A Trusty Saying

I always quote songs. When a youth has a problem, I look to the words of the Bible but then I will find a song that they can hang onto. Music is like medicine. Yesterday I listened to In God's Country literally close to 50 times. I hung on the words... but most of all I was blown away by the Edge's guitar solo... the haunting, piercing chime-like sound coming in over the rumbling bass and low tom pounding. That sound was what my soul felt like. It was the same echo, the same pain, the same cry.

Paul quotes songs in his letters to his buddy Tim. A pastor that he had raised from a young man to see him installed as a great leader in the early church, Timothy was more than a friend to Paul, he was more than a son, more than just another Christian that Paul loved in the brotherly way. Tim was Paul's partner in ministry. In the early days, Tim was there giving Paul support, even when things weren't going well. Then as Tim grew as a church leader, Paul was there to give guidance and lift him up. Now, as Paul suffers in the purgatory of a Roman jail, he writes to his dear, dear companion and tells him to keep on working for Jesus... and to remember to pay him a visit before he dies.

He quotes this dear friend a song, perhaps one that they had sung together in a better time. He says, Remember these words... they are good for your soul...



Here is a trustworthy saying:

If we died with him,
we will also live with him;

if we endure,
we will also reign with him.

If we disown him,
he will also disown us;

if we are faithless,
he will remain faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.

2 tim 2:11-13

Enter into relationship with Jesus Christ through his death on the cross and you enter into a new life. Everything shifts and you become a child of God. You are His and He is yours.

If we turn our lives into a work of art for Him... it is then that we live in HIM. We become heirs to the Kingdom. Our walk with Christ will continue in heaven. Oh, the day I see Him in heaven and I bow down at His feet and weep my tears of joy for they will be wiped away by His very hand. Praise GOD! The day is coming.

But oh, friends... Stay close to Him. Do not reject Him. Do not run from your promises. Do not give up your link to the Lord... for if you are not linked to Him you are linked to sin... and sin is the devil's only real power over you. Do not deny Him or on that day of Judgment you will stand before God alone... Jesus no where in sight. And you will have to make an account of each of your own sins... And friends, there is not a list long enough to scribe all that I have done wrong. I either have Jesus as my attorney... or I face eternal damnation for my pitiful failures.

But alas, Paul's lyrical quote gives us hope. We don't have to carry the burden. We don't have to be perfect. We don't have to be doubtless. We don't have to stand alone. For when we are WEAK... HE IS STRONG! And oh, friends, I am often weak. But Jesus will carry me over the finish line.

Jesus loves me! This I know
For the Bible tells me so
Little ones to Him belong
They are weak, but He is strong

Yes Jesus Loves Me... The Bible tells me so