Just as I am

Often we find ourselves concerned with how we appear before God. Indeed lots of people have gone to great lengths to try and appear the best they can before Him.
Who can blame them? God is the most important entity in existence to Christians so it is hardly surprising that everyone tries to put on their best face, clothes (“Sunday best”) and character when they think that He is watching. I’ve seen people do seemingly ludicrous dances in the name of God. Others chose particularly noticeable apparel while yet others change their body appearances through distinct hair styles and in some extreme cases pierced their skins to hang odd objects and draw fascinating shapes.

This is not a new concept because even in the Bible we find

10 And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto my people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes, 11 And be ready against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai. Exodus 19:10-11

People were required to perform certain activities or refrain from some activities so that they could be clean enough for God to appear to them. In this case they had to wash their clothes, abstain from touching the mountain and refrain from sexual activities.

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A long time ago a woman who had been made permanently invalid by long severe illness was challenged by a doctor to seek God’s salvation in her life. She brushed away the suggestion at first but it kept playing on her mind. Until, on one of the meetings with the doctor, she asked him, “I want to be saved. I want to come to Jesus; but I don't know how”. He said to her, “You have only to come to Him just as you are”. These words seeded the theme that would form the popular hymn “Just as I am”. There have been many variations to it since Miss Charlotte Elliot wrote it way back in 1835 but I have decided to write about the abridged and edited version by the Acappella Company © 1994 Clifty Music. You can refer to Cyber Hymnal for the full six stanza version.  

Just as I am without one plea
But that thy blood was shed for me
And that thou bid’st me come

The first verses simplify to, “Just as I am without any defence except that your blood was shed for me and that you called me to come to you”.
So the singer is approaching God without any excuses for themselves. The only reason they have the courage to approach is that the Lord’s blood was shed for them and that God asked them to come.

Already we can see differences between this scenario and the one at Mount Sinai. For starters, here the singer is going to God whereas at Sinai, it was God coming to meet the people. Interesting to note that people are not expected to approach God out of their own will. It is God who makes it easy by calling them to Him. All we are asked to do is answer the call. In this scenario the person called state that they are answering the call and coming to Him. But they are making it clear from the start they don’t have any pleas to present for themselves.

Often God calls us  but we fail to answer because we don’t think it is appropriate for us to approach Him with our sinful bodies and minds. We try to wait until we have something to say for ourselves, some good deed that we can perform at some later point or something to give Him when we approach so that we don’t feel so bad. At least we can then say, “I know I did many bad things, but at least I helped so and so that day ...”. Anything that might help us in our defence.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:Not of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

Even when we become Christians we show similar behaviour. When we have done something wrong we try to avoid anything that has something to do with God. Some people skip church (or church gatherings) after committing a sin. Others skip an otherwise regular prayer. “I can't watch that Gospel channel like this”, we say and flip to the next channel. 
The thought of the sinful deed is so strong that it makes us uncomfortable among religious surroundings. We feel that we cannot face God in our current state.
 Yet the singer says that all they know is that the blood was shed and God is calling them. And therefore they will come to Him.

I’m not that strong my hands are unclean
And my heart sometimes fills with sins unseen

This is unlike some people who are actually so bold in sin that they try to hide their sins when they approach God, or should I say when they attend religious gatherings. So many stories have been told and printed. Of Pastors, worship leaders and priests whose sinful deeds have been exposed before the public. Sins committed in a time when they were supposedly serving God. Pride would have made it difficult for them to confess their sins to others and to God. Many more just go on with their habits undiscovered by people. They just continue in their position of authority and hope that no one will find out.

Even those of us without any position of authority can be guilty of this. Just cover up the deeds and keep up appearances at meetings. Too shy to tell others or ask for help. Unaware that this leads to addiction because the greatest sign of addiction is denial of the addiction.
The singer does not try to hide their sin when they approach. They immediately admit their lack of strength and state that their heart sometimes fills with unseen sins. This is a complete confession in that it acknowledges sins that the confessor may have committed but does not necessarily know about. Job gave us an example by offering sacrifices for his sons when they feasted saying, “It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts”. We are told that he did this continually.

And yet, He bids, O He pleads

Even in that state they still hear God calling them because God calls everyone. This is difficult for unbelievers to understand sometimes. Hence they avoid the call. The singer mentions this

But I can’t understand why He loves me
Yet I Come

It is can be difficult to believe that God can call you sometimes. "Really me? No way. It can’t be God calling me like this. Not while I'm in this state anyway. God is not for sinners like me". And we move on.

And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world 1 John 2:2

The singer though, simply acknowledges that they don’t understand much about God’s Love and why He bestows it on them in their state. Yet they will come to Him. What follows was not in Miss Elliot's original hymn but the simplicity and beauty of the words match those of the original.

Nobody knows me better than you Lord
I guess because you see beyond my pretences
Beyond what I see, and what I do
Before you my heart seems to be an open book
Exposed and uncovered
You not only see who I am, but who I can be
Yet inspite of my frailties
You accept me, just the way I am
How do I say thank you.

The words give insight as to why the singer decided to answer the call. They figured that God being omnipresent and powerful and all, knows them more than anyone does. Even when they pretend to people, God can see though all the pretences. Even if they could hide their heart from people, before God their heart is just an open book. The Lion of the tribe of Juda has prevailed to open the book of their lives.

Even more beautiful though is that the singer realizes that God can see who they can be. The fullness of their potential. This has always been a great mystery to me. What am I really capable of achieving? What are my limits? I have thought up plans big and small. Some I have followed up and been easily successful.  Others I have tried to put into action and failed miserably. The failures lead me into dismissing thoughts of pursuing other seemingly bigger plans. Yet they always played on my mind. What if I had applied for that Job? What if I had pursued that project? How far would I have gone with it? What really is my full potential?
This is what God knows all too well. He knows our every strength and weakness. What we are able to achieve at our fullest strength. That is why, inspite of our frailties, he still loves us and calls us to come to Him just as we are.

Just as I am
Thy love unknown
Has broken every barrier down
Now to be Thine yet Thine
O Lord O Lamb of God I come

Those barriers of sin that told us we couldn't approach God have been swept away by God's love through His son Jesus. Now everyone is able to meet Him. We no longer need to perform certain activities to make us worthy of salvation. Even  just the way we are is good enough for Him. No excuses or explanation required. His blood alone is sufficient.

6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. ....8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us Romans 5: 6-8

Home where I belong

Early contemporary songs are usually appreciated by more mature people, perhaps because those people have listened to those songs for a long enough time to get to appreciate them. The previous entry (Be Magnified)  expands on that concept a bit. Today I'm looking at the contemporary song "Home Where I Belong" written by  Pat Terry © 1976 Word Music in the 1970s.
It plays in my head at odd times and unusually frequently too, as if compelling me to write something about it. So here goes ...
 
The song opens by quoting a statement:

"They say that heaven's pretty
Living here is too"

We are immediately presented with two distinct locations for habitation; heaven and here (earth). It is noted that people describe both locations as pretty.
I have never been to heaven so I only get a notion of how pretty it is from descriptions in the bible. However, I have lived all my life here on earth so I can tell you that living here truly is pretty too.

I live in Africa where sunsets are predominantly golden and sunrises are serene. We have breathtaking mountain views and dazzling beach fronts. But life is not complete without food. They make a lovely mocha with cream at my work canteen that is just happiness in a bottle. Those huge ribs and steaks they make at Steers, the big Mac burger and the chicken and pineapple pizza (with a double portion of pineapple), those things are what sweet dreams are made of. Them and chocolate cake cookies with whipped cream.

I have also had the pleasure of feeling my adrenalin rush while speed boating down the Zambezi river. The excitement of fishing for Tiger fish in Lake Kariba. Just you, the water, the fish and the horizon. More adventurous people probably have more exciting experiences of their pretty living.
The statement is thus quite true, they say (in the Bible) that heaven is pretty but we can confirm that living here on earth is pretty too.

Then we get

"But if they said that I
would have to choose between the two
I'd go home, going home, where I belong"

When challenged to make a choice, the singer will choose heaven, which he calls home. Choices are difficult to make in life, especially when the options appear equal. Often though, it is easier to take more visible and tangible options than those that are not clearly visible or those that rely on chance or some plausible calculations and anticipations. You want to choose options that others have tried and succeeded with before than unknown ones. Here though, the singer prefers the less humanly tangible option, heaven. The rest of the song gives clues as to why this choice was made.

The first reason is identified in that same verse. Home is where the singer belongs. That implies that they feel that they belong more in heaven than on earth. I know quite a bit about environments where I have a sense of belonging and those where I feel that I don't belong. It doesn't matter how pretty the scenery is or indeed how tasty the food is, if the company doesn't give us a sense of belonging then we find ourselves quick to remove ourselves from it. Of course we make sacrifices from time to time to stay in such uncomfortable environments because of some gain we hope to get out of them. In those cases we have no options.

Now saying that one belongs in heaven more than on earth is quite a statement.  The singer is failing to fit in on earth. Their experiences have not convinced them that they belong here. There is a feeling of being uncomfortable in earthly surroundings. They are homesick.

And sometimes when I'm dreaming
It comes as no surprise
That if you look you'll see
The homesick feeling in my eyes

The homesickness is now revealed as being quite severe. Medically, homesickness (or any type of longing) causes distress and anxiety. Here the singer mentions that you can see the homesickness signs in their eyes. Perhaps this is a result of stress that makes adrenalin rush to cause eye dilation. This fatigues eye muscles from the increase in eye ticks. Increased stress may also cause eye to bulge.

There is no medical cure for homesickness. It is frequently suggested that perhaps keeping in touch with people at home can help. There are many ways of trying to keep in touch with our heavenly home, which translates to keeping in touch with God. Prayer and meditation are obvious choices. Sometimes simply going to church helps too. The singer however has a different approach:

While I'm here I'll serve him gladly
And sing Him all my songs

The singer is keeping in touch with God by singing Him lots of songs! I think that is a brilliant and beautiful solution. Serving Him gladly (in any way possible) is also mentioned.

I'm here, but not for long

This realization is important. It is an important distinction to be able to make at any point in life. The distinction between where you are and where you are going. The singer is well aware of where they are but they have not lost sight of where they are going. Understanding where you are makes you live appropriately, in a manner that is acceptable in your current environment. Knowing where you are going gives you energy, hope and keeps you focused.

And when I'm feeling lonely
And when I'm feeling blue
It's such a joy to know that
I am only passing through

Here we hear more effects of homesickness; loneliness and feeling blue (sad, low and depressed). Indeed life can be quite challenging and depressing. We have all had disappointments at some point.  Sometimes it is not just disappointments that make us feel low. Sometimes it is just plain old boredom, sometimes the feeling just overwhelms us for no particular reason. The singer uses the knowledge that they are only passing through to take away the sad feelings in such situations. They understand that even if they don't receive all the good things in life here, there will have another chance to have better things in a better country.

13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. 15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
Hebrews 11 : 13 – 16

The last verse is in the song is one of my all time favourite song verses:

And one day I'll be sleeping,
When death knocks on my door
And I'll awake to find that
I'm not homesick any more
Cause I'll be home, I'll be home, where I belong

The words are simple but the meaning is explosive.
One day the homesickness is going to be gone, awakening to find that we are home where we belong. It is a celebratory verse rather than a sad one even though it mentions death. Of course we will not all die in our sleep as the verse says. The analogy is used because of the similarities in the feeling of waking up from earthly death. That day the body will not have the signs of stress and sadness. It will be a different body. The blue feelings will be gone, replaced with the thrill of victory.

54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
1 Corinthians 15: 54-55     

Don't we all long for that day?

Be Magnified

Greetings and thanks for visiting. This is my first post in the “Sermon in song” series. Lynn DeShazo wrote a lot of wonderful songs sung in many churches all over the world. One of my all time favourite songs from her is “Be magnified”. I’m sure this song, like all other songs, has a different effect on different people. I have been meaning to write down its effect on me for a long time but am not entirely sure why at this point. Perhaps it is so that I (or indeed someone else) can read it some time later and find something useful. So here goes...

The Merriam-Webster dictionary gives the definition of magnify as

“To cause to be held in greater esteem or respect”

The definition implicitly introduces a view point. Magnification causes someone (the beholder) to hold something in greater esteem. The process acts more on the person doing the viewing than on the object being viewed. The Wikipedia entry for magnification adds:

“Typically magnification is related to scaling up visuals or images to be able to see more detail, increasing resolution … In all cases, the magnification of the image does not change the perspective of the image.”

Simply, the image’s features are made to appear bigger so that they can be seen more clearly but the image itself remains in its original size and state. Many artistic masterpieces (paintings, photographs, plays) contain many small brilliant sections which are better appreciated by close inspection from experienced art viewers and readers. It is very easy for the novice to miss the finer points of masterpieces unless some magnification of them is made by some trained expert for everyone to see. The process of magnification is thus quite critical for comprehensive perception.
Similar conclusions can be drawn for the way we view people. The more time we spend with certain people and get to know them more the more we begin to appreciate and understand them. It certainly happens to me a lot. I have looked at people and disliked them, disrespected them too, because of what they did. As I got closer to those people because of circumstances or chance, I found myself beginning to understand their actions. The more I got close, the more I began to appreciate them. Proximity is thus an essential ingredient for perception.
Now there are three important perceptions a man can have. How he perceives himself, how he wants the world to perceive him and how he perceives God.
How we perceive ourselves often depicts the choices we make when no restrictions are imposed on us. The chair we choose to sit on when we are first in an empty room, the job adverts we choose to respond to in the papers. We make the choice (usually subconsciously) based on what we deem our status to be. We choose a position that we think we belong in and put ourselves there.
How we want the world to perceive us is easily depicted by the clothes we buy and how we wear them. Everything we do that contributes to our outward appearance is a sign of how we want the world to see us. Also, how much we go out of character in the company of others and how much of our character we suppress.

How we perceive God is the object of this writing and the theme of the song “Be magnified”.
The opening words of the song summarize it in a simple yet comprehensive way.

“I have made You too small in my eyes”

The beholder has just realized that their perception of God is too inadequate. The first thing to notice here is that the first line is in itself an admission of guilt (confession). A simple statement of what they have done. “I have made You too small in my eyes”. It’s all happening on the beholder. In their eyes God has been too small.
We soon learn more

“And I have believed in a lie

That You were unable to help me”

The perception has grown into something more serious, belief. This was to be expected really because often belief stems from perception. Indeed there is an age old cliché, “seeing is believing”. Note how this idiom directly contradicts faith:

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Hebrews 11:1

How often worldly beliefs contradict God’s word.

As we fail to see the true size of God, the things we see every day, more importantly how we see things every day, has a huge influence on what we believe. We are no longer being guided by faith, but by sight. The beholder has been seeing God but they have been seeing Him as too small to be able to help them. Things are about to change drastically though …

“But now, O Lord, I see my wrong
Heal my heart and show Yourself strong;”

A mistake has been realized and there is a plea for God to show Himself strong. Notice though, how the condition of the heart has been linked to the perception of God’s strength. The heart needs to be healed so that God’s strength can be shown as strong.
Is it possible then that in our darkest moments, when we blame God for not helping us. Isn’t it our hearts which have become so ill that we are not able to see God’s strength? The Bible is full of examples of people not able to see God when His presence was apparent.

The second verse starts with another realization:

“I have leaned on the wisdom of men
O Lord, forgive me;”

This time we learn that the singer has put their trust in the wisdom of men. You only lean on something that you think is strong enough to support you. Unless if you want to fall of course.

“And I have responded to them
Instead of Your light and Your mercy.”

Their actions have been controlled by where they have put their trust. In fact their actions have been direct responses of where they have put their trust! Interesting to note that there is realization that you can respond to God’s light and to God’s mercy. How often we see actions that directly contradict God’s mercy.
Let’s take stock of what has happened. First the perception of God as too small led to belief in a lie that God is not able to help. The belief naturally led to trust in worldly wisdom. Now that misplaced trust has pushed the singer to respond to worldly wisdom.
Again the healing of the heart is identified as the remedy to the problem.

The chorus places emphasis on that there is nothing that God cannot do. This is very difficult to grasp for most people. It is sometimes difficult for me to grasp at certain times in my life too. There is absolutely nothing that God cannot do. Yes, Nothing. Really.

The singer’s eyes are now firmly fixed on God.

“And there is nothing You can't do
O Lord, my eyes are on You”

That’s just the point, isn’t it? We do not appreciate things until we look at them more closely, for a longer time. The problems were created by losing sight of God. We can see how big God is if we can keep our eyes on Him all the time.

“My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.”

 Psalm 57:7

But wait; there is peace of mind too:

“He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.”

 Psalm 112:7

The more I think about this song the more I get to appreciate the inspiration behind it too!