Christian Music ~ V. Rose | Sinking Deep

"Sinking Deep"

Performed by V. Rose
Written by Aodhan King & Alex Pappas
Video Created by D. L. Dunnaville


Video Linked Here

LYRICS:

[Verse 1:]
Standing here in your presence
In a grace so relentless
I am won by perfect love
Wrapped within the arms of heaven
In a peace that lasts forever
Sinking deep in mercy's sea

[Chorus:]
I'm wide awake, drawing close, stirred by grace
And all my heart is yours
All fear removed, I breathe you in, I lean into
Your love, oh, your love

[Verse 2:]
When I'm lost you pursue me
Lift my head to see your glory
Lord of all, so beautiful
Here in you I find shelter
Captivated by the splendor
Of your face, my secret place

[Chorus:]
I'm wide awake, drawing close, stirred by grace
And all my heart is yours
All fear removed, I breathe you in, I lean into
Your love, oh, your love

[Bridge:]
Your love so deep is washing over me
Your face is all I seek, you are my everything
Jesus Christ, You are my one desire
Lord, hear my only cry, to know you all my life

[Chorus:]
I'm wide awake, drawing close, stirred by grace
And all my heart is yours
All fear removed, I breathe you in, I lean into
Your love, oh, your love

Workouts! ~ [S]FFT Coll. 2

WORKOUTS
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Unless you were trying to be funny, you wouldn’t pull over and ask a jogger on the side of the road if he or she needed a ride. And if you’re a gentleman but find yourself at a gym where you see a lady about to lift weights, you don’t stop and offer to pick those weights up for her.

There is a time, place and season for everything (Ecclesiastes 3:1). In the cases mentioned, these people are trying to get in shape or stay in shape and you stepping in trying to spare them the exercise would only defeat the objective. It would also show that you’re missing the bigger picture.

Well, likewise…there are times when the LORD is trying to “workout” something in one of His children and as much as we would like to be helpful or a gentleman, it is more important that we are in prayer and in tune with God’s “bigger picture”. Like playing tug of war with weights, our stepping in and trying to spare someone pain might actually do more damage than good. We the helpers might end up hurting ourselves and the defeating the purpose of the other person’s trial. It’s important for us to remember that pain is one of life’s greatest teachers and God is the ultimate Principal.

Though this should be the exception and not the norm, there are certain cases when a person in sin might actually need to pay the due consequences of his or her actions, for the person’s own good. The Apostle Paul once wrote:

“…you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”
– 1 Corinthians 5:5 (ESV)
Even more severe is the case we find in the book of Jeremiah where YHVH has declared His judgment on His people and told His prophet things such as:

“As for you, do not pray for this people, and do not lift up cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with Me; for I do not hear you.
– Jeremiah 7:16; 11:14
Now let me remind you; this should be the exception and not the norm. I am definitely not advocating that we don’t pray for our brothers and sisters when we know they are in need or struggling. In the case of Jeremiah, God Himself had proclaimed judgment through His prophet.

So unless you know you’ve heard from the LORD and therefore should not pray, be sure to keep interceding! Meanwhile, it would be a good idea for you to see what you can also learn from your brother or sister’s ordeal. Ask God what it is He might want to teach you through another’s experience. As a human race, we are all connected. Our lives and actions have eternal ripple effects and so any lesson that helps one, ultimately helps us all.

Chew on this!

#1 Cause of DEATH in America!

#1 CAUSE OF DEATH IN AMERICA
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If you had to take a guess, what would you say is the leading cause of death in the United States of America? Would you guess that it is…

1. Cancer
2. Heart Disease
3. Fires
4. Homicides
5. Automobile Accidents
6. Drowning
7. Food Poisoning
8. Suicides
9. Drug/Alcohol Incidents
Or
10. “Natural” Causes?

Perhaps you were right in guessing that the correct answer is none of the above. But, before we dive right in to answer the question at hand, let us first take the time to examine the term “death” and observe its real meaning.
According to standard dictionary definitions, “death” is most often described as:

the permanent and total cessation (end) of life in an organism
Notice the words “permanent” & “total” above. From cover to cover, God’s Word would confirm this standard definition. Naturally speaking, death is not something temporary nor is it the mere separation of one part from another (e.g. one’s soul from his body).

When a person dies, his or her breath leaves the body, the body turns to dust, & then he or she ceases to exist as a person. At this point, the deceased escapes time and the next thing he or she will be aware of is the Resurrection. To everyone else still living and affected by time, the deceased person is in a type of sleep.

It’s as if the human brain and body are a computer with its various parts. Like computers, we humans sleep at night which is temporary but there is now unfortunately a permanent sleep which we incur which, also known as death. This is like the power to a computer being killed when its cord is unplugged. The computer becomes completely useless in terms of what it was created for. However, all memory, information and files remain and the computer is simply in permanent sleep mode until power is restored. Again, for human beings, this very moment of restoration is the Resurrection.
John 5:28-29 reads:

“Do not be amazed by this; the time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice and come forth — those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.”
The “death” that one should mostly be concerned about is the “second death.” This is when a person’s entire being (i.e. body, soul~life, spirit~breath) is cast into a consuming fire which no one but God can quench or put out (Matthew 10:28; Luke 3:17). Upon being completely destroyed by fire, the condemned will forever cease to exist & “be as though they had never been” (Obadiah 1:16). It is with this second death that there is no hope of resurrection or return.

Question: Most everyone will sleep a first death, but why will so many die in the second death & “consume away” to “be no more” (Psalm 37:10, 20)? Why will many receive the horrific punishment of being burned up by fire & made ashes (Malachi 4:1-3)?

Answer: Because so many suffer from the number one disorder in America & in the world [for that matter]. This disorder is called disobedience. Another name for it is “sin” & God’s Word says that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Despite one’s beliefs, all who continually disobey the Lord will die in the second death (Jude 1:15).

In the beginning, it was Adam’s sin and disobedience that brought death into this world. Following in his steps, mankind continually lives in sin to this day. Wars, rapes, murders, and even many diseases all come from man’s sinful choices and are not God’s will (James 1:13-15; 4:1&2). To ensure a perfect world in this age, God could destroy each and every person who sins... the very moment he or she breaks His laws, but He doesn’t! If He did, who among us would remain (Romans 3:23)? Who among us has never committed a sin (1 John 1:10)?

Throughout all of human history, YHVH has set before mankind two choices: life and death (see Genesis 2:15-17 & Deuteronomy 30:19). He gives man the opportunity to live for himself and his own personal agendas or give up his life and live entirely for the LORD (Luke 17:33). In love, God patiently waits for men to turn from worthless and ungodly ways (2 Peter 3:9) and although He is patient, He will not wait forever.

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Get With the Program!

GET WITH THE PROGRAM!
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“The Four Pillars are the source of all power and like icebergs in the middle of an ocean, the bulk of them is under the IT…supporting it. That is the nature of true power. You seem to have missed this grand mystery.”
The above quote is from the final chapter of Rescuca: Savior of the Realm. The Four Pillars mentioned here actually represent the Four Letters for the name of God, YHVH, and the speaker is referring to the power which comes from serving and submitting. The IT represents all that exists and we learn in this book that service and submission are the power lines through which all power flows within God’s creation.
It’s particularly the topic of submission which I want to discuss today. For many, the word “submission” brings to mind weakness and inferiority and this bad association gives way to fear and doubt. Because of negative things we see and hear, we question whether or not any authority can really be trusted and we begin to “lean on our own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5) rather than trusting the Word of God.

It’s for this very reason that Adam and Eve failed the very first submission test in human history and all of mankind came under a curse. Later, however, our faith-father Abraham passed his submission test and became the vessel through which all nations would be blessed. Moving forward in history, we see King Saul fail to fully submit his will to God and his authority was passed on to a young and submissive David; a man after God’s own heart who would do everything God wanted him to do (Acts 13:22). And we know that through this same David the Messiah Himself eventually came and displayed perfect submission; going as far as to wash the feet of His human creations and be crucified to set us free from the original curse. It’s by faith in His submission and sacrifice for us that we can be blessed with God’s Spirit, raised to life at the resurrection and inherit this [renewed] earth, just as Abraham was promised (Genesis 17, 22; Galatians 3:29). - Look at how POWERFUL submission is!

So how can we tap in to this amazing power and be blessed today? Well, the answer is in God's Word to us through His saints. Children are to honor & submit to their parents & be blessed (Exodus 20:12; Ephesians 6:2). Wives are to submit to their husbands and unlock God's power in their homes and be blessed (Ephesians 5:22). Men and husbands are to submit to each other and the authorities placed over them in their lives by God and thereby release submission power into this entire world (1 Peter 2:13-17). To be successful in this effort though, we must first have our minds reprogrammed to see things God’s way. Isaiah 55:8 reads,

“My thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares YHVH.”
In his first letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul quotes Isaiah when he writes,

“For who has known the mind of YHVH? Who will counsel Him?
But we have the mind of the Messiah.
- 1 Corinthians 2:16”
The Messiah is our example and He is our key. Yeshua the Messiah came in the flesh making many things known to us that were completely contrary to the way mankind typically thinks. For example: Jesus taught that it’s better to give than to receive (Acts 20:35), that the humble will be exalted and the last shall be first. He taught that we are to repeatedly forgive our fellow person even when he repeatedly sins against us. Yeshua taught that the law was actually full of God’s mercy (Matthew 23:23) and that God’s law was made for man and not man for it (Mark 2:27). Most notably, Christ taught that in order to truly live, we must first die to ourselves. And it’s when this happens that His Spirit can come live in us and through us and we have His program renewing our minds each day. This is what the Apostle Paul was referring to in his letter to the church.

Now, with all of that being said, we must still be warned. The accuser, tester, and enemy of our souls also knows the power of submission and this is why all people are tempted just as the Messiah was tempted by Satan. We are tempted to question God’s perfect system and design. We are all tempted to say "My will be done" instead of "Thy will be done". We are tempted to dominate and rule over our fellow person rather than put him first, serve others, and submit to authority.
Fellow creations of God, let’s get with God's submission program so that His Kingdom may come and His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven!

- Amen

Risen Movie Now Available on Digital!

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I don't know of any film that gets everything right 100% according to the Bible but then again, even the various gospels themselves differ on the details. Overall...Great movie!

If you need me to mail you a copy (when it's available on the 24th), let me know!

~ Be Blessed!

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Question: In Rescuca: Savior of the Realm...Yearning, Halation, Vitality & Hatred are the Four Pillars which uphold the IT. Who or what do the Four Pillars represent?

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Freedolatry!

FREEDOLATRY
~ When Freedom Becomes an Idol
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A teenager can no longer stand living under her parents' roof because of their restrictive rules and so she runs off and moves in with her boyfriend; a college couple decides that now is just not the right time to have a child and so both parties agree that the mother should have an abortion; a group of states and colonies decide they no longer want to pay high taxes and be part of a unified government and so they form an army to fight and kill in the name of their individual rights. - What do all of these have in common?

All of these situations involve clear violations of the Ten Commandments of YHVH and are classic examples of what I call “Freedolatry”. Any time something becomes so valuable to us to the point where we are willing to pursue it at all costs, rather than obey the One True God…that is idolatry. And in America, freedom is chief among this list of misguided pursuits. In truth, any supposed "freedom" outside of the laws of God is no freedom at all. It’s actually bondage. The Apostle Paul wrote:

“Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?”
– Romans 6:16 (NKJV)
Although many overlook this, it is terribly fitting that one of the chief symbols of America’s craving for independence, the graven image of the Roman goddess Libertas, is in itself a violation of God’s command. The 2nd of the Ten Commandments reads:

“You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods.”
- Exodus 20:4&5a (NLT)

At this point you might be thinking as I did long ago: “That’s silly, we don’t bow down or worship any idols or graven images today. And surely no one worships the Statue of Liberty!”

Well, pretending that actual idol worship does not still exist in various places in the world today, let’s take a quick look at the definition of “worship” found at dictionary.com. Worship is defined as…

“reverent honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage,
or to any object regarded as sacred”
You can be certain that around the world and definitely in the United States, the goddess Libertas and her graven image is most definitely honored and paid homage. It is reported in a NYC tour guide (nyctourist.com) that an estimated 3.2 million people go to the expense of visiting the giant-sized image of the goddess in New York each year. This same goddess is featured as an icon on coins, flags, and many other items of everyday life.

You see, the U.S. nation was founded on the notion of freedom first, at all costs. My particular high school was named after Patrick Henry who is famous for stating “Give me liberty or given me death!” This is the spirit of independence on which America was founded and it still reigns in this nation today. I myself, over an eight year period, proudly served in two different branches of the United States armed forces. This was all in the name of freedom and independence. In reality, I had sworn an oath of allegiance to be willing to kill or be killed, all in service to the false gods in my life; gods such Libertas. Contrarily, in both Old and New Testaments, the One True God instructs me to love my neighbor which now specifically includes my enemy. I’m not to murder my neighbor with guns or grenades. Nor am I to support the killing of babies while in the wombs of mothers; or violently rebel against my government because I don’t agree with its policies.

Does all of this make political sense? – Not necessarily. It’s not intended to…just as the Son of God did not come in the flesh with the intention of fixing the Roman government. As a saint, politics are not to be my primary concern. My primary concern is to be modeling my life after my savior Jesus Christ, Yeshua the Messiah, and serving Him and His Kingdom, no matter the earthly consequence. Rather than follow the ways of this world, Yeshua obeyed the will of the Eternal Father and all saints are to faithfully do the same.

- Amen

Charge & Recharge

CHARGE & RECHARGE
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I've owned and used three different types of weed whackers in my time. I’ve had the cordless kind which call for a battery pack, the gas-powered type, and then the electric version which has a cord you have to plug in to an outlet. I’ve learned the hard way that each type of weed eater comes with its own set of strengths and weaknesses. All said and done, my personal preference is the cordless electric version. However, its primary weakness is the fact that it inevitably runs out of power before the whole job is done. This then becomes a time to go get another battery pack, move on to another job, or simply take a break.

With a fully charged battery, you can set out to accomplish a whole week’s worth of edging and trimming in one shot but most likely, that battery is going to run out well before you’ve gotten even half of your job done. At some point, you’re going to have to recharge and then go back to get the job done correctly. Even if you have multiple battery packs, at some point they will all need recharged.

I guess in theory, you could go out with a weed whacker which doesn’t have any power at all and try to trim things that way. You might actually be able to accomplish some results. Odds are though, those results are going to be pretty messy and your initial goal was to make your lawn neater, not messier.

One day it hit me that all of this is much like our spiritual walk with our Creator, the One who made the heavens and the Earth. With our personal actions as well as our corporate governments, it’s no question that we as mankind have made a mess of things. And the minute we solve one problem, it seems like we create another. I’m thinking this is primarily because on both local and global scales, we typically do not make decisions while being charged and led by the Holy Spirit of YHVH; nor do we regularly seek His divine counsel. Proverbs 3:5&6 reads:

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
Later, in the Book of John, we read where Yeshua said,

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me,
and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
– John 15:5 (NKJV)
So name the problem in the world – unless we the created ones are seeking Holy Spirit input and energy from our Creator, our resolve will always be shortsighted, short-lived, and ultimately a failure.

Now let’s say you did seek the LORD on a matter; something such as a conflict you were dealing with or a major life decision you had to make. From there, it is vitally important that you keep seeking the LORD on a regular basis and remain in Him so that He will remain in you. You need to live in such a way that you continually seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit of God. You need to keep getting recharged. A one-time filling is not going to get the job done...just like charging a battery pack once will not last a lifetime. This is evident in the Apostle Paul’s instruction in Ephesians where he writes:

“Do not be drunk with wine, which will ruin you, but be filled with the Spirit.”
– Ephesians 5:18 (NCV)
Though it would sound a bit funny in English, the Greek word (i.e. plerousthe) here translated as “be filled” would more accurately be rendered as “be being kept filled”. In other words, it’s a continual process. A careful reading of the Book of Acts will show you that the disciples were seeking more and more filling of the Holy Spirit well after the initial outpouring which occurred during the feast of Pentecost (e.g. Acts 4:23-31; 13:52). Again, we must abide in the LORD and get our ideas, energy, desires, hope, and ultimately our lives from Him. There really is no other way!


In closing I leave you with this quote to chew on:

“If you believe you can coast into tomorrow with yesterday’s filling
of the Spirit, then there is a lesson you need to learn today!”
- Clay Vessel