Worlds Apart

These are the lyrics of my favorite song.  The song is Worlds Apart by Jars of Clay.

Worlds Apart
by Jars of Clay

I am the only one to blame for this
Somehow it all ends up the same
Soaring on the wings of selfish pride
I flew too high and like Icarus I collide
With a world I try so hard to leave behind
To rid myself of all but love
to give and die

To turn away and not become
Another nail to pierce the skin of one who loves
more deeply than the oceans,
more abundant than the tears
Of a world embracing every heartache

Can I be the one to sacrifice
Or grip the spear and watch the blood and water flow

To love you - take my world apart
To need you - I am on my knees
To love you - take my world apart
To need you - broken on my knees

All said and done I stand alone
Amongst remains of a life I should not own
It takes all I am to believe
In the mercy that covers me

Did you really have to die for me?
All I am for all you are
Because what I need and what I believe are worlds apart

[Additional lyrics:]

I look beyond the empty cross
forgetting what my life has cost
and wipe away the crimson stains
and dull the nails that still remain
More and more I need you now,
I owe you more each passing hour
the battle between grace and pride
I gave up not so long ago
So steal my heart and take the pain
and wash the feet and cleanse my pride
take the selfish, take the weak,
and all the things I cannot hide
take the beauty, take my tears
the sin-soaked heart and make it yours
take my world all apart
take it now, take it now
and serve the ones that I despise
speak the words I can't deny
watch the world I used to love
fall to dust and thrown away
I look beyond the empty cross
forgetting what my life has cost
so wipe away the crimson stains
and dull the nails that still remain
so steal my heart and take the pain
take the selfish, take the weak
and all the things I cannot hide
take the beauty, take my tears
take my world apart, take my world apart
I pray, I pray, I pray
take my world apart

A Great Rebellion Against God

       It must be your great de­sire that God's will may be done by you on earth, as it is done in heaven.  It must be the settled purpose and intention of your heart to will nothing, design nothing, do nothing, but so far as there is reason to believe that it is the will of God.

       It is as great rebellion against God to think that your will may ever rightly differ from His as it would be to boast in His universe that you have not received the power of willing from Him.  You are therefore to consider yourself as a being that has no other business in the world but to be that which God requires you to be; to have no desires, to seek no self ends, but to fill that place and act that part which the divine pleasure has ordained.  To think that you are your own, or at your own disposal, is as absurd as to think that you created yourself.  It is as plain and necessary a first principle to be­lieve that you are thus God's, and are to act and suffer all in a thankful resignation to His pleasure, as to believe that in Him you live and move and have your being.

       Now this is the Christian's true state with relation to God, since one cannot be said so much as to believe in Him unless one believes Him to be of infinite love and wisdom.  When a man has that confident inner assurance that God's will for his life is the design of an infinite wisdom and love, it will be as necessary, while in the possession of this faith, to be thank­ful and pleased with everything that God chooses as it would be to wish his own happiness.  For what more could be asked than that every circumstance of life be the choice of an infinite wisdom and love?  Whenever a man allows himself to have anxieties, fears, or complaints, he must consider his behavior as either a denial of the wisdom of God or as a confession that he is out of His will.  To be always in a thank­ful state of heart before God is not to be considered a high plane of spirituality but rather the normal attitude of one who believes that "all things work together for good to them that love God, who are the called according to His purpose" (Rom. 8:28).  If one cannot thank and praise God as well in calamities and sufferings as in prosperity and happiness, how can such an attitude be called a real trust in God at all?  For to thank God only for pleasant incidents in life is no more a proper act of piety than to believe only what can be verified with the senses would be an act of faith.
       (From The Power of the Spirit, page 22, by William Law 1686 - 1761)

On priorities..

Last Wednesday night it was bad.  Streets were icy, driveways were clogged, moving about was at a premium.  We had a handful of courageous folk here. Some called, were brokenhearted they could not get here by any means.  Such is most understandable.  We blame them not.

We left West End at 8:45 p.m., drove to the Vandy gym and saw the last 12 minutes of Vanderbilt's victory over Kentucky.  Parking was as hard as ever.  The gym was filled with the same 15,000 screaming fans that came to every game.  I kept thinking "How'd they get here???"

I know not, just guess they wanted to.  I suppose through ice and snow they made a way and surely couldn't let a ticket go to waste at so important a game.  Suppose all fan's streets were scraped while all prayer meeting folks were left with ice?  Is it safer to go to a gym than it is a church building in the wintertime?  Was it all students?  If so, where were ours?  Was it all the chains and snowmobile crowd?

It's hard to say 'why' but it's a fact worth mulling: we usually do what we want to do.

Vandy didn't loose 1% of their crowd due to ice, but we lost 60%.  Do heartier folk go to the round ball bouncings than go to church services?  Do you suppose some Christians felt any Wednesday or Sunday night duty to pleasure takes precedence over worship?

I just wish I knew...but I'm afraid I do.

- Jim Bill McInteer

I know this really convicted me to remember what is more important.  We have to remember that it's not always easy to get out of bed on Sunday morning, or to get dressed and ready for church on Wednesday night after a long, hard day at work.  But our relationship with Him must come first in our lives, and our devotion to Him is our ultimate satisfaction and joy.  Our constant battle with SELF always gets in the way, and Satan will use that to his advantage every time.  Remember this is God's way to sharpen our faith, and build our dependence upon Him to overcome.

"Oppose the devil and he will flee from you."

- James 4:7

An appropriate beginning...humility

I just started reading 'Humility' by Andrew Murray, and I thought I would put a link to it online for anyone else who would like to read it, too.  Andrew Murray was influenced by William Law, so I figured I could definitely learn from Murray's insights.  I hope this challenges you and encourages you to be more like Christ Jesus..

http://www.worldinvisible.com/library/murray/5f00.0565/5f00.0565.c.htm