Courageous Hope

Today I came across a new song by Christy Nockels called Pure Glory. I just really felt like it sang out the cry of my heart today. How much I desperately need God in every single area of my life, and how much I want my life to truly be lived for nothing else but his glory, despite how often my selfishness gets in the way of it… in my deepest places I just want God’s heart to beat in me, I want Him to shine, breathe and live through me. That is my prayer today and this is my song.

Pure Glory

In my heart, in my eyes, in my soul, in my life,
How I need Your pure glory
In my rest, in my work, in my secret, in my worship,
How I need Your pure glory

Unveil my heart, let me look upon Your face,
Pure glory fall down on me
And I’ll spend all my days,
On the riches of Your praise.
Let my life count as pure glory for Your name
For Your Name Lord Jesus
For Your Name

Below is something I wrote quite a few years ago, I came across it today and wanted to post it. The last several months when I have made the choice to worship God and dwell in His presence I have found it transformational. Not that it never was before. But increasingly as I’ve truly taken a “nevertheless” attitude in my worship to Him, despite whatever is going on around me or in my life and just give God glory and praise anyway, in the midst of declaring how Holy He is, I find myself humbled, repentant and in awe. God is bringing my sin to the surface in worship so that He can strip me of all that he cannot use.

One of the most poignant experiences of this is when recently I found myself overwhelmed with dark thoughts and lost in the midst of my own pain, and I chose to worship and seek God’s face and He was faithful, He spoke to me, He actually told me what to do, and even when it didn’t make sense to me, God has used it to transform my heart and to change my path to more closely line up with His.

As I am able to get my eyes of my small story and gain perspective of God’s much larger story and see that it is all in His hands, He’s holding the beginning and the end, right in His hands, I find peace.

So here is the poem i wrote quite a few years ago, partly inspired by the CS Lewis quote about most Christians making “mud pies in the slum when they could be making sandcastles by the sea.”

Why O Lord do I wander,
Recklessly giving myself to other lovers.
Why do I waste time making mud pies in the slum
When I could be making sandcastles by the sea.
Increase my passion Lord.
Free my heart for worship,
True worship.
For when I come passionately
Expecting
To see God’s face
And sit at His feet
I stumble right into His lap.
With my head up against His chest
I hear His heart beat
Suddenly
I realize how desperately I need Him,
How all I’ve lost is found in Him
When I realize this God has overcome all others
To capture my heart,
This King of the Universe has moved heaven and earth
To capture my soul
And I am captivated
By You Lord
My whole being overflows in awe
And worship
To You
The One who created the beauty of the mountains
And the vast mystery of the ocean
To You
The One who has set me free
To You
The One who delivered me from darkness
You are God
And I will worship you
From the depths of my heart,
My mind
And with all my strength
I will worship you.