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I have been thinking alot lately.  I know… that sounds funny.  Seriously though, there have been times in my lief when I have just coasted, and haven’t really thought alot, and then times where I find myself continually thinking about things.   Well, right now is just one of those times.  I know that I haven’t posted anything in a couple days, but I honestly have been thinking about how best to put into words what I am thinking.  I went to Texas to visit my parents and my family.  Coming home on the plane, I had several hours to sit and think. (When I wasn’t trying to keep grace out of the guys hair piece in front of me…)  But I was thinking and listening to one of my favorite bands, David Crowder Band.  I was listening to their new album, Remedy.  On that album there is a song called Never Let Go.  What a worshipful experience that was for me. 

Before we go further with this conversation you need to hear the words to the song.  This is a simple video that someone else put together and posted on youtube.  Listen to the words.  And if you don’t hear them the first time, listen again, or just click here and read them as the music plays.

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=Hx5Y9DhoLJQ]

Have you, or are you experiencing something or a time in your life right now when you feel like God has left you behind, or forgotten about you? 

“Ever faithful, Ever True, You I know, You never let Go!”

Let me encourage you if you are going through a difficult time, lean on God, and realize that He never changes, He is still the same today as He was yesterday. 

What do you think? 

Matthew 5:8 says this, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”  I’ll tell you what, I want to see God.  I want to see God work in me, through me and in those around me.  This is the desire of my heart.  However the desire of God’s heart is to have His children be pure in heart, or to have pure hearts.  Pure means, “To be singular in substance, without any imperfections or impurities.”  

Are our hearts so focused on Christ, and God alone that we are not swerving to the left or to the right?  Are we keenly seeking after God with everything we have?  Are we solely committed to God and what He desires for our life?  That’s a pure heart.

I’ve mentioned this a couple times before, I’ve been reading a blog from a Pastor named Pete Wilson.  Pete is the Pastor of Cross Point Church in Nashville Tennessee.  The title of his blog is “without wax“.  Pete writes as well as other scholars that in the old days cracks in pottery were filled with wax, and then they were sold on the market as being solid, and being quality vessels that you could trust your finest liquids and oils in.  However, the only way to test to see if the pot was pure and perfect and sincere was to place it under the test of fire.  It was only under the test of fire that you were able to tell if a pot was true, pure or sincere.  We get our word sincere from the latin phrase sine cere, meaning “without wax”.  

If we want to be used by God, and if we want to see God, we need to loose the wax.  We need to see where we are broken, and cracked.  Sometimes God may need to cause a little heat in our lives to get us to the point of conviction, or in my thoughts the point of restoration.  See, if you don’t know that you’re cracked, you aren’t going to seek restoration.  Heat is a good thing.  Those trials that God has in your life right now are for good.  James writes, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4)  

If you would let me translate that into the Peter Gowesky Version it would read something like this.  

Hey man, it’s a good thing when God turns up the heat in your life.  It’s the heat that helps to forge you and fire you into the vessel that God wants you to be.  A vessel that has no cracks, no imperfections, and is without wax covering up, or trying to hide certain flaws.  This is part of the process of you becoming a sincere, pure follower of God.

Here’s the bad news.  We are all cracked.  Not anyone of us are perfect and without defect or blemish.  (Romans 3:23)

Here’s the Good news.  God says if we turn to Him, and tell Him that we are cracked and need healing, He’ll do it!  (Romans 10:9)

Where does the wax need to drip from your life?  

 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0x-iUVBMSc&eurl=http://withoutwax.tv/]

 So what happens when everything does’t turn out the way that we wished it would.  What happens when life thows a one two knock out punch.  It’s just absolutely gut wrenching.  The kind of punch that knocks the wind right out of you.  What is our response?  Check out this video.  It’s from Crosspoint Church in Nashville, TN.  Their pastor is Pete Wilson, his blog is www.withoutwax.tv, which happens to be one of the blogs I read daily. 

But what happens when life deals you incredibly hard situations?  I wonder have you ever come across anything like that?  I’d love to hear your story. 

How did Plan B work out for you? 

So I was reading in the book of Amos recently and I came across a passage that literally blew my mind.  Check this out.  This is Amos chapter 5 vs 21-24…

“I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies.  Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings.  I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.  But let justice  roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

This terminology sounds so interesting to me.  “I reject your festivals.”  To me it sounds like… I reject your Easter Service, I reject your Christmas Eve service.   “I reject your solemn assemblies”  Sounds to me like I reject your worship services.  I’m not going to listen to your Choirs, and Cantata’s and special music.  I reject your Vesper services.  I reject your prayer meetings.  I won’t even listen to the sound of your musicians.  That’s my translation.  Isn’t that crazy?  It blows my mind. 

It appears to me that all of those formula’s we have created for worship, and public services are maybe not what God is looking for. 

“But let justice  roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

Hmm…  It seems to me that God is more concerned with justice and righteousness than how flowery our prayers can be.  Or how professional our music is when it comes time for “worship”.  I think that an act of worship is to lead a life that is striving for righteousness and justice. 

Side note, I also believe that when all of those public and private services are done by a person who has justice and righteousness in their heart and mind that it is absolutely God honoring.  I absolutely believe that God listens and hears the cries and the prayers, and the songs of His people WHEN they are in a right relationship with Him. 

Just some thoughts… We need to make sure that before we go and polish our worship services that we go and polish our lives.

So, today we took the kids to a dairy farm.  It was really interesting.  Noah was thrilled to see all the cows and the tractors, and the cats.  It was right up his alley.  At this particular dairy farm, there were about 200+ cows.  So, as you can imagine, this was just about all a little boy could take in.  Anyway, we were walking through where the calves were.  They were chained up to an individual hut.  Each one having their own suite.  They were different sizes, colors, and temperaments.  Some would let you walk up to them and pet them, others would freak out over just looking their way.  Then their was this one little fella who didn’t move at all when the anxious 2 1/2 year old came lumbering at him.  In fact the calve just sat there and looked up at him.  Noah pet him and moved on to the next young animal.  When I questioned the farmer as to the age of the calve, he told me that he was born last night, in the middle of the night.  We were there at 10 in the morning.  Basically the first experience this cow has in this world is having an exuberant young boy come running up to where he was sleeping peacefully and poke at him.  Really it was quite a funny sight.  Less than a day old this guy was.  That amazed me.  I also asked why are these cows kept separately in individual huts?  The response was that they need milk till they are 8 weeks old.  So they are kept in this little area for 8 weeks where they are feed milk, ground corn, cotton seed, and corn silage.  The most important mix is the milk. 

It was funny to see the different cows.  They were different ages, and colors and temperaments as I said before.  It makes me think about us.  It makes me think of when both of my kids were born, how precious a time that was.  It makes me think about the new life that God gives us.  How we are fed milk until we are ready for meat and substance. 

How refreshing it was to see new life.  I hope that your life is filled with new growth, and new opportunities, just like that little 12 hour old cow.