Some random thoughts inspired by Handel’s ‘Water Music’ …
Come leap with me for joy
Sing out the praise of the Lord
For Death’s been robbed of its prey
Come lay down your tawdry crown
For the true Lord of Heaven and Earth
Enters to take His throne
A throne established in justice and peace
Hearts of stone melt in His love’s sweet warmth
Truth touched eyes can see
Deaf ears hear their Maker’s voice
His glory bursts forth
Swift flowing out of the Holy Place
Pouring through bustling paths
Parched earth blooms His seed
Quenched fists of clay give forth His scent
Smitten rock
Riven side
Empty tomb
The River of Life dances forth
Gushing, rushing, tossing over mountains
Leaping with abandon into the valleys
Rolling away obstacles
Frictioning stones to smoothness
Whispering love songs to soil hid roots
“To serve not to be served
Humility’s my crown
Faithfulness, my staff
Unending love’s my song
Come take my hand
You are betrothed to me
Sealed with the Holy Spirit
A lily ‘mong the thorns is my beloved”
The trees of the field clap their hands
The mountains rejoice
And sing back
“Ransomed from the hand of Sheol
Redeemed from the grave
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?
For love is strong as death,
Jealousy fierce as the grave.”
And so the river swirls
Gathering strength and song
Swelling seed
Living streams
Braiding through the earth
Carrying the heart of the Song-giver
Stream joins stream
A mighty river
A voice of many waters
Splashes and swirls
Weaves, unfurls
The unending glory of the Most High
Lamb that was slain
Found worthy to open the scroll
Worthy, worthy, worthy
To reign in righteousness and justice and peace
Tides ebb and flow
Kingdoms rise and fall
Unchanging grace trickles never
Unending flows from age to age
I guess I could keep on and on, for rivers don’t stop flowing… waterfalls never stop giving…
Wherever the stream flows,
there will be all kinds of animals and fish.
The stream will make the water of the Dead Sea fresh,
and wherever it flows, it will bring life.
Eze 47:9 GNB
The angel also showed me the river of the water of life,
sparkling like crystal,
and coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb
and flowing down the middle of the city’s street.
On each side of the river was the tree of life,
which bears fruit twelve times a year, once each month;
and its leaves are for the healing of the nations.
Rev 22:1-2 GNB
Emmanuel
Agnus Dei
Son of God
Triumphant over death
Eternally alive
Returning for a Bride
Fear not,
I am the first and the last,
and the Living One.
I died,
and behold I am alive forevermore,
and I have the keys of Death and Hades.
Rev 1:17-18 ESV
Because I live,
you also will live.
John 14:19 ESV
Watchmen waiting for the morning
Lift up your voice in praise
The Sun of Righteousness has dawned
The stone’s been rolled away.
Watchmen call out in joy:
“Our God reigns! Our God reigns!”
Sin’s curse is broken, the Law fulfilled,
The stone’s been rolled away.
Watchmen declare the new world order
Life triumphant, death defeated
Sun of Righteousness, God’s revealed Glory floods the earth
The stone’s been rolled away.
Watchmen proclaim on mountain tops
“The war is over! Peace with God declared! Free pardon given to all!
New names, new clothes, new parentage,
The stone’s been rolled away.
Come one! Come all!
Drink of the Fount that ne’er runs dry
The Living Bread of heaven’s been broken,
Come eat, be satisfied!
Rise up out of corrupt flesh and death
Rise into the heart of Christ
Live in love’s unending morning
The stone’s been rolled away.
But God,
being rich in mercy,
because of the great love with which he loved us,
even when we were dead in our trespasses,
made us alive together with Christ
–by grace you have been saved–
and raised us up with him
and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
so that
in the coming ages
he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace
in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Eph 2:4-7 ESV
Coals flowering red
pip dawn’s yet sleeping light
nets breaking with fish at a stranger’s command
pungent smoke
barbecued fish
broken bread
hungry men being fed by the Risen Lord.
Love gave Him eyes to see
their empty boats
heavy discouraged hearts
tired, weary bodies.
Love which knelt to wash their feet
now prepared a meal for them.
Love saw a need and reached out to fill it.
Pungent smoke
eyes meeting
memories stir of broken promises.
Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?
Do you get what I am saying?
Simon, can you hear, really hear what I am saying?
I am not testing your love, do you get it that I love you? I trust you? Put your failures behind you.
Love me, love what I love: My lambikin and sheep.
If you love me, you will see with My eyes: their brokenness, their hunger, their pain
And your heart will melt with compassion
I know you love me Peter.
Are you willing to be bread that is broken in My hands?
Do you remember that moment when the multitudes were in the desert, hungry for food, yet driven by a deeper hunger for the Living Bread?
Do you remember how my heart was moved with compassion because they were like sheep without a shepherd? –
Sheep – Not knowing which road to take for green pastures, vulnerable to the preying wolves, wounded with no one to tend their wounds…
Mute, helpless, tossed in stormy seas, caught willy-nilly in the dragnet of schemes of men, helpless to resist the chain-tug of the evil slave master of sin…
Simon. Do you hear me? Do you really hear me? Does your heart leap in response? Do you rise to action?
Do you see my people? Really see them? Do you see how satan holds them captive to do his will, pulling them in like fish caught in a net?
I am placing in your hands the keys of the kingdom. I am calling you to go out in My name to be fishers of men.
Go, go in My Name to draw them out of the nets and the snares, the pits and the holes. Go to tell them of peace between God and man. Go, tell them that the price of their sins has been paid.
Sin has paid its wages of death, and I received it on their behalf, now I give to them freely the gift of eternal life. The veil is torn, the net is broken and the captives are free.
Love them as I love you.
See their need. Are you willing to lay down your life, step off the throne, give up your rights that they might find life?
Are you overcome by the knowledge of your weakness and your lack of love? Don’t despair. As you are I love you.
It shall be required of you according to what you have, not what you don’t have.
Remember I have promised you the Comforter and Teacher, He will supply your needs, and fill your areas of lack.
Remember you are my lambikin, tender, beloved of me. Now go with that heart to feed My lambikin, My sheep.
(This is an imagined monologue that I have put together from John 21: 1-17, Mark 6:34-44, Hab 1:13-15, 2 Tim 2:26, John 14-17 and many more verses…)
The Sovereign LORD has filled me with His Spirit.
He has chosen me and sent me
To bring good news to the poor,
To heal the broken-hearted,
To announce release to captives
And freedom to those in prison.
He has sent me to proclaim
That the time has come
When the LORD will save His people …
He has sent me to comfort all who mourn,
To give to those who mourn in Zion
Joy and gladness instead of grief,
A song of praise instead of sorrow.
They will be like trees
That the LORD Himself has planted.
They will all do what is right,
And God will be praised for what He has done.
Isa 61:1-3 GNB
They have taken my Lord away, and I don’t know where they’ve laid Him.
Swinging censers, white red robes
Glowing mitres
Chants and genuflections
They have taken my Lord away, and I don’t know where they’ve laid Him.
The Amplified and Extended 10 commandments
Shrieking mikes, pounding basses
PhDs, M.Divs, and Revs
They have taken my Lord away, and I don’t know where they’ve laid Him.
Be very frightened of the Lord’s rejection
His whip is out for your correction
Examine your soul
Weep and mourn
Pay your tithes
Don’t question the shepherd of the flock
Churchanity has taken my Lord away, and I don’t know where they’ve laid Him.
Families struggle to make ends meet
The worn and weary find no listening ear
Jesus’ loved sheep stand out in the street
Waiting for His bride to rise and draw near
Churchanity has taken my Lord away, and I don’t know where they’ve laid Him.
Have you seen Him, cried the woman by the tomb
Have you seen Him, cried His beloved to the watchmen on the wall
The watchmen beat and buffeted her,
But Jesus her Beloved Lord calls by name and says ‘Here am I’
Come, My Beloved, lean on my arm
Death’s hold has been broken
In My true Glory I stand.
Captivity’s been led away captive
Now at the Father’s right hand I am.
Let us go out early to the vineyards
and see whether the vines have budded,
whether the grape blossoms have opened
and the pomegranates are in bloom.
The mandrakes give forth fragrance,
and beside our doors are all choice fruits,
new as well as old,
which I have laid up for you,
O my beloved.
Churchanity is the counterfeit – the wolf in sheep’s clothing, so to speak. Its poison is subtle for it is full of worship, rules and regulations that seem to be godly.
And yet, because it is disconnected from Christ the Living Head of the church, it fails to show forth His character, His glory, His beauty and it does not bear the fruit of union with Him.
BUT, glory to God!!!!!! Jesus is not in the grave. He has risen from the dead, and is very much alive and Lord of the True Church: the Living Ekklesia, made up of all who have truly in their hearts professed Jesus as Lord over the ages.
Hidden from sight, and under the veil of churchanity, Jesus is at work joining one Living Stone to the other, across the ages, perfecting each Living Stone tenderly with His love.
Hallelujah! One day the veil of Churchanity will be lifted off, and the Bride will be revealed.
Are you one of those who has been hurt by churchanity? A Living Stone rejected by the ‘builders’?
May I encourage you to turn and look at Jesus on the cross, rejected by the religious leaders of His day, executed for political expediency, yet willing to forgive those who were His rejecters, accusers and torturers? Dying to purchase our forgiveness and restoration.
Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and mistook the Risen Lord for the caretaker. Through her sobs she told Him, “They have taken my Lord away, and I don’t know where they’ve laid Him.’
Jesus called her name. What amazed joy must have flooded her heart to know He was there after all. No buried. Not dead. But risen from the grave.
Let’s not lose heart at churchanity. Jesus is calling your name. Calling you to abide in His heart, in His love.
As we look to Jesus and pursue our relationship with our Living Head, abiding in Him, and growing with the growth that comes from Him, He will connect us with other Living Stones. And He will allow us to begin to see the shape of the Ekklesia He is building. A throbbing, pulsating network of hearts tuned to the heart of the Redeemer God.
Christ loved the church
and gave himself up for her,
that he might sanctify her,
having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
so that he might present the church to himself in splendor,
without spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
that she might be holy and without blemish.
Eph 5:25-27 ESV
Would you join with me in praying:
Abba Father in Heaven, I choose to forgive those in churchanity who have hurt me. I confess that I have allowed bitterness to rule my heart, I repent of it, and ask your forgiveness. Thank you that Your Holy Spirit dwells in me to take over rulership from bitterness. Let Your kingdom in me increase day by day.
Help me each day to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus, hold fast to Him, and grow in the grace and the knowledge of Him. Let Your beauty of holiness be revealed in me. I pray Lord, that you will strip away all subtle forms of churchanity from me, and help me to be all that YOU want me to be, and do all that YOU want me to do. Use me to be Your ambassador of healing and reconciliation.
Lord send Your Holy Spirit to move in power in churchanity, that it may be transformed into true CHRISTianity, where Christ is exalted and lifted up as the Living Lord of the church. In Your Name Jesus, Amen
One Living Stone at a time lets reclaim churchanity to CHRISTianity. And let it begin with me.
Jesus also said:
The kingdom of heaven
is like what happens
when a woman mixes a little yeast
into three big batches of flour.
Finally, all the dough rises.
Mat 13:33 CEV
speak peace always 