Fresh Views of Timeless Truths
For the next two weeks, reflect on the Psalms of Ascents, Psalms 120-134. These ancient songs help us come to God out of our difficult, sin-ridden world. This free pdf consists of scripture, prayers, reflections, and 15 new hymns for public and personal worship.
It is part of the new series, Fresh Views of Timeless Truth, focused reflections on key topics.
LINKS:
Free pdf of Psalms of Ascents
Complete list of available volumes in Fresh Views of Timeless Truths
All those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need.
Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. (Acts 2:44-47, NASB)
Imagine a world where everyone loves everyone else, sincerely, from the heart.
Imagine a place where people speak of each other only what is true, and only what will build each other up;
Wouldn’t you like to live in such a place? That’s the kind of world our Creator is building. And that’s the kind of life He wants for you. He wants to grow it in you. He wants to help you live such love in your home, on your job, in your neighborhood, among your friends. And He wants to start today.
But how could anyone live such a life in this world of greed and brute force? What’s more, how can we live that kind of love when selfishness is so deeply rooted within us?
The good news is this: God is love (1 John 4:16). Our Creator is love. The One who designed this world designed it for love. The One who designed us designed us for love. Love is our purpose, our heritage, our destiny. Love is the rich life, the full life, the natural life that He is giving to every one of us.
A life of love is not an heroic feat of self-control. As we trust Him simply, step-by-step, we grow in Him. As we grow in Him, He grows in us. His love grows in us. It begins as a tiny seed and grows into a beautiful tree that gives shelter and nourishment to everyone around.
Look around you.
The entire earthly kingdom that runs on
greed and
self-indulgence,
now so dominant and pervasive,
will be judged by Almighty God and
utterly destroyed.
He will create a brand new society.
Hymn: Lord, You Are Love
Our holy, transcendent God
humbles Himself to
see and care about
even our lowliest needs.
Praise God!
How magnificent He is!
Praise to You, God, from Your servants, Your children!
Praise from our hearts, ever eager to sing.
Glory and honor and joyful thanksgiving
Rise up to You, our Creator and King.
Lord of all, Most High and most humble,
Father, Redeemer, Creator and King!
Ocean of being, its source and its center,
Utter magnificence no mind can know,
Holy, almighty, eternal, exalted –
Even the heavens are so far below.
Lord of all, Most High and most humble,
We are Your creatures and so far below.
Yet in Your love You reach down to the weakest –
Those without honor, the sick and the small.
To all the helpless, the lepers, the lonely,
Fully and freely You pour out Your all.
Lord of all, Most High and most humble,
Open our hearts as You pour out Your all.
by Ken Bible, © 2020 LNWhymns.com.
“Lift up your eyes to the sky,
Then look to the earth beneath;
For the sky will vanish like smoke,
And the earth will wear out like a garment
And its inhabitants will die in like manner;
But My salvation will be forever.”
(Isaiah 51:6, NASB)
Earth is temporary.
God is forever.
Don’t invest your life in material things.
Their satisfactions are shallow and temporary.
Don’t fear people.
Don’t focus on pleasing them.
They are here for only a breath.
God and His marvelous blessings
will last forever.
No matter how this temporary world looks or feels around you,
invest your life in Him.
Seek Him.
Worship Him.
Father, our physical world seems so
lasting and
all-encompassing,
but You know it will
burn away like
a morning mist.
Don’t let it seduce us.
Keep our hearts fixed on You.
You are truth.
You are forever.
Romans 11:32-36; 1 Corinthians 8:6;
Colossians 1:15-16; Revelation 5:11-14
Romans 11:36 expresses the intriguing truth that
everything flows
from God,
through Him, and
to Him,
the Source and Giver of all.
This hymn helps us grasp that
wonderful reality.
From You, through You, to You, our Father,
Maker, Giver in all that You do!
Earth and heaven, being, existence,
Our Father, all flow from You.
Boundless power, sovereign in mercy,
Building, blessing through all that You do!
Heaven’s kingdom ever advances,
Our Savior, only through You.
Wisdom, glory, honor, and worship,
Blessing, praises for all that You do,
Father, Savior, Spirit, be given
Forever only to You!
by Ken Bible, © 2013 LNWhymns.com.
Fresh Views of Timeless Truths
For the next two weeks, reflect on The Trinity: God Engulfs Us in Himself. It provides practical, scriptural, thought-provoking wisdom on a vital theme too little taught. This free pdf consists of scripture, prayers, reflections, and 14 new hymns for public and personal worship.
It is part of the new series, Fresh Views of Timeless Truth, focused reflections on key topics.
LINKS:
Free pdf of The Trinity: God Engulfs Us in Himself
Complete list of available volumes in Fresh Views of Timeless Truths
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. (1 Timothy 1:17, NASB)
Christianity is not a philosophy. It is faith in a Living God who acts in human history.
He is the Creator, the source and fountain of all reality. All that is flows from Him.
In him we love and move and have our being (Acts 17:28, NIV). Life is His personal gift to us, and He constantly works to enrich it in us. To all who will simply trust Him, He offers His own Spirit, with all His peace, love, and sufficiency. All that is good happens through Him. We could not seek Him, know Him, or come to Him on our own, but He relentlessly works to draw us to Himself.
He is the goal of all life. He is our destiny, our culmination, our heaven, the sum of all reality. All creation is moving toward Him. As we trust Him, each of us is becoming one with Him and in Him.
From him and
through him and
to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever!
(Romans 11:36, NIV)
Human history seems to be
an endless parade of
conquerors,
wars,
famine, and
death.
Victims are forever awaiting justice.
But all this is not
our source or
our destination.
Creation began in God Almighty,
high and exalted.
It will culminate in Him.
Hymn: I Cannot Tell
This hymn is
based on the Pentecost account in Acts 2.
The tune is familiar.
You’ve
poured out Your Spirit, Great Father of Life,
Your presence, Your power, the Spirit of Christ,
The fruit of His triumph, the breath of His love,
The proof He has risen and reigns now above.
Your
promise is given in wind and in flame,
With lives now ignited to burn in Your name.
Now loving, now holy, now bold in the truth,
Your body, Your people are one, Lord, in You.
We
praise You, our Father, the Fountain of Life,
For comfort and challenge, for purpose and light.
In love we will share all the gifts You provide
That all may be blessed and our Lord glorified.
Your
challenge is sounding. Our calling is clear:
To live out a gospel the needy can hear.
Lord, help us to go till all people have heard
And touch every life with the love of the Lord.
by Ken Bible, © 2004 LNWhymns.com.
I will extol You, my God, O King,
And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised,
And His greatness is unsearchable.
(Psalm 145:1-3, NASB)
The more I know God, the more I realize that my response to Him is cold and inadequate. He is the Sovereign God, the Creator who overflows our sprawling universe, the One who holds insignificant me in His hand and in His heart, who constantly lavishes on me His attention and His most tender love and care, the One who poured Himself out and groaned and bled and died for me. Yet my response to Him is so occasional, so shallow, so distracted, so half-hearted.
I don’t necessarily want more emotion in my worship. I want to be more aware of God…to always be centered on Him…to have an open line of communication between us every moment…to trust Him simply and constantly. I want to spend less time longing for what I don’t have and more time thanking and praising Him for all that He constantly gives me. I want a living praise, a continual response to His presence.
The Psalms prod me toward such praise:
Praise the Lord, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name. (103:1, NIV)
I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. (146:2, NIV)
I have no hope that I can give Almighty God adequate praise. But His Spirit is faithfully drawing me to Him. The closer I live to Him, the more natural and heartfelt praise becomes. Read Isaiah 6 and Revelation 5. Those who stand before God’s throne need no prodding to praise Him. How can they possibly do anything else?
That is my destiny. That is the destiny of all who trust Him. We will live in His immediate presence together, forever, responding to Who He is:
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”
(Revelation 5:13, NIV)
One day, the reality of
all Jesus is and
all He has done
will sweep all creation up into
one mighty response of praise,
full heart and
full voice,
forever and ever!
Even then, His greatness will
far overshadow our small response.
For eternity His
overwhelming magnificence
will draw us into lives of
ever increasing worship and love.
Hymn: Psalm 148
Our Lord is not just
the Christian God.
He is the Lord and Savior of
every nation,
every age,
every culture.
Sing for joy!
Rejoice!
Refrain:
Come, clap your hands!
Sing for joy! Sing for joy!
People, rise up and worship your King!
Come see your God, high and lifted up,
One Lord, one Christ over all,
One Sovereign ruling in perfect peace.
All other kingdoms will fall.
See Christ ascend with a mighty shout!
His people lift up their voice.
He reigns above from His holy throne
As earth and heaven rejoice.
From every nation and time and tongue,
His people gather as one.
We praise our Savior for all He is
And what great things He has done!
by Ken Bible, © 2019 LNWhymns.com.
