The Heart of Worship (When the Music Fades)

Verse 1

When the music fades

All is stripped away

And I simply come

Longing just to bring

Something that's of worth

That will bless your heart

Bridge

I'll bring You more than a song

For a song in itself

Is not what You have required

You search much deeper within

Through the way things appear

You're looking into my heart

Chorus

I'm coming back to the heart of worhip

And it's all about You

It's all about You, Jesus

I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it

When it's all about You

It's all about You, Jesus

Verse 2

King of endless worth

No one could express

How much you deserve

Though I'm weak and poor

All I have is yours

Every single breath

*Bridge*

*Chorus*

*Chorus*

I'll bring you more than a song

I'll bring you more than a song

More than a song

I'll bring you more than a song

I'll bring you more than a song

You're looking into my heart

Looking into my heart

You're looking into my heart

Into my heart

I'll bring you more than a song

I'll bring you more than a song

I'll bring you more than a song

I'll bring you more than a song

A Good Friend

SOURCE: Maxlucado.com

John 15:13 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible.

To me, John was able to condensed 1 Corinthians 13 in one statement. After all, Jesus Christ is the ultimate persona of love.

1 Corinthians 13 lists the definition, characteristics, attributes of love. The list may be short or long, depending on how one views it, but it sure is a list that we all can't adhere to at all times. But why should we strive to adhere to it despite everything?!?!

John 15:9-17 has the answers. If we love:

• we shall remain in love in Christ, and consequently, in God;
• we shall experience Christ's joy---our complete joy;
• we shall be intimate friends with Jesus Christ, who shall reveal God to us; and
• we shall find favor in the sight of God, who will answer the prayers we've prayed in the name of Jesus Christ.

What a list of incentives!

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

John 15:13 (NIV)

His Words That Pierced Through My Heart

Spirit of Peace

O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you.

Psalm 84:12 (NIV)

Jesus Christ: Our Next Door Savior

What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ

Philippians 3:8 (NIV)

His Children

But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.

Galatians 4:4-5 (NIV)

Love is a Fruit

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

Galatians 5:6 (NIV)

Our Faithful God

He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

John 6:6 (NIV)

Spirit of Peace

SOURCE: Maxlucado.com

Lately, I noticed people quoting the phrase---"infinite possibilities". It's a good thing to always be positive but we can only do so much.... At times, we might find ourselves saying "We CAN'T!". If we want to drop the T off, it will require the power of the spirit of peace. It is a gift from God. It is the unfathomable (Philippians 4:7, NIV) and unstoppable (Mark 4:39, NIV) force behind the possibility of "infinite possibilities".

Once we come to know and/or experience God's gift of peace and trust in Him, it will only be then that we can truly claim the "infinite possibilities" and say "Yes, we CAN!"

O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you.

Psalm 84:12 (NIV)

Jesus Christ: Our Next Door Savior

SOURCE: Maxlucado.com

Jesus Christ is a God-man---Colossians 2:9.

He is NEITHER a God-like man nor a man-like God. And Max Lucado summed up in one statement why Jesus Christ is a God-man: "We must let him be all God and all man. All God so he can save you. All man so he can understand you."

These are enlightening words. These are comforting words.

My heart, mind and soul cannot help but sing "Oh, I Want to Know You More" by  Steven Green:

"Oh, I want to know You more!
Deep within my soul I want to know You,
Oh, I want to know You.
To feel Your Heart and know Your Mind,
looking in Your eyes stirs up within me,
cries that says I want to know You
Oh, I want to know You more."
(LYRIC SOURCE: Artists.LetsSingIt.com)

What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ

Philippians 3:8 (NIV)

His Children

SOURCE: Maxlucado.com

Galatians 4 (NIV)

At one point in their lives, despite being called by God to be His sons, the Galatians stopped at their tracks and looked back into slavery, chose to be under the bondage of law again. Just like what the Hebrews, who were freed through Moses, felt about Egypt and their old lives as slaves when they were lost in the wilderness, experiencing discomfort.

Comfort, convenience, the old ways, the old nature, the old self---these are all easy, way too easy. And forgetting too! Given the array of choices of life's comforts, it is easy to forget that we are God's children. What is it to be God's children? What is in store for His sons? What are the full rights of sonship that Paul mentioned in Galatians 4:4-5?

A God's son...

• is no longer a slave, he is a free man born of a free woman
• was born as the result of God's promise
• has the Spirit in his heart, and can therefore call out to God, "Abba, Father", and
• is an heir to an inheritance. (verses 6-7, 23)

To God's children, life here on earth is never promised to be easy (v. 29). The tug of the flesh, the old self, sometimes gets the better of us. We are a good people. We are of God. And we should remind ourselves of who we are, time and time again (v. 12-16).

We were adopted and now belonging to God. Not minding whether it would be easy or not, we should get rid of any encumbrances (v. 30), defending at all cost (v. 19) our inheritance, our full rights of sonship...never forgetting to whom we belong. We are God's children! We are of God!

But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.

Galatians 4:4-5 (NIV)

Love is a Fruit

SOURCE: Maxlucado.com

Galatians 5 (NIV)

The chapter speaks of Freedom in Christ and Life by the Spirit.

In verses 3 and 4, why do circumcision and obedience to the whole law alienate us from Christ? In the first place, what is this circumcision and law that Paul is talking about? I may not know the answers to these questions but one thing is clear to me and it is found in verse 6:

[v. 6] For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

Jesus values my faith in Him. Faith that should be made manifest and expressed through love. My love of Him and my love of others.

Paul warned me of people who will try to plant confusion in my life, in my faith in Him. These people will persuade me, confuse me, work through into my system of beliefs like [v. 9] "A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough", to try to keep me from believing and obeying Jesus.

[v. 1a] It is for freedom that Christ had set us free. I am called to be free. And this privilege doesn't give me the license to abuse it by wallowing in sin's pit. I am free to follow Jesus. This freedom gives me my life's purpose---that is, to love.

Sadly, I don't know enough about the Spirit of God. I know God. I know Jesus. I read and heard many stories of God and Jesus, about their attributes, about their works. But the Spirit?!?! Who is He aside from being a Comforter and a Prayer Mediator/Interpreter?

I am free to follow Jesus. And Paul said that the Spirit will keep me free from my sinful nature as long as I live by Him....for [v. 22] the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [v. 23a] gentleness and self-control.
 
By these verses I know that the Spirit is also my source of spiritual strength whenever my sinful nature tries to satisfy or gratify itself with the sins of this world.
 
Lord Jesus, I pray that you will continue to let me know more about the Spirit, how I can be empowered by Him and how I can live by Him too. Though I'm clueless about the (un)circumcision and the law that Paul is speaking about, I still thank You for Paul's message. Help me O Lord to maintain my freedom in You and to live my life's purpose here on Earth. Amen.

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

Galatians 5:6 (NIV)

Our Faithful God

SOURCE: Maxlucado.com

John 6:1-15 (NIV)

This passage tells the story of Jesus feeding five thousand men.

God knows us. He knows our thoughts, our weaknesses.
 
And God is a God of second chances.
 
Standing in front of five thousand men, Jesus knew what Philip was thinking, yet He still asked him a question to test him (v. 5-6). But, sadly, Philip failed the test and so did Andrew. It was not just Philip but ALSO Andrew. And there are and will be more Philips and Andrews in this earth, people like me who will fail to see how God will provide for our needs and not just our needs but our wants (v. 11) too amidst the impossibilities of life.
 
We are limited by our human strengths, weaknesses and knowledge. But we can count on Jesus to pick us up when we fall, to enlighten us when we fail to see, and to pass the test for us when we flunk it.
 
In John 6:10-11, Jesus showed how He passed the test, for us. It's the truth behind Max Lucado's statement: "God is faithful even when his children are not. That’s what makes God, God."

He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

John 6:6 (NIV)

Confessions of a 1st Time Blogger

BLOG?!?!


Oh, I've heard that word before. *shrugging my shoulders*
With the advent of Friendster, Facebook and Twitter (to name a few), who has not read or seen any one's blog?!


I confess...I read other people's blogs. Blogs that keep me entertained. Blogs that inform me or teach me the how-to's. Blogs that make me smile. Blogs that update me of my familys' and friends' lives. Blogs that make me laugh. Blogs that make me want to read more and more and more. Oh yes, I remember being hooked at one blogger's storytelling that I'm literally stuck to my seat. I've got her over-a-year-long storytelling to keep me preoccupied...'til I got tired (no offense meant). How did she do that?!?! I have NO idea! Wish I did! And yet here am I...attempting to write my own blog.


Never in my dreams had I thought of writing my own blog. What?! Come again please. M-Y--O-W-N--B-L-O-G?! Just thinking about it now---filling this virtual slate with words and pictures and stories to tell---is unimaginable to me right now. Never wished. Never dreamt. But will attempt. :-)


I'm no fan of making New Year's Resolution(s) but I thought I'd welcome a CHALLENGE this new year. A feat. Ah yes, a feat! But not one that is a product of one's skillfulness or ingenuity (how can I have any of that?!?!). But it will be a feat born out of just plain courage. Courage to share (now, you have to understand that I'm an introvert or so I think) my thoughts, my ideas...my story. Now, that sounds corny! So l'll stop and let the ball rolling. Let's see if I can make it 'til the end of this year! ;-)