23/07/2012 by sevennotesofgrace

“My Hope” in God’s grace

For many years I have been a church music junkie (still am). I spend lots of time seeking out great new songs to inspire the local church. Paul Baloche is one writer who usually delivers great songs about great bible truths and the great love of our Saviour.

This one is a fairly recently release, the song “My Hope”. We have taught it at our church; actually it became a sort of theme song to a sermon series on Deuteronomy. The song speaks of the guidance and the faithfulness of God, how through every test His GRACE is with us. Amen to that. Our God is not fickle or changing. That’s why we can hold on to Him. I’m really looking forward to teaching about 600 women this new song at a Women’s conference (called GROW) in Brisbane early next month. I hope you enjoy the song too.

“My Hope” from the album The Same Love, Paul Baloche 2012
Nothing will change if all the plans I make go wrong
Your love stays the same
Your light will guide me through it all
I’m hanging on, I’m leaning in to You

Nothing can reach the end of all Your faithfulness
Your grace is with me through every shadow every test
I’m hanging on, I’m leaning in to You

I don’t know where You’ll take me
But I know You’re always good

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Your great love, Your righteousness
I will not walk another way
I trust Your heart, I trust Your Name
I’m holding on, I’m holding on to You

You are my Rock when storms are raging all around
You shelter me God
I’m safe with You on solid ground
I’m hanging on, I’m leaning in to You

I don’t know where You’ll take me
But I know You’re always good

My hope is built on nothing less than Your great love, Your righteousness,
I will not walk another way, I trust Your heart, I trust Your Name
I’m holding on, I’m holding on to You

CCLI Song # 5882177 Alyssa Mellinger | Ed Kerr | Paul Baloche | Sheila Rabe
© 2010 kerrtunes Integrity Worship Music (Admin. by Crossroad Distributors Pty. Ltd.)

19/07/2012 by sevennotesofgrace

This is How we Know (John 3:16)

If you have only recently joined me for the Three Sixteens, you should know that this series explores my observation that nearly all New Testament books have some “lightbulb” moment, a standout verse, event or promise, landing at the point of chapter 3 verse 16. (And no one knows why!) The 3:16 of John’s Gospel is no doubt the most famous of all. It has been printed on shirts, cards, keyrings and stickers and taught in Sunday School songs til it has become the most famous bible verse of all time (even with non-Christians). And fair enough. This verse reveals God’s great love to us in Christ, his great sacrifice of sending his perfect son to be scorned, suffer and die, to satisfy the law and save us as his own. This eternal life cannot be earned, it is free and available to all who will believe.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Since I really don’t need to convince you that this is a significant summary of God’s love and His redemptive purposes in Christ, I won’t. Instead I will share a song where another clever person (yes, being cheeky here) noticed the 3:16 connection. Matt Redman has connected John 3:16 with 1 John 3:16, and put them together in a song called “This is How we Know” (from the album We Shall not be Shaken, 2009).

1 John 3:16 “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”

Redman takes us from God’s great love, demonstrated in Christ, to our response: love God and love others! We recently taught this song to our evening congregation, to match with the sermon series in 1 John. It’s not the easiest song for a congregation to learn, but it is worth the few weeks of revision for the benefit of singing these glorious truths together. You can find the lyrics below.

THIS IS HOW WE KNOW

This is how we know, this is how we know what love is
Just one look at Your cross
And this is where we see, this is where we see how love works
For You surrendered Your all
And this is how we know that You have loved us first
And this is where we chose to love You in return

For You so loved the world that You gave Your only Son
Love amazing so divine, we will love You in return
For this life that You give, for this death that You have died
Love amazing so divine, We will love You in reply, Lord

And our love will be loud, Our love will be strong
Our love should be hands and feet that serve You in this world
So let it stay true and let it endure
That You will be glorified worshipped and adored

16/07/2012 by sevennotesofgrace

You are our Song from Age to Age

“. . . Though tears now veil our eyes
Your steadfast love, our perfect hope
Our eyes are fixed on grace
We have no doubt You’ll lead us home
To finally see Your face”

These words are found in verse 3 of a new song by Sovereign Grace music, “Our Song from Age to Age”. I first heard it last Thursday night in Brisbane at an event hosted by Qld Theological College, where Don Carson shared an amazing vision of the “Future of Christianity” (from Revelation 21-22) with around 1500 people.

For me this song highlights GRACE, the thing we fix our eyes on as Christians, the GRACE by which we are saved. (See Ephesians 2:8-10). This is the only thing worth singing about and has been since . . . forever!

The first grace-filled song recorded in the Bible (though most probably not the first song uttered on this topic!) comes from Moses and Miriam in Exodus 15. Here are a few choice lines:

“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; he has hurled both horse and rider into the sea.
The Lord is my strength and my song; he has given me victory. . .
Who is like you among the gods, O Lord— glorious in holiness, awesome in splendor, performing great wonders?
You raised your right hand, and the earth swallowed our enemies.
With your unfailing love you lead the people you have redeemed.
In your might, you guide them to your sacred home.”

This great rescue is pure grace. Yet so is music! So is praising God! It is a healing balm for the soul.
God has created us with the desire to praise Him and strangely, we feel most satisfied in ourselves when we are doing just that. Though sin deceives us into thinking we will feel our best when proudly singing our own praises, that will make us feel worse. Really, how long could we praise ourselves before we ran into something we would rather not sing about?
We must praise Him, not just with our mouths but with all our heart, our attitudes, our actions, our thoughts. Even if we could praise Him fully or perfectly, there would still be more to praise Him for, with the grace of each new day and into eternity! As creative image bearers of our Father, we should never run out of fresh ways to “declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9-10)
If you have found great grace in praising God, whether by yourself, or when gathered with his people, I would love to hear your comments.

Here is the link to listen to the song “Our Song from Age to Age” written by Joel Sczebel 2012.

And if you are someone who enjoys discovering great praise and worship songs for today’s church, then spend a bit of time exploring the Sovereign Grace site: www.sovereigngracemusic.org . They graciously allow you to download their lyrics and sheet music for free! (Click on the STORE tab). These are inspiring and singable songs, full of bible/gospel truth. Enjoy!

Oh and if you want to know more about Don Carson, I’m sure you can figure out how to google him. Also check out a great website of his resources: thegospelcoalition.org

27/06/2012 by sevennotesofgrace

Blessings (through raindrops!)

This is a song by Laura Story, author of the very popular song Indescribable, a song made famous by Chris Tomlin. (Apparently she wrote the song with the help of Tomlin’s bass player.) I love the way she challenges us to remember that even circumstances we don’t consider “blessings” may actually be just that! My favourite line comes at the end of each chorus: “What if the trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?” You can listen to the song by following the link at the end. Blessings!

“We pray for blessings, We pray for peace,
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity,
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need,
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things
‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops,
What if Your healing comes through tears,
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?
We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear,
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love,
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we’d have faith to believe
When friends betray us, When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears and
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching(s) of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life,
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise.”

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Lessons from the tissue box How to Suffer Well

Creation Calls . . . are you listening?

Check out this great video accompaniment to a song by Brian Doerksen, “Creation Calls”. In light of creation he asks “How can they say there is no God”? What do you say? The GRACE of creation! God did not have to create such a beautiful place for us to enjoy, but he couldn’t help himself I suppose. Thanks God!

31/05/2012 by sevennotesofgrace

Growing for God’s Splendor!

“And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.” Ezekiel 47:12

It is an awesome thing when you realise that God is fully committed to us – and that he is willing to allow others to see our faults and mistakes, knowing that as he transforms us it will bring Him glory. It may also bring salvation to others. He changes us to show his splendour in our lives, to grow the character of his beloved Son in us. Why would we ever doubt his committment to this renovation project?
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (Ephesians 2:10, NLT)
Such encouraging words are also found in this recent song by Christy and Nathan Nockels, reminding us of God’s work in us, which is for His glory, not ours:

‘For Your Splendor’

I’m so concerned with what I look like from the outside;
Will I blossom into what You hope I’ll be.
Yet You’re so patient just to help me see
The blooms come from a deeper seed that You planted in me.

Sometimes it’s hard to grow when everybody’s watching,
To have your heart pruned by the one who knows best
And though I’m bare and cold, I know my season’s coming
And I’ll spring up in Your endless faithfulness.

With my roots deep in You
I’ll grow the branch that bears the fruit
And though I’m small, I’ll still be standing in the storm,
‘Cause I am planted by the river
By Your streams of living water
And I’ll grow up strong and beautiful, all for Your splendor, Lord.

So with my arms stretched out, I’m swaying to Your heartbeat.
I’m growing with the sound of Your voice calling.
You’re bringing out the beauty that You have put in me.
For Your joy and for Your glory falling.

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