Our Worship is for You alone | Sunday, August 27, 2006
Throne of Praise by Don Moen
Jesus, We lift You up on our praises
So every eye can see Your face
Your power and grace
Behold You as You really are
Brighter than all the stars of Heaven
Our worship is for You alone
We build You this throne of praise
As long as I have breath
I'll find a way to say
that I love You
everything may change
and the world may pass away
I'll still love You
With every song we sing
Every prayer we pray
We build You a throne
made from the sound of praise
You, O Lord deserve
the praise of all the earth
and we worship You
A sacrifice You died
now Great and Glorified
and we worship You
With every song we sing
Every prayer we pray
We build You a throne
made from the sound of praise
When I first heard this song, it moved my heart in such a way that I could described as pain and loss as well as great expectations that one day, I can offer my Lord and King the worship He really deserves. For a long time in my life, I have always felt that my worship is inadequate for it could never express what my heart longed to worship and I could dwell there, wanting for more and never getting it. I longed to see the day when the glory of the Lord dwelled in the midst of His people that we could not worship and are just kneeling there, enjoying His presence and wanting to be with Him.
I know all along that our worship is for Him along and yet, there are many things in this world, my life that just distracts me away from Him. That should never be the case and sometimes, I wonder whether I have taken God for granted and I begin to review my relationship with Him. I can only use this analogy to describe my relationship with Him in the past and I need to be careful that I would not fall into this state again.
I could only describe it in this way:
There was a prisoner, condemned to die because of all the wrongs that he has committed. He has hardened his heart and it seemed that nothing could ever ,move his heart again. He has turned his back to the world and now, the world has turned their back on him, and he began to do all the heinous crimes to assuage the loneliness and bitterness of his heart. He led a dissolute life to the extent that his parents no longer wanted to associate themselves with him. He was caught one day for experimenting with drugs and under the law of the country, he has to be sentenced to death and that left the man even bitter. One day, there was a Man who came to visit all the condemned prisoners who were supposed to be executed soon. He saw this prisoner, and for some strange reason, his heart began to reach out to him and he began to care for him and take care of his living conditions in the jail, trying to make it livable for this prisoner. At first, the prisoner was unmoved and he began to make fun of this Man, jeering him, spitting Him and cursed Him and called Him a fool for the prisoner was going to be executed and to him, it was useless to make his living accommodations nicer.
However, the Man still cared for him and to the extent that He washed the prisoner's feet even though the prisoner still kicked him as He was washing his feet. Strangely, the prisoner began to feel the person's love shining through Him and to him and he began to warm to the person. He began to respond to the person's ministrations and began to accept him, tentatively as an acquaintance, friend and slowly progressed to brother. When He learned that the Man is actually the King of the country, he was amazed and Hope began to rise in his heart and he pleaded with the King to spare his life. The King is a just King and he began to review His case personally, granted the prisoner reprieve and spared his life. Interestingly, the king even gave the prisoner a job and quite a high ranking one. That prisoner was filled with gratitude and began to serve the King wholeheartedly. Whatever the prisoner wanted, the King gave freely to the extent that the prisoner forgot his former state of life and began to assume that he is on the same par with the King and that he believed firmly that whatever he asked, the King will surely give Him. He began to make demands on the King and began to throw a tantrum that the King is not a good king when He doesn't gave the prisoner what he wanted, until one day the prisoner was shaken to his senses when he realized that he has not been treating his good friend as a King but as a servant. He repented and began to pay due respects that the King deserved to get.
I don't think I can portray this story as well as I wanted. I was a sinner, found grace and enjoyed a good relationship with the Lord. However, I found that I have been taking Him for granted and to the extent, I nearly left my faith when He seemingly did not help me in my time of need until I read Daniel 3:17-18. That brought me to my senses and I repented and now, I just wanted to praise Him for who He is and my worship is for Him and Him alone and not for anyone else. I will not trade Him for anything lesser for He is all I need.
Created at 9:53 PM
Throne of Praise by Don Moen
Jesus, We lift You up on our praises
So every eye can see Your face
Your power and grace
Behold You as You really are
Brighter than all the stars of Heaven
Our worship is for You alone
We build You this throne of praise
As long as I have breath
I'll find a way to say
that I love You
Everything may change
and the world may pass away
I'll still love You
With every song we sing
Every prayer we pray
We build You a throne
made from the sound of praise
You, O Lord deserve
the praise of all the earth
and we worship You
A sacrifice You died
now Great and Glorified
and we worship You
With every song we sing
Every prayer we pray
We build You a throne
made from the sound of praise
When I first heard this song, it moved my heart in such a way that I could described as pain and loss as well as great expectations that one day, I can offer my Lord and King the worship He really deserves. For a long time in my life, I have always felt that my worship is inadequate for it could never express what my heart longed to worship and I could dwell there, wanting for more and never getting it. I longed to see the day when the glory of the Lord dwelled in the midst of His people that we could not worship and are just kneeling there, enjoying His presence and wanting to be with Him.
I know all along that our worship is for Him along and yet, there are many things in this world, my life that just distracts me away from Him. That should never be the case and sometimes, I wonder whether I have taken God for granted and I begin to review my relationship with Him. I can only use this analogy to describe my relationship with Him in the past and I need to be careful that I would not fall into this state again.
I could only describe it in this way:
There was a prisoner, condemned to die because of all the wrongs that he has committed. He has hardened his heart and it seemed that nothing could ever ,move his heart again. He has turned his back to the world and now, the world has turned their back on him, and he began to do all the heinous crimes to assuage the loneliness and bitterness of his heart. He led a dissolute life to the extent that his parents no longer wanted to associate themselves with him. He was caught one day for experimenting with drugs and under the law of the country, he has to be sentenced to death and that left the man even bitter. One day, there was a Man who came to visit all the condemned prisoners who were supposed to be executed soon. He saw this prisoner, and for some strange reason, his heart began to reach out to him and he began to care for him and take care of his living conditions in the jail, trying to make it livable for this prisoner. At first, the prisoner was unmoved and he began to make fun of this Man, jeering him, spitting Him and cursed Him and called Him a fool for the prisoner was going to be executed and to him, it was useless to make his living accomodations nicer.
However, the Man still cared for him and to the extent that He washed the prisoner's feet even though the prisoner still kicked him as He was washing his feet. Strangely, the prisoner began to feel the person's love shining through Him and to him and he began to warm to the person. He began to respond to the person's ministrations and began to accept him, tentatively as an acquaintance, friend and slowly progessed to brother. When He learned that the Man is actually the King of the country, he was amazed and hoipe began to rise in his heart and he pleaded with the King to spare his life. The King is a just King and he began to review His case personally, granted the prisoner reprieve and spared his life. Interestingly, the king even gave the prisoner a job and quite a high ranking one. That prisoner was filled with gratitude and began to serve the King wholeheartedly. Whatever the prisoner wanted, the King gave freely to the extent that the prisoner forgot his former state of life and began to assume that he is on the same par with the King and that he believed firmly that whatever he asked, the King will surely give Him. He began to make demands on the King and began to throw a tantrum that the King is not a good king when He doesn't gave the prisoner what he wanted, until one day the prisoner was shaken to his senses when he realised that he has not been treating his good friend as a King but as a servant. He repented and began to pay due respects that the King deserved to get.
I don't think I can portray this story as well as I wanted. I was a sinner, found grace and enjoyed a good relationship with the Lord. However, I found that I have been taking Him for granted and to the extent, I nearly left my faith when He seemingly did not help me in my time of need until I read Daniel 3:17-18. That brought me to my senses and I repented and now, I just wanted to praise Him for who He is and my worship is for Him and Him alone and not for anyone else. I will not trade Him for anything lesser for He is all I need.
Created at 2:37 PM
Throne of Praise by Don Moen
Jesus, We lift You up on our praises
So every eye can see Your face
Your power and grace
Behold You as You really are
Brighter than all the stars of Heaven
Our worship is for You alone
We build You this throne of praise
As long as I have breath
I'll find a way to say
that I love You
Everything may change
and the world may pass away
I'll still love You
With every song we sing
Every prayer we pray
We build You a throne
made from the sound of praise
You, O Lord deserve
the praise of all the earth
and we worship You
A sacrifice You died
now Great and Glorified
and we worship You
With every song we sing
Every prayer we pray
We build You a throne
made from the sound of praise
When I first heard this song, it moved my heart in such a way that I could described as pain and loss as well as great expectations that one day, I can offer my Lord and King the worship He really deserves. For a long time in my life, I have always felt that my worship is inadequate for it could never express what my heart longed to worship and I could dwell there, wanting for more and never getting it. I longed to see the day when the glory of the Lord dwelled in the midst of His people that we could not worship and are just kneeling there, enjoying His presence and wanting to be with Him.
I know all along that our worship is for Him along and yet, there are many things in this world, my life that just distracts me away from Him. That should never be the case and sometimes, I wonder whether I have taken God for granted and I begin to review my relationship with Him. I can only use this analogy to describe my relationship with Him in the past and I need to be careful that I would not fall into this state again.
I could only describe it in this way:
There was a prisoner, condemned to die because of all the wrongs that he has committed. He has hardened his heart and it seemed that nothing could ever ,move his heart again. He has turned his back to the world and now, the world has turned their back on him, and he began to do all the heinous crimes to assuage the loneliness and bitterness of his heart. He led a dissolute life to the extent that his parents no longer wanted to associate themselves with him. He was caught one day for experimenting with drugs and under the law of the country, he has to be sentenced to death and that left the man even bitter. One day, there was a Man who came to visit all the condemned prisoners who were supposed to be executed soon. He saw this prisoner, and for some strange reason, his heart began to reach out to him and he began to care for him and take care of his living conditions in the jail, trying to make it livable for this prisoner. At first, the prisoner was unmoved and he began to make fun of this Man, jeering him, spitting Him and cursed Him and called Him a fool for the prisoner was going to be executed and to him, it was useless to make his living accomodations nicer.
However, the Man still cared for him and to the extent that He washed the prisoner's feet even though the prisoner still kicked him as He was washing his feet. Strangely, the prisoner began to feel the person's love shining through Him and to him and he began to warm to the person. He began to respond to the person's ministrations and began to accept him, tentatively as an acquaintance, friend and slowly progessed to brother. When He learned that the Man is actually the King of the country, he was amazed and hoipe began to rise in his heart and he pleaded with the King to spare his life. The King is a just King and he began to review His case personally, granted the prisoner reprieve and spared his life. Interestingly, the king even gave the prisoner a job and quite a high ranking one. That prisoner was filled with gratitude and began to serve the King wholeheartedly. Whatever the prisoner wanted, the King gave freely to the extent that the prisoner forgot his former state of life and began to assume that he is on the same par with the King and that he believed firmly that whatever he asked, the King will surely give Him. He began to make demands on the King and began to throw a tantrum that the King is not a good king when He doesn't gave the prisoner what he wanted, until one day the prisoner was shaken to his senses when he realised that he has not been treating his good friend as a King but as a servant. He repented and began to pay due respects that the King deserved to get.
I don't think I can portray this story as well as I wanted. I was a sinner, found grace and enjoyed a good relationship with the Lord. However, I found that I have been taking Him for granted and to the extent, I nearly left my faith when He seemingly did not help me in my time of need until I read Daniel 3:17-18. That brought me to my senses and I repented and now, I just wanted to praise Him for who He is and my worship is for Him and Him alone and not for anyone else. I will not trade Him for anything lesser for He is all I need.
Created at 1:21 PM
Throne of Praise by Don Moen
Jesus, We lift You up on our praises
So every eye can see Your face
Your power and grace
Behold You as You really are
Brighter than all the stars of Heaven
Our worship is for You alone
We build You this throne of praise
As long as I have breath
I'll find a way to say
that I love You
Everything may change
and the world may pass away
I'll still love You
With every song we sing
Every prayer we pray
We build You a throne
made from the sound of praise
You, O Lord deserve
the praise of all the earth
and we worship You
A sacrifice You died
now Great and Glorified
and we worship You
With every song we sing
Every prayer we pray
We build You a throne
made from the sound of praise
When I first heard this song, it moved my heart in such a way that I could described as pain and loss as well as great expectations that one day, I can offer my Lord and King the worship He really deserves. For a long time in my life, I have always felt that my worship is inadequate for it could never express what my heart longed to worship and I could dwell there, wanting for more and never getting it. I longed to see the day when the glory of the Lord dwelled in the midst of His people that we could not worship and are just kneeling there, enjoying His presence and wanting to be with Him.
I know all along that our worship is for Him along and yet, there are many things in this world, my life that just distracts me away from Him. That should never be the case and sometimes, I wonder whether I have taken God for granted and I begin to review my relationship with Him. I can only use this analogy to describe my relationship with Him in the past and I need to be careful that I would not fall into this state again.
I could only describe it in this way:
There was a prisoner, condemned to die because of all the wrongs that he has committed. He has hardened his heart and it seemed that nothing could ever ,move his heart again. He has turned his back to the world and now, the world has turned their back on him, and he began to do all the heinous crimes to assuage the loneliness and bitterness of his heart. He led a dissolute life to the extent that his parents no longer wanted to associate themselves with him. He was caught one day for experimenting with drugs and under the law of the country, he has to be sentenced to death and that left the man even bitter. One day, there was a Man who came to visit all the condemned prisoners who were supposed to be executed soon. He saw this prisoner, and for some strange reason, his heart began to reach out to him and he began to care for him and take care of his living conditions in the jail, trying to make it livable for this prisoner. At first, the prisoner was unmoved and he began to make fun of this Man, jeering him, spitting Him and cursed Him and called Him a fool for the prisoner was going to be executed and to him, it was useless to make his living accomodations nicer.
However, the Man still cared for him and to the extent that He washed the prisoner's feet even though the prisoner still kicked him as He was washing his feet. Strangely, the prisoner began to feel the person's love shining through Him and to him and he began to warm to the person. He began to respond to the person's ministrations and began to accept him, tentatively as an acquaintance, friend and slowly progessed to brother. When He learned that the Man is actually the King of the country, he was amazed and hoipe began to rise in his heart and he pleaded with the King to spare his life. The King is a just King and he began to review His case personally, granted the prisoner reprieve and spared his life. Interestingly, the king even gave the prisoner a job and quite a high ranking one. That prisoner was filled with gratitude and began to serve the King wholeheartedly. Whatever the prisoner wanted, the King gave freely to the extent that the prisoner forgot his former state of life and began to assume that he is on the same par with the King and that he believed firmly that whatever he asked, the King will surely give Him. He began to make demands on the King and began to throw a tantrum that the King is not a good king when He doesn't gave the prisoner what he wanted, until one day the prisoner was shaken to his senses when he realised that he has not been treating his good friend as a King but as a servant. He repented and began to pay due respects that the King deserved to get.
I don't think I can portray this story as well as I wanted. I was a sinner, found grace and enjoyed a good relationship with the Lord. However, I found that I have been taking Him for granted and to the extent, I nearly left my faith when He seemingly did not help me in my time of need until I read Daniel 3:17-18. That brought me to my senses and I repented and now, I just wanted to praise Him for who He is and my worship is for Him and Him alone and not for anyone else. I will not trade Him for anything lesser for He is all I need.
Created at 1:21 PM
Decisions? | Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Decisions?
Everybody has to make a decision at some point in their lives and I believe all of us made a decision very young in our lives such as whether we choose to obey our parents, older siblings, what type of food to eat, clothes to wear and and somehow, i believe that we enjoyed making decisions cause it seem to make us feel grown-up. However, as we grew older, we began to dread making decisions and we tend to push decision-making rights to someone else and try to get ourselves out of that situation and only when we don't have any choice at all, we make a decision based on popular or general concensus, That started me thinking along these lines.
I think this is because we hated the responsibility that comes along with the decisions. We don't like to make decisions that are unpopular and yet most of the time, it seem to us that we are making these type of decisions that we slowly but surely phased out of making decisions even to the extent of going where to eat and what to do and we always rely on our friends because in that sense, they will bear the responsibility instead of us when the decisions turn out to be ill-fated or unpopular at best. However, there will come a time when we have to make the greatest decision such as believing and accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives and second to that, our lifelong partner.
For me personally, the two great questions that I have been asking myself is my direction in life and my lifelong partner. For unknown reasons, these two seem to be very far out of my life though i spend time thinking and rethinking about it and i still have no answer regarding them for quite a considerable period of time. I have been praying for it as long as i could remember for the past 10-12 years but no answer came. Recently, i think God has given me some sort of answer though it was not the ones that i expected. My expectations of answers from God was that i want God to tell me specifically to tell me which countries to go, which ministries to serve and should I carry on waiting for the girl i like and love? God did not reply to me any of my questions but instead, He made me realise one thing and that is whether i have been asking guidance from a wise guru or whether i m trusting God that He will walk with me in spite of the decisions i make for myself.
I realised that God is a gentle God and He will not make decisions on our behalf. The best example of this is our free will to choose whether to accept Him as our personal Lord and Savior. He does not push us though He convicts us of His deep love He has for us. He does not push us though many a times, we push our friends to accept Him but He allows us to make decisions and even when our decisions are clearly wrong, He does not condemn us but instead, He will make everything right in His own eyes and in ours too when we surrender it all to Him. I realise one thing though that every time i delayed in making a decision is because i do not want to make a decision that i regretted and that is why i keep on praying and seeking answers from God so that when God makes a decision for me, it's the best decision and God can never go wrong and that is why i keep on waiting for God to move in my life.
However, God does not seem to move in that way. He waits for us to make a decision and then He will open doors for us to see and that is what has been impressing on my heart for the past two weeks that God is waiting for me to do just that. I was afraid of my wrong and maybe even harmful decisions but God reminded me of Joseph's brothers where they clearly made the wrong and even evil decisions but God intervened and made it everything right in the end and it is also through them that Israel was saved and delivered indirectly and this teaches me one thing that if I surrender myself to God, God is faithful and just and He will carry me through. As for the person I like very much and still love, i believe that anticipation and expectation will do for me just fine for everything has its own time and i believe that time is coming soon and i am waiting for it as a man awaits for the greatest gift that God can ever give Him. I wait and makes my decisions and I pray that you too will wait and make a decision that you are happy in making too. God bless and enjoy your time with God alone.
Created at 12:38 PM
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