"Word Wednesdays"...Immeasurably More

Oh, Rend Collective... your songs are fabulous! This week I want to show you the lyrics to a song that we've been singing at church recently. Take a minute to really think about what these lyrics mean. God is so much bigger and better than we can even comprehend. Our minds can't grasp it. When I doubt something that God is doing, I need to remember how big He is. He knows what He's doing, and I don't have to. That's hard for a control-freak like me, but it's definitely something that I'm praying for God to change in me.  

Immeasurably More

Rend Collective

More than all we ask

Than all we seek

All our hopes and dreams

You are immeasurably more

Than we can know

Than we can pray

All our words can say

You are immeasurably more

There's nothing greater than Your love

You're more than we can imagine

There's nothing sweeter on this earth

You're more than we can imagine

Our hearts respond to who You are

It's You oh Lord that we adore

You are more, You are more

You're more than we can imagine

You are more, You are more

You're more than we can imagine

More than all our sin

Than all our shame

Stronger than the grave

You are immeasurably more

I can't help but sing

Can't help but praise

My heart can not contain

You are immeasurably more

There's nothing greater than Your love

You're more than we can imagine

There's nothing sweeter on this earth

You're more than we can imagine

Our hearts respond to who You are

It's You oh Lord that we adore

You are more, You are more

You're more than we can imagine

You are more, You are more

You're more than we can imagine

You're more than we can imagine

No eye has seen, no ear has heard

What is coming, what is coming

Never-ending joy, never-failing love

You are coming, You are coming

[x2]

You are coming, You are coming

There's nothing greater than Your love

You're more than we can imagine

There's nothing sweeter on this earth

You're more than we can imagine

Our hearts respond to who You are

It's You oh Lord that we adore

You are more, You are more

You're more than we can imagine

You are more, You are more

You're more than we can imagine

You are more, You are more

You're more than we can imagine

"Word Wednesdays"...Counsel from the Lord

In Joshua 9 (ESV), news of what the Israelites were doing was spreading among the nations. The Gibeonites decided to use a little trickery to prevent a battle. They made it appear to the Israelites that they had traveled from a far distance by using dry and crumbly bread, old sacks, old wineskins, and old sandals. They asked Joshua and his men to make a covenant with them. Verse 14 is the key text here: "So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the LORD" (ESV). Needless to say, this backfired. Three days later they found out they were in fact their neighbors and they had been deceived. 

I am so guilty of not seeking counsel from God when I think I have everything under control. I am a recovering control freak. I say recovering because, well, it still creeps in more frequently than I would prefer. Like the Israelites, it often backfires on me. God is running the universe, and He knows what is best for me. He is all-knowing, and my finite mind isn't. What about you? Do you seek God's counsel? Even for the seemingly small things? 

"Word Wednesdays"...A Good Conscience

Today on "Word Wednesdays" I want to talk about a point that was mentioned in our sermon this past week at church that has really stuck with me. I have heard several people say "they aren't good enough to be a Christian," or "they're too bad," or "they've done too many bad things." Even I am guilty of letting Satan try to convince me that when I sin Jesus won't love me anymore. I know that's a lie, and I am thankful that He forgives us of all of our sins past, present, and future. However, the point that was mentioned this week had to do with Paul (formerly Saul). 

For those of you who don't know, Saul was one of the biggest enemies to Christianity. He went around hunting down Christians and killing them. Then, God changed his heart, and he became a Believer. It was truly a miraculous story! Read it if you haven't (Acts 9, ESV). He went from condemning any Christian he could find to writing most of the New Testament! Praise God! 

Here's the point I'm trying to make though. In Acts 23:1 (ESV), Paul spoke to the council and said, ""Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day." How could Paul say this? He went around killing people. He was a huge enemy to Christianity before God saved him. How could he have a good conscience knowing what he had done in the past?

He was able to say this because of Jesus. He was bragging on Jesus and what He had done for us on the Cross. Paul knew that all of his sins were washed away, and he knew that now God had given him a new heart. If Paul is able to say that he has a good conscience, why can't we? God sees all sin. However, when we have Jesus as a Savior, He doesn't see us as the filthy mess that we are anymore. He sees us as a new creation living to glorify Him. 

"Word Wednesdays"...Tell Others About God

Today on "Word Wednesdays" I want to take a brief minute to reflect on something that I read in Joshua 2 (ESV). If you are unfamiliar with what is going on in this portion of the Bible, let me give you a short summary. Moses has been leading the people to the Promised Land. Moses then died, and Joshua took over the leadership role. Joshua sent two spies to check out Jericho before they tried to overtake it. While they were there, the King of Jericho found out about the spies and sent for them. A prostitute named, Rahab, hid them in her house to protect them. She even lied to keep them hidden.

There are many, many thoughts from this passage, but here's the part I want to focus on today. Rahab said to the spies, "I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath" (Joshua 2:9-11, ESV). 

Do you see what happened? People had been talking about God. "For we have heard..." God's people were telling others about His miracles. They were telling what He had done for them. This information about God was spreading by word-of-mouth. We need to be doing the same thing. We need to be telling others about God... who He is and what He has done for us (salvation being the biggest thing). 

If you are a Christian, God has saved you and brought you into a relationship with Himself. I get to have a relationship with a Holy God! I am no longer separated from God by my filthy sin. What has God done in your life recently? What can you be telling others about? That is the main goal that I have for "Word Wednesdays." I want people that I may not get to talk to all the time to hear about God and how awesome He is! Leave a comment and tell what God is doing. You never know how God might use you to tell someone else about Him.