{"id":29535,"date":"2022-01-12T08:34:27","date_gmt":"2022-01-12T13:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=29535"},"modified":"2022-01-12T09:29:50","modified_gmt":"2022-01-12T14:29:50","slug":"worship-wednesday-the-cause-of-christ-revisited-in-2022-kari-jobe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=29535","title":{"rendered":"Worship Wednesday – The Cause of Christ Revisited in 2022- Kari Jobe"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/a>Photo Credit: Heartlight, Ben Steed<\/a><\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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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>
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Entering year three of COVID, who would have thought?<\/p>\n

I wonder how much time each day we spend talking about, reading about, and altering our lives to prevent COVID. So. Much. Time. On a phone call with a friend yesterday, she observed that we seem to all place ourselves somewhere on a continuum of tired or terrified. Which is it for you?<\/p>\n

Then I come across a tweet that snaps me into a new consciousness.<\/p>\n

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

“Secluded comfort”<\/em> has lulled us into a false sense of safety from COVID. Also a spiritual dullness which (as Spence Shelton states) downplays “gospel urgency and gospel sacrifice”. Whoa! I certainly have experienced some of this.<\/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\u2019ve 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\u2026 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, \u201cAll the time.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

A different generation? A time before COVID? Did fighting cancer sharpen her sense of the presence and purposes of God? Is it possible COVID is meant to do the same? What can we draw from “such a time as this”<\/a>…this right now?<\/p>\n

On Sunday, at Movement Church<\/a>, we sang The Cause of Christ<\/em> <\/a>by Kari Jobe<\/a>. In the setting of church gathered, the Holy Spirit moved my heart deeply with the purpose of this life. This song reminded me of God’s will for us, not matter the externals in our lives, to persevere and refuse to keep silent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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My heart\u2019s best desire is to be wholly about God\u2019s purposes and to radiate, in word and deed, the love and person of Jesus Christ. Seasons come (as with COVID) 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.<\/strong><\/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

Before we worship together with the singing and meditating on Kari Jobe’s The Cause of Christ, <\/em>I’d like to post and pray (with you) pastorJohn Piper<\/a>‘s prayer, from his book Coronavirus and Christ<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Father, at our best moments, by Your grace, we are not sleeping in Gethsemane, we are awake and listening to Your Son\u2019s prayer. He knows deep down that He must suffer but in His perfect humanity, He cries out, \u201cIf it is possible, let this cup pass.\u201d In the same way, we sense deep down that this pandemic is appointed in Your wisdom for good and necessary purposes. We, too, must suffer. Your Son was innocent. We are not. Yet, with Him, in our less than perfect humanity, we too cry out, \u201cIf it is possible, let this cup pass.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Do quickly, oh Lord, the painful, just, and merciful work You have resolved to do. Do not linger in judgment, do not delay Your compassion. Remember the poor, oh Lord, according to Your mercy. Do not forget the cry of the afflicted. Grant recovery. Grant a cure. Deliver us, Your people, helpless creatures, from these sorrows, we pray. But do not waste our misery and grief, oh Lord. Purify Your people from powerless preoccupation with barren materialism and Christless entertainment. Put our mouths out of taste with the bait of Satan.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Cut from us the roots and remnant of pride and hate and unjust ways. Grant us capacities of outrage at our own belittling of Your glory.<\/strong> Open the eyes of our hearts to see and savor the beauty of Christ. Incline our hearts to Your word, Your Son, Your way. Fill us with compassionate courage and make a name for Yourself in the way Your people serve. Stretch forth Your hand in great awakening.<\/em><\/p>\n

For the sake of this perishing world, let the terrible words of Revelation not be spoken over this generation, ‘yet still they did not repent’. As You have stricken bodies, strike now the slumbering souls. Forbid that they would remain asleep in the darkness of pride and unbelief. In Your great mercy, say to these bones, live and bring the hearts and lives of millions into alignment with the infinite worth of Jesus. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”<\/em> – John Piper, Coronavirus and Christ<\/em><\/a><\/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: AZ Quotes<\/a><\/p>\n

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