i'd rather see a sermon.

by Edgar A. Guest

i'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day.
i'd rather one should walk with me than merely show the way.
the eye's a better pupil and more willing than the ear;
fine counsel is confusing, but example's always clear;
and the best of all preachers are the men who live their creeds;
for to see the good in action is what every body needs.
i can soon learn how to do it if you'll let me see it done,
i can watch your hands in action, but your tongue too fast may run.
and the lectures you deliver may be very wise and true;
but i'd rather get my lesson by observing what you do.
for i may misunderstand you and the high advice you give
but there's no misunderstanding how you act and how you live.

what can stop us.

ministry is frustrating and discouraging sometimes.

but God reminds me that i am His and so is this life.

God was telling Moses to lead the people. He reassures Moses that His presence will be with him and that He will give him rest. Moses said to the Lord, "if your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?"

and the Lord said back to Moses, "i will to the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and know you by name"

then Moses said, "show me your glory"

so this is how this story is speaking to me: working in ministry, i hear the question, "what job are you going to do when you graduate?" or "are you going to get a real job?" and i'm not bitter or angry toward these questions because they are legitimate. however, they do make me think about where my life is going. I question my position and i question getting a degree in ministry. but God tells me, just like Moses, that His presence will be with me.

I have known no greater joy than when someone wants to and decides to give their life to God by surrendering their heart. I can't imagine leaving that behind & i know that by rejecting God's call for my life I will be missing out on what my life is meant for.

His spirit is ALWAYS with me...regardless of the ways I am tempted or the way i feel sometimes.

In the book of Acts when the apostles were being prosecuted, Gamaliel (who was a teacher of the people & was highly honored) said to the Sanhedrin (who was intending to do the persecution), "in the present case i advise you: leave these men alone! Let them go! for if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God."
Acts 5:38-39, 6:7

"..so the word of God spread. the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith..."

Isaiah

Isaiah 6:1-8
Isaiah knew and was reminded that he was unclean and unworthy of being in the presence of God's glory. but God tells Isaiah the truth that we ourselves so often forget--our shortcomings are atoned for and guilt is no longer ours. we in fact are unclean and unworthy on our own. by no means except by having a relationship from the heart with God through his son are we able to find out what our life is really meant for. we are given the chance to experience life with him by giving up our own plans and remembering that he died an unfair death so that we could have life.
we are tempted all the time to make this life our own. our personal selfish ambitions take over our hearts and we chase after them because the world tells us that we can. we get caught in a trap. and then we are so harshly reminded that we are failures by our own means...and remember why it is that we put our faith into the death and coming back of Jesus. it's like the common dream of walking into school one morning and it isn't until you are surrounded by a cloud of your peers that you realize you don't have pants on. it's like that feeling, but it regards the hidden insecurity of our own plans against God's. we might be making in okay for a while, but in the blink of an eye we are exposed for what's really in our hearts and we feel the grime and burden of trying to make it through life on our own.
Isaiah fell facedown and exclaimed his unworthiness. also, in the time of Isaiah, Jesus wasn't around yet. this gives us a different context than Isaiah because he didn't have living proof of a savior, like we do. Jesus came around so that we could be reconciled and God could once again live among his long lost children. this simple yet mind-bottling truth should be enough for us to fall facedown and proclaim our unworthy selves.
but i believe every single believer knows what i'm getting at. and we can count on it happening in the future..until we are fully in the presence of our Dad for real. the point here is whether or not we are exposed in our selfish ambition. because we all will be.
the point is what we do with the exposure of our hearts. will we admit how lost we are and ask for help? or will we run farther away to our security blankets.

"i'm not moved by what i think. i'm not moved by what i feel. i'm moved only by what i believe, and i believe the word of God"

Airstream Song

Airstream Song
-Miranda Lambert

sometimes i wish i lived in an airstream

homemade curtains lived just like a gypsy

break a heart & roll out of town

'cuz gypsies never get tied down.

sometimes i wish i lived on a mountain

drank from a stream instead of a fountain

i'd stay there, top of the world

but i was born a red dirt girl.

unbridled or tethered & tied

the safety of the fence or the danger of the ride

i'll always be unsatisfied.

sometimes i wish i lived by a pier

in a lighthouse with a chandelier

i'd watch everybody's ships come in

and then i'd sail away with them.

unanchored, in a storm or safely on the shore

if this is all i need

why do i want more?