{"id":18974,"date":"2018-06-06T22:06:26","date_gmt":"2018-06-07T02:06:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=18974"},"modified":"2018-06-07T09:01:15","modified_gmt":"2018-06-07T13:01:15","slug":"worship-wednesday-days-packed-with-ordinary-and-the-cause-of-christ-kari-jobe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=18974","title":{"rendered":"Worship Wednesday – Days Packed with Ordinary and the Cause of Christ – Kari Jobe"},"content":{"rendered":"
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But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus<\/strong>\u2013the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.<\/em> \u2013 the Apostle Paul, Acts 20:24<\/a>
\n<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

My mom was tireless in serving God and others right to the moment she lost consciousness in her last hours on earth. She always amazed me. Never too busy to be interrupted. Never too tired to respond to a need. Just never. She amazed me.<\/p>\n

Toward the end of her battle with cancer, I asked her (you’ve heard this story before) if she heard God speak to her. In years past, she struggled with whether God was guiding her or she was on her own. It was something she fretted over at times. In the hard days of cancer, I was hoping maybe that had changed… Again, when I asked if she heard God when she prayed, and she trained those clear blue eyes on me. With a smile that comforts me still, she said, “All the time.”<\/a><\/p>\n

Too many of my days seem full of the ordinary. Full to overflowing; jam-packed with the mundane. There was a time when I had influence – different from now. There was a time when (in my meager estimation) my showing up made a difference…even potentially an eternal difference.<\/p>\n

I know, right?! Too much about me when He makes the difference.<\/p>\n

This week, God spoke to my heart through the crammed days of ordinary. I was reminded of the Scriptural account<\/a> where Jesus fed thousands with the smallest of provisions. Five loaves of bread and two fishes.<\/p>\n

It calls to memory an old praise song, “Little Is Much When God Is In It”<\/em><\/a>. God can do so much with whatever we give Him…including all the ordinary of our lives.<\/p>\n

One Sunday, during worship at Movement Church<\/a>, I heard the song The Cause of Christ<\/em> <\/a>by Kari Jobe<\/a> for the first time. In the setting of church gathered, the Holy Spirit moved my heart deeply with the purpose of this life. Then Cliff<\/a> preached from 1 Thessalonians 2:13-20<\/a> (podcast here<\/a>). The focus of this scripture, teaching, and worship was to encourage us, as church, as saved peoples, to \u201cpersevere and refuse to be silent\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n

My heart’s desire is to be wholly about God’s purposes and to radiate, in word and deed, the love and person of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

Seasons come when this desire is dampened by fears, distractions, and cultural cloyings that disguise lies for truth. I have not always lived for the God who saved me\u2026definitely have not been always faithful to speak the glorious truth of who God is and what He has done for us.<\/p>\n

Oh\u2026the awful silence of choosing my own comfort over the cause of Christ.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Photo Credit: Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n

What joy in those occasions when we enter into the cause of Christ and share the truth of God, in word and deed. He takes our feeble attempts and, through His Holy Spirit, gives us the opportunity to point to love and life in Him.<\/p>\n

For by grace you have been saved<\/strong> through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.<\/em> \u2013 Ephesians 2:8<\/a><\/p>\n

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. <\/em>For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save<\/strong> the world through Him.<\/em> \u2013 John 3:16-17<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

How can we keep silent?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is not fame that I desire<\/em>
\n Nor stature in my brother\u2019s eye<\/em>
\n I pray it\u2019s said about my life<\/em>
\n That I lived more to build Your Name than mine*<\/em><\/p>\n

Worship<\/a> with me for the cause of Christ (music in the link):<\/p>\n

The only thing I want in life
\nIs to be known for loving Christ
\nTo build His church, to love His bride
\nAnd make His name known far and wide<\/p>\n

For this cause, I live
\nFor this cause, I\u2019d die
\nI surrender all
\nFor the cause of Christ
\nAll I once held dear
\nI will leave behind
\nFor my joy is this
\nOh the cause of Christ<\/p>\n

He is all my soul will prize
\nRegardless of the joy or trial
\nWhen agonizing questions rise
\nIn Jesus, all my hope abides<\/p>\n

For this cause, I live
\nFor this cause, I\u2019d die
\nI surrender all
\nFor the cause of Christ
\nAll I once held dear
\nI will leave behind
\nFor my joy is this
\nOh the cause of Christ<\/p>\n

Jesus, my Jesus
\nFor Your glory, for Your name
\nJesus, my Jesus
\nI will only sing Your praise<\/p>\n

For this cause I live
\nFor this cause I\u2019d die
\nI surrender all
\nFor the cause of Christ
\nAll I once held dear
\nI will leave behind
\nFor my joy is this
\nOh the cause of Christ<\/p>\n

It is not fame that I desire<\/strong>
\n Nor stature in my brother\u2019s eye<\/strong>
\n I pray it\u2019s said about my life<\/strong>
\n That I lived more to build Your Name than mine<\/strong>*<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Photo Credit: Ann Voskamp, Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n

Oh God, thank You for the only ordinary and the magnificent mundane…when You show up in small lives and do something big.<\/p>\n

*Lyrics to The Cause of Christ \u2013 <\/em>Writers: Kari Jobe, Benjamin Hastings, Bryan Fowler<\/a><\/p>\n

YouTube Video \u2013 Story Behind the Song The Cause of Christ<\/em> \u2013 Kari Jobe<\/a> \u2013 interview starts at 4:45 [also how to play the song]<\/p>\n

What Is the Cause of Christ?<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

A Cause Worthy of Your Life<\/em> \u2013 Andrew Corbett<\/a><\/p>\n

What Does It Mean to Be Saved?<\/em> \u2013 Steven J. Cole<\/a><\/p>\n

For the Cause<\/em> \u2013 Getty Music<\/a><\/p>\n

YouTube Video \u2013 When It\u2019s All Been Said and Done<\/em> \u2013 Robin Mark<\/a><\/p>\n

Finishing Strong \u2013 Mildred McAdams \u2013 (our mom) \u2013 1927-2002<\/a><\/p>\n

Worship Wednesday – The Cause of Christ – Kari Jobe<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus\u2013the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. \u2013 the Apostle Paul, Acts 20:24 My mom was tireless in serving God and others right to the moment … Continue reading Worship Wednesday – Days Packed with Ordinary and the Cause of Christ – Kari Jobe<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[794,3976,3208,50,910,903,33,317,263,795,2611,888,1301,432,3752,32,47,946],"tags":[6091,5268,5269,5271,2576,3729,51,5270,1835,54,6088,5274,2,2021,6090,6089,5275,898,6092,49,360],"class_list":["post-18974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faithfulness","category-fear","category-finishing-strong","category-god","category-gospel","category-grace","category-inspired","category-lessons-learned","category-lives-full-of-god","category-love-2","category-love-your-neighbor","category-memories","category-mom","category-music","category-purpose-in-life","category-walk-with-god","category-wednesday-worship","category-worship","tag-andrew-corbett","tag-benjamin-hastings","tag-bryan-fowler","tag-cause-of-christ","tag-cliff-jordan","tag-explore-god","tag-faithful","tag-getty-music","tag-jesus","tag-kari-jobe","tag-little-is-much-when-god-is-in-it","tag-mildred-mcadams","tag-mom","tag-movement-church","tag-mundane","tag-ordinary","tag-robin-mark","tag-salvation","tag-steven-j-cole","tag-worship","tag-worship-wednesday"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pauPAB-4W2","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18974"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19075,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18974\/revisions\/19075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}