Lord I love You, I am seeking after You

1) Lord I love You, I am seeking after You
Your love captured me from the world which I loved
Forgive me Lord, for trusting my ability
Blind and cripple, heart impure, Lord, transform me!

C) I love You Lord, You have captivated me
Your love subdues me, I have seen Your beauty
Draw me, charm me, attract me, capture me more!
I cannot but love You; I submit to You

2) Lord, transform me from a horse to a lily
I would be trusting and dependent on You
Your divine attributes are like a string of jewels
You have given to me as my adornment

3) By Your mercy, crippled feet lie forgotten
Beneath the table: Your transformation feast
Unsearchable; these riches that I now enjoy
I’ll love You Lord with my all forevermore

This song is very precious to me, as it contains my sentiments from the time when I was first falling in love with the Lord. I wrote this song in 2005 after attending a very, very sweet message on the Song of Songs. The message was in a series called, “The Overcoming Life as Portrayed in the Song of Songs”. This was message three: Overcoming in the First Stage (2) – Beautified through Transformation in the Church Life. Even just reading back over the outline to the message still touches my heart deeply. Here are the four main points of the outline: (also note how my song is structured according to them)

1. In the first stage of overcoming (S.S. 1:2-2:7), the seeker of Christ overcomes the attraction of the world by being attracted and captivated by Christ (1:2-4; Matt. 4:16-20; Luke 9:23-24; Heb. 12:2; 13:13; Hymns, #437)
2. Our love for the Lord does not depend upon our ability to love Him – it depends upon His loveliness (S.S. 5:10-16)
3. After we have been attracted by the Lord’s beauty to love Him, we must learn one unique lesson – to be subdued (1:9-11)
4. The lover of Christ is beautified through the process of transformation in the church life (1:7-2:4)

That second point especially is a precious gem, and I have been enjoying it very much recently. It is further explained by three subpoints, the second of which says, “We cannot love the Lord without seeing his beauty; once we see His beauty, we cannot help loving Him”. I can still remember quite vividly me enjoying that point all those years ago in the message meeting, thinking, “wow, this brother is speaking exactly what I am experiencing right now! I am in the first stage that he is talking about!”

We are not where we are now because of our ability (or inability) to love the Lord. It is just His mercy to reveal Himself to us. (Not an excuse for laziness; He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him! – Heb. 11:6.) Without seeing His beauty, we will not love Him. Rather we will love the world. This seeing is on the one hand a once-for-all life-changing experience, such as what I was experiencing at the time when I wrote this song. But on the other hand, we Christians experience this on an ongoing, daily basis; when our view of the Lord grows dim, we start loving other things. Lord, draw me! Charm me! Attract me! Capture me more!

Verse two of the song contains three symbolic pictures of Christ’s lovers from the Song of Songs. Firstly the horse, as one who is strong and full of trust in one’s natural ability:

S.S. 1:9 – I compare you, my love,
To a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.

This one needs to become the lily in chapter two:

S.S. 2:2 – As a lily among thorns,
So is my love among the daughters

Now, instead of being so strong and trusting in herself, she is depending on God like a lily (Matt. 6:28-30). The third picture is of being adorned with the string of jewels:

S.S. 1:10 – Your cheeks are lovely with plaits of ornaments,
Your neck with strings of jewels.

This picture takes a bit of studying from other portions of the Word, but the important significance here is that precious stones are related to the transforming work of the Spirit (1 Cor. 3:12; Rev. 21:11). This point is very sweet and was a great encouragement to me at the time. When His loveliness shined on me, I became conscious of my ugliness. But the very beauty that attracted me so helplessly was to become my own! Given to me as my adornment!

The final verse is an application of the story in 2 Samuel chapter nine:

2 Sam. 9:1 – And David said, Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show kindness to him for Jonathan’s sake?
2 Sam. 9:2 – Now there was a servant of the house of Saul, whose name was Ziba; and they called him to David. And the king said to him, Are you Ziba? And he said, I am your servant.
2 Sam. 9:3 – And the king said, Is there yet anyone at all of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him? And Ziba said to the king, There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.
2 Sam. 9:4 – Then the king said to him, Where is he? And Ziba said to the king, He is just now in the house of Machir the son of Amiel in Lo-debar.
2 Sam. 9:5 – And King David sent men and took him from the house of Machir the son of Amiel, from Lo-debar.
2 Sam. 9:6 – And Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he said, Your servant is here.
2 Sam. 9:7 – And David said to him, Do not be afraid, for I will surely show kindness to you for the sake of Jonathan your father; and I will restore to you all the land of your father Saul, and you will eat food at my table continually.
2 Sam. 9:8 – And he paid him homage and said, What is your servant that you should look upon a dead dog like me?
2 Sam. 9:9 – And the king called Ziba, Saul’s attendant, and said to him, All that belongs to Saul and to all his house I give to your master’s son.
2 Sam. 9:10 – And you shall work the land for him, you and your sons and your servants; and you shall bring in the produce that your master’s son may have food to eat; and Mephibosheth, your master’s son, will eat food continually at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.
2 Sam. 9:11 – Then Ziba said to the king, According to all that my lord the king has commanded his servant, so will your servant do. And Mephibosheth, said David, shall eat at my table like one of the king’s sons.
2 Sam. 9:12 – And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Mica. And all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants to Mephibosheth.
2 Sam. 9:13 – And Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem because he ate at the king’s table continually. And he was crippled in both his feet.

Once we realise that we are “crippled” (in BOTH feet), and that our King is so rich and sweet to us, this story brings tears to our eyes. Mephibosheth here is me. King David here is King Jesus. Though my ugliness has been exposed, it is not the Lord’s desire that I would be seeing my “crippled feet”. Rather, He is happy for those feet to be out of sight under the table. He is far more interested in what is on the table! He wants me to simply enjoy Him as the rich feast! Through enjoying Him in such a way, I am transformed inwardly by Him as the transforming Spirit. The Lord Jesus is the expert in making ugly people beautiful! By Your mercy, crippled feet lie forgotten / Beneath the table: Your transformation feast / Unsearchable; these riches that I now enjoy / I’ll love You Lord with my all forevermore

I love to sit here

.pdf with chords

I love to sit here, Lord Jesus,
Where You speak to me.
Here at Your feet Lord, I listen
And wait silently
For Your heart to be revealed to me.
I’m longing to be one with Thee,
Totally,
Lovingly,
Just occupied and lost within Your heart.

(click to play, down arrow to download)

 

I wrote this little song three years ago, on 27/10/08. It was during exam time, and I was quite stressed about an exam I had on the following day. I was touched by a portion of the Word I had read that morning, and I was praying that the Lord would remind me to pray myself into God that day. The portion was Luke 10:38-42:

38 Now as they went, He entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received Him into her home.
39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to His word.
40 But Martha was being drawn about with much serving, and she came up to Him and said, Lord, does it not matter to You that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to do her part with me.
41 But the Lord answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things;
42 But there is need of one thing, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

This short story gives us a sweet picture of a choice we make every day. Our lives are always being filled with more and more “things”. Many times, our cares begin to overwhelm us. Just like Martha, we get “drawn about”, and inwardly are “anxious and troubled”. We may try to contact the Lord, but our heart is too busy to really listen to His Word.

We need to take some time every day to “sit at the Lord’s feet”, like Mary. This requires us to silence our inner being. If our inner being is anxious and troubled like Martha, we are not able to just wait at the Lord’s feet, because we can’t stop thinking about all the “things” that need to be done. The Lord said there is only “need of one thing”. Will we be the ones who “choose the good part”?

To make this choice, we may pray something like this: “Lord, I confess that my heart is anxious and troubled. I don’t know how to silence my inner being, but I open to You. I praise You that You are well able to bring me out of my busy heart and into God. O Lord Jesus, I would like to choose the good part today!” He would love to answer such prayers that result in our being delivered from our busy heart, so that we can be occupied and lost in His heart. I know where I would rather be!

O Lord, You are the gentle One

.pdf with chords

1) O Lord, You are the gentle One.
To You hearts open wide.
Your living water gently flows
To heal and satisfy.

When all I see is outward sin,
You see the thirst within.
If I must speak to hearts in need,
Lord, gently flow through me.

2) When I failed You so miserably,
You never scolded me.
Restoring me so patiently,
You gently watered me.

How could I still self-righteous be,
Despite my history?
How could I without mercy be,
When You’ve forgiven me?

3) O Lord, You are the gentle One.
To You hearts open wide.
Your living water gently flows
To heal and satisfy.

(click to play, or click the down arrow to download)

This song is based on a point I particularly enjoyed from a message on Psalm 72. In this Psalm, we can see that Christ as a flowing river will recover the earth in His coming kingdom by watering:

Psa. 72:6 – He will drop like rain upon mown grass,
Like abundant showers dripping on the earth.
Psa. 72:7 – In His days the righteous will flourish,
And there will be an abundance of peace
Until the moon is no more.
Psa. 72:8 – And He will have dominion from sea to sea
And from the River unto the ends of the earth.

When it comes to the truth about the kingdom, one principle helps us to enter into it experientially. This is the matter of the kingdom having a hidden reality in this age, and an outward manifestation at the Lord’s second coming. The manifestation will involve the glorious appearing of the Lord and His reigning in splendour. Christians, on the one hand, are waiting for that coming day, but on the other hand, pursue to live day by day in the reality of the kingdom TODAY.

With this in view, we can and should experience this “recovering by watering” in our life today. This is an enjoyment in the reality of the kingdom. This line of enjoyment is where this song comes from.

The context of this song is realising that, when I endeavour to speak something according to some need, I don’t seem to express the Lord’s gentleness adequately. I concede that I am not the gentle one; Christ is the gentle One. Such a realisation almost makes me want to avoid having to speak anything, as I do not want to misrepresent the Lord, as did Moses in Numbers 20:10-12:

Num. 20:10 – And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said to them, Listen now, you rebels: Shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?
Num. 20:11 – Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his rod twice; and abundant water came forth, and the assembly and their livestock drank.
Num. 20:12 – And Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron, Because you did not believe in Me, to sanctify Me in the sight of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.

Many times, people do the things they do because they are thirsty within. We tend to see the outward things, but God sees the hearts of man. In John chapter four, the Lord came to a sinful woman at a well to save her. Others saw a person living in sin, but the Lord saw a person who was thirsty for reality, and He was able to speak to her heart:

John 4:6 – And Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from the journey, sat thus by the well; it was about the sixth hour.
John 4:7 – There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, Give Me something to drink.
John 4:8 – For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
John 4:9 – The Samaritan woman then said to Him, How is it that You, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, who am a Samaritan woman? (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
John 4:10 – Jesus answered and said to her, If you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, Give Me a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.
John 4:11 – The woman said to Him, Sir, You have no bucket, and the well is deep; where then do You get this living water?
John 4:12 – Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank of it himself, as well as his sons and his cattle?
John 4:13 – Jesus answered and said to her, Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again,
John 4:14 – But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall by no means thirst forever; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life.
John 4:15 – The woman said to Him, Sir, give me this water so that I will not thirst nor come here to draw.
John 4:16 – He said to her, Go, call your husband and come here.
John 4:17 – The woman answered and said, I do not have a husband. Jesus said to her, You have well said, I do not have a husband,
John 4:18 – For you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.
John 4:19 – The woman said to Him, Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.
John 4:20 – Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, yet you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men must worship.
John 4:21 – Jesus said to her, Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.
John 4:22 – You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we know, for salvation is of the Jews.
John 4:23 – But an hour is coming, and it is now, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truthfulness, for the Father also seeks such to worship Him.
John 4:24 – God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness.
John 4:25 – The woman said to Him, I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when He comes, He will declare all things to us.
John 4:26 – Jesus said to her, I, who speak to you, am He.
John 4:27 – And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He was speaking with a woman; yet no one said, What are You seeking? or, Why are You speaking with her?
John 4:28 – Then the woman left her waterpot and went away into the city, and said to the people,
John 4:29 – Come, see a man who told me all that I have done. Is this not the Christ?

Verse two is a remembrance of my own experience of being restored by this gentle One. My record is far from perfect, and I am so grateful that the Lord rules in such a gentle way. How could I then be harsh on others? I can’t say too much more about this, so I would instead point out some “extra reading” verses that help to reveal this One who is clearly the sweetest person in the entire universe! 🙂 (1 John 2:27 cf Luke 10:34; Luke 15; Matt. 18:23-35; James 2:13)

The song ends the same way that it begins: a concession that Christ is the gentle One, and I am not. Let us praise Him that He is such, and stop ourselves so that His gentle flow can use us as a channel to heal, restore, and satisfy those around us.

May I love You Lord, in incorruptibility

.pdf with chords
.pdf sheet music

May I love You Lord
In incorruptibility
Really love You Lord
And grasp each opportunity

To appreciate You,
And to turn my being toward You.
To be open to You
And enjoy You
With all my heart, with all my mind, with all my strength.

May I love You Lord
In incorruptibility
Really love You Lord
And grasp each opportunity

To give You the first place
And be joined to You as one.
To live You, and only You
To become You
In life and nature, Lord, to be Your counterpart.

(play button to play, down button to download)

Revelation 2:1-7 contains a message from the Lord to the church in Ephesus. Here are verses 2-6:

Rev. 2:2 – I know your works and your labor and your endurance and that you cannot bear evil men; and you have tried those who call themselves apostles and are not, and have found them to be false;
Rev. 2:3 – And you have endurance and have borne all things because of My name and have not grown weary.
Rev. 2:4 – But I have one thing against you, that you have left your first love.
Rev. 2:5 – Remember therefore where you have fallen from and repent and do the first works; but if not, I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place, unless you repent.
Rev. 2:6 – But this you have, that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

This has always been a precious portion of the Bible to me. On the one hand, it can be so exposing and painful to read when I am loving other things. But on the other hand, this portion is so sweet because it is the outpouring from the depths of God’s heart: He really, really wants our love! Love!

A year or two ago, this portion exploded into my heart with more light when I read Ephesians 6:24, the last verse of Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus:

Eph. 6:24 – Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruptibility.

The “click” of these two portions coming together was very loud in my inner being. I was actually quite shocked. The revelation of Christ and the church as His Body in Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus is exceedingly high. The highest revelation, the clearest understanding, the richest knowledge of the truth, you name it. It means nothing if set apart from love. The final word, the take-home message from this letter is to love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruptibility. Given the Ephesians’ failure, this word becomes so weighty to me.

Loving the Lord is basic. For something to be basic doesn’t necessarily mean that it is easy and simple. For something to be basic means that it forms a base that everything else is built upon. Our love relationship with the Lord is such a base. Without it, everything falls down. However, it is not always easy. It is often hard to realise just what it means to really love the Lord. Such a realisation makes me desperate to learn from ones who have gone before me. I particularly treasured a point from one message that picked out eight aspects of loving the Lord. The brother shared that these have been learned from years of study and experience. These enlarged and clarified my view, and so I wanted to make this song so I could remember them! Here are the eight aspects that were pointed out:

1 – To love the Lord is to appreciate Him

Matt. 26:7-11 – A woman came to Him, having an alabaster flask of ointment of great value, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at table. But when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, Why this waste? For this could have been sold for much and given to the poor. But Jesus, knowing it, said to them, Why do you trouble the woman? She has done a noble deed to Me. For the poor you have with you always, but you do not always have Me.

2 – To love the Lord is to direct our being toward Him

2 Cor. 3:16 – But whenever their heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
Mark 12:30 – And you shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart and from your whole soul and from your whole mind and from your whole strength

3 – To love the Lord is to open to Him

4 – To love the Lord is to enjoy Him

5 – To love the Lord is to give Him the first place

Col. 1:18 – And He is the Head of the Body, the church; He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead, that He Himself might have the first place in all things;

6 – To love the Lord is to be one with Him

1 Cor. 6:16-17 – Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute is one body? For He says, “The two shall be one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.

7 – To love the Lord is to live Him

Phil. 1:20-21 – According to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I will be put to shame, but with all boldness, as always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death. For to me, to live is Christ…

8 – To love the Lord is to become Him

S.S. 6:13 – Return, return, O Shulammite;
Return, return, that we may gaze at you.
Why should you gaze at the Shulammite,
As upon the dance of two camps?

To me, these eight points seem to be sequential. The last of the eight points, to become Him, I believe is the deepest stage. This verse is from the Song of Songs, which tells of the romance between Solomon and a maiden. It typifies our relationship with the Lord, which is also a romance. The significance of the name “Shulammite” is that it is the feminine form of “Solomon”. She has become the same as Him, to the point of becoming Him. From this point on, they are just one, and it is seen in their working together in the remaining two chapters of the book. Our loving the Lord eventually reaches to this point that we become Him in such a way.

May we love You, Lord, in incorruptibility.

Grace upon grace upon grace (John 1:16)

For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace (upon grace upon grace upon grace – John 1:16).

This was a spontaneous conversion of a particular enjoyment into a song, and we recorded it spontaneously too. I think mirror318 made the song actually, but I’m going to share my enjoyment 🙂

Several weeks ago I was praying some verses in John chapter 1, preparing to speak something. (This “pray-reading”, by the way, is the best way to take in God’s word in a way that is living and enjoyable; Jesus said that His words are spirit and life (John 6:63). 2 Timothy 3:16 says that all scripture is God-breathed. The word for “breath” is the same word as for “spirit”: Greek πνευμα (pneuma). These verses (and more) show us that the Word and the Spirit are inseperable, so we need to exercise our human spirit to pray the word into us as we read it!)

This verse was really enjoyable to me as I prayed. As I was praying, I began to repeat those words, grace upon grace, just opening my being to the Lord. I began to repeat even more, “grace upon grace upon grace upon grace!” I realised that my shortage in enjoying and experiencing Him as grace was nothing to do with His availability or richness, but everything to do with my capacity. He has been poured out as unlimited grace. The limitation must be my receiving, my opening to Him…

I had been struggling to touch the Lord, because my heart had been quite distracted by other things. There are so many things, good things, bad things, daily things, occasional things, things things things! Every THING, if allowed a place in our heart, will fill up some of the space there. It’s simple math – every time you put something in a container (such as our heart), the remaining volume decreases. Eventually, the Lord doesn’t seem so rich and enjoyable anymore. If our hearts were wholly focussed on God, we would have room for “grace upon grace”. Maybe even “grace upon grace upon grace!” But so many times, I only have about enough room for “gr…”. I can’t even fit “grace”, let alone “grace upon grace”!

After such a realisation (while pray-reading), my prayer was something like this: “Lord Jesus, empty me! Lord Jesus, empty me! Lord Jesus, empty me! Lord Jesus, empty me! Lord Jesus, empty me!” …(then something broke through, and my prayer turned to:) “Lord Jesus, fill me! Lord Jesus, fill me! Lord Jesus, fill me! Lord Jesus, fill me! Oh, grace upon grace upon grace upon grace! Fill me Lord Jesus!!”

Prayer is not about complexity, it’s about touching the Lord 🙂

Now this verse is so enjoyable to me. I’m almost brought to tears writing this, as I consider the things that have crept insidiously into my heart since this experience. Lord Jesus, empty me again! Fill me again! I want to know You as grace upon grace today! I hate to be occupied by other things! I love You Lord Jesus!

We Have Been Buried

Chords: C G Am F (Repeat)

(click on play button to play, or on down arrow to download)

This song was written 2-3 years ago. At that time, I had seen something of the truth setting me free, and the Word of Christ dwelling in me richly, so I decided to memorise bible verses everyday. Whenever I stumbled across a new verse that I liked, I would add it to the list of verses I wanted to memorise.

The reason for writing the song is not so spiritual: I simply opened my bible to the verse and straight away knew “I can’t memorise that, it’s too long,” so I wrote a tune to help me remember it.

The reason why the verse was on my list to be memorised, though, is deeper. Thinking back, my first real turn to the Lord was around the same time I started to read a book written by Watchman Nee, “The Overcoming Life”. The first section of this book is simply a list of all the different kinds of sin that we commit and that exist in us, not just the obvious like stealing or murder, but things I had never thought or cared about before.

Reading this book led me to a thorough confession before the Lord, which was rare in my life, and I started to see something of how horrible I was as a fallen man.

Encouragingly, the rest of the book focused mainly on the fact that we died ~2000 years ago. Since we are one with Christ, when He died, we also died with Him. I am a fallen man, but it doesn’t matter because that fallen man is not only dead but also buried with Him. When we are baptised, it is like our old man goes into the water, but does not come back out of the water, for through baptism we are buried with Christ.

However, to be left dead and buried is not such a good thing. Although our old man has been stopped and can no longer live in his corrupt way, it would be terrible if our purpose in life was simply to die. God does not want a dead people, He is a God of life, a living God, therefore He raises us from the dead. This is why we do not stay under the water when we are baptised, because we are raised from the dead, not as our old man with his corrupt life, but with a new life, with God’s life.

Raised from the dead with the life of God, we now in our daily living are walking in newness of life. This is to live out the divine pure life in us, the life that cannot sin, the life that matches God.

A common problem with many Christians is that, although our old man is on the cross, he seems to keep getting down again; although he is buried with Christ, he seems to keep walking out of the tomb to resume his old living. Although our old man has died and we have been raised with a life that cannot sin, we still find that we sin.

This is when you need real, solid facts. To merely hope that the old man is on the cross will not work. We need to realise the fact, which is that our old man has been crucified with Him. If he gets down from the cross, you need to declare to him that he is still on the cross. If he walks out of the tomb, you need to reject his presence and remind him firmly that he is still in the tomb.

To change our hopes into knowledge of the facts, we need the Word of God. We may say to our old man “you are supposed to be crucified”, and he may reply “says who? I am sinning through you, doesn’t that clearly show I am not crucified?”. Without the Word, you have no proof, no evidence, and you will lose your arguments. Your word against the old man is not so strong, but God’s Word is very powerful.

This verse is one of the many facts proving that the old man is dead. Pray this verse, sing it, receive it until the fact becomes real to you. Then you can live the overcoming life.

Romans 6:4 – We have been buried therefore with Him through baptism into His death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we might walk in newness of life.
(30/4/11 edit by 0ptl: added soundcloud stream, added verse)

1 Corinthians 6:11

.pdf with chords (to play in D capo 2, chords are D G D Bm A Bm G D A D G A G A D)

And these things were some of you;
but you were washed,
but you were sanctified,
but you were justified
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
and in the Spirit of our God.

(to download, click the down arrow)

This verse really touched me a couple of years back, and so I wanted to write a song to help me to remember it. It turned out, that the song also helped me to enjoy it more!

We aren’t interested in the so-called “sugar-coated” gospel that attempts to present something from the Bible that is easy to take, by twisting, glossing over, or ignoring certain portions of the Word. We want the truth. As a result, there are certain portions that are initially hard to digest, but when we do, the supply we get is so much richer, so much higher. This is the gospel of the kingdom. The demand is impossibly high, but the supply to meet that demand is also impossibly high, and more than sufficient. What is impossible with man is possible with God (Matt. 19:26).

The gospel according to Matthew speaks much concerning the kingdom of God. A good example to show how the demand of the kingdom is impossibly high is in Matthew chapter 5. Verses 17-48 are concerning the law of the kingdom people. Previously, the commandment was “do not murder”. The new requirement is “do not be angry” (v22). Previously it was “do not commit adultery”. The new requirement is “do not even look at a woman to lust after her” (v28). From these (and more) examples, we see that the new requirement is not satisfied by outward action; the Lord is looking at our inner being. He cares for our heart, because He wants to dwell there (Eph. 3:17). It would seem that none of us have any hope. But when God presents us with a demand, He also presents us with Himself as the supply to meet that demand. We can see this in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11:

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be led astray; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate nor homosexuals
10 Nor thieves nor the covetous, not drunkards, not revilers, not the rapacious will inherit the kingdom of God.
11 And these things were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

If we apply the principle we have seen in Matthew chapter 5, the list of things in verses 9 and 10 can no longer be skipped over as if we’re all OK. I once heard someone say, “we were all bitten by the same snake”. If we see this, none of us will ever have that “holier-than-thou” attitude. We are sinners not because of what we have done, but because of what we are. No matter how good we are, we can never meet the requirement of the kingdom…unless, we go on to verse 11!

Here we see the supply to meet the demand is God Himself. We were washed. We were sanctified, which is to be made holy, set apart unto God. We were justified, which is to be approved according to God’s(!!!) standard of righteousness. But this is not in ourself, and we know from our experience that it cannot be in ourself. This is real in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is, in His person, and in an organic union with Him through believing INTO Him (John 3:16). This is real in the Spirit of our God, who is indwelling our human spirit to be one spirit with us (1 Cor. 6:17). I don’t have the words to express how wonderful this is. He has opened the way for us to be one with Him! In this way, what was impossible is not only possible, but our real experience in our daily living! Hallelujah!

Now, to clarify some things. Suppose a saved believer didn’t enjoy this highest supply, and as a result lived a substandard life. Their eternal salvation is secure already. They won’t participate in the lake of fire (“hell”). However, there is also such a thing as a kingdom reward, which they also won’t participate in. Instead, there will be a limited time of punishment, before time ends and eternity future begins. It is important to differentiate between eternal punishment and the kingdom reward/punishment, or else we may fall into erroneous teachings. The two extremes are “I might lose my salvation” and “I can live however I want now, because I’ve got my ticket to heaven”. Let’s not be extreme. The truth is balanced, and so must we be. Yes, we are saved eternally, praise the Lord for His great mercy and grace! AND, let’s pursue Him and enjoy Him as our supply day by day so we can live in the reality of His kingdom today, and participate in the enjoyment of the kingdom reward at His second coming! Hallelujah!

These are They (Firstfruits)

Click here for a .pdf file with chords included (If you would prefer to play in D (capo2), the chords are D G D A D G Bm A Bm G Bm A G A G D for the verse and D G Bm A (repeat) for the chorus)

Yes, Lord, You need the man-child
To fight Your enemy,
But, Lord, Your deeper longing
To have Your lovers,
To have Your lovers,
Those overcomers,
Firstfruits, Your satisfaction

Lord Jesus, I do love You;
I’ll keep myself for You,
Remain a virgin for You:
Defiled by nothing,
Dirtied by nothing,
Spoiled by nothing,
Pure for Your satisfaction

These are they
Who have not been defiled
For they are virgins
These are they
Who follow the Lamb
Wherever He may go
These were purchased
From among men
As firstfruits to God and to the Lamb
(Revelation 14:4)

(click on the down arrow if you want to download it)

This one is my most recent song, written about two weeks ago. I was reading through Revelation and decided to do a bit of extra study on the firstfruits in chapter 14, because it kind of “jumped out” at me.

In chapter 12 of Revelation, there is a vision of a dragon, a woman, and a man-child born of the woman. Here is the entire text of Revelation chapter 12. If you have a couple of minutes, you should read it. The reality of all conflict in the universe is the spiritual warfare behind all the outward situations.

1 And a great sign was seen in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon underneath her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars;
2 And she was with child, and she cried out, travailing in birth and being in pain to bring forth.
3 And another sign was seen in heaven; and behold, there was a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems.
4 And his tail drags away the third part of the stars of heaven, and he cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bring forth, so that when she brings forth he might devour her child.
5 And she brought forth a son, a man-child, who is to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.
6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place there prepared by God so that they might nourish her there a thousand two hundred and sixty days.
7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels went to war with the dragon. And the dragon warred and his angels.
8 And they did not prevail, neither was their place found any longer in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast down, the ancient serpent, he who is called the Devil and Satan, he who deceives the whole inhabited earth; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him.
10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, Now has come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ, for the accuser of our brothers has been cast down, who accuses them before our God day and night.
11 And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they loved not their soul-life even unto death.
12. Therefore be glad, O heavens and those who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea because the devil has come down to you and has great rage, knowing that he has only a short time.
13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who brought forth the man-child.
14 And to the woman there were given the two wings of the great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness into her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time from the face of the serpent.
15 And the serpent cast water as a river out of his mouth after the woman that he might cause her to be carried away by its current.
16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
17 And the dragon became angry with the woman and went away to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus.
18 And he stood on the sand of the sea.

The dragon signifies Satan, the enemy of God. This dragon is persecuting the woman, signifying the totality of all of God’s people on earth. From out of God’s people, a stronger part is born. These overcomers are signified by the man-child in Revelation chapter 12, and we see that it is these overcomers who war against and defeat Satan, the enemy of God (12:11).

God does need us to overcome in order to defeat His enemy. This is very much in line with His original purpose in creating man (Gen. 1:26). But if we continue to Revelation chapter 14, we see something deeper in God’s heart concerning these overcomers. Here are the first five verses of chapter 14:

1. And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.
2 And I heard a voice out of heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder; and the voice which I heard was like the sound of harp-singers playing on their harps.
3 And they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the hundred and forty-four thousand, who have been purchased from the earth.
4 These are they who have not been defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are they who follow the Lamb wherever He may go. These were purchased from among men as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.
5 And in their mouth no lie was found; they are without blemish.

Both of these portions show us the overcomers, but there are different aspects in each. In chapter 12, the overcomers are the man-child for fighting God’s enemy, Satan. In chapter 14, the overcomers are the firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. They are the ones who satisfy God.

In our day-by-day christian experience, sometimes we need to learn to go on from chapter 12 to chapter 14. When we overcome Satan by the Lord’s shed blood and by the word of our testimony (12:11), this often involves “preaching to Satan”. We may say something like, “Satan, yes I know I failed in this matter, and enjoyed doing something that I shouldn’t have. But don’t you know? Jesus died for me! The debt is paid! Satan, you are defeated already! Hallelujah!” We find that speaking the word of God to Satan in this way can be very releasing. But we also need to be careful that we wouldn’t be distracted from our precious Lord and God by spending too much time talking to Satan. He really isn’t worth it. Don’t preach for Satan for too long; after a short time, you may say, “Satan, I have no more time to talk to you. I need to spend my time to love the Lord”.

It is because we love the Lord that we keep ourselves from other things to be pure for His satisfaction. This is the significance of the overcomers being “virgins” in Revelation 14:4. The overcomers abstain from many wordly pleasures. But it’s not because they are afraid of those things. It’s not even because they are keeping certain regulations. It is simply because they love the Lord Jesus so much, that they are motivated from deep within to keep themselves as pure as possible, for the sake of God’s own satisfaction. Only such a love can keep us so pure. This portion of the Bible resounds deeply within me. I’m so grateful that God has purchased me from among men to be one of the firstfruits to Him.

Lord Jesus, I say “Amen” to Your word. I exercise my spirit of faith in this matter. Work this out as a reality in my daily living. I love You Lord Jesus. I really love You!

Also of note is the word “these”. Note the plurality. Our God is not looking for individual christians. Only the Body of Christ can satisfy Him. (For more on this, read the previous post!)

There is so much more in this portion of Revelation about the firstfruits, but what I have shared is what the song is based on. I encourage you to pray over these verses, pray with these verses, pray pray pray! It is such a mercy that God has revealed to us something so deep in His heart! Praise the Lord!

If it weren’t for the Body…

.pdf with chords

1) If it weren’t for the Body,
What would I build?
In a world that is failing,
Why should I build my own house?

Heaven and earth are passing away
God’s word is not passing away
(Matt 24:35)

2) If it weren’t for you saints,
What would I hope?
My Lord is coming
To marry His corporate bride

Christ loved the church. He loves the church.
He gave Himself up for her
(Eph. 5:25)

If it weren’t for the Body,
Why would I live?

Chords: E A E A E A C#m B (or, capo 2: D G D G D G Bm A)
Chords for ending part: E A E (or, capo 2: D G D)

(to download, click the down arrow)

Unfortunately, I have lost my notes from when I wrote this song. I think I wrote it in 2009.

Since I was very young, before I knew the Lord in a personal way, I was always discouraged by the meaningless cyclic nature of human life, even though I didn’t have very much experience of it at that time. I remember complaining to my mum something like, “how come I need to go to school? I just do one year of school to get into the next year of school, then the next year of school to get into the year after that…I’m doing primary school now to get into intermediate school, then I’ll do that to get into highschool, then highschool to get into university… what’s the point?” My reason for complaining about this is that I wanted to stay at home and play games, because it is more fun. I never knew at that time that a much deeper sentiment along the same line is contained in the Bible, in the book of Ecclesiastes, written by Solomon the wise king. He had a very rich human life, yet came to the conclusion that it is just a meaningless cycle. Here is the introductory portion to his writing on this topic, Ecclesiastes 1:1-11:

1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, the king in Jerusalem.
2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; Vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
3 What advantage does a man have in all his work Which he does under the sun?
4 A generation goes and a generation comes, But the earth stands forever.
5 Also, the sun rises, and the sun sets And hurries to its place where it rises.
6 Going to the south, then turning to the north, Turning about continually, the wind goes on; And following its circuits, the wind returns.
7 All the rivers run to the sea, Yet the sea is not full; To the place where the rivers run, There they run again.
8 All things are wearisome; No one is able to tell it; The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor is the ear filled with hearing.
9 What has been is what will be, And what has been done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say, See, this is new? Already it has been, in the ages that were before us.
11 There is no remembrance of those who were before; And also those who will come to be afterward, for them there will be no remembrance With those who come to be after them.

Vanity of vanities; all is vanity… (1:2)

Because I never found the content of this world very motivating, I was never driven to aim to have any kind of future. But this changed after I met the Lord. As I grew to know Him more, and to know the Bible more, the sense of purpose changed me. I no longer wanted to just waste my hours and days having fun and enjoying myself, because I now had a purpose for being here (Rev. 4:11). Heaven and earth are passing away, but God’s word shall by no means pass away (Matt. 24:35).

Later on, a similar sense of vanity filled certain aspects of even my spiritual pursuit of the Lord. My personal spirituality and progress in an individual way had become my focus, but this too turned out to be meaningless. I was “building my own house” (Hag. 1:4) rather than God’s house (Matt. 16:18; Eph. 2:22; Rev. 21:2). God actually doesn’t want me; He only wants Christ with His Body of many members (Matt. 3:17; Mark 9:7-8; 1 Cor. 12:12). Christ’s dying love was actually not for me; the joy set before Him was the corporate bride to match Him as His counterpart (Eph. 5:25; Isa. 53:11; Heb. 12:2; Rev. 19:7; 21:2). Such a realisation, combined with my desperateness for the Lord’s return, generated within me an intense appreciation and love for my brothers and sisters in Christ. I call this my self-centred selflessness: Because I really want my Lord to return soon, I want to pour out my life to serve my brothers and sisters; Christ is not coming back for me, but for the saints as His dear bride. I trust that over time, the Lord will deal with any selfishness that still remains in my sentiment, and what remains will be one of pure God as love (1 John. 4:8).

Finally, I wrote this song in a time of depression. I didn’t want to be depressed by things that I already knew were meaningless, so I asked myself the question: “what am I building here?” The whole world is saturated with the concept of “building my own house”, and gradually, it just starts to affect me… kind of like when a strong food smell pervading the air penetrates your clothing. So, I turned to the truth to set me free. I often sing this song when I detect that the wordly concept has penetrated me again.

P.S. This song doesn’t really reveal much about what God’s building actually is, nor does it do justice to the burden for God’s building. Perhaps future comments and/or songs will convey more along this line…

Remind me, Lord…

.pdf with chords

Remind me Lord, the reason why I live and breathe;
Remind me Lord, that I’m a vessel for Your purpose.
Remind me Lord, that I can’t make it on my own.
Live through me, I pray.

Forgive me Lord, for seeking things apart from You.
Forgive me Lord, if I have left my first love for You.
Forgive me Lord, my taste for those things still remains!
Deal with this, I pray.

Sustain me Lord, to run this race, pursuing You.
Sustain me Lord, to cross the waters and possess You.
Sustain me Lord, to never cease from eating You!
Feed me every day!

I love You Lord, but teach me what it really means.
I love You Lord, e’en though it’s hard that I can’t see You.
I love You Lord, but I still want to love You more!
Lord, I just love You.

Chords: C G Am F (repeat)

(note: you can click the play button to listen online, or you can click the down arrow to download the file)

(Thank you to the sisters who recorded this second track 🙂 May the Lord continually remind you why you are here on this earth!)

I began writing this song as a highschooler several years ago, when I was inspired by a message. The sentence that really hit home was something like, “the reason that we live and breathe is for God’s purpose, His economy”. The first half of this song conveys my musings upon that fact, according to where I was at in my experience at that time. The sentence from the message really made me desperate that I wouldn’t be distracted from the purpose; the whole reason why I even live and breathe. May we never forget what we were created for (Gen. 1:26).

A few months ago, something stirred this old song up in my being, which I had never completed. I wrote it out according to my memory of it, and then added verse 3 to add to the progression of experience contained in the song. I realised that the only way to continue running the Christian race after reconsecrating and confessing (verses 1 and 2), is to be sustained by enjoying Christ as enjoyable, nourishing, refreshing food (Heb. 12:1; Exo. 12:8; S.S. 2:5).

Finally, after writing the first 3 verses, I felt the need for a fourth. I knew that it would start with, “I love You, Lord”, but it wasn’t until a week later that I wrote it; this one took some consideration to convert sentiment into song. The entire Christian life is a romance between us and the Lord. Sometimes it can be difficult for us, because we are so much in the physical realm. 1 Peter 1:8 says, “Whom having not seen, you love; into whom though not seeing Him at present, yet believing, you exult with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory”. Verse 4 contains my genuine sentiment of both frustration and unspeakable joy. Surely we are a mysterious people.