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.

Mary of Bethany

Mark 14:3-9

3 And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head. 4 But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, “Why was this fragrant oil wasted? 5 For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they criticized her sharply.
6 But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. 7 For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. 8 She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. 9 Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”

That is what life (here on earth or in eternity) is all about. It’s about worship. Real worship, which we see infrequently on sunday mornings (it’s NOT about singing songs, it’s about pouring out what you are at the feet of Jesus).

Mary gave her all for Jesus. She sat at his feet instead of worrying about preparing a meal like her sister Martha. In today’s churches, Martha would be a hero, and Mary would be criticized to no end. I truly feel sorry for so many christians who’s only concept of a RELATIONSHIP with Jesus is some fuzzy and distant theology, and doing a bunch of things for “church.” It also said that she was one of the women who followed Jesus, taking care of His practical needs. She got one good look at who He is, and she threw everything she had and everything she was at His feet.

She was a small and insignificant creature (like us all), but she gave a whole burnt offering… she gave her whole life to Jesus. This is what make the whole DaVinci Code so maddeningly stupid. To take the relationship Mary had with Jesus (which is an good example for us all) and make it into a physical thing cheapens it beyond recognition.

Mary of Bethany is my hero. Not Paul, not Peter, not any apostle. I like Paul and John because of the quality of relationship they had with Jesus. I like David for the same reason. I like Mary so much because that’s ALL SHE HAD. She didn’t do any great exploits. She didn’t conquer the nations. She never preached. Yet she had something greater than any other women who ever lived, possibly even Mary, the Lord’s mother. She worshipped Jesus and had a life of devotion like no other. She sat at His feet, and that was the thing she esteemed the most.
Wow.

Burn Oklahoma City (again!)

I had the pleasure of spending around 17 of the last 24 hours in worship, prayer, intercession, and contending for my city and nation…

The amazing thing is that even after it was all was said and done, I went by myself to IHOP to break my fast and get some dinner down… I sat there and I felt like my heart was still so hungry for Him. I had some great times of worship and loving Him in sweet little ways, but I think the intercession itself (even though it is necessary and important) distracted me from the one thing He wants me to concentrate on: loving Him and knowing Him as the priority of my life.

The Simplicity of Yearning

Gentle reader, please slow down.

In the frantic pace of life, it is often difficult to hear the still small voice of the Father. Count the cost, establish your priorities, and spend some time with Him.

Simplify.

In Psalm 42, the sons of Korah write:

Psa 42:1
To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation (Maschil) of the sons of Korah.
AS the deer pants for the water brooks,
So pants my soul for You, O God.
Psa 42:2
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?

So often when I read the Psalms, I assumed that the writers were only crying out to God to fix their circumstances. Now I realize that the adverse circumstances in life cause our hunger to intensify (if we have developed hunger), and cry out to God… so that we may see Him, touch Him, and drink Him in.

We must enter into the holy of holies of yearning… not for stuff (outer courts), not just for sign/wonders/anointing/ministry (the holy place), but for the Most Holy Place… Jesus Himself. We must long for Him because of who He is, simply and fundamentally.

If you have Misty Edwards’ Relentless CD, I suggest you pop it in, and play “Dove’s Eyes” a few times while you consider these things… It’s what I was listening to (on repeat) while I was thinking about writing this post.

For those who don’t have the cd yet, here’s the words:

I don’t want to talk about You like You’re not in the room
I want to look right at You I want to sing right to You

I believe that You are listening
I believe that You move at the sound of my voice

Give me dove’s eyes

Give me undistracted devotion for only You

Belligerent hunger

Mat 5:6 Blessed [are] they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Mat 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

I remember praying a season ago for God to give me hunger for Him. I was going through life very bored and spiritually dry, and I just didn’t have a hunger for the things of God. Well, as He always does, He answered my prayer in full force.

There are times when I get belligerently hungry for God. I usually try to find a place alone to search Him out and worship Him, otherwise I am very annoying and vexing to those around me.

It makes me think of one of my favorite worship songs from a few years ago, David Crowder’s “Intoxicating:”

Intoxicating You are to me
Illuminating You are to see
Truly breathtaking You are to breathe
Sending my head spinning You are, You see

And I’ve lost my mind, I’m sure to find
Need to apologize for my
Lack of inhibition, for my belligerent condition
But with You this near I’m dizzy

Inebriating You are to me
Completely captivating You are you see
Sending my world spinning You are, You see

And now I find a blurry line
Here between You and I
Raise the cup, drink ’til I’m full
Sing ’til I can’t, ’til my voice is gone
And my head is spinning

Illuminating You are to see
Truly breathtaking You are to breathe
Sending my head spinning You are, You see
It’s on the Illuminate CD, but a far better version is on Sunsets and Sushi

I really love that kind of hunger. It is very precious to me, because I have to pray for it continuously.

Burn Oklahoma City

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of joining in with the good folks from The Burn Oklahoma City for 24 hours of worship, prayer, fasting and contending together for our city, our nation, ourselves and for the body of Christ.

It was a pretty awesome event that left me hungering for more. We had some really sweet times of worship and prayer.

I had the opportunity to grab the mic a couple times and speak forth (more like whimper) a prayer that God had burning on my heart, only to stumble back to my seat in tears, completely broken and thankful for what God was doing.

A longing…

Pro 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But [when] the desire comes, [it is] a tree of life.

I had been praying for a while for 24/7 prayer to break forth in Oklahoma City. For the longest time, it seemed like OKC was the only major city not to be hit by the prayer movement. There is much work to be done in the realm of intercession for this city. I couldn’t help but notice at least four ambulances drive by our location downtown during the 18 hours I spent there. But even more distressing than that is the spiritual condition of the city.

Wake up, Oklahoma City. Your Bridegroom awaits.