Compelling Thoughts

Compelling thoughts 

  I rarely take off working on the blog.  Recently my job changed and I was praying a lot for a way to provide for my family and to still be able to work on the blog as well.  The staff at Real Life have been quoting lately 2 Corinthians 5:14 and the part that says “Christ’s love compels us.”  See when I’ve tried to stop working on the blog I read something in the Bible or a song lyric comes to mind and mentally I’m back to working on the blog.  I understand the word compels in that manner.  God has called me to encourage others and point them back to his Word for that encouragement.  See I could say some of the nicest things ever but that would be just Zac talking but if I point you to God’s Word then that means I pointed you to truth. 

2 Corinthians 5:13-19

“For if we are out of our mind, it is for God; if we have a sound mind it is for you.  For Christ’s love compels us, since we have reached this conclusion: if One died for all, then all died.  And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them and was raised.”  

See Christ sacrifice compels me to share his hope with others and the goal of this blog has always been for the reader to draw closer to God.  It’s not about me.  Most all of you who read this struggle with one thing or another but I want you to know you serve a God who cares for you and awaits the moment when you turn to Him and seek him.  I don’t have all the answers I never will not even sure what I would do if I did.  But I know what 1 Peter 5:7 says.  “Casting all your cares upon Him because he cares about you.”  If God didn’t care about me and you he wouldn’t have sent Jesus to die on the cross in our place.  He wouldn’t have left his Word for us to read.  So the question to ask is.  Is Christ’s love compelling you to impact others?  If so are you doing what you’ve been called to do?  

“Right now is the time that we gotta get with it 

The gift that he’s given ain’t just an exhibit

But a tool that he’s given us to use for his sake”. 

I mentioned above that God waits for us to come to him and seek him.  A while back I picked up this small Bible the CSB translation and it differs slightly from other translations I have read but I wanted something small I could bring to work in my backpack.  I noticed this in a familiar passage.  Exodus 3:1-4 “Meanwhile Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro the priest of Midian.  He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb the mountain of God.  Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire within a bush.  As Moses looked , he saw that the bush was on fire but was not consumed.  So Moses thought: I must go over and look at this remarkable sight.  Why isn’t the bush burning up?  

  When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from the bush, ‘Moses, Moses!’

‘Here I am,’ he answered.”  

Often God puts things in our lives to get us to pay attention to him and like he did with Moses he’s trying to get us to look to him.  

Any road any cost by Point of Grace 

Time is by DC Talk

Meant to be by Steven Curtis Chapman 

He is not silent by Out of the Grey

Nothing but the blood by Kelly Parks  There's a story behind this song.  A few weeks ago Marion and I were at the Goodwill store and she was looking for a light jacket and I stumbled on the music section and this cd Do not Fear was 99 cents so I gave it a chance and loved her rendition of this song.  

Imitation

Imitation 

I don’t like imitation bacon bits or floppy bacon.  There’s some times in life where you need the real thing and bacon is one of them.  We as Christians are called to be imitators but in a good way.  When God calls us to do something it is always a good thing.  

Ephesians 5:1-2 

“Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children.  And walk in love, as the Messiah also loved us and gave himself for us a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.”  

We want to know and be more like God.  The word Christian means “Little Christ.”  The verse above mentioned imitation and then dearly loved children.  If you think for a second about that Children on the whole mimic what they see their parents do.  They copy that behavior.  God is our father and we are called to copy his love.  I’ve been on the receiving end of churches not doing so.  You probably have too.  We need to draw closer to God so he can reshape us into the people he wants us to be.  

“To love the Lord our God 

Is the heartbeat of our mission 

The spring from which our service overflows

Across the street or around the world 

The Mission’s still the same

Proclaim and live the truth in Jesus’ name.”

There’s work be done we need to learn to love others and do so better.  Get in God’s Word and draw closer to him.

Someone might get to the music portion and think wow that's a lot of music links but I'm going to let you in on a behind the scenes tidbit.  The more I worked on and thought of this blog I would try to sleep and another song would pop in my head and if I didn't put it down I wouldn't remember when I woke up.    

The Mission by Steve Green 

Live to tell by Geoff Moore and the Distance 

Knowing you by Passion 

To know you by Casting Crowns 

Jesus, friend of sinners by Casting Crowns 

Love revolution by Natalie Grant 

Love in any language by Sandi Patty  This one actually has her doing sign language which is special because my wife knows ASL

Like Jesus Loves by Kerrie Roberts

Let us love by Need to Breathe

Hidden Gem

Hidden gem

Sometimes you’re reading along in the Bible and you find a short chapter that reminds you of who God is.  Some of you know my dad is a Pastor of a small church and one thing he taught me is this.  “You put the cookies on the bottom shelf.”  When it comes to a Bible study it doesn’t have to be complex. Sometimes I will simply post a portion of scripture and not say much but simply let God’s Word speak for itself.  You like me simply need to remember.  

Isaiah 12 

“In that day you will say:

‘I will praise you, O Lord.  Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me.  Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid.  The Lord, The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.  With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.’  

In that day you will say:  

‘Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.  Sing to the Lord for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world.  Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.’”

River of life by Rebecca St James

Praise song by Third Day 

Calling out your name by Rich Mullins 

Praise medley by Sandi Patty 

O praise the name by Hillsong 

Defender by Francesca Battstelli and Steffany Gretzinger 

We have come to worship by Cheri Keaggy 

Shake the heavens by Kim Hill

Perspective shift

Perspective shift

I have told this story a few times but to me it never grows old some of you have read it some may have not.  See there’s this scene in the graphic novel Justice League/JSA: Virtue and Vice at the end where Superman and Sentinel are outside the Justice League Watchtower in space overlooking earth and Star Girl and Wonder Woman are talking and Star Girl asks why they come up there and look around like that and she’s answered with one phrase. “Perspective Courtney, Perspective.”  

A few nights ago my heart was heavy with a lot of things I was troubled by my job is changing and I could use a lot of prayer right now.  I needed a perspective shift.  Then I read Psalm 9 and I found it.  I was focused inward and not upward.  I have said it before what I learn from God I share in the blog and it is brutal and honest and someone other than me needs to read this too.  

Psalm 9:7-10

“The Lord reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgement. He will judge the world in righteousness; he will govern the peoples with justice.  The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.  Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord have never forsaken those who seek you.”

I often tell you that the music I link to the blog lyrically goes with the verses.  So you’re going to see a bit of that.

“Back to the Rock that is higher than I 

Take me to the well that will never run dry

Take me, take me Lord

To the Rock that is higher than I”. 

“Sometimes when Hope is hard to find

We’ve got to walk by faith

Until we see the way

Hold tight for we are promised in time

Those who patiently wait 

Will never wait in vain

For we know God is faithful 

He’s a fortress to run into

In time of trouble 

He’ll cover us with the wings of his love”

 

Shelter in the rain by 4 Him 

Adonai/Back to the Rock/ Too big to fail by Petra 

I am on the Rock by Petra 

If we believe by Al Denson 

God is Faithful by Shelia Walsh

A mighty fortress by Shelia Walsh

Where you belong/ Turn your eyes by Newsboys 

Hope to which you are called

Hope to which you are called 

If you’ve read my blog at any time there is a goal to it and a prayer of the writer.  See I pray often that it not be about me but that it will glorify God.  I also pray that God will draw the reader closer to himself.  The blog is meant to Point the reader to hope found in God’s Word because he is the true source of hope.  I found this beautiful passage in Ephesians I wanted to share with you and part of it mentions “the hope to which he has called you.”

Ephesians 1:15-23

“For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you remembering you in my prayers.  I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, May give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.  I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.  That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.  And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”

Hope has a name and it is Jesus Christ and you have been called to his hope.  

Called to hope by Geoff Moore and the Distance 

Hope now by Addison Road

Glory be by Cheri Keaggy So here's your behind the scenes tidbit.  I was working on the blog and the word Hope kept bouncing around in my head and I spent about 15 minutes trying to figure out what song this was.  I knew who sang it and I had the first line in my head and google was failing me along with the internet connection.  Finally I put in her name and the song came up.  

I call him Love by Kathy Troccoli 

The Message by 4 Him

Love is what we’ve come here for by Michael w Smith 

May your wonders never cease by Third Day. Heard this for the first time yesterday.  

Stumbling Block

Stumbling block 

I love connectivity.  I’ve been reading a lot of older comics lately and finding minor things to some but they are key moments to me because I find where characters like Midnight connected with the original Spider-Man/ Punisher/ Moon Knight tale the Round Robin saga that got me into comics connect with one another but you know what’s even better is finding major things that connect in the Bible.  Like how Isaiah will say something many years before Christ and then later in the Gospels Jesus will quote it.

Isaiah 8:13-16

“The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread, and he will be a sanctuary; but for both houses of Israel he will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.  And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare.  Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured.  

Matt 21:42-44

“Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read the scriptures:

‘The Stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes?

Therefore I tell you that the the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.  He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”

I’ve said this before when you are confronted by God with the weight of your sin and the power of his Word you either turn from your evil or you reject him.  He becomes your Savior or you stumble over Him.  

1 Corinthians 1:18

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to those who are being saved it is the Power of God.”  

This is why we keep sharing God’s Word. It’s not just the pastor, or Bible study teachers but every Christian.  People need the chance to face the truth of the gospel for themselves.  

Romans 1:16-17

“I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: First for the Jew, then for the Gentile.  For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from the first to the last, just as it is written the righteous will live by faith.”  

Greatest story ever told by 4 Him

What’s in a name by Petra 

What if by Nichole Nordman

Humble yourself by Mylon Lefevre

Upon this rock by Sandi Patty 

I am on the Rock by Petra

Rock of Ages/ I stand Amazed by Guy Penrod 

Remember Who you are

Remember who you are

It’s easy in this world of bills and business to get discouraged because it happens to me often but as Christians we need to remember who we are and who we belong to.  Christians have hope in God.  We have a future in heaven.  We have someone to call on in good and bad times.  God’s covenants toward us have meaning.  Not just in the future but now as well.  The time was right for the fulfillment of those covenants. Galatians 4:1-7 spells it out for us.

“What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate.  He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father.  So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world.  But when the time had fully come, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.  Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘ABBA, Father’.  So you are no longer a slave, but a son; since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.”

Remember who you are by Geoff Moore and the Distance 

No longer slaves by Bethel music

ABBA by Rebecca St James

Good good Father/ no longer slaves by Caleb and Kelsey 

He holds the keys by Steve Green

Creed by Petra