Empty Me

Empty Me - by Chris Sligh

I've had just enough of the spotlight when it burns bright
To see how it gets in the blood.
And I've tasted my share of the sweet life and the wild ride
And found a little is not quite enough.
I know how I can stray
And how fast my heart could change.

Empty me of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds to
Lord empty me of me so I can be filled with you.

I've seen just enough of the quick buys of the best lies
To know how prodigals can be drawn away.
I know how I can stray
And how fast my heart could change.

Empty me of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds to
Lord empty me of me so I can be filled with you.

Cause everything is a lesser thing
Compared to you, compared to you.
Cause everything is a lesser thing
Compared to you. So, I surrender all!

Empty me of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride
Empty me of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds to
Lord empty me of me so I can be
Lord empty me of me so I can be filled with you.
Oh, filled with you.
Empty me.

Ancient Words

Michael W. Smith - Ancient Words Lyrics

Holy words long preserved
For our walk in this world,
They resound with god's own heart
Oh, let the ancient words impart.

Words of life, words of hope
Give us strength, help us cope
In this world, where e'er we roam
Ancient words will guide us home.

Chorus:
Ancient words ever true
Changing me, and changing you.
We have come with open hearts
Oh let the ancient words impart.

Holy words of our faith
Handed down to this age.
Came to us through sacrifice
Oh heed the faithful words of christ.

Holy words long preserved
For our walk in this world.
They resound with god's own heart
Oh let the ancient words impart.

Chorus x4

We have come with open hearts
Oh let the ancient words impart.

David and sin

Today I read about David toward the end of his life. He sinned (again, he is like us after all), and God judged the entire nation. 70,000 men died in a plague - it was an angel with a sword striking them down. It started me thinking about sin in the life of a leader, or a pastor, or a teacher, or a parent... if anyone is following you, officially or unofficially, your sin is going to affect them. Your sin has consequences far beyond your own life. People immitate their leaders, children immitate their parents - in good ways and bad ways. And here on earth innocent victims often pay the price for the sin of the guilty. Kind of makes me stop and think about the sin that I allow to creep into my own life. Do I really want my children and my students to be hurt by my sin?

quotes

"Not how much of my money do I give to God. But how much of God's money do I keep for myself."

"I break all the rules of management - I just work harder and put my trust in the Lord."

R.G. LeTourneau

More thoughts on David

I have continued to think about David and his sin with Bathsheba. Remember when Nathan the prophet confronted David when his sin? David's immediate response was, "I have sinned."

Now remember with me back to Saul when Samuel came and confronted him with his sin. First Saul lied. Then he made excuses. Then he blamed his men. That humble heart that was open to God's rebuke and correction just wasn't there.

The difference between these 2 kings was not that Saul sinned and David didn't; David definately sinned! The difference in them was their response to their sin. David's heart was humble and he sought God. It's time for God's people to seek Him with a humble heart that recognizes it's own sin. Saul couldn't fool God; we can't either.

David and Bathsheba

Today I read about David and Bathsheba; quite a familiar story. The problem with reading familiar stories is that sometimes you remember more than you read and you don’t notice the details that perhaps you missed before. I kept seeing Veggie Tales! LOL!

Anyway, as I read about David’s son dying, something caught my eye. David wept and fasted and begged God while the baby was sick. But after the baby died, he got up and washed and ate. He said he did it because God might let the child live; but God didn’t. David’s reaction to God’s “no” answer to his prayer was one of simple acceptance. Get up and get on with the next thing. No anger, no depression, no “pity party”. David presented his request to God, got a no answer, and went on.

I pray that I would be so accepting of God’s will when it goes contrary to my own desires.

A Letter to Parents

Graduation

My oldest child graduates in a few weeks, and will start college in the fall. My time as his authority has been slipping away over the last year, and it will soon be gone forever. As a college student he will be increasingly faced with the temptations of the world, and at the same time have more freedom to follow those temptations.

This morning I read Psalm 106; this is a concise history of Israel. Look at the list of what the people of Israel did over the years:

They gave no thought
Did not remember
Rebelled
God saved
They forgot
Did not wait
Gave in to craving
Wasting disease
They grew envious
Earthquakes and fire
They made an idol
Forgot God
Destruction, but Moses stood in the breach
Despised
Did not believe
Grumbled
Did not obey
Promise of coming judgment
Yoked themselves to idols
Sacrificed to idols
Provoked God to anger
Plague, Phineas stood and intervened
Angered the Lord
Rebelled
Moses sinned
Did not destroy enemies
Mingled with unbelievers
Adopted their customs
Worshipped their idols
Sacrificed their sons and daughters
Defiled themselves
Prostituted themselves
God was angry and sent them into exile
They were oppressed
God delivered, many times
They were bent on rebellion
They wasted away in their sin

So often the pattern of our lives follows that of the nation of Israel. Is it any wonder that we are concerned for our children as they go out into the world on their own? We have prepared them and taught them as best we could, but now comes the test. Will they pass? Will they remember what they have been taught? Will they trust God for themselves, by themselves? Will they take my faith and make it their own?

Lord, I pray for my son. I pray that you would hold him as you have held me, that you would keep him as you have kept me. I pray that your Word and your Presence would be a living thing in his heart and his mind, and that his conscience would be sensitive to Your Spirit. I pray that you would put godly friends in his life who would encourage him in his walk with You. I pray that you would put godly teachers in his life who would consistently point him to You. I pray that success and failure alike would drive him to his knees before You. I pray that he would seek You above all else, and that You would conform him into the image of Your Son. I pray that he would always be able to see and remember and know that I love him and am proud of him, and that home is a safe place. Amen.

Rebecca A Givens, 05/2008

The Personal Touch

Thou great I AM,

I acknowledge and confess that all things come of thee -
life, breath, happiness, advancement,
sight, touch, hearing,
goodness, truth, beauty -
all tha makes existence amiable.

In the spiritual world also I am dependent entirely upon thee.
Give me grace to know more of my need of grace;
Show me my sinfulness that I may willingly confess it;
Reveal to me my weakness that I may know my strength in thee.

I thank thee for any sign of penitence; give me more of it;
My sins are black and deep,
and rise from a stony, proud, self-righteous heart;
Help me to confess them with mourning, regret, self-loathing,
with no pretence to merit or excuse;

I need healing,
Good physician, here is scope for thee,
come and manifest thy power;

I need faith;
Thou who hast given it me, maintain, strengthen, increase it.
Centre it upon the Saviour's work,
upon the majesty of the Father,
upon the operations of the Spirit;
Work it in me now that I may never doubt thee
as the truthful, mighty, faithful God.
Then I can bring my heart to thee
full of love, gratitude, hope, joy.

May I lay at thy feet these fruits grown in thy garden,
love thee with a passion that can never cool,
believe in thee with a confidence that never staggers,
hope in thee with an expectation that can never be dim,
delight in thee with a rejoicing that cannot be stifled,
glorify thee with the highest of my powers,
burning, blazing, glowing, radiating, as from thy own glory.

Taken from The Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions

Disney ad in China

This makes me so mad I can hardly see straight. You need to read it.

http://www.slate.com/id/2190209/

it's bad enough that women are exploited in pornography, and in main stream media, and in advertising (so much of media and advertising is aimed at what men enjoy seeing, afterall), but this is children.

Quote

“To regularly hear unscriptural teaching is a serious thing. It is a continual dropping of slow poison into the mind.” J.C. Ryle

WalMart

This morning we were out of food so I had to go to WalMart. I hate shopping and I hate crowds of people, so the consolation today was that is was a rainy Saturday morning, so maybe no one else would be shopping...

Anyway, I'm pushing my buggy through the store and as I passed an elderly black gentleman he looked at me and smiled and said, "Don't you forget the Lord, now. God bless you."

I smiled back and sighed and replied that I wouldn't. I'm not sure, but I think maybe angels shop at WalMart sometimes.

Proverbs 25:11 A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.

Psalm 73

“When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:21-26

How often I get so overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by the list of things I must do; overwhelmed with my concerns over the future; overwhelmed by problems and lack of money; overwhelmed by grief and loss. Sometimes overwhelmed by hormones. In those periods of time when my emotions engulf me I become senseless and ignorant and I cannot see the big picture, I cannot see the end of the struggle. But even then, God is holding my hand… my right hand, which is the symbol of my strength and power. He is hanging on to me, and at some point His Word, spoken by a friend or read in Scripture, will penetrate the fog I am in and I will once again see Him standing there, and remember that I know the end of the story; God wins, and God loves me, and I will spend eternity with Him. AMEN!

May Bible Reading

1 2 Sam. 5:1-10; 1 Chron. 11-12
2 Ps. 133
3 Ps. 106-107
4 2 Sam. 5:11-6:23;1 Chron. 13-16
5 Ps. 1-2; Ps. 15; Ps. 22-24; Ps. 47;Ps. 68
6 Ps. 89; Ps. 96; Ps. 100; Ps. 101; Ps. 105; Ps. 132
7 2 Sam. 7; 1 Chron. 17
8 Ps. 25; Ps. 29; Ps. 33; Ps. 36; Ps. 39
9 2 Sam. 8-9; 1 Chron. 18
10 Ps. 50; Ps. 53; Ps. 60; Ps. 75
11 2 Sam. 10; 1 Chron. 19; Ps. 20
12 Ps. 65-67; Ps. 69-70
13 2 Sam. 11-12; 1 Chron. 20
14 Ps. 32; Ps. 51; Ps. 86; Ps. 122
15 2 Sam. 13-15
16 Ps. 3-4; Ps. 12-13;Ps. 28;Ps. 55
17 2 Sam. 16-18
18 Ps. 26; Ps. 40; Ps. 58; Ps. 61-62; Ps. 64
19 2 Sam. 19-21
20 Ps. 5; Ps. 38; Ps. 41-42
21 2 Sam. 22-23; Ps. 57
22 Ps. 95; Ps. 97-99
23 2 Sam. 24; 1 Chron. 21-22; Ps. 30
24 Ps. 108-110
25 1 Chron. 23-25
26 Ps. 131; Ps. 138-139; Ps. 143-145
27 1 Chron. 26-29; Ps. 127
28 Ps. 111-118
29 1 Kings 1-2; Ps. 37; Ps. 71; Ps. 94
30 Ps. 119:1-88
31 1 Kings 3-4; 2 Chron. 1;Ps. 72