From within ... rivers of living water!!

Mat 19:25 When His disciples heard, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? Mat 19:26 But Jesus looked on them and said to them, With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

His Promise - This my prayer and hope
"Look at me
Can any man live,
Live as I now do?
Neither can I!
But it is the Grace of God,
For it is no longer I
But Christ in me
The hope of Glory;
For the Life I live
I no longer live
But Christ in me;
Making possible
The impossible.”

Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I live; yet no longer I, but Christ lives in me. And that life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith toward the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself on my behalf.

Witness

O’ of what salvation do you boast
One that any man can work out!
You flee from youthful lust,
And yes you should,
You also fight those thoughts,
The ones that shame you most,
But can you dig deep within,
And though you do not sin,
Can you bring purity within?

All works of man,
Like white washed tombs,
Lively as it might seem,
Just lifeless bones within!
The way I talk, the way I walk
I can polish my outside,
But who can tear the flesh apart
And bring purity inside?

I can hide the thoughts I have
By actions that seem so righteous;
The grinding of my teeth
To be mistaken for a smile;
I can clench my fist in anger
But cross my hands behind;
I can seem so much better
Than one whose anger killed a man;
But on that great and terrible day,
When all the dead shall rise,
I will need to answer for my anger,
No more any place to hide,
With the killed and the killer,
Standing side by side.

You who sing of an empty grave
To prove your saviour lives,
I who once was an empty sepulchre
Decked up and called a wonder,
I who was a wretched sinner,
Till by grace I did surrender,
This life I live, my greatest proof
My saviour once dead, now lives.

1Ti 1:16 But for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, as a pattern to those being about to believe on Him to life everlasting.

Our salvation is not a life which we could have lived by ourselves, but something which was impossible for us, but is becoming a reality by God's grace working in us.
That the LIFE of JESUS may be manifested in each and every aspect of our walking, talking, thinking and doing. My life should be the proof that Jesus lives.

Him who is able to keep you from falling ...

Joh 15:5 I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing

Nothing of my own

I no longer walk sure footed,
I dare not trust my own,
My decision and my will power
My passion and love for the Lord;
And least of all,
These eloquent words that I speak;
Fooling all including me.

There was a time I boldly spoke,
Looked down on feeble hearts,
Ready to even die,
And count it all as dung.
Yes there was a time like this
A time long gone,
A time I bared my chest
And made a great boast,
"Let everyone else fall
But Lord, nay, not I."
Yes there was a time like this
Before I truly died.

I had been a failure all my life,
Till the Lord had picked me up;
He had healed the wounds
And lifted my head up;
Made a new man out of spittle,
Something out of nothing,
By the touch of His hands.
And O' what joy was mine!
Nothing could bring me down;
And l loved to tell that story,
Of what I was and what I am,
And how He had done it all.

But I spoke to foolish men
Men who couldn't see;
And though they cheered,
And thought they encouraged,
Thought they did a good thing,
When they praised me for my zeal.
A bigger fool that I was,
I took them at their word;
Thought the zeal now I had,
Where once there was none,
Thought I had a part to play;
Though He had done it all.

Reliving the past,
An experience I once had;
The story slowly lost its charm,
As dead words were spoken,
By a dead man, deprived of life;
And as the darkness enveloped,
Everything became a dream;
Till the story was forgotten,
As if it had never happened;
Memories faded,
And names forgotten,
Clinging on to something,
Not quite sure,
All muddled ....

Many cocks have crowed from then,
Many days of blind comfort,
Many days of empty words,
Foolish thoughts and evil intentions;
Many days in the pen,
Till crushed by circumstances,
Reason returned to me,
And in the blinding light I saw,
The evil life now being lived by me.

Once again the old story came back,
O' where I was and what I had become!
And where I saw no glimmer of hope,
No reason for mercy,
Like the morning dawn,
Which breaks forth,
From the darkest hour,
I saw love unexplainable,
Mercy unfathomable,
Reaching out to me!
And as I cried out for help,
As I cried out in shame,
As I cried out in pain,
All my empty boast came back to me.

Nothing left to bargain,
If You can?
If You would?
Take me as I am!
There is no promise I can make,
That I can keep;
My words are all empty,
And even if I say it so,
I can no longer believe,
No longer believe me.

And then I saw in a new light,
Of what it meant when it said,
When I hated HIM,
He came and died for me;
That He had come to save,
Those who couldn't save themselves;
That He has chosen,
The weak and the foolish;
That I could do nothing of my own,
And all I need to do is
Go to Him and rest.

I have been a failure
And I know I will always be
But Christ in me the hope of glory
By His Grace, like Him I can be,
Like Him obedient
Like Him faithful
Like Him hate sin
Like Him love all
Like Him humble and meek
Like Him glorify the Father
Like Him in all things
That when at last I will see Him
And He will say,
"Well done good and faithful steward
Here is your reward."
It will be no false humility
When I place the crown He offers
Place it at His feet
"For if at all I have been faithful
It is Your grace in me
For In my failure You came
Both to will and do in me
Both in and through me."

And if in this there is a truth
A truth for you to learn
You are free to take it
Freely I got, freely I give.

Mat 11:28 Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Mat 11:29 Take My yoke on you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest to your souls. Mat 11:30 For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.

Php 2:13 For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
Eph 2:8 For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God,
Heb 7:25 Therefore He is able also to save to the uttermost those who come unto God by Him, since He ever lives to make intercession for them.

Jud 1:24 Now to Him being able to keep you without stumbling, and to set you before His glory without blemish, with unspeakable joy;
Jud 1:25 to the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty and might and authority, even now and forever. Amen.

Cut off for me and you

Joh 15:1 I am the True Vine, and My Father is the Vinedresser.
Joh 15:2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away. And every one that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bring forth more fruit.
Joh 15:3 Now you are clean through the Word which I have spoken to you.
Joh 15:4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
Joh 15:5 I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
Joh 15:6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered. And they gather and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
Joh 15:7 If you abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done to you.
Joh 15:8 In this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, so you shall be My disciples.

Cut off

The one thing He did
The one that surpasses all
When He died for me
From the Father, He was cut off;
A fellowship from eternity past
And one that remains for eternity ever
On that single moment
Cut off for you and me.
It was of this that He spoke
When He had prayed
"Father is there any other way!?
Yet not My will but Thine."
There when He bore my sin
There before a righteous and Holy God,
There the righteousness of God met
And the wrath of God satisfied
There on that gory spot
Where sin and death was dealt with
Even love and mercy unsurpassed met
There when He was cut off
Pierced for my sin
There my salvation flowed out
There I was grafted in.

Isa 53:1 Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of Jehovah revealed?
Isa 53:2 For He comes up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground; He has no form nor majesty that we should see Him, nor an appearance that we should desire Him.
Isa 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as it were a hiding of faces from Him, He being despised, and we esteemed Him not.
Isa 53:4 Surely He has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
Isa 53:5 But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was on Him; and with His stripes we ourselves are healed.
Isa 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, each one to his own way; and Jehovah has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
Isa 53:7 He was oppressed, and He was afflicted; yet He opened not His mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth.
Isa 53:8 He was taken from prison and from judgment; and who shall declare His generation? For He was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgression of My people He was stricken.
Isa 53:9 And He put His grave with the wicked, and with a rich one in His death; although He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.
Isa 53:10 Yet it pleased Jehovah to crush Him; to grieve Him; that He should put forth His soul as a guilt-offering. He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the will of Jehovah shall prosper in His hand.
Isa 53:11 He shall see the fruit of the travail of His soul. He shall be fully satisfied. By His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify for many; and He shall bear their iniquities.
Isa 53:12 Therefore I will divide to Him with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because He has poured out His soul to death; and He was counted among the transgressors; and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for transgressors.

written through Isaiah at about 760 to 713 b.c

Yes He will ... yes he will ...

Metamorphosis
We played in a field full of trees
Me and my brothers, we were three
The youngest one, on our shoulders we carried
And when we sat, he was on our knee.

But little by little as days went by
He could crawl, was trying to walk
But try all he could, he would fall
And cry aloud, too young to talk.

So I made sure he would never fall
For I carried him always in my hand
And soon I saw others his age
Running and jumping across the sand.

My bigger brother came up to me
He said of things that one cannot learn
Places that one cannot reach
Unless he falls, fails or takes a wrong turn.

So now I stand in the shadow of a tree
Watching and praying, hoping today it would be
Ready to rush, console and wipe away tears
Or to say, "I knew you could walk. See!!"

1Jn 5:16 If anyone sees his brother sin a sin not to death, he shall ask, and He shall give him life for those that do not sin to death. There is a sin to death, I do not say that he shall pray for it.
Joh 6:44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who has sent Me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day.

A simple truth can set you free ...

A simple truth
I can make giants of windmills
Imagine clouds to be castles
Believe so blindly, imagining
That faith could make it real.
But all I do is fool myself
Believing a lie of my own making.
But I have seen bigger fools than me
Believing what is, to be not
Walking into walls
They diligently believe are not.

I have seen gods being made
Dime a dozen
All shapes and sizes
You pick and choose, you believe!!
I was once such a fool
Didn’t want to take a chance
Took them all in my arms
One of them should work
I told myself
But they were all just concepts
Neatly arranged in my head
A god of convenience
Lifeless and powerless
Just a showpiece
A cultural phrase that I utter!!!

But there is a God in Heaven
Who reveals secrets and makes known all things
He changes the times and the seasons
He removes kings and sets up kings
To the wise, it is He who gives wisdom
Those who have understanding, owe it to Him
He is not a concept that I have imagined
But it is I whom HE has brought into existence.

What then are the sorrows that this world can offer?
Where then is the anxiety of this life?
What fear does death impose on me?
What then will happen of my loved ones?
What surety can I have for my children's character?
O' I have a hundred questions
That I know the practical mind would ask
But in all practicality, all this truly fades away
When I know in assured reality
That the God in Heaven is my Father
Who has explicitly confirmed
The vastness of His love for me
When His only Son He gave for me
That with Him, all things are mine
All things, He would take care;
All I need to do is believe, that He is
O' how wonderful and simple this truth.

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Joh 1:12 But as many as received Him, He gave to them authority to become the children of God, to those who believe on His name,
Joh 1:13 who were born, not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but were born of God.

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Come to the meeting of the saints!

Heb 10:23-25 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering (for He is faithful who promised), and let us consider one another to provoke to love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

How easily the legitimate reason comes to us to neglect the gathering of the saints; and on the other extreme, we can get into condemnation when there are legitimate reasons for missing the gathering of saints.
How easily even a legitimate reason can be considered neglect if we have not laid it before the Lord. How often we have a compelling reality that stops us from attending a meeting, just because we did not ask the Lord to intervene.

Why then should I go ...
because the Lord said He would be there
because there is a word that He has given you my sister and brother that is for me,
the one little word that would deliver me?
because there is a word that I have been given for you my brother and sister, and if I give it not and hold back the much needed deliverance, what hope have I?
Haven't I failed HIM so many times?
Haven't I been forgiven much?
Didn't I say I would love Him and serve HIM and HIS!?
Haven't I floundered away so many of my years!?
Will I miss this opportunity too?
Come, I hear the call...
Here I am Lord,
Speak! your servant obeys.

In eternity with the Lord and the saints. Is that truly what I hope for!!!
... every trial ...... for eternity!!
Come let us rehearse ...... :-)

When God leads me ... to HIMSELF!!

When God leads me ...

Truly HE holds everything in HIS mighty hands.
I was thinking of King Baasha. An evil king whose family, God said, will be destroyed and be no more. Yet when he repented in sack and ash cloth, not that there was a complete repentance and forsaking of evil, God decided not to do these things in his life time. Imagine ... God's mercy on such a man ...
Imagine ... how vast and deep is God's mercy.
How much more will He not help us whom He has redeemed by HIS own Son?
Wont He not give us all things?
We need God's grace to see it in this light. Else it will be just another verse that we have become so familiar with.

Yes we need to truly see God as our Father. it is for this that Jesus came, it is for this that He gave His life, so that through the new birth that is in HIM, we can call God our Father and Jesus our elder brother.
But how we loose this in the clutter of our own thoughts.
Like the child who wants his father to teach him how to swim. But he is scared, "what if I get it wrong, what if I slip up? my father may allow me to drown." How absurd and ridiculous we would say ....
God the Father gave HIS only Son to save us from our sins, to make us able to live a life that will bring HIM joy. Won't He with Jesus give us all things ...
... but ... but ... what if I get it wrong or slip up? ....
Father I do not want to slip up or get it wrong. Please help me.

Psa 18:35 You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; and Your right hand has held me up, and Your gentleness has made me great.
Psa 73:23 But I am always with You; You have held me by my right hand.
Psa 94:18 When I said, My foot slips; Your mercy, O Jehovah, held me up.

Yes when He leads me
He leads me by HIS hand,
Not like cattle to be slaughtered
Or as a prey being lured, being hunted,
But as a Father leads His son;
As a Loving Father His son.
He leads me not to the edge of a cliff,
Nor does He lead me to a very deep pit,
He leads me to Himself,
En route maybe a cliff or a pit.
Yes truly He leads me,
Up ahead, I follow the very steps He tread,
To a place to die and be broken,
Yes there is a cross ahead,
But that is not where He leads me,
He leads me to Himself;
Through my own empty tomb
To the resurrection of the dead.
Yes when He leads me on,
By HIS nail pierced hand
Pierced for myself,
He leads me to Himself.