My Desire

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pexels-photo-415571-prayer-cross-surrender

We want our desires to line up with God’s purposes for our lives. This song by Jeremy Camp gives voice to the desire for God’s purposes to be expressed in our lives.

The lyrics of My Desire are rich with Biblical themes and meaning. Here are the scripture passages that accompany the song:

“Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.”

Ephesians 4:21-24

“It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.”

Mark 7:15

“So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”

1 Peter 5:6-7

“Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever), the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever). And they lay their crowns before the throne and say, “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.”

Revelation 4:9-11

“For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.”

Colossians 2:9-10

“May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”

Ephesians 3:19

“He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.”

John 3:30

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Pastor Tony’s Message: The Family Tree of Jesus

Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, Obed fathered Jesse…
Matthew 1:5

This is one of the most inspirational passages of scripture. Did you catch it? Rahab is included in the genealogy of Jesus of Nazareth, the sinless Messiah. Rahab. Yes, that Rahab. She was a prostitute in Jericho when Joshua led the Israelites to capture the city.

No matter a person’s religious or moral persuasions, it is pretty safe to say that most people would agree prostitution is morally wrong. Prostitution may be the world’s oldest profession, but it is an indication, both for the prostitute and the “customer” of a callous and unrepentant attitude toward sexual morality. It’s not just a one-time indiscretion. A harlot doesn’t just enter into a scandalous affair for a short term. Prostitution was Rahab’s occupation.

And yet her name is included in the genealogy of the Messiah. Rahab is forever remembered as a prostitute. But she is also forever remembered as the great, great grandmother of King David, a man after God’s own heart.

God’s word gives us hope. No situation is beyond His ability to redeem it. Trust Him today!

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Pastor Tony’s Message: The Woman with the Issue of Blood

The “woman with the issue of blood” came to Jesus after she had exhausted all of her other options. Why can’t we come to Jesus before things get rough?

You have to come to the place that you seek God when there is a need, but our lives would be radically different if we would seek him just to know Him, before a need arises.

So Jesus went with him, and a large crowd was following and pressing against Him.

Mark 5:24

Jesus never caters to the “crowd” (the mob). The woman with an issue of blood was labeled unclean under the Law. The Law had no power to clean her; it only set her to the side and kept her in a place of rejection until she could be something other than “unclean,” but neither she nor the Law had any ability to provide cleansing.

At once Jesus realized in Himself that power had gone out from Him. He turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My robes?”

Mark 5:30

Why did Jesus ask, “Who touched my robes?” It’s my opinion that He asked “why” because He wanted to see how bad she wanted Him. He wanted her to see that her need for Him was greater than her desperation for healing.

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Pastor Tony’s Message: Seeing the Lord

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and His robe filled the temple.

http://bible.com/72/isa.6.1.hcsb

If you want to see the Lord, something has to die. Isaiah saw the Lord after King Uzziah died. But for the rest of us, most of the time the thing that has to dies is us. And when Isaiah saw the Lord, he didn’t see Him as he imagined him. He saw God as He is. The Lord’s train filled the temple. And He wants His train — his presence, his influence, his glory — to fill you, His temple.

1) See God for Who He really is

We need to lay down the passive, wimpy image of God that we have cultivated. God is jealous for you. He doesn’t want to share you with anything! He wants to see you become everything He intended. He loves you!

2) See yourself for who you really are without God

Isaiah was wholly dedicated to God. He was no heathen! And yet when he came face to face with God’s presence, his response was one of utter humility:

Then I said: Woe is me for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.

http://bible.com/72/isa.6.5.hcsb

3) See yourself for who you really are with God

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed and your sin is atoned for.”

http://bible.com/72/isa.6.6-7.hcsb

Once Isaiah’s sin was atoned, he received his assignment from God:

And He replied: Go! Say to these people: Keep listening, but do not understand;  keep looking, but do not perceive. Dull the minds of these people; deafen their ears and blind their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, understand with their minds, turn back, and be healed.

http://bible.com/72/isa.6.9-10.hcsb

This was no easy task. But God would go with him and strengthen him.

When we see the Lord, we’re never really the same. Like Isaiah, when we see the Lord, we can expect to be awestruck, transformed, and empowered to fulfill God’s purposes for our lives.

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