The Lamb of God

Wait for the song to start...then sing along and enjoy the pictures that help tell this awesome truth!

THE LAMB OF GOD - Kirk Franklin

Chorus
Now behold the Lamb
the Precious Lamb of God
born into sin that I may live again
the Precious Lamb of God (2x)

Holy is the Lamb
the Precious Lamb of God
Why You love me so, Lord
I shall never know
the Precious lamb of God (2X)

Solo1
Now behold the Lamb
the Precious Lamb of God
Born into sin that I may live again
He's the precious Lamb of God

When I always didn't do right
I went left, He told me to go right
But I'm standing right here
in the midst of my tears, Lord
I claim You to be the Lamb of God

chorus
Thank You for the Lamb
the Precious Lamb of God
Because of Your grace
I can finish this race
the Precious Lamb of God

solo2
Even when I broke Your heart
my sins tore us apart
But I'm standing right herein the midst of my tears
I claim You to be the Lamb of God
New life can begin (yeah),
for You washed away, washed away every one of my sins
Whom the Son sets free, is truly free indeed
claim You to be the Lamb of God

chorus
Now behold the Lamb
the Precious Lamb of God
born into sin that I may live again
the Precious Lamb of God

Oh Oh Oh
Oh Oh Oh

Why You love me so, Lord
I shall never know
Why You love me so, Lord
I shall never know
Why You love me so, Lord
I shall never know
the Precious Lamb of God
Oh Oh Oh
Oh Oh Oh
Oh Oh Oh

Why You love me so, Lord
I shall never know
the Precious Lamb of God

uh....
uh....oh....
You love me, Jesus
You died for me, Jesus
You shed your blood for me, Jesus On Calvary.

Thank you for Being Born For Me, Jesus
Thank you Jesus
For lovin' me so
Never never never know
For lovin' me so yeah.
Thank you for your blood yeah...
Why you love me so, Lord
I shall never know
the Precious Lamb of God

The wolf will lie down with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.
Isaiah 11:6

RICHES I HEED NOT - Be Thou My Vision Part 4

"Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise;
Thou mine inheritance, now and always;
Thou and Thou only first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art."
Be Thou My Vision, Text: Mary E. Byrne

I love this verse! What a wonderful mindset to have! After all, what is our main purpose as we pass through this planet? We so easily get caught up in this world of greed and competition and forget what matters most - God and His mission of spreading the Good News to all the world. That is the real treasure to pursue. An eternal treasure that far outweighs an earthly one!
"Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle." Proverbs 23:4-5 And heed this warning: "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." I Timothy 6:10 So, "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'" Hebrews 13:5
Dr. Tony Evans, a great "radio preacher", author and pastor of a church, once said, "You can't appreciate what money can buy until you possess what money can't buy!" AMEN TO THAT!

What about "man's empty praise?" In Matthew 6:1-4, Jesus condemns doing righteous acts before men "to be seen by them." Meaning, for that purpose alone (showing your righteous acts to be praised by men). Earlier, Jesus had said, "...let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven" Matthew 5:16 In this way God is being praised and glorified. Jesus said, "You are the light of the world." Matthew 5:13 When we expose our "light" by living righteously, others see these good deeds and realize we are different. We belong to God. He is our inheritance NOW and ALWAYS. He is FIRST in our heart because we know when we "...seek first his kingdom, he then provides for us (for earthly needs and spiritual needs - based on Matthew 6:33)."
Sing this verse to God and take it to heart. Knowing that big, eternal picture of heavenly things really minimizes worldly pleasures and treasures that easily disappear (see Matthew 6:19-21). The final phrase of this verse sums it up beautifully, "High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art!" Isn't God awesome?
"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men." Romans 14:17-18

BE THOU MY BATTLE SHIELD - PART 3

"Be Thou my battle-shield, sword for the fight;
Be Thou my dignity, Thou my delight,
Thou my soul's shelter, Thou my high tower;
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power."

Verse 3 brings my thoughts straight to Ephesians 6:10-18

(BibleGateway.com - Passage Lookup: Ephesians 6:10-18). God didn't create us, save us, and hope for the best. He equipped us to be prepared for our spiritual battles. Through prayer, reading scripture and applying these learned truths, we are equipped to defend against Satan's attacks. Through Him we are given dignity, protection, honor and a place in His kingdom.
"I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness." Isaiah 61:10a
He is our soul's shelter:
"You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance." Psalm 32:7
Our high tower:
"The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe." Proverbs 18:10
Paul says in Philippians 3 not to put our confidence in the flesh. He chooses instead to desire to ...know the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings becoming like him in his death... Philippians 3:10 and, although he has not perfected this (for us "all or nothing" people), he does not give in to frustration but chooses to have this attitude: "..Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." 3:13-13
Moses certainly experienced the equipping of God. He had his doubts when he asked, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? And God said, "I will be with you." Exodus 3:11-12a And of course he was! Certainly, we are not being asked to lead a nation of people out of an oppressing land with an evil dictator. So if God can do what he did for Moses, can he not do wonders for us in our battles? Moses told the Israelites at the Red Sea with the Egyptians at their back, "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." Exodus 14:14
So...be still...pray....and allow God to be your shield and defender!

BE THOU MY WISDOM - Part Two

What the quote says on the picture is, "There are two ways to live your life. One is though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." Albert Einstein
I choose the latter! Think of it. Every day in itself is truly a miracle! The fact that no one has set off a nuclear bomb either by fault or by accident is a miracle. That the Bible's integrity has never been compromised (as proved by the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1948) after thousands of years in this evil world is another amazing miracle. The Jewish nation that began with Abraham and remains in tact today...and on and on.... But why would these not be so? God is in the business of miracles in spite of the world and it's efforts to snuff Him out.
"Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked." Galatians 6:7 His will and His word can never be destroyed.
This is our God. True as True can be. He defines the word, "Wisdom". And He loves to bless us with this incredible attribute as well.
"Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold." Proverbs 3:13-14
What a wonderful prayer to pray...verse two of, "Be Thou My Vision."

Be Thou my Wisdom and Thou my true Word;

I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord,

Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;

Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one

SOLOMON'S PRAYER:

(Based on I Kings 3:9)

"Lord, give your servant a discerning heart to lead your people and to distinguish between right and wrong."

20/10 Vision - Part One

People used to be amazed at what I could see from such a distance. "How can you see that from so far away?" "If only I had your eyes!" These were some of the comments I used to receive in my younger years. When I had my first "official" eye exam by a doctor, I was in my late teens. He announced that I had 20/10 vision which is better than the average 20/20 vision of most people. What a blessing! I delighted in this strong sense. Now I am over 50 and although I do wear bifocals for astigmatism and reading, my aging eyes are still doing well as I have 20/20 vision. I'll take it!
Thinking of my physical vision makes me wonder how my spiritual vision is. Much more important! I'm thinking of all this now because I recently gave a friend a hymns CD for her birthday and she noted that her son would like a featured hymn on it. That hymn was, "Be Thou My Vision." I told her this was one of my favorite hymns as well. What a wonderful prayer to to the Lord! And what a wonderful reminder of how our heart attitude should be every single day.

"Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart(...to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul." Joshua 22:5); Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art, - Thou my best thought, by day or by night (....fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. Hebrews 1:3b), Waking or sleeping Thy presence my light." (I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me. Psalm 3:5)

"Lord, may my spiritual vision of you cause people to wonder how I can see so well and see great things from afar. May they desire to have this beautiful vision as well. Use me as your voice, hands and feet to bring those needing 20/10 vision of you, the prescription they need...your word....your gospel!" AMEN!

NEXT: Verse Two of "Be Thou My Vision"
Words: At­trib­ut­ed to Dal­lan For­gaill, 8th Cen­tu­ry / Music: Slane

RESPONDING TO A WONDROUS LOVE

This Holy week, we reflect what Jesus did for us on the cross. It is difficult to understand the love and sacrafice that went into such an act. How does one respond to THIS? "..Repent and Believe...." Mark 1:15

"...Hear the word of God and obey it..." Luke 11:28

"Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day." Psalm 96:2


"... go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." Matthew 28:19-20a



“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13


WHAT WONDROUS LOVE IS THIS:

Words attributed to Alexander Means/Music: William Walker 1835

What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul.

When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down beneath God’s righteous frown,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul, for my soul,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul.

To God and to the Lamb, I will sing, I will sing;
To God and to the Lamb, I will sing.
To God and to the Lamb Who is the great “I Am”;
While millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing;
While millions join the theme, I will sing.

And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on.
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing and joyful be;
And through eternity, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;
And through eternity, I’ll sing on.

PROVEN LOVE FOR YOU!

How often have you talked about yourself in a negative way? "I'm such an idiot." (a common one for me!) "I never should have been born!" "What a Jerk!" We know it's wrong saying these things about other people, but we don't hesitate to say them about ourselves. After all...we aren't harming anyone by saying such things about US....are we? When I was a child, I remember saying these things about myself within hearing distance of my very wise mother. She said to me, "You know, that's not a nice thing to say about Jesus." I told her I wasn't saying that about Jesus. I was saying it about myself. She explained to me how God created me. He gave his Son to die for me. Saying these things about myself was criticising my Creator. That sure put a new perspective on my life! I still have times when I'm down on myself. But when I get too negative, I think about her words of wisdom. A year or so ago, our former worship leader seemed to have a similar experience. He told the congregation that he wasn't feeling too good about himself one night. While lying in bed, he said to his wife, "Does Jesus really love me?" She said, "He DIED for you!!!" Well answered! What more can we say! "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:6-8
Next time you are feeling like "scum" or unworthy of anything (whether from something you've done, or the way someone else makes you feel), think of how God views you. This is what He says: "How beautiful you are , my darling; there is NO flaw in you!" Song of Songs 4:1