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...

Pilgrim

I am a pilgrim on a journey

To the Promised Land;

I have asked God for guidance,

That He would take my hand…

Often anxious, often weary

As meandering paths I tread

I remember my Saviour;

He had no place to lay His head…

I will trust Him for He already has traveled this narrow way;

He is my fire by night, my pillar of cloud by day

He will never leave me, nor forsake me;

His Promise is sure

I will be with Him in His Kingdom,

Where we will dwell forevermore…

While I journey on this road,

I find tokens of His love:

The garden of tears,

The Cross on which He shed His blood…

He died to relieve me

Of my burden of sin,

So He could raise me to glory,

To a new life with Him…

Now I live to serve Him,

Though my debt I cannot repay;

All I can do is walk this journey

In His strength each day…

Soon, my journey will be over

And I will take my rest;

When my King comes in glory,

I will awaken in the City of the Blessed…

This poem was inspired by: Gal 4:26, Heb 11, Matt 8:19-20, Ex 13:21-22, Matt 28:18-20, Mark 14:32-72, John 19:16-20, 2 Cor 5:21, Is 53, Rom 6, Ps 46, Rev 21-22

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…

Calling God a Liar?

I struggled with the title of my message this week. It seemed like such an unconventional title, one that was a jolt of lightning in my mind when it arrived in my thoughts as I pondered on what I should write about. Calling God a liar? How exactly does one accomplish that? Are we even guilty of that?

We worry about the visible sins in our lives, but what about the invisible sins, the ones no one knows about but us and God? Because no one knows about them, we often find ourselves procrastinating when it comes to dealing with them, and while we delay we condemn the same faults in others that we ourselves are guilty of.

1 John 1:10 states that if we say are without sin, we are deceiving ourselves and also calling God a liar. Cherished sins, though often hidden from the prying human eyes, do not escape the eyes of the One who searches the hearts of men and reads them like an open book (Prov 21:2).  When mixed with pride, these invisible sins are a dangerous concoction brewing in our hearts leading to denial (a state of spiritual blindness where we refuse to acknowledge our sins) which further leads to the trap of presumption which makes our hearts hard so that we cannot admit our need of a Saviour. This is a very dangerous condition which often leads to a festering wound of hypocrisy, which destroys the credibility of our witness for Christ.

There is also the other extreme, where people have committed such heinous sins that they think they don’t deserve to be forgiven or cannot be forgiven. The Bible provides many examples of people in history who experienced God’s great forgiveness regardless of the “size or seriousness of the sin” in men’s eyes. King David was forgiven for lying, adultery and murder when he confessed it to God and was able to say: “Blessed is he whose transgression is covered and whose sins are forgiven.”

Both extremes lead to the deadly sin of calling God a liar. We call God a liar when we think we have no need of His forgiveness because we refuse to admit our failures. We also call him a liar when we underestimate His redeeming love for us and His ability to save to the utmost all who call on Him. (Heb 7:25) Some of us find ourselves hemmed in by a pattern of destructive, dangerous sinful practices. It’s one thing accepting the Lord and being baptized. That only leads to a greater confrontation with sin than ever before, a spiritual battle we will wage all our lives, but praise God that with Him ALL things are possible! (Matt 19:25-26) Jesus wasn’t lying when He said this! Old habits die hard, but deliverance is ours if we claim it in faith, asking Him to transform our characters every day.

"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."-1 John 1:8-10

Scripture refs: 1 John 1:10, Prov 21:2, Heb 7:25, Matt 19:25-26

The Fragrance of Christ

As I write this week’s message, I can’t stop thinking about the woman who anointed the Lord with a costly ointment in the house of Simon the Pharisee. She came bearing a gift that was a representation of the love that the Lord had already shed abroad in her heart. She came recognizing that she was no better than anyone else, and in a posture of humility and deep contrition, she poured the ointment on the feet of the Saviour. She came with mixed feelings, weeping with godly sorrow for the sins in her life, but with joy that He had granted her a royal pardon. (2 Cor 7:10)

There was no judgment or condemnation in her thoughts or actions. She had forgotten about the people around her. Her eyes were on the Lord and nothing could detract from the special moment she shared with Him. Their disbelieving stares and hurtful words that ordinarily would have cut to her heart like a knife through butter had no effect on her that day. All she knew, all she remembered was the saving grace of the Lord.

Sometimes, like that woman, I find myself thinking about the Saviour. There are days when thoughts of Him fill my mind even as I go about the daily tasks of life. Those are the really good days, when the fragrance that He put in my heart bubbles over, exuding grace, serenity and beauty. This I have come to know as the fragrance of Christ, the fragrance of His Spirit. It is the same Spirit that binds us together as brothers and sisters in the family of God. It is the same Spirit who caused the Psalmist David’s cup to run over (Ps 23), who emboldened the testimony of the Apostles (Acts 4:13, 29, 31), who testifies that we’re saved by His grace and we’re nothing without Him. (John 15:5)

The fragrance of Christ is what makes the world stop and take notice that He reigns, and to truly taste and see that the Lord is good, and that His mercy endures forever!(Ps 34:8) I am sure I am not alone in saying that friends sometimes ask: “What happy pills are you on today?”  Some have said: “You always say you’re okay…sometimes I think you’d say that even though the world crumbled around you…” (Ps 46) All I can say is that it is the Spirit of Christ, the Comforter, who makes all the difference. The Holy Spirit’s job is to convict the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment, to bring us to the Saviour, to bring to remembrance and fruition Christ’s teachings in our lives, to help us renounce evil and do good (Jn 16:8, 14:17).  May the Spirit of the Lord always be with you as you labour for Him, and let the fragrance of your heart be the fragrance of Christ. Though you may go about life unassumingly and quietly, let the Spirit testify of the reality of a life surrendered to the Saviour. May all the world see it and give glory to the Father! (Matt 5:16)

Scripture refs: Please read the Scripture refs quoted in this message. Also read Matt 26, Mark 14 and Luke 7 for the story of the woman who anointed the Lord in the house of the Pharisee.

Jesus Christ-Saviour, Priest and soon-coming King

Beautiful Saviour died on a tree;

Heaven’s perfect Ransom

For sinners like me…

Grace so strong,

Love so free;

Lion of Judah, Lamb of Mercy…

As you hung on Calvary’s Cross

My sins to bear;

Not nails of steel, but Love kept You there…

Rising triumphant;

You won the victor’s crown

The grave could not hold the Matchless One!

Ever-living Conquering Son!

Eternal salvation for faithful believers won;

Interceding for us, Oh Perfect High Priest,

Preparing our place at the Heavenly Feast…

Soon to return as Reigning King,

The faithful will joyfully shout and sing!

From the clouds of glory, on a white steed you ride

Coming to claim Your waiting Bride…

Mansions of glory for the saints prepared;

For those You have loved

From the foundation of the world…

I love You Jesus!

Can’t wait to see You return…

This poem was inspired by Rev 19:11-16

"And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." -Rev 19:11-16