Jesus, I Come
Out of my bondage, sorrow and night,
Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;
Into Thy freedom, gladness, and light,
Jesus, I come to Thee;
Out of my sickness, into Thy health,
Out of my want and into Thy wealth,
Out of my sin and into Thyself,
Jesus, I come to Thee.
Out of my shameful failure and loss,
Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;
Into the glorious gain of Thy cross,
Jesus, I come to Thee;
Out of earth’s sorrows, into Thy balm,
Out of life’s storms and into Thy calm,
Out of distress to jubilant psalm,
Jesus, I come to Thee.
Out of unrest and arrogant pride,
Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;
Into Thy blessed will to abide,
Jesus, I come to Thee;
Out of myself to dwell in Thy love,
Out of despair, into raptures above,
Upward for aye on wings like a dove,
Jesus, I come to Thee.
Out of the fear and dread of the tomb,
Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;
Into the joy and light of Thy home,
Jesus, I come to Thee;
Out of the depths of ruin untold,
Into the peace of Thy sheltering fold,
Ever Thy glorious face to behold,
Jesus, I come to Thee.
A conversation with God on the way to church this morning. “I am becoming a jerk. I trample over people. I don’t think I care about anything. I don’t even think I care about You anymore. I don’t want to be like this, I don’t want to be so lazy. I want to live for You, to choose You everyday, but I am too lazy to try anymore. I wish I could tell You i’ll try harder, but I won’t because I don’t want to try harder. What does this all mean then? What if I died right now? What does this mean for my future? I don’t want to be a church-going-lukewarm Christian, but that’s the track I’m on if I keep living this lazy life. God, I’ve not done enough this year for people. I am deeply regrettful of that. But what do I do to change it now, especially when I don’t want to invest still?”
At church, Pastor Drew yelling (literally) from the pulpit: “STEP UP! Chuck Swindoll has said that the American church is FULL of carnal Christians. And I see it invading our church. Why are you STILL DRINKING SILAMAC? You have been in this church for years, yet you’re not serving. Why are you STILL DRINKING SILAMAC? You have been a Christian for 13 years, but you’re still struggling with pornography. Why are you STILL DRINKING SILAMAC? Wake up and step up. I’m sick of people in this church just letting their flesh live in them. You are acting like baby Christians when you should be eating the meat.”
A prayer for the offering (thrown in toward the end of the prayer): “And Lord, if anyone is worried about their job for the future, if anyone has to make decisions coming up toward their future, toward their jobs, I pray that You would help them discern the right decision. That You would provide for their needs, and lead them to a job, and equip them to make the right decisions toward their future.”
I needed this Sunday so much. I walked to church expecting to go through the motions again, singing the same songs, getting the same weak message. Instead, God looked at my face. He spoke to me of who I am (who I can be) in Him through the song that we sung (lyrics above), woke me from my pastor yelling at me from the pulpit, and encouraged me to trust Him through specific prayers throughout the service. I wasn’t alone.
