Closer Today Than Yesterday: We Still Need It

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

We Still Need It

To me, the Bible is one long love song from God to us. The recurring theme is that of unrequited love and the passionate need for restoration. This is spelled out clearly in 1 Peter 3:18a;

"For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God." (emphasis mine)

God created the entire universe so that He could be "with us." He wants a deep, intimate and abiding relationship with each and every one of us. I don't mean He just wants to add you to His Facebook account as a friend. I mean that He wants a real-life, in your face, share everything at all hours of the day and night, completely dependent, never-ending, "I Am Your Father" kind of relationship.

God loves us so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus, so that anyone that has a relationship with Jesus will live forever in paradise with God. That's what Christmas (and Advent) is all about and that is the central truth of The Bible. Of course, God said it much better than I in John 3:16.

As I wrote yesterday, my observation of the times is that we need to be restored to God and the pursuit of His kingdom; as a person, as a people and as a nation. We need to sing this song;

Psalm 80:1-7 (NIV)

1 Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock;
you who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth

2 before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Awaken your might;
come and save us.

3 Restore us, O God;
make your face shine upon us,
that we may be saved.

4 O Lord God Almighty,
how long will your anger smolder
against the prayers of your people?

5 You have fed them with the bread of tears;
you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.

6 You have made us a source of contention to our neighbors,
and our enemies mock us.

7 Restore us, O God Almighty;
make your face shine upon us,
that we may be saved.

[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984

Will you join me today in meditation on this passage? Will you make this your heart's cry today?

Singing heart,
Carl

1 comment:

Bill said...: Okay, Carl ... I join you on this day after you posted, so powerfully, how God created us for His glory [see Rom. 11: 36]; and so, I sing with you Asaph's song, ...

Psalm 80:1-7 (NIV)

1 Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel,
You who lead Joseph like a flock;
You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth

2 before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. ... Awaken Your might;
come and save us.

3 Restore us, O God; ... make Your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.

4 O Lord God Almighty, ... how long will Your anger smolder
against the prayers of your people?

5 You have fed them with the bread of tears; ... You have made them drink tears by the bowlful.

6 You have made us a source of contention to our neighbors,
and our enemies mock us.

7 Restore us, O God Almighty;
make Your face shine upon us,
that we may be saved.

"BEING SAVED" is more than conversion's fire insurance. Every day (really, every moment) we need to be saved, ... to be redeemed, from our sin selves. Our testimonies and witness needs to be resurrected from the ashes of our own desires, ... from the rags of our sinfulness.

So, meditation on this wonderful and powerful Psalm and taking action to beg for God's mercy - His salvation - especially in this season where the world tries to pull our Lord from His throne and bring him into our crass reality of "Xmas."

No, this season is "Christ's Mass," the Advent reality of our Lord now sitting in glory, as Asaph wrote, "between the cherubim," reigning forever and saving all who would receive His grace.

So, Carl, my brother, I sing with you on this day ... <'BB><; December 4, 2008 at 6:13 AM

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So I Stand Near The Gate

I read the below poem at a critical point in my life and it's message resonated with me. My ministry, "Near The Gate" was named in homage to this poem. When reading this poem, feel free to substitute the word 'gate' for the word 'door' and you'll have a little glimpse inside my head.

SO I STAY NEAR THE DOOR

By the Reverend Canon Samuel Moor Shoemaker, Jr., D.D., S.T.D.

I stay near the door.
I neither go too far in, nor stay too far out,
The door is the most important door in the world–
It is the door through which men walk when they find God.
There’s no use my going way inside, and staying there,
When so many are still outside, and they, as much as I,
Crave to know where the door is.
And all that so many ever find
Is only the wall where a door ought to be.
They creep along the wall like blind men,
With outstretched, groping hands,
Feeling for a door, knowing there must be a door,
Yet they never find it - - -
So I stay near the door.
The most tremendous thing in the world
Is for men to find that door–the door to God.
The most important thing any man can do
Is to take hold of one of those blind, groping hands,
And put it on the latch–the latch that only clicks
And opens to the man’s own touch.
Men die outside that door, as starving beggars die
On cold nights in cruel cities in the dead of winter–
Die for want of what is within their grasp.
They live, on the other side of it–because they have found it.
Nothing else matters compared to helping them find it,
And open it, and walk in, and find Him - - -
So I stay near the door.
Go in, great saints, go all the way in–
Go way down into the cavernous cellars,
And way up into the spacious attics–
It is a vast, roomy house, this house where God is.
Go into the deepest of hidden casements,
Of withdrawal, of silence, or sainthood.
Some must inhabit those inner rooms,
And know the depths and heights of God,
And call outside to the rest of us how wonderful it is.
Sometimes I take a deeper look in,
Sometimes venture a little farther;
But my place seems closer to the opening - - -
So I stay near the door.
There is another reason why I stay there.
Some people get part way in and become afraid
Lest God and the zeal of His house devour them;
For God is so very great, and asks all of us.
And these people feel a cosmic claustrophobia.
And want to get out. "Let me out!" they cry.
And the people way inside only terrify them more.
Somebody must be by the door to tell them that they are spoiled
For the old life, they have seen too much;
Once taste God, and nothing but God will do any more.
Somebody must be watching for the frightened
Who seek to sneak out just where they came in,
To tell them how much better it is inside.
The people too far in do not see how near these are
To leaving–preoccupied with the wonder of it all.
Somebody must watch for those who have entered the door,
But would like to run away. So for them too,
I stay near the door.
I admire the people who go way in.
But I wish they would not forget how it was
Before they got in. Then they would be able to help
The people who have not yet even found the door,
Or the people who want to run away again from God.
You can go in too deeply, and stay too long,
And forget the people outside the door.
As for me, I shall take my old accustomed place,
Near enough to God to hear Him, and know He is there,
But not so far from men as not to hear them,
And remember they are there, too.
Where? Outside the door–
Thousands of them, millions of them.
But–more important for me–
One of them, two of them, ten of them,
Whose hands I am intended to put on the latch.
For those I shall stay by the door and wait
For those who seek it.
"I had rather be a door-keeper . . . "
So I stay near the door

Closer Today Than Yesterday

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

We Still Need It

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We Still Need It

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