Psalm 127:1-2
1
Unless the LORD builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless the LORD guards the city,
The watchman keeps awake in vain.
2
It is vain for you to rise up early,
To retire late,
To eat the bread of painful labors;
For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.
(Psalm 127 NASB)
Lord,
When You tell us
You give gifts
To those You love
Even
While they sleep…
What are You
Saying?
Are You saying
That Your love
For us…
NEVER changes?
Are You saying that
When good times come,
You love us?
When hard times crush,
You love us?
When easy times roll,
You love us?
When grief strikes,
You love us?
Are You saying that
Each…and
Everything we enter
We go in
Accompanied…
Preceded…by
You….and
Your love?
Are You saying that
We have NEVER been truly alone
In the dark…
EVER?
Yes…I think
You are saying just that,
Lord!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
God's Joy 1...from Psalm 127:1-2
Psalm 127 The Message
1
If God doesn't build the house,
the builders only build shacks.
If God doesn't guard the city,
the night watchman might as well nap.
2
It's useless to rise early and go to bed late,
and work your worried fingers to the bone.
Don't you know he enjoys
giving rest to those he loves?
Holy YaHWeH,
That You love us
Is the one message
That we can successfully escape
ONLY
If we ignore You.
Completely.
You tell us…
When we are building
A house…that
Making You our
Crew Foreman…
Insures a well-built house.
You say…
When we are standing guard
Over those we love…that
Having You as our
Watch-commander…
Makes everyone safe.
Finally You let us know…that
You enjoy OUR sleep…OUR
Rest…since
It is during our sleep that
Like a Daddy…
You
Look in on us…
Marveling over Your slumbering
Little ones…or
Is it something else?
Something like
You
Loving to make gifts
To surprise us
When we wake…and
Like any Daddy-in-love-labor
You anticipating our joy
With Your own?
Do You smile over us?
Do You tuck us in
Each night?
That we wonder at this
Shows how little of You
We understand…and
Appreciate.
That Jesus called You, “Abba,”
Is a good thing…since
It makes theologians look
Foolish…all their words
Fall down before the simple
Truth…that
YaHWeH is our “Abba”…
Our Daddy…our Papa…
To Him…To You, Lord, we
Can come with arms held out
Saying, “Up…up…”
And…
You always respond to
Our baby talk.
1
If God doesn't build the house,
the builders only build shacks.
If God doesn't guard the city,
the night watchman might as well nap.
2
It's useless to rise early and go to bed late,
and work your worried fingers to the bone.
Don't you know he enjoys
giving rest to those he loves?
Holy YaHWeH,
That You love us
Is the one message
That we can successfully escape
ONLY
If we ignore You.
Completely.
You tell us…
When we are building
A house…that
Making You our
Crew Foreman…
Insures a well-built house.
You say…
When we are standing guard
Over those we love…that
Having You as our
Watch-commander…
Makes everyone safe.
Finally You let us know…that
You enjoy OUR sleep…OUR
Rest…since
It is during our sleep that
Like a Daddy…
You
Look in on us…
Marveling over Your slumbering
Little ones…or
Is it something else?
Something like
You
Loving to make gifts
To surprise us
When we wake…and
Like any Daddy-in-love-labor
You anticipating our joy
With Your own?
Do You smile over us?
Do You tuck us in
Each night?
That we wonder at this
Shows how little of You
We understand…and
Appreciate.
That Jesus called You, “Abba,”
Is a good thing…since
It makes theologians look
Foolish…all their words
Fall down before the simple
Truth…that
YaHWeH is our “Abba”…
Our Daddy…our Papa…
To Him…To You, Lord, we
Can come with arms held out
Saying, “Up…up…”
And…
You always respond to
Our baby talk.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
HEART-TRUST
In honor of my Hannah & our Jesus…
Ephesians 5:21-33 (the Message text at the end)
Lord,
The girl You gave me
Is a trust!
She
Belongs first…to You…
Next to me…so
It is to You that I will answer
For the hurts
I deal her…and
the ones I allow
to reach
her heart.
Her heart is a trust…
A holy trust
You have given to me…
Good old C.S. Lewis was right
When he said that
You “imposed headship”
Onto the husband…for
In marriage, headship is
a burden…
a precious one, yes…
but
a burden still…a
burden in which we men
stand
responsible to You
for the hearts…
the health…
of the brides
You…
have given to us.
What is headship? First…it must be
under You, Lord.
All we have is Your example…and
Paul’s words.
You showed us how to do this…
By laying down
Your life
in our place…
By protecting the disciples
in the Garden-betrayal…
By taking all of
YaHWeH’s wrath
for us…
By not forsaking us
when you could have.
Easily.
You NEVER imposed
Your will on us…
instead
like a kind shepherd…You
called to us…
walking each step
ahead of us…first…
You tested out the path
so we could follow
in the safety…of
Your love…of
Your kind intention.
You wondered at
our lack of faith…
but
You never wavered in
Your love for us…or
Your choosing of us…
even
the betrayer was
loved…by You…
We never understood
why…
back then…but
we had a lot of
trouble
understanding You
at all.
You always seemed to be working on us…
on our hearts…
so hard…as if
nothing was too small
for You to notice…
to care about…
John was right
when he said,
“He loved His Own…
to the end.”
In all the years
since…
our estimation
of Your love for us
has only grown…
You NEVER put Yourself
ahead
of us…even
though You were LORD
over all the other Lords!!
So meek…simple…straight up…
You were…that
we mistook You
for a wise man…
nothing more…
until near the end…
when
the word “Emmanuel”
began
to make sense
to us
as we thought of You!
Lord,
Maybe that is why
Being “head” of a wife
Is such
a scary thing for
us guys…since
it seems that
You
want us to do things…
like You did…to
speak and do…
ONLY
what YaHWeH
wants…
no less…no more.
That, Lord,
Is a BIG deal…
too hard to do
without
all of Your Holy Spirit
filling us up.
Completely.
Thank you, Lord,
For the beauty and danger
Of this heart-trust…we are
NOT worthy of it now…but
maybe that is why You
gave it to us
in the first place.
Ephesians 5:21-33 (the Message)
21 Out of respect for Christ, be courteously reverent to one another.
22-24Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing. So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewise submit to their husbands.
25-28Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ's love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They're really doing themselves a favor—since they're already "one" in marriage.
29-33No one abuses his own body, does he? No, he feeds and pampers it. That's how Christ treats us, the church, since we are part of his body. And this is why a man leaves father and mother and cherishes his wife. No longer two, they become "one flesh." This is a huge mystery, and I don't pretend to understand it all. What is clearest to me is the way Christ treats the church. And this provides a good picture of how each husband is to treat his wife, loving himself in loving her, and how each wife is to honor her husband.
Ephesians 5:21-33 (the Message text at the end)
Lord,
The girl You gave me
Is a trust!
She
Belongs first…to You…
Next to me…so
It is to You that I will answer
For the hurts
I deal her…and
the ones I allow
to reach
her heart.
Her heart is a trust…
A holy trust
You have given to me…
Good old C.S. Lewis was right
When he said that
You “imposed headship”
Onto the husband…for
In marriage, headship is
a burden…
a precious one, yes…
but
a burden still…a
burden in which we men
stand
responsible to You
for the hearts…
the health…
of the brides
You…
have given to us.
What is headship? First…it must be
under You, Lord.
All we have is Your example…and
Paul’s words.
You showed us how to do this…
By laying down
Your life
in our place…
By protecting the disciples
in the Garden-betrayal…
By taking all of
YaHWeH’s wrath
for us…
By not forsaking us
when you could have.
Easily.
You NEVER imposed
Your will on us…
instead
like a kind shepherd…You
called to us…
walking each step
ahead of us…first…
You tested out the path
so we could follow
in the safety…of
Your love…of
Your kind intention.
You wondered at
our lack of faith…
but
You never wavered in
Your love for us…or
Your choosing of us…
even
the betrayer was
loved…by You…
We never understood
why…
back then…but
we had a lot of
trouble
understanding You
at all.
You always seemed to be working on us…
on our hearts…
so hard…as if
nothing was too small
for You to notice…
to care about…
John was right
when he said,
“He loved His Own…
to the end.”
In all the years
since…
our estimation
of Your love for us
has only grown…
You NEVER put Yourself
ahead
of us…even
though You were LORD
over all the other Lords!!
So meek…simple…straight up…
You were…that
we mistook You
for a wise man…
nothing more…
until near the end…
when
the word “Emmanuel”
began
to make sense
to us
as we thought of You!
Lord,
Maybe that is why
Being “head” of a wife
Is such
a scary thing for
us guys…since
it seems that
You
want us to do things…
like You did…to
speak and do…
ONLY
what YaHWeH
wants…
no less…no more.
That, Lord,
Is a BIG deal…
too hard to do
without
all of Your Holy Spirit
filling us up.
Completely.
Thank you, Lord,
For the beauty and danger
Of this heart-trust…we are
NOT worthy of it now…but
maybe that is why You
gave it to us
in the first place.
Ephesians 5:21-33 (the Message)
21 Out of respect for Christ, be courteously reverent to one another.
22-24Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing. So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewise submit to their husbands.
25-28Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ's love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They're really doing themselves a favor—since they're already "one" in marriage.
29-33No one abuses his own body, does he? No, he feeds and pampers it. That's how Christ treats us, the church, since we are part of his body. And this is why a man leaves father and mother and cherishes his wife. No longer two, they become "one flesh." This is a huge mystery, and I don't pretend to understand it all. What is clearest to me is the way Christ treats the church. And this provides a good picture of how each husband is to treat his wife, loving himself in loving her, and how each wife is to honor her husband.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
