You are still holy

This weekend, the Lord had me go and visit some friends in Marshall, TX, rather than go and spend time with family as I usually do on the fourth of July.

As we were driving to a friend’s house, a song came on the car stereo that really took me back. It was Kari Jobe singing “You are still holy.”

This really struck my heart and I remembered hearing Misty Edwards sing the song a couple years back, and how deeply it impacted me then.

Holy, You are still holy
Even when the darkness surrounds my life
Sovereign, You are still sovereign
Even when confusion has blinded my eyes

Lord, I don’t deserve Your kind affection
When my unbelief has kept me from Your touch
I want my life to be a pure reflection
Of Your love

And so I come into Your chamber
And I dance at Your feet, Lord
You are my Saviour
And I’m at Your mercy
All that has been in my life
Up ’til now
It belongs to You
You are still holy

I really had a moment worshiping the Lord in the van there, and the song put to rest so many questions I had lingering issues in my life, and healed so much of the aimless wandering of the last couple of years.

No matter what the rest of my life looks life, my primary occupation will be loving Jesus. I’m not going to be anxious for what I think my life should be. As long as He is in the center of it, everything else can look horrible on the outside and it won’t matter.

Alive again!

I haven’t posted anything in a while, other than some little tweets and much (mostly) pointless facebooking. I remember reading a post from David Sliker’s blog which said that his wife can tell where his heart is at based upon how recently he has posted to his blog. This is also very true of me. I haven’t posted anything in 7 months, and it has certainly been a dry spell.

I was driving home from work and I felt so “dry and crusty.” I was talking to the Lord during my drive, because I really wanted Him to interrupt and re-invigorate my ever-so “Blah” existence. I really wanted Him to direct me to a place of encounter so I could meet with Him. I was desperate because for so long I had denied Him by saying in my heart, “I’m doing ok on my own, I don’t need Your presence, God.” I remember so many instances in the last two weeks when He came to visit me (especially during work), and I just ignored Him, because I thought I was doing ok on my own.

I’m really thankful that the Lord totally blasted me with His Life, and gave me more revelation of His heart. I really had a heart cry out of Psalm 49:

Psa 49:3 My mouth shall speak wisdom, And the meditation of my heart [shall give] understanding.

It made me think… What is the meditation of my heart? Is it wisdom? Is it revelation? Is God in there hardly at all?

I’ve also been dealing with how seriously Facebook and Twitter have stolen my blogging thunder. Why spend the time to put your thought into elegant flowing prose* when you can

mash out 140 chars of TEH schweet tweets?

*Okay, nothing on my blog may pass as truly elegant prose, but at least there’s no character limit. 140 characters isn’t writing, it’s a thought packet. Makes me think of 1984 and “Newspeak”

Maimed, but saved

Mat 5:29 “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
Mat 5:30 “And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

Both the right hand and the right eye are extremely important in the bible. Jesus is saying you have to value your sanctification and your access into eternity with Him far more than even things that are “vital” to your natural life. I have recently bumped up the level of protection on my internet content filter from what’s called a “blacklist,” blocking what’s known to be bad but letting everything else in, to a “whitelist,” which only allows you to access the web sites that you specifically allow. I did this after I wasted a lot of time last saturday surfing the web.

Scripture references:

Right eye:

1Sa 11:2 And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, “On this [condition] I will make [a covenant] with you, that I may put out all your right eyes, and bring reproach on all Israel.”
[ Zec 11:17 "Woe to the worthless shepherd, Who leaves the flock! A sword [shall be] against his arm And against his right eye; His arm shall completely wither, And his right eye shall be totally blinded.”

Right hand:

Gen 35:18 And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin. [Benjamin = "Son of the right hand"]
Gen 48:14 Then Israel stretched out his right hand and laid [it] on Ephraim’s head, who [was] the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh [was] the firstborn.
Exd 15:6 “Your right hand, O LORD, has become glorious in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has dashed the enemy in pieces.
Deu 33:2 And he said: “The LORD came from Sinai, And dawned on them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran, And He came with ten thousands of saints; From His right hand [Came] a fiery law for them.
1Ki 2:19 Bathsheba therefore went to King Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her and bowed down to her, and sat down on his throne and had a throne set for the king’s mother; so she sat at his right hand.
Job 40:14 Then I will also confess to you That your own right hand can save you.
Psa 16:8 I have set the LORD always before me; Because [He is] at my right hand I shall not be moved.
Psa 16:11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence [is] fullness of joy; At Your right hand [are] pleasures forevermore.

(more verses…)