How Deep The Father's Love For Us / Not Be Shaken

First off, I need to apologize for not being the Light that I should be on here. It is far too easy to let the cares & worries of this life to distract me from my real purpose. The message today at church reminded me of that. These deep, real posts require actual thought & time to put together without (hopefully) sounding like a total moron, so I keep putting them off & putting them off &... yeah. They don't get done. So, I'm sorry.

Anyway, on to the meat of the post.

The sermon today was based on Matthew 5:14. The whole relevant section is included below.

14"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

The nature of light is to shine. It can't shine if it is hidden away for lack of effort to simply stand up or for fear of what others may think. (I'm preaching to myself here.) It doesn't matter how big or small the light is. Light is merely the absence of darkness. If you are in a dark room, no amount of yelling, pleading or fist shaking will lessen the darkness. All you need is one tiny spark to make the darkness recede. As the speaker said today, "You don't have to be big, you just have to be on."

My light has been smothered under the stresses I've been dealing with lately & I often wonder if God could ever really care that one of his people is so tired & feeling down-trodden that she can't seem to care anymore. The music we sang this morning really hit home. God doesn't care how tremendously I fail. He just loves me. Me! A wretch who nailed Him to the cross, put Him through the most horrific torture ever loosed on a being & then repeatedly tosses that aside & goes on about my (not-so) merry way. I ignore Him until I'm so exhausted & hopeless that I'm on my knees in defeat, praying for it to just be done with. Then He comes along, gently picks me up, dust me off & reminds me that He's there to walk with me, to carry me if need be. It must break His heart every time I say "Oh, thanks, but I've got everything under control now, talk to You later..." & head off in my own direction. Just to fall flat on my face again. And He's always there, again. And again. And again...

Whoa, this post has really drifted from where I intended it to go, but it's probably where I needed to go. If you want to see what Christianity is all about, please, please, don't look at me. I'm a mess, a normal (? :-o) person who screws up over & over again. Get a Bible, read the New Testament (John is a good place to start) & see what Jesus has to say, in His own words. His being who He is is the only reason I am worth jack squat. I think I need to give the jazz a rest & go back to listening to Christian music again. It gives me a chance to clear my mind, forget the cares of the day & just sink into who God is.

I've made notes several times to do posts for both the songs listed below, but forget by the time I get to a computer. I decided to hit the tech booth right after the sermon was dismissed, so hopefully my durn brain wouldn't shut off before I got my chance to something worthwhile. If this is a wandering mess, I apologize. Hopefully y'all can glean a little Truth from these chicken scratches.

How Deep The Father's Love For Us
by Stuart Townend

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom
(REPEAT)

~~~~~
Not Be Shaken

I will declare my choice to the nations
I will shout for joy to the congregation
I will worship God (men), worship God (women)
All my days

Those who love the Lord are satisfied
Those who trust in him are justified
And I will serve my God (men), serve my God (women)
All my days

When the nations crumble (women)
The word of the Lord will stand (men)
Kings may rise and fall (women)
His love will endure (men)
Though the strong may stumble (women)
The joy of the Lord is strength (men)
To my soul
I will not be shaken
I will not be moved
I will not be shaken

I will declare my choice to the nation
I will shout for joy to the congregation
I will worship God (men), worship God (women)
All my days

Those who love the Lord are satisfied
Those who trust in him are justified
I will serve my God (men), serve my God (women)
All my days

When the nations crumble (women)
The word of the Lord will stand (men)
Kings may rise and fall (women)
His love will endure (men)
Though the strong may stumble (women)
The joy of the Lord is strength (men)
To my soul
I will not be shaken
I will not be moved
I will not be shaken