♥ Psalm 51 ♥
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against You, You only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in Your sight,
so that You may be justified in your words and blameless
in your judgment.
in your judgment.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness,
O God, O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
build up the walls of Jerusalem;
19 then will you delight in right sacrifices,
in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.
____________________________________________________________________
*SPRING AND RENEWAL*
I went grocery shopping with my sis the other day and when we were buying laundry detergent these words on the tide bottle stuck out to me: "Spring and Renewal." Then this morning when I woke up I was a bit disappointed. I went to bed earlier the night before coz I wanted to get up early to take some time alone just to be with God (coz I haven't done it consistently in a while) but I ended up waking up late and feeling alone... far from God, not saturated and refreshed by His presence like way back in the day. But I decided to pick up my Bible and opened it randomly to Psalms and my eyes were drawn to Psalm 51:10-13 which were highlighted then I read the rest of the chapter. Then I remembered those words, "Spring and Renewal" and I feel like that's what God wants to do in us in this season. He wants to do an internal work in us coz He wants to be with us, to saturate us :) and also to prepare us to do greater works, for His glory to overflow to everyone around us =) This is the longing of my heart and I keep hearing it from many others around me:
- "Be Still and Know that I am God"~ Hannah and Matt lead a prayer meeting every Wednesday at 12.30pm at Storke plaza. During dead week I made a facebook event "We Are One: Praying for Peace" and invited people to that prayer meeting... at the prayer meeting Hanna asked me how I was doing spiritually and I told her that I've just been tired and I like what she said, God is calling us to rest, really rest so that we can also invite others into this eternal rest. And yeah I do feel like I've been restless and striving a lot and I need to slow down, be still and remember my identity as a daughter of God is not a result of what I do but who He is and what He did and continues to do. My life is in His hands :-)
- "Create in me a clean heart"- So yeah being still is important, we need to rest and let God do what only His Spirit can do. We usually don't like to hear about purification because it may shed a spotlight on our flaws and shortcomings, and yeah our sins but we don't need to draw back in shame (post: No Shame! ). In the tide bottle that my sister bought it had a label that said, "For high efficiency machines" then below that "Spring and Renewal" and it reminded me of this verse: "...while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." (John 15:2) God does not want to condemn us since there is No Condemnation for those in Christ Jesus but He wants to purify us further so that we may look more like Jesus and bear more fruit. Here are some posts I did a while back about the purification God wants to take us through: Pruning, Search Me. Test Me. Lead Me, You are the Potter, I am the Clay and *Pimp My Ride*. And I just read this one: Seasoned by Fire by Matt Pevarnik. Love this song: Purified by Cece Winans :)
RENEW-ALL / RENEW- WALL
That whole idea of "Tide" and "Spring and Renewal" made me think of these pictures. God is renewing our hearts individually but on a corporate level as well. I had recently read 2 Chronicles 14-16 about Asa King of Judah the third king of Judah after the division of the united kingdom of Israel which occurred after the death of King Solomon.
"And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment. He also took out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him. He built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, for the Lord gave him peace. And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God. We have sought him, and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered." (2 Chronicles 14: 2-7) // "And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were residing with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. They were gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. They sacrificed to the Lord on that day from the spoil that they had brought 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep. And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul, but that whoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman. They swore an oath to the Lord with a loud voice and with shouting and with trumpets and with horns. And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around." (2 Chronicles 15: 9-15) // "For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him." (2 Chronicles 16:9)
***RENEW- ALL! = So this corporate renewal thing is pretty serious (hence the death sentence they choose to include back then if it wasn't followed. Yikes! We are a obviously living a time marked by grace but that's not an excuse to abuse it) This unity thing though (seeking God with their whole hearts and also uniting as a people ~ the various tribes that were around coming together as One before the LORD who is ONE) was really important and it resulted in God fighting their battles when their enemies who outnumbered them came against them, and giving them rest on every side and making them prosperous.
On March 20th I saw that Hope Curran posted this on her fb wall and wrote: "Hundreds of college students gathered outside on sproul plaza to worship, pray, and commit to serving Jesus! I feel so blessed to witness the spark of what I believe is a spiritual revival that will sweep colleges and our nation. Oneloveus.org" So exciting right!!! When you see *UNITY* happen in the body and *UNITY IN WORSHIP AND PRAYER* that should ring like a WAR CRY! and signal the VICTORY that God will give us and mass REVIVAL that will break out :D (This also reminds me of the research paper I wrote-- my very first in college-- "Reforming the American System. Reforming Education"<- that's the first post in the blog series but read through them to the conclusion of how a spiritual revival is necessarry to reform America.)
You can check out the video about the March to Mayday tour that ONE LOVE is putting on or go to their website and it's cool how I've gotten lots of confirmation from different people around the world that God is doing and is about to do a mighty work in and through the church in this season. Check out the encouraging video below about how this is a season of redefinement in the church, the body of Christ :)
***RENEW- WALL! = Earlier this week I flipped to the Book of Nehemiah and I knew I was meant to read all of it and it was all about re-building the wall of Jerusalem. And I had kept reading verses in the Psalms and in Isaiah about the same so I knew it was important. Let's start with the basics... what's a wall and what's it used for? A wall is a high pile of rocks, joined together and sealed with cement, enclosing a city to protect it's inhabitants from outside dangers such as enemies attacking (charlenediaries dictionary lol). So when you think wall you should think defense. So if there was a breach in a certain part of the wall it endangers everyone in the city... not just the people closest to the breach... coz that could be the gateway for an enemy army to attack through and bring down the whole town, so yeah, the state of the wall affects us all.
The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel, that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven... (Nehemiah 1:1-4, Read the rest of the prayer).... "And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' graves, that I may rebuild it.” (Nehemiah 2:5)
In the Fall of 2013 when I came back to SB they had started the construction at the library and as I was walking by the Arbor I noticed the words "Addition & Renewal" on the banner and I feel like this is a work that is happening spiritually in the body of Christ at SB and in general. So this "Spring cleaning" business is not just about God removing stuff out of our hearts to make us more pure but He is also adding... In Ezekiel 36:26-27 God says, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances."
Okay that's individually but what does this mean corporately? And in our time? Coz we're not talking about literally building walls (the context is not about expansion but about defense)... So if you've been following my blog over the years you should already know what I'm talking about... Oh and wait a minute...how does this tie into the book of Nehemiah? ...Ok let's go beyond the surface... So I've noticed that Judah came up in the Nehemiah verses above also in the story of King Asa that caught my attention coz of a couple of reasons...
"And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment. He also took out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him. He built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, for the Lord gave him peace. And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God. We have sought him, and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered." (2 Chronicles 14: 2-7) // "And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were residing with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. They were gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. They sacrificed to the Lord on that day from the spoil that they had brought 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep. And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul, but that whoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman. They swore an oath to the Lord with a loud voice and with shouting and with trumpets and with horns. And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around." (2 Chronicles 15: 9-15) // "For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him." (2 Chronicles 16:9)
***RENEW- ALL! = So this corporate renewal thing is pretty serious (hence the death sentence they choose to include back then if it wasn't followed. Yikes! We are a obviously living a time marked by grace but that's not an excuse to abuse it) This unity thing though (seeking God with their whole hearts and also uniting as a people ~ the various tribes that were around coming together as One before the LORD who is ONE) was really important and it resulted in God fighting their battles when their enemies who outnumbered them came against them, and giving them rest on every side and making them prosperous.
You can check out the video about the March to Mayday tour that ONE LOVE is putting on or go to their website and it's cool how I've gotten lots of confirmation from different people around the world that God is doing and is about to do a mighty work in and through the church in this season. Check out the encouraging video below about how this is a season of redefinement in the church, the body of Christ :)
***RENEW- WALL! = Earlier this week I flipped to the Book of Nehemiah and I knew I was meant to read all of it and it was all about re-building the wall of Jerusalem. And I had kept reading verses in the Psalms and in Isaiah about the same so I knew it was important. Let's start with the basics... what's a wall and what's it used for? A wall is a high pile of rocks, joined together and sealed with cement, enclosing a city to protect it's inhabitants from outside dangers such as enemies attacking (charlenediaries dictionary lol). So when you think wall you should think defense. So if there was a breach in a certain part of the wall it endangers everyone in the city... not just the people closest to the breach... coz that could be the gateway for an enemy army to attack through and bring down the whole town, so yeah, the state of the wall affects us all.
The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel, that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven... (Nehemiah 1:1-4, Read the rest of the prayer).... "And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' graves, that I may rebuild it.” (Nehemiah 2:5)
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| "Addition and Renewal" |
Okay that's individually but what does this mean corporately? And in our time? Coz we're not talking about literally building walls (the context is not about expansion but about defense)... So if you've been following my blog over the years you should already know what I'm talking about... Oh and wait a minute...how does this tie into the book of Nehemiah? ...Ok let's go beyond the surface... So I've noticed that Judah came up in the Nehemiah verses above also in the story of King Asa that caught my attention coz of a couple of reasons...
- First, Judah means "Praise" and in the chapter right after the King Asa story- his fall- is the story of King Jehoshephat and you may know that he is the king who lead the Israelites to victory through praying, listening to God's instructions through the prophets, and putting the singers and musicians on the frontline.. And by doing so he actually built a wall of praise... the praise that they lifted up became a shield for his people while God went ahead and fought the battle for them.
- Judah is also one of the tribes of Israel. So Judah is a group of people. Nehemiah wasn't weeping because of a broken down wall. He was weeping over the condition of his people who were in "great trouble and shame" and were left vulnerable to future attacks when the walls and gates were burnt down. And what do we see in chapter 3? People from different parts of the city working together to rebuild the wall. And the teamwork that happens in spite the opposition in chapter 4 is just beautiful :') "From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah, who were building on the wall." (Nehemiah 4:16-17a) It's so awesome how this is a different story yet the same thing... in the first point the entire army stood behind the singers and musicians (Praisers) who led them to victory... and now the leaders stood behind the people of Judah (wall of love and support) literally showing them that "I got your back," knowing full well that their victory was connected. This is a wall of intercession. A wall of unity.
Do you know see what I am trying to say? Do you see the breaches in the wall? Do you see the people who are left vulnerable and most affected by the walls and gates being burnt down? Yes I'm talking about within the body of Christ you don't need to look to far... focusing on defense will be our greatest offensive move coz that's when we let God fight off the massive enemy armies and we all win and get to plunder the enemies camp together. K, I'll leave with that for now. You can refer to my old posts or wait for This Time For Africa and other posts that have been in my drafts since the Fall. But the main point is: It's time to go all out and love each other, pray with and for each other and support the worship movement. K, peace and love :-)
And please pray for me, I'm .....a work in progress. I don't share stuff like this coz I know it all... I don't. I share coz I want us to help each other apply God's Word together... I would like to share the journey. And as far as being a messenger, I'm so unworthy but hey, Glory to God!
So yeah, Jesus please lead us, renew us, revive us, restore us, unite us. Just have Your way. Amen.
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