where my trust is without borders

tbV and i have not really been in regular consistent church services for the last two years now and so it’s been really refreshing to find one called Re:Generation that we both enjoy and love going to. in particular being a part of corporate worship has been so refreshing and since we haven’t been around for a little while there are a bunch of new songs to discover which is great.

one song in paricular connected with where i was at last nite and so i hastily scribbled down the words of the chorus and i think the bridge, as these were the two verses that particularly moved me:

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior

I will call upon Your Name
Keep my eyes above the waves
My soul will rest in Your embrace
I am Yours and You are mine

= = = = = = = = = = = = = =

i have been feeling quite distant from God and detached of late and i know a bunch of that is me needing to put more time and energy into my relationship with Him and also dive more into the Bible which really does fill me, but also is related to me not being involved in much hands on ministry vibe outside of work and online stuff and just really drawn to this call to move beyond what is safe and comfortable and to really be able to just trust God and jump. knowing that He has me.

quick Uncle Google ask and turns out the song is called ‘Oceans’ and it is by Hillsong United and so i sourced the rest of the lyrics which are here:

= = = = = = = = = = = = = =

“Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)” by Hillsong United

You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep
My faith will stand

And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand
Will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You’ve never failed and You won’t start now

So I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior
[x6]

I will call upon Your Name
Keep my eyes above the waves
My soul will rest in Your embrace
I am Yours and You are mine

Saturday Round Up: The week that was: Episode 8:of Jack Bauer & the return of the Bluths, petrol pump kareoke couple, picking up your Bible & passing it on.

Another week, another ‘The Weekly Mash [and Peace!] – see what’s been happening this week on The Weekly Mash [and Peace!]:

Monday showed the Kareoke gas pump clip you probly already saw before it arrived here but if not it is complete F.U.N.

Tuesday was the breaking news of the new season of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT first trailer peek as well as news of JACK BAUER returning for a new season of 24

Wednesday saw an encouragement to not give up on your friends, even if they have walked away from you…

What happens if it’s been a while since you picked up your Bible? Thursday’s post gave some simple tips to get you back in the Word.

Friday saw an encouragement for simple acts of kindness as opposed to random ones…

[for last Saturday's weekly round-up dealing with chess, cicadas, poison and together, click here]

psalmthing to chew on: psalm 55

this is not a completely happy psalm.

here we see David once again, who was the same guy who brought us this in Psalm 23:

¹ The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
²     He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
³     he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.
⁴ Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

As well as this from Psalm 34:

¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
¹⁸ The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

But now his mood has changed a lot and there is a lot more of this:

                                                                                                                                                

¹ Listen to my prayer, O God,
    do not ignore my plea;
²     hear me and answer me.
My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught
³     because of what my enemy is saying,
    because of the threats of the wicked;
for they bring down suffering on me
    and assail me in their anger.

⁴ My heart is in anguish within me;
    the terrors of death have fallen on me.
⁵ Fear and trembling have beset me;
    horror has overwhelmed me.

Same guy. Same God. Different context. Different feeling. And i imagine those of us who love God and try to follow Him completely get this. The echo of the new testament, ‘I believe. Help me overcome my unbelief.’ [Mark 9.24] Being able to totally believe in God and trust that He loves you and will look after you, but also facing a really difficult situation and the feeling of distance from God as if He is not there. These are often wrestling emotions or states of being which go on inside a follower of Jesus. And I think it’s normal. It’s certainly not good, healthy or real to pretend as if everything is together when it feels like it is falling down. Sp definitely facing up to the trouble or the feeling of desparation as David does here feels really healthy and helpful for deep and authentic relationship.

As long as some time in the future, you end up at this place again [which David incidentally does while he is still in the bad place... so struggling, but holding on to this Truth he strongly believes in]

¹⁶ As for me, I call to God,
    and the Lord saves me.
¹⁷ Evening, morning and noon
    I cry out in distress,
    and he hears my voice.
¹⁸ He rescues me unharmed
    from the battle waged against me,
    even though many oppose me.
¹⁹ God, who is enthroned from of old,
    who does not change—
he will hear them and humble them,
    because they have no fear of God.

²² Cast your cares on the Lord
    and he will sustain you;
he will never let
    the righteous be shaken.

psalmthing to chew on: psalm 54

this one really is a short one… so let me include it:

¹ Save me, O God, by your name;
    vindicate me by your might.
² Hear my prayer, O God;
    listen to the words of my mouth.

³ Arrogant foes are attacking me;
    ruthless people are trying to kill me—
    people without regard for God.

⁴ Surely God is my help;
    the Lord is the one who sustains me.

⁵ Let evil recoil on those who slander me;
    in your faithfulness destroy them.

⁶ I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you;
    I will praise your name, Lord, for it is good.
⁷ You have delivered me from all my troubles,
    and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.

this is a psalm David put together when he was on the run from Saul.

i really love the first line, ‘Save me, O God, by your name’  as names were really important in the Bible. the name expresses the heart and character of the person and so David here is appealing to the God who saves.

often the name we use for God displays how we view Him, which is perhaps why it can be good to use multiple names and titles – the idea of God as King for example conveys a completely different message than the idea of God as Father, and God as Saviour seems a lot more loving and reachable than Omnipotent God. it is important to realise that He is all of these things and so not to get trapped in one name or idea of God at the exclusion of all others. it is good to keep in mind just how much bigger than us God is so that when we don’t necessarily understand all that is going on, it makes sense that we shouldn’t, and that’s okay. it would be far more distressing if we could wrap our minds around a God who created the Universe in a sentence or breath.

which all brings me back to one of my favourite passages in Ephesians 3 which gives us a glimpse of the bigness of our God:

^14′ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.’

or as David writes in this Psalm, ‘I will praise your name, Lord, for it is good.’

Mark, my words: The things of God, or the traditions of man?

i am not a big fan of tradition when it is solely taking place for tradition’s sake [even if the original meaning and intention might have been good but has been lost or watered down along the way] but there are some traditions which are rich and full of life [baptism, communion, a family that eats together etc] that are incredible.

Join me as I look at Mark 7.1-13:

[to return to the intro page and gain access to the whole series so far, click here.]

Thort for the Week: the one about having and being beautiful feet

for years i have sent out a weekly challenging Christ-following email message called ‘Thort for the Week’ which you can sign up for by emailing me at brettfish@hotmail.com and asking to be added to TFTW… but this week’s one i really felt i should share here as well…

In Isaiah 52 the prophet says, ‘How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” [verse 7]

I feel like that might be one of the verses we easily dismiss because we have heard it so often. But let’s take a closer look.

When i read that verse this morning i was immediately reminded of that line, ‘Preach the Gospel. If necessary use words’ which has been credited as having been said by a whole variety of different people and so it is hard to find out where it originated, which is not all that important.

It feels like a historical Tweet from ancient times: Preach the Gospel. If necessary, use words. And it has certainly been ‘retweeted’ through the ages.

The problem with it is that people have used it as an excuse where they say, ‘My life will show the Gospel so much that i don’t have to speak about Jesus!’ [the chilling Truth is so often that the people that use it for that excuse have lives that come nowhere near displaying that message and they, maybe more than most, need to be speaking about Jesus as well]. It generally always has to be a combination between speaking the message and living the message. The speaking of it gives clarification and explanation of why we live the way we do.

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news…

What grabbed my attention from my reading of this verse today was the idea of feet bringing news. Surely it’s mouths that bring news in terms of preaching or proclamation or declaration or even a gentle whisper or conversation between friends. Or else it’s hands that bring news through a message or a scribbled note, a newspaper or a pamphlet or book.

 

‘The feet’ signifies an action. A journey. Going. Doing.

Not just sending a message, but delivering it.
Not just writing the good news down, but embodying it.

Here are some quotes that I got off of the actual Twitter’er this week:

‘Don’t just tweet, preach from pulpits or rant from soapboxes. Love your neighbors. Be peacemakers. Engage the culture. Live out the Gospel’. [Eugene Cho]

‘The litmus test of our love for God is our love for our neighbor.’ [Brennan Manning]

‘Let us not forget: if we are to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus, our lives must bear witness to what we preach.’ [Pope Francis]

‘who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”‘

This part sounds like just a spoken piece, but i think you need to hold it alongside the life and teachings of Jesus to realise that it is all about being lived out Truth.

We ‘proclaim peace’ by our lives – the way we promote peace and reconciliation, forgiveness and grace, restoration and rehabilitation.

We ‘bring good tidings’ when we choose to actively get involved in acts of social justice, of not just teaching people how to fish, but also getting involved in the process of removing barriers and red tape and systems that prevent them from being able to fish [in the same rivers and ponds that we can]

We ‘proclaim salvation’ when we move away from the idea that being a Christian means that we are saved for heaven one day when we day and to the Truth that we are saved to be part of bringing about God’s kingdom ‘here on earth as it is in heaven’ [as well as one day getting to spend the rest of eternity with Jesus however that looks] – but part of that is living well here which also means looking after the world God has given us and sharing the message of Jesus both by our lives and our words to anyone who will listen.

We ‘say to Zion, “Your God reigns!’ when we start to demonstrate the same God that we say we believe in by living lives that have been completely transformed by the good news we preach. when we move away from looking like everyone else in the world [and sadly too often in the church as well - paying lip service instead of life service] and living lives that point to the redeeming work of our Saviour.

And finally a quote, from the late Brennan Manning, which i think sums up one of the chief flaws within those who claim to be Christian [but are not so much Christ following in the way they speak or live our their lives] and also among a bunch of the people who we might put on pedestals as we are challenged by their books or inspired by their tweets:

‘The temptation of the age is to look good without being good.’ [Brennan Manning]

We have a powerful message that needs to be spoken. But it also HAS to be lived out in every area of our lives on a daily basis. Not perfectly perhaps because we are still all in the process of being made more Christlike. But in intention and priority and action, who we say we are has to start resembling more and more who we actually are.

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” [verse 7]

Mark, my words: Jesus walks on water

Jesus has just fed a crowd of more than 5000 people using one child’s lunch so how does He follow that up? By slowing things down and spending time with His Father, feeding His soul and replenishing His batteries… after which He is right back at it as He catches up with His crew by taking a stroll on the lake to meet them…

Come and take a listen as we read Mark 6 verse 45 to 56

[to read the next passage on The Traditions of man vs. The things of God, click here]