not only that... He IS love! He is so rich in love that He gives it away like crazy and will never run out... not even close. He gives so much away but won't even ever make a dent in His love that's piled up in the safe.

The amazing part is that we're the ones who get to "swim in it" (like the duck uncle)... I get to enjoy that love. I rest in it, enjoy life in it, and "swim" in it.

Now, I WANT to live that way. I desperately want to be rich in love as well. I want to give it away like an endlessly rich man could give away money. I really want to be almost "careless" with love. Not just with the "lovable" people either... I want to be someone characterized by richly loving everyone! I wouldn't even mind if that's what they wrote on my tombstone or something.

I'll take being "rich in love" over being "rich in money" any day.

KING of Glory

(This was originally posted on June 23, 2008.)

I'm writing this on Sunday morning (yesterday for you who are reading this on Monday) and it's been a really cool morning. I've just been chillin' outside on my porch swing for an hour or so.

Experiencing the nature that God made is a mesmerizing and awe-inspiring thing for me. Just being out here on this beautiful morning is a spiritual thing for me. It's amazing. Straight across from our house is an empty lot with just grass and trees. From where I sit on the porch swing this open space is basically all I see. All the trees are so green, it feels so awesome outside, and the birds are singing like crazy. I'm just heaping glory and praise onto God for all this.

And I was reading through the Psalms and I came across this passage that keeps talking about "the King of glory." Now, for some reason this has been one of those phrases for me that kind of merges together and I don't "get" the full meaning of it. Kind of like as a kid, lots of people thought a "chest of drawers" was really "Chester drawers". Or like people used to always say "I would JUST AS SOON..." and it had no meaning to me. It just kind of all ran together like 1 word. I think this is the way "King of glory" has always been for me, so I didn't ever really get it.

Plus Psalm 24 is one of those passages that has tons of worship songs written from it and you can hardly read it without singing the song. You know what I'm talking about right? Like Tomlin or Mac Powell pops in your head as you're reading it and you just can't read it like a normal passage anymore... you're just singing the song.

This morning I think I "got" this very simple passage that most people "get" after reading one time.

"Who is He, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty - He is the King of glory." - Psalm 24:10

Glory is like the greatest, biggest thing. It's huge. It's fame, renown, unending praise. And God is the KING of THAT! Ok, so some people can be the King of Rock or the King of England... but the King of glory?!? This is amazing! God is the King of renown. Nobody gets more fame or prestige than God. He is the biggest, coolest thing in the universe. He gets glory for everything. He's the King of it. I'm sitting here surrounded by all this glory in nature & He is the KING of it all.

*Maybe the craziest part of it all is that I'm sitting out here on a porch swing having a conversation with the King of glory! Most kings are inaccessible and I'm probably not going to be having a conversation with them. But the greatest, most famous & glorious King of them all, I get to chill with and have a friendship with. flippin' amazing.

God is for the poor and orphans (repost)

*(This is a repost from March 12, 2008.)

i've been journeying through the Psalms over and over for the past 3-4 years. i absolutely love it! it's one of my favorite parts of Scripture.
As i've shared before, i'm also keenly aware of one of the dominant themes throughout Scripture = the high importance that God puts on the poor, orphans, etc... So, i can't help but post a few pieces of my journey from the last few days.

"But God will never forget the needy; the hope of the afflicted will never perish." (9:18)
God is ultimately compassionate to the poor & that just fires me up. It fires me up because in my opinion much of the American church has forgotten the poor all over the world. Thankfully, we've got such an amazing God that no matter how long the Church forgets, God will not forget the poor across the world that He loves. i'm also stoked to take this promise to the poor because it will give them ultimate hope. That will be hope that they will ALWAYS have because they can ALWAYS count on God to remember them!

"But You, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; You consider their grief and take it in hand... You are the helper of the fatherless." (10:14)
i can't help but think about Peter when i read stuff like this, and all the millions of orphans across Sub-Saharan Africa. i desperately want to build places for them to live, eat, and learn, tell them about Jesus & tell them that God is their helper!

"You Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted; You encourage them, and You listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, so that mere earthly mortals will never again strike terror." (10:17-18)
Man, i'm so pumped that God is an encourager to the afflicted... and He defends the fatherless so that they won't be afraid of anyone.

*Our God loves the poor & orphans! Throughout the Bible it is obvious that they are VERY close to His heart & He puts a high priority on them. He fights for them and provides for them and loves them. i'm thinking we probably should too!