Thursday, January 29, 2009

It's 10:39 and I'm Unsettled

I wanted to write tonight but I have no idea what to write.
What I do not want to do is ramble for no reason. I do not want to be accused of being one of those that think they will be heard because of their many words.
So, here is some Scripture I've read tonight...

Philippians 3:7-11
7But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8What 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 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

My thoughts...how can we consider everything loss...everything...in comparison to simply knowing Christ. To look at everything and say, "it's trash..." all because of imparted righteousness. Unbelievable...

Colossians 1:15-17
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

My thoughts...just think about this for a second, everything that has ever been created, everything you see around you, your life in general...it's all held together by the word of His mouth. He speaks life into existence and takes breath in a moment. It's all His and anything you have was given to you by Him to push back what is dark in the world.

Luke 5:16
16But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

My thoughts...deep down I think we are all a little scared of being lonely. Jesus sought out time to be lonely...loneliness for Him meant intimacy with the Father. Oh that we might have more time to be lonely.

Hosea 13:6
6 When I fed them, they were satisfied;
when they were satisfied, they became proud;
then they forgot me.

My thoughts...this has been haunting me for almost a year. God said this about Israel but I fear it is the case with so many of us. God forbid...

2 Corinthians 12:9-10
9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

My thoughts...this takes my fear and anxiety away, I don't always have to know what to do next, I don't always have to have all the answers, I don't have to always be strong.

Psalm 46:10
10 "Be still and know that I am God..."

My thoughts...nothing else need be said...


Blessings!
ZS

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

You Found Me ::: The Fray

The Fray - You Found Me
I found God
On the corner of first and Amistad
Where the west was all but won
All alone, smoking his last cigarette
I Said where you been, he said ask anything
Where were you?
When everything was falling apart
All my days were spent by the telephone
It never rang
And all I needed was a call
That never came
To the corner of first and Amistad

Lost and insecure
You found me, you found me
Lying on the floor
Surrounded, surrounded
Why’d you have to wait?
Where were you? Where were you?
Just a little late
You found me, you found me

In the end everyone ends up alone
Losing her, the only one who’s ever known
Who I am, who I’m not, who I want to be
No way to know how long she will be next to me

Lost and insecure
You found me, you found me
Lying on the floor
Surrounded, surrounded
Why’d you have to wait?
Where were you, where were you?
Just a little late
You found me, you found me

Early morning, City breaks
I’ve been calling for years and years and years and years
And you never left me no messages
You never send me no letters
You got some kind of nerve, taking all I want

Lost and insecure
You found me, you found me
Lying on the floor
Where were you where were you

Lost and insecure
You found me, you found me
Lying on the floor
Surrounded, surrounded
Why’d you have to wait?
Where were you, where were you?
Just a little late
You found me, you found me

Why’d you have to wait?
To find me, to find me

I'm posting this today because these guys were on with Kidd Kraddick yesterday morning talking about this song. So much of what they said was so profound that I needed to share.

They were asked where "first and Amistad" was? Amistad is a Spanish word meaning friend. The guys in the band said the message they were aiming for here is that God can be and should be our first (best) friend. They were asked specifically why God would be "smoking his last cigarette", to which they replied that it was a symbol of the fact that God had been waiting for him to come. This is so profound. I know it is just a matter of time before some of my fundamentalist brethren take this and make The Fray out to be a band trying to drag the character of God through the mud, but please take some time to understand the meaning before doing what you do.

Joseph and Isaac (the front men of The Fray) went on to talk about where the song came from. As they were traveling almost all of this past year, they said they continued to get call after call from close friends and family members who were going through the worse kinds of things...seemed like tragedy was striking everyone. One of them (again, hard to know who was saying what because I was listening to the radio) was talking about how, growing up in church, you heard people talk about "finding God" and in that moment everything was good, right and in perfect order. He said, the problem with that is life seems to teach something completely different at times. He said, he personally knew people that after finding God, honestly wanted to "go a couple of rounds with Him".

That's what this song is about. It speaks of peoples humanity in that even when they find someone to rescue them (A Savior), they still have the question..."what took you so long?"

There in lies the beauty of "smoking his last cigarette"...He was there all the time, simply waiting for you to cry out to him for help.

Holy Father, thank you for truth that finds us when we aren't even looking for it. Thank you for rescuing me...thank you for finding me. It's for the praise of your glory! Amen!

Blessings!

ZS

If your curious, the album drops 2/3/09 but you can purchase "You Found Me" on iTunes...I got mine!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

The Mystery of Jesus Christ

Why is it that it seems almost everything Jesus did was mysterious? Think about it, you're the King of all creation and you are born in a stall in which animals eat. At no point did this "king" try to establish an earthly kingdom. Jews at this time would hear that this is the Messiah of whom the prophets spoke so they are thinking that he has come to re-establish the throne of David and to reconcile this kingdom, yet ultimately it would look drastically different than what they were thinking. Even today, people constantly connect Jesus to "religion" yet if there was one thing that consistently got him riled up was the religious leaders and their self righteousness and their "thank you God I'm not like this guy" attitudes. He taught the law in a way that no one had heard before. Things like, "you've heard it said not to kill but I tell you that if you have hatred in your heart you've committed the same sin", or "you've heard not to commit adultery but I tell you even if you look on a women lustfully, you've committed the same sin". He invited people over and over throughout the Gospels to come and follow him, yet when a rich young ruler came and ask how to inherit eternal life he told him he had to go sale everything he had and give it to the poor, then he could follow him...but wait, he didn't ask anyone else to do that (that we know of). The story goes on to say that the man walked away disappointed...why? Because he had a lot of stuff and he wasn't willing to part with it.
So, why such a mystery? Why does it seem at times to be so hard to put this Jesus in a nice need package for everyone to believe in and receive? I mean, isn't that what he wants? So, why make it so difficult to present?
I do know this, Jesus was always more interested in the heart of the individual than he was with their actions. You see you can give the appearance of having it all together on the outside, meanwhile your life is falling apart on the inside. The things Jesus said about killing and committing adultery, the righteous indignation he had towards religious leaders and even the fact that he asked that one guy to sale his stuff and give it away before he could follow him...all of these things point back to what is in a man's heart.
These are the mysteries of Christ that at times seem so hard to grasp...
Christ help us...because we need you!
I've just been wrestling with this...just wanted to share...
ZS