his mercy is more

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” [John 8:32-33]

The words in the Bible sometimes really feel just like words, another story, how is it different than the Harry Potter book I am reading? Words from the preacher or friends appear irrelevant. The gospel no longer holds a grip on our hearts, we are captivated by simple pleasures that do not satisfy anyhow. With people who have fallen away or even myself, is it necessary to keep pursuing them? to impart truth? I don't really know. Yet the power comes not merely by the words in of themselves but the Spirit, the Holy Spirit that teaches our hearts. God is the one who gives these words, they are dramatically more significant than the words from the newspaper or books or TV shows. I think imparting some truths may or may not help, but we must be patient and know that it is God who works in the hearts. I think we should still speak because we never know if God will use what we say or do or pray. His truth supposedly sets us free.

This song is abstract, appearing irrelevant to the world, but somehow God has used it for me personally to spark a light to his truth. Sometimes it is returning to our first love, being still, not worrying about what other people think except for God.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ijsjA5Yf8XA

His Mercy is More by Matt Papa

VERSE 1
What love could remember no wrongs we have done 
Omniscient, all knowing, He counts not their sum
Thrown into a sea without bottom or shore
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

VERSE 2
What patience would wait as we constantly roam
What Father, so tender, is calling us home
He welcomes the weakest, the vilest, the poor
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

VERSE 3
What riches of kindness he lavished on us
His blood was the payment, His life was the cost
We stood 'neath a debt we could never afford
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

CHORUS
Praise the Lord
His mercy is more
Stronger than darkness, new every morn
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

need for Jesus

Here's just a small part from When People are Big and God is Small. I'll have to one day write down all the quotes I found really good which may be the entire Bible!

In Ed Welch's chapter titled "Fear God and Keep His Commandments", he shares a story about a woman who had it pretty bad. Poor relationships with parents and with her husband. She had a lot of "psychological needs". However, contrary to common cultural and "Christian" thought, there is more than "sympathy".

One reason Christians respond positively to a need psychology is that it takes people's pain seriously. However, this perspective actually make pain worse. It compounds pain by suggesting that not only did the sins of others hurt deeply, but they also deprived you of something - a right, something you were owed - that is necessary for life. Being deeply hurt by others is hard enough, but when we believe that their sin was a near-lethal blow that damaged the core of our being, the hurt is intensified...Therefore one task in counseling is to beginning to separate the real hurt from the pain that is amplified by our own lusts and longings. The result will be simple, gold grief.

Questions to ask yourself: 1. What do you need? 2. Who or who controls you? 3. Where do you put your trust?

With this at the core, she knew that the answer was not to turn to Christ to meet her felt need. That would have made Jesus her personal talisman or idol. Instead, her answer was to put to death her selfish desires and to learn to fear God alone... She found Jeremiah 17:5-10 especially helpful. It showed that the fear of man was the real cause of her emptiness...

It's interesting how Jesus isn't even to make us "feel better" but looking to the cross we are to put to death our sins. Our spiritual needs are greater than any other.

More to come...