End of Days - Hillsong Young & Free

"You authored life and wrote yourself in,

You dwelt in time that you designed.

Creator lived in His creation,

Completely man, completely God."

It Is Well With My Soul, Hillsong Chapel: Forever Reign

Hope in Jesus Christ, the Cornerstone

"...God did this so that we would be encouraged. God cannot lie when He takes an oath or makes a promise. These two things can never be changed. Those of us who have taken refuge in Him hold on to the hope we have been given. We have this hope as a sure and strong anchor for our lives. This hope goes into the holy place behind the curtain where Jesus went before us on our behalf. He has become the chief priest forever in the way Melchizedek was a priest."

Hebrews 6.18-20 NKJV/God's Word Translation

Jesus opened the way for us to take refuge and have hope when He became the High Priest (the one who pleaded to God on behalf of the people for their sin) forever in the same way as Melchizedek. Jesus is the last intermediary. We no longer need anyone to talk to God for us, as we talk to Jesus, who is God the son, and He pleads our case, being the final atonement for all our sins because He paid the penalty for sin (those committed and those yet to be committed) in dying on the cross (Romans 6.23).

The hope we now have in Jesus Christ is an anchor for our souls. All our hope is in Him.

♪My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus blood and righteousness...♪

Ever Living God - Hillsong, Hope

Cornerstone - Hillsong Live, Cornerstone

I just got this album and this is my favourite track and I cannot help but smile when I hear it. Thought I'd share it with you. God bless all :)

A Promise

I am feeling a little stressed out at the minute with my Final Year Project for University. Coming home late tonight after work on it, frustrated, confused and worried, my bible fell open to a well-thumbed passage: Psalm 91.

When I lived at home I would read this everyday with my dad and my sister, and now I only read it every so often, but when I read it just now, I was particularly encouraged by the last few verses and thought I would share them with you:

"Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;

I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

He will call upon me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble,

I will deliver him and honour him.

With long life will I satisfy him

and show him my salvation."

- Psalm 91.14-16

This Is Our God - Hillsong, This Is Our God

These song-words really bless me, so I thought I'd share them with you. Scroll further down for the video

Freely you gave it all for us,

Surrendered your life upon that cross,

Great is your love,

Poured out for all,

This is our God.

Lifted on high from death to life,

Forever our God is glorified,

Servant and King,

Rescued the world,

This is our God.

Found - Hillsong, Mighty To Save

Amazing love,

Now what else shall I need

Your name brings life,

It's more than the air I breathe

My world was changed,

When Your life You gave for me

My purpose found

And all that You want for me

And I've found myself in You

And I've found myself in You

Amazing love,

Now what else shall I need

Your name brings life,

It's more than the air I breathe

And I've found myself in You,

And I've found myself in You, Lord

So take me to a place

Where I can see You face to face

And all I wanna do, all I wanna do

Is worship You

So take me to a place

Where I can see You face to face

And all I wanna do, all I wanna do

Is worship You

A Beautiful Exchange

There's a song that we sing at church sometimes, I can't remember the name of the author or the name of the song, but there are words in that song that bring a smile to my face every time I hear them:

"There upon the cross I see,

You're unfailing love for me,

the majesty and mystery,

There upon the cross.

In death you won the victory,

That echoes throughout history,

The promise of eternity,

There upon the cross."

When Jesus was nailed on the cross to die He took ALL our sin, shame and guilt with Him (2 Corinthians 5.21). When I sin, I don't let it get me down. I'm not a sinner. I am a new creation in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 2.17). I have all His righteousness because He took my sin and shame.

It's a concept few non-Christians grasp. God loved me so much, He not only sent His son to help me out of the gutter, He sent His son to take my place.

Being part of Jesus' death and resurrection; dying to sin and rising with Him, means that no matter how many sins I have committed, am committing, or will ever commit, my slate is clean. (Romans 8.1)

God is a God of second, third, fourth and fifth chances. His mercies are new EVERY morning. (Lamentations 3.22-23)

Get to know Jesus and get to know freedom.

x

A Beautiful Exchange

Jesus The Same - Hillsong, For All You've Done Disc 2

The Solution

"God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."

-2 Corinthians 5.21

Here's mathematical problem for you to solve:

God likes ONLY 100% Righteousness/Goodness, Humankind = 97% Righteousness/Goodness

If God wants to be friends with Humankind without going back on His standard, how does He do it?

God puts himself, in the body of a man, Jesus = 100% Righteousness

God takes all of humankind's unrighteousness and swaps it for Jesus' righteousness, so that now it looks like this;

Humankind through Jesus = 100% Righteousness

"...the LORD has laid on Him
the iniquity of us all."

-Isaiah 53.6

This is salvation.

God can't fellowship with anything that is not 100% good, even if it's only 3% bad. [2 Corinthians 6.14]. But God wants to be in a relationship with us. So to provide a solution to this problem, He sent Jesus who is fully good, to take all our sin, so that we could be 100% good, and He could have a relationship with us.

And because of this; because of Christ's atonement for our sins, no matter what our past before Jesus, or what sins we have committed or even have yet to commit, God extends the arm of kindness, love and graciousness to us, so that instead of perishing and facing eternal separation from Him, we have eternity with Him.

"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."

-John 3.16

God Is Able - Hillsong, God Is Able [LYRICS]

[VERSE1]

God is able

He will never fail

He is almighty God

Greater than all we seek

Greater than all we ask

He has done great things

[CHORUS]

Lifted up

He defeated the grave

Raised to life

Our God is able

In His name

We overcome

For the Lord

Our God is able

[VERSE2]

God is with us

God is on our side

He will make a way

Far above all we know

Far above all we hope

He has done great things

[CHORUS]

[BRIDGE]

God is with us

He will go before

He will never leave us

He will never leave us

God is for us

He has open arms

He will never fail us

He will never fail us

[CHORUS(x2)]

For the Lord

Our God is able

For the Lord

Our God is able

Unending Love - Hillsong Live, God Is Able

You Are/You Are Lord - Hillsong, Hope (2003)

Creating Space for God

I just listened to a talk by Stovall Weems on the Hillsong website, thought I'd leave you guys my notes. They aren't organised in any particular way, but I hope you are blessed by them :)


Creating Space for God – Stovall Weems
Moving forward in the purposes of God

Genesis 8
The raven went back and forth over the earth; it represents the flesh trying to get fulfilment that only God can bring. The temporal things can never bring you the satisfaction that God can bring. So Noah realises that the raven is unreliable and sends out the dove, which represents the Holy Spirit.

Noah reached out his hand for the dove, because he knew it would not force its way back into his life, but that he would have to get out there and make room for the dove to land. In the same way if we want God to ‘land’ in our lives, we have to make room for Him.

If you want God to bless a certain area of your life, you need to create space for Him to come into that aspect of your life, and He will do the work.

God is a filler by nature: ‘The earth was formless and empty…’ God filled it with GOOD things.

We are temples of the Holy Spirit, so that God can fill us. He won’t force His way in, but if we create space for Him, He will fill us.

Whatever God fills, He multiplies.

When God shows up the miraculous happens.

What Noah does:
1/ He lifts his hands out for the dove –SURRENDER>a daily practice
2/ He drew the dove into himself – BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT>the fruits of the spirit fill the void and eliminate the need for prayer
3/ He only sends out the dove – GET RID OF THE THINGS OF THE FLESH>only send out the dove, the Holy Spirit doesn’t need any help, leave room for Him.

The dove returns with an olive branch in its beak. Jesus is God’s olive branch. A fresh revelation of who Jesus is. It is all about Christ. He is ALL we need to move our lives forward.

The Greatness of Our God, A Beautiful Exchange, Hillsong Live

"There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, Who rides the heavens to help you, And in His excellency on the clouds."

- Deuteronomy 33.26

With Us - Hillsong Live, God Is Able

Awakening, Hillsong Live - God Is Able

There Is No-one Else For Me, None but Jesus

Hey guys and girls, just thought I'd share this song with you all as it's a song with lyrics that both challenge and encourage me. God bless,

None But Jesus - Hillsong, Mighty To Save

Perspective Shift

This past week I've been in a depression of sorts.

I wouldn't say that I've been depressed, but I have been allowing my thoughts to be completely and utterly consumed with all the things I think are currently wrong with my life, and as a result have been feeling really discouraged.

At first I tried to pretend that I wasn't sad about my various 'issues', but when that flopped, I gave up and just indulged in the feelings. Neither approach was in anyway profitable, and so I knew that one way or another when I went to church this morning God was going to give me a kick up the backside of sorts.

And of course He did.

We sang two songs that I was really touched by. The first; which was written by a worship leader at church, talks about waiting on the Lord in stillness, knowing He is God, and always faithful, and the second; an old hymn, contains the words,

"All I have needed, thy hand hath provided,

Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me."

The first song spoke to me specifically about patience. Sometimes God witholds certain things from us till a certain time because a)We aren't ready for them yet or b)They aren't good for us right now. When asking God for these things we have to remember that He is sovereign, and He knows what the best things for us are for right now.

The second song spoke to me along the same line, reminding me that God has given me all that I need for right now. He has given us our daily bread. If He thought we needed anymore right now He'd have given it to us now.

I'm reminded of the story of the Israelites in the wilderness. God gave them enough food for each day, and then supplied them with what they needed for the next day when they needed it; the next day.

Now the fact that I think I need something, and God is telling me to be patient doesn't mean that I have to pretend everything is okay, and it doesn't mean I have to moan about it. What it means is that I need to change my perspective and put it in line with God's perspective.

Earlier on in the year I listened to a talk called 'Defeating Discouragement' from the Hillsong UK website (second page, and scroll down). The passage focused on was in Exodus 17.8-15, and was the story of the Israelites defeat of the Amalekites. There were five points which I think apply here exactly;

1. Get up on the hilltop and see OVER your situation - Moses was on top of the hill getting God's perspective on things.
2. Be seated on a rock - Moses sat on a rock on the hill, and we should sit on the rock too [Psalm 78.35]. Rest in the knowledge that God is God; always good, all powerful, just, gracious, loving and your Heavenly father.
3. Be surrendered to God - Moses had his hands raised in a position of surrender to God, and we too should be in a position of surrender to Him. Hand everything over to God. There usually isn't much we can do about our situations anyway, and God is able to do far more than we can even think He can [Ephesians 3.20], so we might as well hand all our issues, grievances and sadness over to Him. He's got it covered.
4. Make sure you are supported by the church - Moses wasn't up on the hill alone, he had Aaron and Hur with him, supporting his arms and keeping them lifted up. Surround yourself with people who will encourage you and help you keep your chin up when the going gets tough.
5. Be steady until the end - Moses stayed faithful to his task till the very end. Run the good race and stay true to God. In Him we have overcome [John 16.33]