When Jesus Looks ... my daily resurrection truth

When Jesus Looks

When Jesus looks upon my life, what picture does He see?

Does He see His own reflection, or does He see selfish me?

Does He see His likeness, the product of His hand.

Or just another Christian, who avoids taking a stand.

Does He see a child of God, a child that He set free.

Living life to honor Him, or does He see the selfish me.

What about the other folks, I meet along the way.

Do I show them Jesus, Who enlightens all their day.

When someone looks into my eyes, can they truly see.

That calm and gentle peace of Christ, that’s been given me.

When I reach out and shake a hand, is He right there in my grip.

Can they sense the strength from God, that steadies when I slip.

When folks are in my presence, do they know His Spirit's there?

Can they see that He's the one, Who guides me everywhere.

When other people think of me, what is on their mind?

Do they think of Jesus Christ, so gentle and so kind.

I ought be like Jesus, every single day.

Spreading love and kindness, all along my way.

Yet in truth I know, I’ve failed this holy test.

Deep inside my heart I know, I haven't done the best.

I’ve fought with my flesh, since in baptism I was reborn.

It's always causing trouble, and being such a thorn.

That's why His Spirit dwells in me, He's helping me to learn.

In every situation, where I need to turn.

He knew I'd never pass the test, that's why He took my place.

He gave His life to save my soul, He suffered my disgrace.

Now I live in His saving grace, in Him by faith do well.

So other folks will want His gift, and turn their backs on hell.

Other folks need to see the joy, that Christ has given me.

They should want to have it too, especially since it's free.

May they begin to ask me, what is it they must do.

Just how it is they go about, getting my Jesus too.

Then I get to tell them, its free to all who do believe.

This gift is freely given, to the faith that does receive.

Someday when I'm face to face, with the Lord who set me free.

I’ll Him Who gives to me, His reflection living in me.

By Chick Velasco; Edited by Pastor Mark Love 

because it is a time for God and faith in Him.

The silence of the tomb is the tomb’s victory,

Says my sin, O my soul.

Surely, my sinful nature misread the silence of Christ’s tomb

as the tombs victory. 

Ah, my sinful nature seeks to deny the reality of Christ’s victory in death for me,

So that I might doubt Christ’s victory over death for me.

Hear the word of God in this silence, O my soul!

For God alone my soul waits in silence;

from him comes my salvation.

 He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress;

I shall not be greatly shaken.

For God alone, O my soul,

wait in silence,

for my hope is from him.

On God rests my salvation and my glory;

my mighty rock, my refuge is God.  Ps 62:1-2; 5; 7 (ESV)

These words of reality interpret Jesus’ silence in the tomb. 

Having suffered through the silence of God’s wrath for me

and finished it,

Jesus’ last word on the cross was a word of faith

with which He commended Himself

into His Father’s keeping. 

Jesus’ silence while in the tomb,

speaks not of the grave’s power,

but of His faith and confidence in His Father’s power

to keep and deliver Him from the grave and its power. 

Jesus could be silent because it was a time 

to let His Father, Father Him.  

So Jesus is silent in the tomb

because it is a time for God and faith in Him.

Having God’s ever speaking Word, I hear Him, O my soul,

and by my hearing, I receive faith and the work His speaks to me.

I am left to suffer no silence of God. 

Surely I must go through many adversities in this world,

For the Lord promises that it is through much tribulation that I shall enter the kingdom of heaven. (Acts 14:22).

Others may see my quiet silence as my surrender to these adversities.  What they do not know, O my soul,

Is that for me, as a believer, it is a time for the Lord. 

Living by faith in Christ, O my soul,

I walk, I run, I travel on my course in the silence of a sure hope,

allowing my heavenly Father, to Father me as He did His Son,

which can only mean resurrection for me. 

- pmwl

Seven Abominations in my heart

As I come to the Cross this Good Friday, I come confessing these truths from which I must daily be saved:

"I find seven abominations in my heart:

1. An inclination to unbelief.
2. Suddenly to forget the love and mercy of Christ manifested for me.
3. A leaning on works of the Law rather than the grace of God.
4. Wanderings and coldness in prayer.
5. To forget to watch for what I pray for.
6. An apt to murmur because I do not have more, yet ready to abuse what I have.
7. I can do none of those things which the Lord commands me, but my corruptions thrust themselves in upon me. When I want to do good, evil is right there with me."

Lord have mercy on me, 

and grant that I would wholly believe the word of Christ on the Cross, "It is finished!" 

As I leave the Cross and make my way on to the resurrection of the Lord, I go with this truth enlightening my way: 

"These things I continually see and feel and am afflicted and oppressed with,
but the wisdom of God works and orders all these for my good.
1. They make me abhor myself.
2. They keep me from trusting my own heart.
3. They convince me of the insufficiency of my own righteousness.
4. They show me my need to constantly flee to Jesus.
5. They press me to pray to the Lord.
6. They show me my need to watch and be sober.
7. They so provoke me to pray to God through Jesus Christ to help me, and carry me through this world."

- Grace Abounding  - John Bunyan

Lord have mercy on me, 

and grant that I may be still and know that You are God. 

- pwml 

Exercising myself in faith has two disciplines,

And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” Lk 9:35 (ESV)

The growth of my spiritual life, O my soul,

Is impossible without the disciplined practice of faith.

For such discipline in faith,

is the hidden side of faithful discipleship. 

Exercising myself in faith has two disciplines,

The first of which is the receiving of the Lord through His Word,

And the second, is responding according to that Word I have received from Him.

This alone, serves to make me even more sensitive

to the seemingly small, soft voice of the Lord.

Elijah did not meet the Lord in the mighty wind,

in the earthquake or in the fire,

but in the still small voice. (I Kings 19:9--13) 

Practice faith’s two disciplines, O my soul,

Do not seek to comprehend the Word of the Lord,

Do not seek to apply the Word the Lord speaks,

But listen, O my soul,

listen to His voice, listen to His Word,

For it is in His voice, His word,

That He gives You His Holy Spirit.  

And it is His Spirit alone,

Who shall comprehend His Word for you,

His Spirit alone

Who shall apply and work His Word in you,

So that you shall have ears to hear

and a heart to believe in Him.

For faith comes from hearing,

and hearing from the Word of Christ. (Rm 10:17)  

- pmwl

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My Daily Prayer in Ministry

How I should act and walk in the house of God,

in the congregation of the living God,

this I now know.

But You, O Lord, have mercy upon me,

and forgive all the sins and transgressions

by which I have sinned against You and Your holy Word and ministry.

But grant unto me and all Your servants great power,

and strengthen You life within me,

that being readied with the preparation of the Gospel of peace,

I may go forward in patience,

sowing the seed,

and working and waiting

for the precious fruit of the earth. Amen.

- Wilhelm Lohe 

Rays you got but glimpses of,

let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith ...      Heb 12:1-2 (ESV)

Go now, O beloved one of the Lord,

run the race He has laid out for you.

Take each step deliberately on the path He’s laid for you.

Prayerfully and cheerfully look to the end of the road,

fixing your eyes of faith on what the Lord is doing

and what He will bring to sight come the end of your race.

There you shall find those bright rays of eternal joy,

rays you got but glimpses of,

flickering through the trees upon your way,

shining unshaded upon you 

in His eternal day. 

- pmwl

So inclined is my heart to evil, that out of it ...

Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!  Ps 119:36 (ESV)

Know my heart, O my soul,

To petition the Lord to incline my heart to His Word,

Is to confess that my heart is inclined elsewhere.

As surely as the Lord testifies that my tongue is a restless evil, (Ja 3:8)

How much more so my heart, the master of my tongue.

Such restless evil inclines my heart to evil,

To all that is turned away from the Lord.

So inclined is my heart to evil, that out of it,

my thoughts are filled with all kinds of covetousness, sensuality, and foolishness. (Mk 7:21-23)

How is it that I do the very thing that I hate,

In deference to the good thing I want to do,

If my heart were not so filled with sin and its inclination to sin. (Rm 7:15-16)

O my soul, see your desperate need for the Lord

to incline my heart to His testimonies.

For I know that nothing good dwells in me,

That is in my flesh, my heart,

As I have the desire to incline myself to do what is right,

Yet I have not the ability in me or my heart to carry it out.(Rm 7:18)

As the inclination of my heart to selfish ends,

draws me away from the Lord’s testimonies,

So that I am drawn away from the living God.

Call on the Lord, O my soul, that He might incline my heart.

For my flesh and my heart my fail me,

But the Lord is the strength of my heart,

And He is my portion that satisfies all my longings. (Ps 73:26)

Create in me a clean heart O God,

And renew a steadfast spirit within me, (Ps 51:10)

Lest I cast You away from my presence,

For the sake of selfish gain.

For You have sprinkled me with clean water.

You have cleansed me of all my uncleannesses.

You have cleansed me of the idols I am inclined to.

You have given me a new heart.

You have put a new spirit within me.

You make me to walk carefully in Your testimonies. (Ez 36:25-27).

Rejoice, O my soul,

For when the cares of my heart are many,

The Lord’s consolations cheer my soul. (Ps 94:19)

-pwml

if the way of my temptations be not deceptive,

Hold me up, that I may be safe …  Ps 119:117 (ESV)

See my condition, O my soul, in my petition.

I am not safe, O my soul,

I cannot hold myself up,

I cannot even stand me up.

Temptations are so many,

And my weakness before them is much.

Temptations come to me from within,

Temptations come to me from without,

And if the way of my temptations be not deceptive,

Their way with me is to overwhelm me.

So strong are the desires of my sin for me,

So weak and unwatchful am I, in my sin,

That I would surely fall before them,

Unless the Lord lift me up,

And secure me, safe away, O my soul.  

Lift me up, O Lord, God of my salvation,

And hide me safe in the shadow of Your wing. (Ps 17:8)

Lift me above the littleness I have chosen in my sin,

And hide me safe in Your shelter. (Ps 27:5)

Lift me up out of the littleness I have made of myself in my sin,

And in the cover of Your presence,

hide me from my sins that I may be safe.

Be gracious to me, O Lord!

See my affliction,

O You who lift me up from the gates of death, (Ps 9:13)

For You are He who sets on high,

Those who are lowly.

You alone are He who lifts to safety,

Those who humbly seek You. (Job 5:11)

- pmwl

Gone must be the disguises I have used to hide myself.

O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?

He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart. 

Ps 15:1-2 (ESV)

God is truth, O my soul,

and He knows the truth of me.

If I would enter into His tent, O my soul,

Then I must enter into the depths of my heart to own my truth.

If I would dwell with Him on His holy hill,

Then I must dwell in the knowledge of myself as I really am in His eyes.

Gone must be the disguises I have used to hide myself.

Gone from me must be the artificiality that I have trusted so much in.

Truth must come to me in all it fullness,

That I might fully embrace and own,

not only my truths that please and pleasure me,

But also my truths that are quick to pain and pierce my sinful pride,

revealing my faults, my failings, my sin and sinfulness.

Close not my eyes to these, O my soul,

Even though they be humiliating to me,

Even though they leave me with nothing,

It is a far better thing to look upon these and own them,

Than to possess the illusions that flatter me,

And keep me in prides sinful errors.

Take courage, O my soul,

own my truth and confess it,

Confess it to Him who walks blamelessly for me,

Confess my truth to Him who does what is right for me,

Confess the sin within my heart to Him who speaks truth in His heart for me.

For it is He alone, even Jesus Christ,

Who made Himself nothing, (Ph 2:7)

to meet me in my truth,

to dwell with me in the sinful tent of my nothingness,

So that I might sojourn, I might rest in Him.

He is God’s grace and truth,

And in Him,

through faith in Him,

He walks me blamelessly,

He does what is right in me,

And He speaks the truth of His heart in me,

That I might sojourn now and forever in His tent

And dwell on His holy hill.

- pmwl