Day 192 - Behold

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I thought we'd do something a little different today. If you have listened to these presentations for a while you will notice that I often turn to the lines in worship songs to help highlight a point I want to make. Music has such an amazing affect on us all.

Today I was listening to and watching a worship video by Hillsong. As I was watching the words come up on screen I started thinking about our talks and how victor living is found in the lyrics they were singing. I felt led to take their song and allow the words tthese amazing artists have written guide us on our journey today.

The song I was listening to today was Behold by Hillsong. Look it up on YouTube and watch and listen for yourself. I'd like to take several of the lines Hillsong wrote and let it lead us where it will today.

The song begins with this beautifully challenging line, "Behold The Father's Heart..." The word behold speaks to such a powerful combination of our senses. Behold is more than just seeing something - it expresses a need to do more than just observe. I can see a flower but when I behold it I am transformed by how my senses take in all that is offered in what I behold.

The line goes on to direct that we need to behold the Father's heart. It is as though the artists are telling us that the heart of God is more than just something that we should see and maybe come to some understanding with. It is when we behold the Father's heart that we are changed. That heart is in us all. As His Children we are created in His image. It is when we take time to experience His Heart, like only happens when we behold it, that we begin to sense the same wonder and power of that heart in our lives as well.

The song goes on to explain a bit about the Father's heart. His heart is described as, "The Mystery He Lavishes On Us." It is as though we should be prepared that no amount of our beholding will every completely explain the Heart of God. There will be a mystery about God that will always keep us wanting more. I love that about God. Too much is never enough. No matter how much I get to know this God that loves me there is always more to learn. Maybe that's why heaven lasts forever. It will take that long to feel the fullness of the power of the mystery God is lavishing on us and will lavish on us forever.

The next line is a haunting line straight out of the Psalms. It says, "As deep cries out to deep". I have always been drawn to this line in the Bible. There is a depth in my soul that I feel, almost in a tangible way. That depth has taken me to some pretty dark places as I have found that nothing in this world could ever fill this seemingly dark and never ending cavern. Yet that depth is being called out by the depths of God Himself. It isn't that that deep place is wrong - it is just beyond our total understanding here on earth. What is right about that depth is that God is in there calling us out of the shallowness that we can find ourselves in when victim thinking takes hold. Listen to those cries from the depths of your soul today - that's God calling you to something more in your life.

Then Hillsong get real from the heavenly perspective. They say, "Oh, how desperately He wants us". This could be and maybe should be the anthem of those of us wanting to live this life as a victor. It is when we shift from the view that God needs us to the fact that God wants us that powerful change can happen in the lives of victim thinkers. Living in the fallacy that God needs us to do anything is where we trip ourselves up. Sure God has work for us to do but putting the kinds of pressure that thinking it is up to us to get done the kinds of God sized works happening all around us is a fools way of thinking. God is desperate. His isn't desperate for workers. He is desperate for a relationship with you and with me. What an amazingly powerful victor making thought that is.

Then comes these next two lines, "The things of earth stand next to Him - Like a candle to the sun". In comparison we are like a candle trying to shine like the sun. That comparison is such a joke. Take a candle in a dark room and it lights up the place like crazy. Take that same candle outside on a sunny day and the light the candle shines is so insignificant. So it is with our lives as well. It is when we are in those dark places we work so hard to try and keep out of that we shine so brightly. In the times of plenty our light is overshadowed by the brightness of God's light all around us. It is the same with anything we think we can do to make our lives be all they can be in God's eyes. Next to Him, our accomplishments, our ambitions, our intentions and our abilities pale by comparison. Next to Him is where we belong. The world is to see His light, not the light we think we can generate by doing all we are capable of doing in this life.

The last lines I want to consider from Hillsong's Behold song today is, "Unfailing Father - What compares to His great love". God is unfailing. He is our Father. Combine those two thoughts and we get the basis for our purpose and identity. As God's Child we are empowered and emboldened by the unfailing power of a creator that thinks enough of us to give us His all. How can we fail? Even when victory seems to be the furthest from our ability to make happen, we are a victor because of the unfailing nature of our Father. He is unfailing because of His great love. The song asks, "What compares to His great Love?" This is more than a question - it is a statement of fact. Nothing compares to the love our Unfailing Father has for us. Does it get any better than that?

Sometimes we need to just stop and behold. I hope the time we took today to unpack an amazing set of lyrics helps you see the power God has placed in you as His Child. Your status as a victor is something that is amazing to behold. Let today be something different. Let the mystery, the depth, the love, the light, the perspective and the perfection of our God be what makes your victor status be all it can be in the world around you today.