LOVE BROKE THRU

Love Broke Thru

Snippet

We are never nearer Christ than when we find ourselves lost in a holy amazement at His unspeakable love.  John Owen

Scripture

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13,14 NIV

Song

Love Broke Thru - Toby Mac

http://faithinthenews.com/tobymac-love-broke-thru/

I was feelin’ that, feelin’ that breeze

Singin’ like a song thru the tall oak trees

It was just another summer night

Had to be the last thing on my mind

Yeah, I was all but lost in the moment

I was young and runnin’ wide open

It was just another summer night

Had to be the last thing on my mind

When love broke thru

You found me in the darkness

Wanderin’ thru the desert

I was a hopeless fool

Now I’m hopelessly devoted

My chains are broken

And it all began with You

When love broke thru

And it all began with You

When love broke thru

I did all that I could to undo me

But You loved me enough to pursue me

Yeah, You drew me out of the shadows

Made me believe that I mattered, to You (You)

You were there, You heard my prayer in that broke down dusty room

It was the first time I said, “I’m Yours”

The first time I called You Lord

When love broke thru

You found me in the darkness

Wanderin’ thru the desert

I was a hopeless fool

Now I’m hopelessly devoted

My chains are broken

And it all began with You

When love broke thru

And it all began with You

When love broke thru

Yeah, it was late in the summer when the northeast breeze

Sang like a song thru the oak trees

Pennsylvania

She kind of caught my soul

Which had me a little more open than closed

Walls I built

Opinions I learned

Covered in the ashes of bridges I burned

Blind to the arrow that headed to my heart

But You hit the mark

When love broke thru

You found me in the darkness

Wanderin’ thru the desert

I was a hopeless fool

Now I’m hopelessly devoted

My chains are broken

And it all began with You

When love broke thru

When love broke thru

You found me in the darkness

Wanderin’ thru the desert

I was a hopeless fool

Now I’m hopelessly devoted

My chains are broken

And it all began with You

When love broke thru

And it all began with You

When love broke thru

I did all that I could to undo me

But You loved me enough to pursue me

Sentence Prayer

There is a transformation that takes place

within the warmth of your embrace,

that certain knowledge that you are

refuge, shelter, fortress and stronghold,

against which no army can succeed,

that you are Brother, Sister, Mother, Father,

the love that knows no bounds.

That you are God,

and I am lost outside of your embrace.

Read more at: http://www.faithandworship.com/prayers_Love.htm#ixzz4X5E6wk7s 

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Devotions for January 26, 2017

Devotions for January 26, 2017 

Joyful are people of integrity,

    who follow the instructions of the Lord.

Joyful are those who obey his laws

    and search for him with all their hearts. Ps 119:1,2 NLT

I highlighted three words for today’s devotion. Joy in Hebrew 

is xará.  Joy is a state of mind and an orientation of the 

heart. It is a settled state of contentment, confidence, and 

hope. It is something or someone that provides a source of 

happiness. (http://www.theopedia.com/joy) What is the 

Orientation of a heart that produces Joy?  Who is the 

Someone who is our source of Joy?  

Follow -“The facts to stack up about Psalm 119 are 

fascinating, the stuff to win party games—or at least impress 

the other guests.

• Longest psalm (176 verses)

• Longest chapter of the entire Bible

• An acrostic poem of twenty-two stanzas (one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet), with the eight verses of each stanza starting with the Hebrew letter of that section

• Near the exact midpoint of many Bibles

A remarkable array of terms for the Scriptures—laws, decrees, commandments, principles, word, statutes, commands.”

“These facts may be fascinating, but following the Word of God is not a trivial pursuit. The psalmist was inspired to write Scripture about the Scriptures—the Word on the Word—not to add to his credentials as an author. He was making a commitment to God himself and urging others to do the same. Wandering from these commands? You are wandering from God. Hiding this Word in your heart? You are hiding God himself there.”

(Excerpt From: Thomas Nelson. “NLT, Personal Worship Bible, eBook.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/B1p_7.l)

Search  The translations that are more word for word use the word seek.  From Psalms 119 it is clear humanity was created to seek the Lord. That’s why we were made.

Acts 17:26,27 tells us that "He made from one man every nation of mankind, that they should search for God in the hope that they might feel their way toward Him, and find Him" (Roger’s paraphrase)

Now, that says to me that God wants to be found. He's not playing hide and seek. His goal is not to hide Himself from us, though at times we may feel that He has hidden Himself. But His goal is to reveal Himself to us.

He is a God who makes Himself known. He wants us, He created us to search for Him and to find Him. Each day open your bible and Search for him!

John Wesley's Argument for the Inspiration of the Bible

Devotions for Word Sermon Series. January 25, 2017 

John Wesley's Argument for the Inspiration of the Bible

The Bible must be the invention either of good men or angels, bad men  or devils, or of God.

1. It could not be the invention of good men or angels, for they neither would nor could make a book and tell lies all the time they were writing it, saying, "Thus saith the Lord," when it was their own invention.

2. It could not be the invention of band men or devils, for they could not make a book that commands all duty, forbids all sin, and condemns their own souls to hell for all eternity.

3. Therefore, draw the conclusion that the Bible must be given by divine inspiration.1

Do you find Wesley's argument persuasive?  Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!

This great article came from http://truthbomb.blogspot.com

Love Rightly Understood

Devotions for Word Sermon Series. January 24, 2017 

Selfish Love

“Paul said something startling in Galatians 5:14: “The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself ’” (NIV). Now, I’ve thought about this many times. If I had written those words, “The entire law is summed up in a single command,” I think I would have followed with, “Love God above all else.” But that is not what Paul wrote. How is it that love of neighbor summarizes all that God has called us to? The principle embedded in these words is incredibly practical and insightful once you see it. It is only when I love God above all else that I will ever love my “neighbor as myself. At the foundational level, the difficulties in our marriages do not first come because we don’t love one another enough. They happen because we don’t love God enough; and because we don’t love God enough we don’t treat one another with the kind of love that makes marriages work.

Consider the Ten Commandments: it is only when we keep the first four commands (having to do with the worship of God) that we will keep the last six commands (having to do with love for our neighbor). Sturdy horizontal love always begins vertically. Lasting, persevering, other-centered living does not flow out of romantic attraction, personality coalescence, or lifestyle similarity. It is only when I live in a celebratory and restful worship of God that I am able not to take myself too seriously and I am free to serve and celebrate another.

I probably taxed your patience here, and you’re thinking, “Come on, Paul, get to the point and help me understand what this looks like!” Worship that gives you sturdy marital love and a reason to continue will flow out of three ways that you must worship God.

1. A marriage of love, unity“and understanding will flow out of a daily worship of God as creator. It is only when you look at your spouse and see the glory of God’s creative artistry that you will treat her with the dignity and respect that a healthy marriage requires. God created every aspect of your personhood. He administrated every choice of your hardwiring. He determined how tall you would be, whether you would tend to gain weight, the color of your eyes, the texture of your hair, the shape of your nose, the size of your hands, the tone of your voice, your innate personality, your natural gifts, the tone of your skin, your natural degree of physicality or athleticism, and whether you are mechanical, analytical, or relational. You didn’t choose any of these things. You didn’t wake up at six months and say, “I think I’ll grow up and be a mechanical guy,” or “I’m going to work on developing a long, thin nose because that will benefit the symmetry of my face.”

All these choices were made by the Divine Artist who has infinite creativity. But there are moments in our selfishness, when that other person is in the way of “of what we want, that we all wish we could rise to the throne of the Creator and re-create our husband or wife into our own image, or at least into someone who would be easier for us to live with. The relational wife wants to turn her mechanical husband into her clone. The analytical husband wants to re-create his more emotionally wired wife into a dispassionate thinker like himself. The husband allows himself to be irritated by the screechiness of his wife’s voice, or the wife is impatient with how slowly her husband does everything.”

Excerpt From: Paul David Tripp. “What Did You Expect?.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/gtPSv.l

I included this Excerpt from Paul David Tripp’s “What did you Expect because, in this brief passage, the author demonstrates how to rightly understand and apply the word of God.  To understand and apply the word of God-we must did under the surface of a passage, to understand the complete underground river of scriptural thought, so we may quench out thirst daily in practical obedience.