"The Advocate"

As promised. :) Written by Charitie Lees Smith.

Before the Throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea
A great High Priest whose name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart.
I know that while in Heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.

Behold Him there the risen Lamb,
My perfect spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM,
The King of glory and of grace.
One in Himself I cannot die,
My soul is purchased by His blood,
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ my Savior and my God!

Hymns Permeate My Heart

I don't want to denounce the value of the Bible, but sometimes lines from hymns stick with me better than passages from Scripture. I can read certain verses and it makes me think of certain hymns. I feel a little ashamed at times when I think "Oh, that Bible verse comes from this song" - when in reality it is the other way around. Nevertheless, I am incredibly grateful to the hymn writers throughout the centuries for giving me another resource and inspiration for my Christian walk. When certain truths are put to music, they are easier to remember, and at times they make more sense.
One of my favorite hymns that is rather unknown is called "Before the Throne of God Above", or can also be titled, "The Advocate", as I have recently discovered. I was first introduced to it several years ago at the girls summer camp at my church. It is written by Charitie Lees Smith, who is also an unknown hymn writer. She wrote "The Advocate" when she was twenty two years old, which is quite inspiring considering the truths present and the skill with which she manipulates the lyrics. It speaks of Christ being our all in all, sufficient for every trial we may ever face. We need not fear for He is our Savior, friend, advocate.
Lately I have been going through spiritual attack of being overwhelmed by guilt. I feel guilty for things I haven't even done or I have no control over, and I continue to feel guilty for sins I have already confessed and been forgiven of. The most frustrating part of it all is that I still have this tremendous desire to please God and so I don't want to ignore these feelings of guilt if they are coming from Him, pointing me to obedience or repentance. But after a while I had to realize that these feelings couldn't come from Him, as they are almost paralyzing, driving me into intense despair. A couple lines from this hymn, "The Advocate", came to my mind and a peace washed over me as I re-realized Who was on my side. They begin the second verse:
"When Satan tempts to despair,
And tells me of the guilt within;
Upward I look and see Him there,
Who made an end of all my sin."
This is the gospel. Christ's atoning sacrifice cleanses us not only from the power of sin, but also its guilt. Satan will try to bring us down by reminding us of past sins (or in my case, things never even committed), but to quote another hymn: "What though the accuser roar, of ills that I have done, I know them well, and thousands more, Jehovah findeth none!" As believers, God the Father sees us as righteous because we are clothes with the righteousness of Christ. "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1
Praise Jesus that this is true! I am so thankful that His sacrificial work on the cross atones for all my sin - past, present, and future! I have nothing to fear or worry about because of His infinite love for me!
P.S. "The Advocate" is so good that I would like to post the lyrics on this blog, but I'll do it in a separate post. :)

Open Minds & Stretched Lives

     Maybe I should drink coffee more often before church. I only have caffeine about twice a month, so when I do have it, my mind goes crazy alert. That’s how I was this morning – I got a whole bunch of stuff from the message. My only problem now is trying to condense it all into a coherent whole, when this morning everything my pastor said would lead me onto a theological rabbit trail.

     The sermon was on the church being the body of Christ, taking from Acts 2 and 1 Corinthians 12. I think that Christ’s design of the church is pretty much the coolest thing ever and something that is really not promoted much in today’s society, so I already knew that I was going to like the message. 

     Anyways, the first thing that struck me was when my pastor was talking about how every member in the church is different and has been endowed with  distinctive gifts in order to serve the body. He said that sometimes (for me it’s all the time) we have this idea in our heads of what we’re good at or where we’re gifted, and we limit ourselves to that area. But God doesn't work like that, and he knows us better than we know ourselves. The illustration was used of that of a baseball team, as my pastor used to coach baseball. When players joined the team, they would tell the coach what position they typically played or where they were good at. The coach would take that into consideration, but he would watch all the players together and determine where each one would go. Someone might be good at playing 3^rd base individually because they've always been told they had got a good arm, but that doesn't mean that’s where they should play on this particular team. The coach is the one who evaluates all the players and decides the best way for them all to play together as a team. 

     This analogy works for any kind of team or community effort. I have seen it in casts for plays, sports teams, choirs, even in the workplace. The only difference between these groups and the church is that God is the perfect director while coaches and directors are fallible leaders. The last point that my pastor made in his sermon was that the organization of the body of believers is by God’s sovereign arrangement. When I hear the term “arrangement”, I think in musical terms. An arranger is typically someone who takes a previously composed piece and changes several aspects of it (typically the harmonies and possibly the time signature/tempo), but keeps the melody and intrinsic parts of the piece the same. God is not someone that comes along behind someone else and re-does their work. The work was God’s to begin with. He not only arranges the church, he composed it to begin with. He composed (created) each of the people that make up the church, orchestrated (another musical term) their salvation, and assigned them their particular gifts in order to serve the church.

     Once we realize that the assigning and playing out of our gifts is in the Lord's hands, we should become much more open-minded with how we are going to be serving His kingdom. A quote that I read the other day went something like, "what messes up our lives up the most is our perception of how they ought to be." Talk to any person on the street and I'm sure that they are disappointed about something in their life, because it didn't turn out the way that they thought it should have. But, Isaiah 55:8-9 says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." God does not work in the same way as we do, but we must trust Him to do what is best for us. 

     This has become very apparent as of late in my own life. For the past nineteen years, my relationship status has been "single". In the past two or three years, I have learned to become content in this area of my life, and have even relished and rejoiced in it at times. I was able to serve the Lord with a full fire, without the distraction of a relationship, and I got excited at the thought of remaining single my entire life because of the way that I thought the Lord could work in me and through me. 

     But, things changed a couple months ago. Out of the blue, without asking for it, a relationship blossomed in my life. It starting taking up some of my time and effort, and before long I was freaking out because I didn't know who I was anymore. I had placed my identity as a servant in being single. I thought that I could serve God's kingdom better by being single than by being in a relationship, and I was shocked to be proven wrong. In the last few months, I have grown in so many areas and so many ways that I never thought were possible. I see how relationships promote community and how I can be an encouragement to others. I could go on and on, but you get the picture. God was right, and I was wrong. I thought I was gifted in the art of singleness (and maybe I was, though it's doubtful), but God determined that it was better for me to be stretched through this relationship. 

     And boy, has it stretched me. It has been painful at times, and has laid my sins bare. But that's the thing about God - he's not in it for comfort. He's in it to sanctify us and make us more like his Son. A beautiful quote from C.S. Lewis is: "...the great thing to remember is that, though our feelings come and go, His love for us does not. It is not wearied by our sins, or our indifference; and, therefore, it is quite relentless in its determination that we shall be cured of those sins, at whatever cost to us, at whatever cost to Him." (Mere Christianity). 

     Believer, are you ready to open your mind and let go of your self-image, your picture of who you think you are and what you're good at? Are you ready and willing to dive in and serve Christ's church in whatever area is needed? Are you ready and willing to be stretched if it means becoming more like Christ and furthering His kingdom? 

     If it sounds like a daunting task, that's because it is. But God is faithful, even when we are not. And the Holy Spirit is with us always, working in us, both to will and to do His good pleasure. I have no other words but praise for my Lord, who both saves and sanctifies my soul!