Safe!

A thought about safety—I have been pondering this verse lately.  “The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom should I be afraid?” Ps 27:1  The Bible says that I am to “set my mind on things above, not on earthly things. For I died, and my life is now hidden with Christ in God.” Col 3:2-3 (italicized words changed to personal pronouns). Earthly things are constantly telling me that it is not safe.

Our food isn’t safe.
Technology isn’t safe.
Our money isn’t safe.
Our nation isn’t safe.
Our world isn’t safe.
Nothing is safe!
Not even my credit score. (I need lifeLock, of course.)

And you know,  it is true.  There is no security!  Except . . . except . . . and this is a big exception, those who have their minds set on things above . .

above, where God is sovereign,
above, where all is under His control,
above, where He “is my refuge and strength” Ps 46:1
above, where “my life is now hidden with Christ in God” Col 3:3

What a wonderful exception—I can take a deep breath, relax and know . . know without doubt that . . .  I am safe!  I am safe in the big sense of the word . . . because of who He is I am eternally safe!

SAFE

“The Lord is the strength of my life.  Of whom should I fear?”
Though battles are raging, the combat inferno severe;
the Jacob wrestling God that none can defeat,
and those whom He commands, who never retreat,
those God assigned battalions of angels—armed;
stand ready to fight and keep your soul unharmed.
Firmly in faith, take up your position and He
will open your eyes; like the prophet Elisha to see
that God is a safe place to hide.

Though the strongholds of men and the forces of evil combine,
God is our refuge; our strength in the troublesome time.
Our God who is love in action, speaks the word;
immediate Help—sometimes appearing absurd;
like the staff becoming a snake or parting the sea,
and who would believe that the Help would be nailed to a tree
to suffer and die; but then be raised from the dead?
“Hidden with Christ in God,” as boldly said.
Yes! He is a safe place to hide.

When temptations grab hold to take you away in disgrace,
His lifesaving mercy stands ready; unshakable grace.
Invulnerable arms prepared to sweep you away,
and slaying the dragon, bring victory in midst of the fray;
never forsaking but bearing on eagles wings,
through the valley of death, leading to living springs;
renewing the mind having washed all sins away,
shielding our faith–and that is why  we say
that He is a safe place to hide.

Sound loudly the trumpet, in gladness rejoice and make mirth;
for God is the King of the Mountain and Lord of the earth.
Though the wicked prevail and evil becomes very bold,
with a famine in virtue, when the love of many grow cold,
though God be hated; His servants be blamed for disruption,
though Bab’lon intrigues, seducing to fatal corruption,
though economies falter and hardships surround every nation—
Never forget!  Remember this clear declaration—
that God is a safe place to hide!

~JD Collier

Ps 32:7
You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.
NIV

Thanksgiving

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If all that we were—our life’s journal,
slips into a file labeled ‘past’;
and that which is Hope springs eternal,
looking to that which will last;
if all that defiled and detracts us,
both that from without and within;
the ruts in the road that entrapped us,
reminders of where we had been;
if things that we sought to sustain us,
that held us and bound us to sin;
conditions that cramped and restrained us,
was brought by the cross to an end;
if that which was evil that harmed us,
that dwelt in the darkest of night;
the thoughts of our minds that alarmed us,
surrenders to that which is right;
if He, by His death, changed the story,
adding grace upon grace, and He then
sat down in His heavenly glory
having nailed to the cross all our sin. . . .

then we above all can be thankful,
and nurture deep joy to the soul;
resting in Him who is faithful,
and caring, that others may know;
then we, by His grace, can live worth’ly,
renewing, conforming to Him;
with heavenly power, though earthly,
rejecting and turning from sin;
then we can be loving in spirit,
the peace of the Lord formed within;
and mirror His image and share it,
our goodness made perfect in Him;
then we can be brave and stand firmly,
whatever this world brings our way,
and we can be gentle, yet sternly
refuse to give in to its sway;
for He is the whole of the story,
the City of God is in view,
a mystery,  the hope of His glory,
the mystery–
“Christ Jesus in you”!

~JD Collier

O Restless Mind

Mankind is so performance oriented, from the toddler who must perform on the potty chair to the CEO that must turn a healthy profit to the Christian that must work to be pleasing to God.  Restlessness, stress, and anxiety flow from this performance orientation.  No matter how much we do there is always something more that should be done. But there another kind of ‘doing’, a ‘doing’ that flows naturally from a soul at rest, one that comes from trusting in Jesus.  Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt 11:28-30).  “Now we who have believed enter that rest” (Heb 4:3).  When I believe that Jesus is who He says He is, the Messiah of God that forgives all my sins and offers me the free gift of His grace, I can finally relax and find “rest for my soul”.  He did everything that needs to be done to give me rest.  When, on the cross, Jesus said, “It is finished,” the work was done.  No further performance on my part is necessary.  He did it all!  The more I focus on Jesus and His finished work the greater my experience of rest, a rest that gives a deep down physical relaxation as well as security for my soul.  “O mind of my body stay focused on Him!”

O restless mind
unruly heart
though made in the image
of God thou art
precariously close
to deity
creations great risk—
a mind
that is free

O volitional mind
with subtleties marked
willfully choosing
mind
above heart
how can one change
so wild a companion
reversing the curse
rebellion abandon

O thanks be to God
through Jesus our Lord
an offering of peace
to a mind of discord
no condemnation
salvation has come
a resting in Jesus
the work has been done

O restless mind
from death knell cured
cleansed by the Spirit
bathed in the Word
trusting in Jesus
turning from sin
O mind
of my body
stay
focused
on
Him

~JD Collier

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved.”  Eph 2:4-5  NIV

 

Enough

(El Shaddai–The God who is More than Enough)

Astronomic is the power of God
Cosmic—His wisdom above
Titanic—His magnificence
Oceanic—His bigness of love
Telescopic—beyond creations sphere
Galactic—beyond deepest space
The Lord in His largeness looks after the small
Epic—His mercy and grace

~JD Collier

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ps 36:5-6
Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep.

Titus 3:5-7
He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace , we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.  NIV

Crossing Over

Every man (or woman) who comes to Christ has a story to tell.  The particulars may be dramatically different but the underlying essence of each story is the same.  Here is one man’s story or should I say every man’s story . . .

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned;  he has crossed over from death to life.”
John 5:24 NIV

with life undeveloped
though eager to grow
the world lain before me
I set out to know
though blind to the Light
(but here I regress)
‘til the day came
when I would say “yes”

I saw there before me
(though unknown erstwhile)
a hideous strength
a wretched espial
a dizzying vision
a vision so cruel
a sucking
a ripping
deep swallowing pool
a sickness inside me
was screaming its woe
wickedness cleaving
alive in my soul

a chillness descending
a judgment impending
a cold unrepenting
alive in my soul

shocked by this vision
aghast at this sight
“this cannot be me”
I cry out in fright
“’tis only a dream–
a dream in the night”

but the dream became spoken
the vision had words
the words took on meaning
my heavy heart heard–
“nothing is hidden
that God does not view
all secrets
forbidden–
exposed by the true
unapproachably Holy
indescribable Light
no sin and no darkness
survives in His sight”

pondering the point
of this God admonition
that each sin committed
of my own volition
walls me from God
on the side of perdition
demanding my death–
’twas not a dream
but realities harsh
unmistakable theme

“O what can I do”
my thinking expanding
“can this be true-
this dour understanding”

haltingly breathing
remorsefully heaving
repentant and grieving–
I am defined

“help me I’m dying”
I cry out in pain
no more the denying
the truth is quite plain
this dreadful condition that damns
I confess
“forgive me O Lord
relieve my duress”. . . . .

then quickly
like blinking
a thought–
(more than thinking)
a glimmer of hope
springs forth in my breast
as dew is to parchness
or softness to harshness
a sweetness
in weakness
or gentle caress

the grace light
now shining
with love
redefining
’til my heart resigning
responds a small “yes” . . .

“yes”
“Yes”
to Him I say
“YES”. . .

as waves blood red
wash over the screaming
waters soft streaming
flow over my head
a pureness
a soundness
a grace that is boundless
to rightness
to goodness
to love I am led

the warmth of the surging
the cleansing
the purging
a newness emerging
as grave clothes are shed
from sickness to healing
from numbness to feeling
born from above
crossed o’er from the dead

listen
that sound
a far distant cry
no longer my screaming
but those at the cross
where one is to die
with no interference
this man in appearance
this servant is humbled
and gives no reply
He carries the burden
my sin has incurred and
He offers himself in my place
there to die . . .
a “yes” to the Father
“may thy will be done”
and there
on that cross
the victory is won
my death and my hell
nailed to a tree
He–
without sin
became sin
for me

Light shines in the darkness
day dawns from above
each “yes” that is spoken
now soaks in
His love

each “yes” gives God glory
each “yes” tells the story—
of Jesus
the Savior
the Yes
and His Love

~JD Collier

John 1:5,9-13
In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. . . The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, or of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.    

“The moment the Spirit has quickened us to life in regeneration our whole being senses its kinship to God and leaps up in joyous recognition.  That is the heavenly birth without which we cannot see the Kingdom of God.  It is, however, not an end but an inception, for now begins the glorious pursuit, the heart’s happy exploration of the infinite riches of the Godhead.  That is where we begin, I say, but where we stop no man has yet discovered, for there is in the awful and mysterious depths of the Triune God neither limit nor end.”   A. W. Tozer,  The Pursuit of God