Into the Sea of Forgetfulness

Further than East is from the West,
Much further than North to South;
Into the Sea of Forgetfulness,
The Lord my sins did cast…

Oh happy day, Oh Day of Days;
My Accuser no long taunts!
Oil and water never did mix,
But Justice and Mercy kissed…

The Cross of Christ on which He died
Has long suffered corruption and decay,
But my Redeemer lives, has paid for my sins;
I trust in Him each day…

The Sea of Forgetfulness wide extends,
Its mysterious depths so vast;
Glory to God in the Highest!
He has buried my sins in my past…

Scripture references:

“He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities and cast our sins into the depths of the sea.” – Micah 7:19

“As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” – Psalm 103:12

Earnestly I'll Seek Your Face

My Saviour, My Redeemer
Earnestly, I’ll seek Your Face
Leaning on Your perfect Grace...

Strong forever,

Failing never;
You’ll lead me to the Promised Land,
Guiding with Your mighty Hand…

Strong Deliverer;

Break the pride of  my power
And make me completely Yours,
Yours forever…

My Shepherd, My Teacher

Tune my heart to ever be
Your ardent seeker…

I want to serve You;

I want to know You;
I want to love You
All the days of my life…

Champion of Heaven,

Light in the darkness;
Earnestly, I’ll seek Your Face,
Your glory never fades...

My Saviour, My Redeemer

Earnestly, I’ll seek Your Face
Leaning on Your perfect Grace

Earnestly, I’ll seek Your Face

Forever...

A Mystery so Great

I will never understand a mystery so great

You gave everything to save me;

You gave your life…

Each drop of blood you shed

From Your broken heart,

Was the terrible price You paid

For my brand new start…

You conquered my demons;

You paid the price

You are my Redeemer!

You gave me back my life…

Satan held me captive

In his dungeon of sin;

You were the Ransom

For my everlasting Freedom…

Now I walk in Liberty,

In the Light of Your Law;

No longer condemned,

I am Yours forevermore!

I will serve You always;

Help me in love to obey

Give me Power to resist evil,

So I may teach others Your way!

I will praise You forever

For all You have done ,

You are marvelous, majestic

God’s Conquering Son!

The Return of the King

Carpenter of Nazareth,

Holy Son of God;

Coming King who’ll rule the world

With an iron rod…

Gracious Saviour;

Perfecter of the saints,

Rock of my salvation,

Ancient of Days…

Meek and lowly Messiah,

Exalted High Priest

Preparing us a table

At your Heavenly feast…

Soon You will return

And ev’ry eye will see

In clouds of the sky,

Your righteous Majesty…

A glorious Champion,

Into battle You will ride

On your snow white charger

To claim Your waiting bride…

We will sing forever

Redemption’s Song,

The story of the Son of God

Who saved us from our wrongs…

True Worship P2- Approaching the Altar

Last week, we started a series on “True Worship.” This week’s message delves into a bit more detail on what constitutes true worship. What is worshiping “in Spirit and Truth” supposed to look like?

In Gen 4:2-7, we read of two young men who bring an offering to God. At first glance, both offerings seem acceptable. They are both the results of the hard work of these two young men. I remember as a young Christian having great difficulty understanding why God would accept Abel’s offering and not Cain’s. To find out, one has to look beyond the offering itself to the attitude and posture of the two worshipers.

Cain brought an offering symbolic of his hard work in his chosen profession of tilling the ground. There was a curse on the ground due to the sin of Adam and Eve in breaking God’s command by eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, so Cain would have had to make a concerted effort to grow his produce. Of this, he was proud and he offered the first fruits of his labour to the Lord. He brought to God an offering symbolic of his pride and his works.

Abel, on the other hand, also brought an offering from his chosen profession as a shepherd. However, his offering foretold of the coming Redeemer who would wash his sins away by the pouring out of His blood. Abel offered his sacrifice in faith and it typified the Messiah who was to save all mankind from their sins. Cain did not offer his sacrifice in faith, so to him it became sin. (Rom 14:23). The Lord’s response to Cain: “if you do well, will you not be accepted?” gives us the clear message that there was a standard for offering sacrifices to God and Cain was not true to that standard. God is no respecter of persons – if Cain had brought the right offering with the right attitude and posture of worship, it would have been accepted! (Rom 2:11, Col 3:25)Cain’s attitude when His sacrifice was not accepted demonstrates his attitude in bringing the sacrifice in the first place! If it was mere ignorance that had caused him to bring a sacrifice of the wrong nature, he would have immediately repented and asked his brother for a lamb to offer to God. Instead, he was driven to wrath and fell prey to the heinous sin of murdering his brother.

The same issue was at the forefront in Jesus’ day when the Pharisees prayed aloud on the street corners, but their hearts were far from God, and the poor publicans who asked for mercy and rested on the promise of the Messiah to atone for them, were vindicated .(Luk 18:9-14)

Our tithes, offerings, praise and worship to God are not acceptable unless they are of the right nature, and brought with the right attitude and not one of hypocrisy or trusting in our own works for salvation. We should not compare our sacrifices of praise to that of other worshipers, for God looks at the heart of those who worship Him. Forgive each other before bringing gifts to the altar. Let the older ones be an example to the younger, teaching them true worship!

"Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."-Matt 5:23-24

"And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering, but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him."-Gen 4:2-7

"And he [Jesus] spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others. Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other, for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."-Luke 18:9-14

Run to the Redeemer

When life pelts you with problems

And all around you dances darkness;

When you’re not sure you can carry on…

Run to the Redeemer!

His arms are open wide;

He’s a tower of refuge to those seeking to hide

He said: “Come to me all who labour,

Lay your burdens aside;

I will give you rest and respite.”

When you’re in distress with nowhere to run,

Alone and afraid as friendships fade

When you’re not sure you can carry on…

Run to the Redeemer!

His arms are open wide;

He’s a tower of refuge to those seeking to hide

He said: “Come to me all who labour,

Lay your burdens aside;

I will give you rest and respite.”

When your heart fails for fear,

And deadly doubt clouds your mind;

When you’re not sure you can carry on…

Run to the Redeemer!

His arms are open wide;

He’s a tower of refuge to those seeking to hide

He said: “Come to me all who labour,

Lay your burdens aside;

I will give you rest and respite.”

When the world seems to reject you

And testing trials assail you,

Remember Jesus will never forsake you;

He’s right there by your side

Man of sorrows acquainted with grief,

He’ll turn your cross into triumph

And give you relief!

So just run to the Redeemer!

His arms are open wide;

He’s a tower of refuge to those seeking to hide

He said: “Come to me all who labour,

Lay your burdens aside;

I will give you rest and respite.

Child, I will give you rest and respite.”

This poem/hymn was inspired by the words of Prov 18:10-"The Name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runneth into it, and is safe."

A Little Piece of Heaven on earth

When the Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would be established, He answered by saying to them: “The Kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:21)

Even the people of the world who have not yet accepted the authority and salvation of Christ in their lives agree that we are on the cusp of something momentous. A new era will soon dawn that will change the world forever. However, no one knows the day or the hour of the coming of Christ; not even the angels in Heaven are privy to this information – it is only the Father who knows. (Matt 24:36)

So, what about the here and now? How does the coming Kingdom of God affect our lives today? Jesus indicated that the Kingdom of God, although only literally arriving in splendid glory at His Coming, already has its foundation in the heart of every believer. Christ reigns first in your heart! Your heart must be the seat of His royal throne.

It is only when we totally surrender our hearts to Him, that our lives on this earth become more meaningful and our trials easier to bear. Life may throw hard challenges at you, but with the beginnings of an eternal Kingdom in your heart, you can be an oasis of stability to others around you who are left reeling by the stresses and cares of this world. When they try to unravel the puzzle of your life, they will find Christ! When they look at you with a sense of awe and admiration, they look at Him with a sense of awe and admiration! You can become a mirror that reflects Christ to the world. When people say you’re a wonderful person, you can assert to them that they’re really calling Him wonderful!

God has put a little piece of Heaven inside the heart of each of His children and all the “sham, drudgery and broken dreams” of this world cannot crush it out of you! It is the hope of glory that will be fully revealed at His Second Coming. Do not let your soul be downcast; rather hope in God for Your Redeemer lives and you will soon see Him! (Rev 21, Job 19:25)

Creation testifies of God's Love

The love of God is seen in the wide expanse of the skies, and in the mysterious depths of the ocean. His unending mercy is seen in the vastness of the great plains and His majesty in the peaks of the towering mountains. His righteousness is mirrored in the crystal waters of the lakes and streams and His providence is reflected through all of His creation.

The brilliant rays of the dawning sun that awaken us every morning are only a reflection of His brilliant glory and the whispering wind speaks of His kindness to us.

His care and gentleness is seen the delicate petals of every flower and His grace in every bird that soars in the firmament above.

Nature testifies daily of the existence and sustaining power of an awesome Creator. Language barriers and geographical divides may slow down the message of hope to the world, but in the works of Creation are no such barriers as they are exposed for the entire world to see and marvel. There is therefore no excuse for a world that refuses to acknowledge the Creator of heaven and earth and instead chooses to worship the works of creation or man-made images that neither hear nor speak.