Rites of Passage
Thursday, March 10, 2005
send me...
Please take a moment to read for yourself Isaiah, chapter 6 (yeah, the whole thing; it's really short), about the calling of Isaiah to be a prophet of the Lord. It is the foundation for the song I jotted down here....
....This song, penned and sung by the young son of the pastor of my "parent church", Bethany World Prayer Center, expresses my feelings and beliefs about the sacredness of our mouths and tongues.
When we respond to the call, are delivered and take on the Great Commission to "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,..." (Matthew 28:19) then we are sent as witnesses for, examples of, and representatives of the living Christ. When we stand up and say, "Send me, lord", we tacitly agree to speak for God; and what we say really matters.
Witness. Example. Representative. This is who and what we become, even in the presence of no one else; for even then, we are in the presence of God, who is forever checking us out. More importantly, the 'world' unto whom we've been sent, is checking us out. Yeah, "becoming" is an amazing life process for *every* believer, without doubt, and not one that we should take for granted; nor should we fall back on our "old man" as an excuse for failure or slackness.
Each day we have the opportunity to become better than we were, to shed something of this world, to become more conscious, and take on the qualities of Christ. It takes diligence, and awareness and love for our God, ourselves, and each other to bring this into concrete reality. Our tongues, our mouths, our words, are one of our most powerful tools in this creative act. We speak our reality into existence; our words have great power; that power can be used for good and God or not; and it's always our choice.
Now, just like Isaiah, who wanted to "be the one" but lamented of his shameful past, and wondered how he'd be able to qualify for the task ahead of him, we all have done and said 'unclean' things, and we live around 'unclean' people, and may think our past taints us or makes us unfit to act on behalf of the good.
But we have since made a choice to stand up for God; so although we don't have an angel hovering around the braiser of burning coals saying, "oh, I've got that", who in response to our self-doubt will cleanse our filthy mouths by the ritual of the power of fire, we have something even better (and way less painful). We have the power of Christ the son, who by the Father sent the holy spirit to dwell in us, to guide us, to order our steps, to be that conduit through which we can surrender ourselves. We are justified by our faith. I get that we will misstep sometimes. I know I have. But as we battle to reconcile our flesh, soul and worldly desires with our spirit each day, remember this:
Religion
spirituality ¶ 3/10/2005 06:06:00 AM 0 comments
Please take a moment to read for yourself Isaiah, chapter 6 (yeah, the whole thing; it's really short), about the calling of Isaiah to be a prophet of the Lord. It is the foundation for the song I jotted down here....
Protector, Provider,
my life is in your hands.
You hold me forever,
and take me as I am.
Send me to the world.
Take my hand: I surrender.
There is no one else like you.
Take the coal and touch my lips.
Someone who will speak for Him; let it be me, Lord....
....This song, penned and sung by the young son of the pastor of my "parent church", Bethany World Prayer Center, expresses my feelings and beliefs about the sacredness of our mouths and tongues.
When we respond to the call, are delivered and take on the Great Commission to "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,..." (Matthew 28:19) then we are sent as witnesses for, examples of, and representatives of the living Christ. When we stand up and say, "Send me, lord", we tacitly agree to speak for God; and what we say really matters.
Witness. Example. Representative. This is who and what we become, even in the presence of no one else; for even then, we are in the presence of God, who is forever checking us out. More importantly, the 'world' unto whom we've been sent, is checking us out. Yeah, "becoming" is an amazing life process for *every* believer, without doubt, and not one that we should take for granted; nor should we fall back on our "old man" as an excuse for failure or slackness.
Each day we have the opportunity to become better than we were, to shed something of this world, to become more conscious, and take on the qualities of Christ. It takes diligence, and awareness and love for our God, ourselves, and each other to bring this into concrete reality. Our tongues, our mouths, our words, are one of our most powerful tools in this creative act. We speak our reality into existence; our words have great power; that power can be used for good and God or not; and it's always our choice.
Now, just like Isaiah, who wanted to "be the one" but lamented of his shameful past, and wondered how he'd be able to qualify for the task ahead of him, we all have done and said 'unclean' things, and we live around 'unclean' people, and may think our past taints us or makes us unfit to act on behalf of the good.
But we have since made a choice to stand up for God; so although we don't have an angel hovering around the braiser of burning coals saying, "oh, I've got that", who in response to our self-doubt will cleanse our filthy mouths by the ritual of the power of fire, we have something even better (and way less painful). We have the power of Christ the son, who by the Father sent the holy spirit to dwell in us, to guide us, to order our steps, to be that conduit through which we can surrender ourselves. We are justified by our faith. I get that we will misstep sometimes. I know I have. But as we battle to reconcile our flesh, soul and worldly desires with our spirit each day, remember this:
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
--1 John 1:9 (New International Version)Think about it...then live it!
Religion
spirituality ¶ 3/10/2005 06:06:00 AM 0 comments
