Oh come all His people and worship Him true,

 worship with all that's inside of you!

Dance as the trees that have been set free,

 with leaves that won't wither but blossom before Him eternally!

HALLELUJAH! LET ALL HIS PEOPLE SING HA LE LU JAH!

HALLELUJAH! NOW ALL GOD'S PEOPLE SING HALLELUJAH!

Oh come all His saints, fill your hearts with praise,

 for His banner of love over you now is raised!

You'll run and not grow weary, walk and not faint,

 with wings as Eagle's you'll rise above every complaint!

HALLELUJAH! LET ALL HIS PEOPLE SING HA LE LU JAH!

HALLELUJAH! NOW ALL GOD'S PEOPLE SING HALLELUJAH!

Hide in the cleft of the rock carved for you,

 kept safe by the groom who is faithful and true!

Come to the desert place, meet with Him face to face,

 taste the sweet wine of His love in this place!

HALLELUJAH! ALL GOD'S PEOPLE SING HA LE LU JAH!

HALLELUJAH! NOW IS THE TIME TO SING HALLELUJAH!

The blessing of betrayal

 

During my first four years in Ireland,  I endured a lot of betrayal.  Now I see, all things truly do work together for our good, even the betrayal of close, trusted friends.  See, we all must have our very own Judas (some of us need 3 or 4 lol). 

Jesus could not have fulfilled his destiny if it had not been for Judas. Because of Judas's betrayal,  someone he loved and trusted, someone he brought into his inner circle,  our Lord was sent to the Cross, where he died on our behalf.  He was murdered by their hate, his blood flowed, his flesh died.

And so too, must we die to the affections and lusts found in us, that is, in our flesh - that Jesus died for. We too must endure our own personal Cross and we too need our Judas to do it. We must crucify pride - pride in self above all,  and having someone dear to us, that we let down our guard around and wholly trusted, someone we love, when they betray our love and trust, the pain can be a wound from which we never recover, or it can be a tool in God's hands to crucify self, till we're able to love them in return for their hate, till we're able to forgive them and love them while they're betraying us, as Jesus did to the very ones crucifying him "FATHER FORGIVE THEM".  The next level to our maturity in Christ is to not only forgive those who persecute and despitefully use us and betray us -  but to ask the Father to forgive them too. This is truly not thinking of self but thinking of others. I'll admit, there have been times in my past when I've forgiven someone thinking " Now the Lord can heap coals of fire on their head", but maturity says " Father forgive them for what they've done to me" - actually caring about their welfare and their future.

We need betrayal because we simply cannot crucify ourselves,  by ourselves.  So remember this the next time you're betrayed - Jesus knew ahead of time, well in advance,  that Judas would betray him - yet he chose to let him into his life anyway.  He may have even known when he chose him - or rather, when the Father picked him to be one of the twelve. Jesus said "FATHER, THESE WHOM YOU GAVE ME" - so, betrayal can be sent to us by our Father - out of love for us, amen.

The Father of your soul

 loves you  - or didn't you know?

So    why

                                   hide

  from Him?

He came to earth and gave His life

 so you could have eternal life, 

So    why

                                      hide

     from Him?

He knows your every thought

 He knows your every deed

Yet still He loves you faithfully, 

So    why

                                            hide?

Turn to Him, not away,

give Him your heart, today.

You'll not regret a single minute 

as long as He is in it. 

 If I breathe, may it be for the glory of my Lord...

If I die, may it be impaled upon Your Word.

If I stand, may it be to face my enemy....

If I fall, may it be to fall upon my knees

wilfully,  in worship of Thee.....

For in You, my Christ,

is my living and my dying

Therefore You alone

will my soul be magnifying 

For in you alone do I have my being,

my knowing, my hearing,  my seeing!

In You does my heart daily delight!

You are my Joy of Joys, my risen Christ!

Such love has this man

never known but in Your

tender, nail-scarred hands

Hearing the revelation is just the first step - Digesting it - then letting it change us from the inside till we live it out is step two.

We must take both steps or we'll end up practicing a religion - that has a form of godliness but no power:  Revelation must go from our minds to our hearts or we'll never bear fruit.

Many are called to go deeper but few choose to. 

Few are holdin' to the narrow path of Life - 

The path where they become "living Christ's" -

Living epistles 

Living examples of flesh filled with His Spirit, 

led by Him, walking in Him,

Now hear it -

We are to walk this earth exactly as Jesus did, 

revealing our Father -

no longer hid

but a bright light

shining in this dark world 

Unearthing God's pearls

Restoring souls

shipwrecked on the shoals

of a world that's hardened 

to God's love and mercies

We are to open blind eyes

till they can clearly see

We are to loose the captives 

and set them free

And heal their broken hearts

till they too take the keys

to death, hell and the grave

and go out and reach and save

souls trapped in hell

and make them victorious,  whole and well....