{"id":31307,"date":"2023-01-04T22:00:23","date_gmt":"2023-01-05T03:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=31307"},"modified":"2023-01-05T08:40:27","modified_gmt":"2023-01-05T13:40:27","slug":"worship-wednesday-build-my-life-holy-there-is-no-one-like-you-housefires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=31307","title":{"rendered":"Worship Wednesday – Build My Life – Holy, There Is No One Like You – Housefires"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Photo Credit: Heartlight<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There is none like You, O LORD.<\/strong> You are great, and Your name is mighty in power. Who would not fear You, O King of nations? This is Your due. For among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You. – Jeremiah 10:6-7<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lord, there is no one like you<\/strong> among the gods, and there are no works like yours. – Psalm 86:8<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this evening, a small group of friends were gathered. Our hosts were refugees from a war-torn country which they fled over a year ago. We were celebrating a late Christmas\/New Year’s together… One Christian friend was describing the “why” of giving gifts at Christmas. Crossing cultures and languages, the conversation was peppered with polite exchanges of where our beliefs were similar and where they were not. It happens…close friends who all consider themselves believers, but in very different experiences of faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was reminded of a letter I wrote after a difficult conversation with a dear friend who wanted me to believe in God as she believed…just as I wanted the same for her…to believe as I did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[As you read the letter, remember I’m writing to someone I loved very much and didn’t want to offend by my words. So keep that context in mind. To this day, she is as dear as ever. Precious to me. Still loving me as I love her…still two people who love God from different faiths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dearest Friend,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve asked me why can\u2019t I follow your way…the way you believe.\u00a0 I know you spoke that from your heart, and you know I love you for it.\u00a0 You also know how much I love you as you love me.\u00a0 Since our conversation, your question has weighed heavily on my mind, and I want to try to give that question the answer you deserve.\u00a0 Thank you for loving me enough to risk asking that question.\u00a0Now, I hope you will hear my love through this answer.\u00a0 We think very differently on these things, but I don\u2019t think I will be telling you anything that we haven\u2019t already talked about.\u00a0Also, I want you to clarify anything for me that I\u2019m in error on regarding your religion.\u00a0I commit to you the same in our talks about what I believe.\u00a0So what I write below is the answer to your question, \u201cWhy?\u201d\u00a0 And it\u2019s written with all my love.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. First, I already see myself as one “submitted to God”, in the deepest sense of the word you’ve defined for me.\u00a0My greatest desire is to know God and to surrender to Him in all areas of my life.\u00a0 It\u2019s been the imperfect but deeply personal pursuit of my life. My hope is to follow Him as He reveals Himself to me, both through His Word and by His Holy Spirit.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. As I understand your question, to follow your way would require me to leave the way I now follow.\u00a0 That would be impossible for me.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t born Christian.\u00a0 I became a believer as I understood His revelation of Himself (through the Bible, the witness of others, and the stirring of my heart by the Holy Spirit). This is a relationship with God that I would never or could never sever.\u00a0 To remove a portion of Who I believe He\u2019s expressed Himself to be, both to and for His creation, would be unforgivable.\u00a0 He has come near to us, and I am thankful to know Him, as One both Holy and Humble.\u00a0 I would be sad to believe in a God whose holiness and judgment distance Him far from His people.\u00a0 Am I wrong in my understanding of your experience of God?<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. To have to face the burden of a life of sin would be more than I could bear.\u00a0 I believe, by His Word, that He has forgiven me and continues to forgive me, as I confess my sins, repent of them, and live for Him.\u00a0 I can\u2019t imagine life where I was responsible to do good works and more good works in hopes to cancel some of my sins and hopefully to win His mercy.\u00a0 My understanding of what is required in your faith may not be altogether correct on this point, but it\u2019s what I see practiced.\u00a0 Help me with this, if I am wrong.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. To live not knowing whether I would spend eternity with God or in Hell would be very painful…unimaginable, to be honest. Such terrible uncertainty! His Word tells me that I can know \u2013 not because of my good works but because of His good work for my sake.\u00a0 I take great comfort in knowing that I will be in the presence of God forever.\u00a0 It is also a great comfort to know I will see my Mom and Dad again, my brother and others who have gone before me, confident in God\u2019s promises to them through His Word.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. To have to deny the sinless life of the Messiah, to deny His death on the cross, and to deny His resurrection would be the greatest dishonor to God that I could ever commit in life.\u00a0 I would never be willing to deny this, and if this is required to be a good believer in your faith, then I am helpless to go that way.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. I could not require my children to follow any religion.\u00a0 I do prefer for them to be believers in God by way of the Messiah, and I would be heart-broken if they denied God in their lives.\u00a0 However, to be in a religion that requires them at birth to be identified with that religion seems beyond my right as a parent.\u00a0 It is up to God how He moves in a person\u2019s life.\u00a0 I cannot demand it, no matter how much I would wish it a certain way.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. There are tenets of faith in your religion that I agree with wholeheartedly.\u00a0 I think it\u2019s a very good thing to have calls to prayer.\u00a0 I actually also prayed, (when we lived in the same country), when I heard the calls to prayer, so in that we are alike.\u00a0 I also agree with giving money to the place of prayer (for me, the church) for its service to the community.\u00a0\u00a0 I also think the intention of a month of fasting is a good thing.\u00a0 To sacrifice food, drink, cigarettes, etc. to understand better what it\u2019s like to be poor, and then to give that money to those less fortunate is a reasonable service for believers.\u00a0 I think pilgrimages are also good opportunities to draw closer to God.\u00a0 I do struggle with a pilgrimage that is not really accessible to every believer.\u00a0 <\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. Like you, I believe that God is One…but I cannot ascribe to a faith that places a messenger of God in a preeminent position. You say that is what I do with Jesus, even to the point of making him equal, or a partner to God. This is where we differ greatly, and I know it divides us which makes me the saddest. We have books we believe to be holy which speak very differently about Jesus, even though Jesus is called Messiah in both. He is also said to be without sin in both. This is not a small thing.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  9. I don\u2019t understand the concept of a holy war.\u00a0 I do understand dying for one\u2019s faith, and my hope is that if I have to die for my faith in God, that I will do it courageously and for His glory.\u00a0 That part I understand.\u00a0 To kill others, even infidels, and martyring oneself in doing so, seems morally wrong.\u00a0 God doesn\u2019t need my help to deal with infidels.\u00a0 I know there are examples in the Torah of God calling His people to battle with those who stand against His people, and He shows His glory by miraculously giving them victory.\u00a0 I don\u2019t see God when people take matters into their own hands.\u00a0 I don\u2019t believe God would give me greater rewards for killing people rather than to try to reason with them to become true believers.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  10. Last, but not least, is that to follow your way, I would have to give up parts of the Bible to believe everything in the book you hold sacred.\u00a0 I can\u2019t do that.\u00a0 It would be great sin for me to deny any part of God\u2019s Word.\u00a0 I believe every word is true.\u00a0 I know you think I am deceived.\u00a0 All I know, is that there was a time in my life that I wasn\u2019t a Christian, and it was a dark time for me.\u00a0 God revealed Himself to me through His Word, through the example of others whose lives had been changed by God, and through the movement of His Holy Spirit in my life.\u00a0 Now, I know the experience of a changed life.\u00a0 I am free, because His Truth has set me free.\u00a0 It would be impossible for me to leave His guide for my life.\u00a0 This person that you know and love is that person, only because I am walking in the Light of His Word.\u00a0 We all struggle with the presence of sin, but we can have victory through His Word and by His Power.\u00a0 Since I believe what He says about His own Word, I cannot leave His Word, any more than I can stop breathing.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    As I write this, my heart aches, because, of course, I would love for us to be on the Way together.\u00a0 I have answered your question.\u00a0 Maybe, you\u2019ll answer the same question for me sometime.\u00a0 No matter what, if you let me, I will love you all the days of my life.\u00a0 You are my friend, my sister, and my daughter.\u00a0 You are one of the greatest gifts the Lord has given me, and I am so grateful.\u00a0 Sometimes His gifts require a price.\u00a0 He gave Himself for us, that we may be with Him forever.\u00a0 My hope is that our friendship won\u2019t require a price.\u00a0 I never want us to be apart\u2026although we\u2019re not exactly traveling on the same path.\u00a0 My prayer will always be that we reach Home together\u2026.and I know you pray the same for me.\u00a0 Only God can answer both our prayers.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    That letter was written years ago…to a friend who is even more dear to me today than decades ago. My faith remains unchanged…because God has not changed. He is worthy of our praise…He is worthy of our very lives. The song “Build My Life\/Holy, There Is No One Like You”<\/a><\/em> (by Housefires<\/a>) speaks my heart today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Worship<\/a> with me:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    [Verse 1] Worthy of every song we could ever sing
    Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring
    Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe
    We live for You <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    [Verse 2] Jesus, the Name above every other name
    Jesus, the only One who could ever save
    Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe
    We live for You
    Oh, we live for You <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    [Chorus] (Holy)
    Holy, there is no one like You
    There is none beside You
    Open up my eyes in wonder
    And show me who You are
    And fill me with Your heart
    And lead me in Your love to those around me <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    [Verse 1] Worthy of every song we could ever sing
    Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring
    Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe
    We live for You
    Oh, we live for You
    Jesus<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    [Verse 2] Jesus, the Name above every other name
    Jesus, the only One who could ever save
    Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe
    We live for You
    Oh, we live for You <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    [Chorus] And holy, there is no one like You
    There is none beside You
    Open up my eyes in wonder
    And show me who You are
    And fill me with Your heart
    And lead me in Your love to those around me
    Holy
    Holy, there is no one like You
    There is none beside You
    Open up my eyes in wonder
    And show me who You are
    And fill me with Your heart
    And lead me in Your love to those around me*<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
    \"This<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Photo Credit: Heartlight<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    *Lyrics to “Build My Life<\/em><\/a>\/<\/em><\/a>Holy, There Is No One Like You”<\/em> – Songwriters: Pat Barrett, Brett Steve Younker, Karl Martin, Matt Redman, Kirby Elizabeth Kaple<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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