Participants:
Series Code: P
Program Code: P000018
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00:21 Hi and welcome back to Praise. I'm Kelly Mowrer.
00:24 I was reading recently in Jeremiah chapter 2 verses 12 00:29 and 13 and this is God speaking, and here's what he's saying: 00:34 Be astonished, oh ye heavens, at this and be horribly afraid. 00:39 Be ye very desolate, saith the Lord. For my people have 00:42 committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of 00:47 living waters and hued them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that 00:52 can hold no water. Here was something that was so 00:55 incredible awful that it could only produce great shock and 01:00 and horror in anyone looking on because God's own people had 01:04 completely turned away from the natural and free-flowing source 01:08 of all abundance and riches and worked themselves into the 01:12 ground, chipping out of sheer rock these broken containers 01:16 that could hold nothing. And they left what was not only free 01:20 to them but would also fully satisfy every desire they had 01:23 ever had and instead they worked at this hard physical labor to 01:28 build something that would never fulfill any need or provide any 01:32 sense of satisfaction to them. And so many times I have read 01:36 this passage and I think all of us can read certain things in 01:39 the Bible and we can be tempted to just shake our head and say 01:42 How could those Israelites be so foolish? Yet we never see how 01:46 we're doing the same thing in our own lives and we never will 01:50 see it unless the Holy Spirit opens our eyes. God is concerned 01:54 with our physical weariness and our never-ending worries, 01:58 and our anxieties. He wants to bring us peace and he wants to 02:02 show us that even today in our own lives we can be working away 02:07 and chipping out broken cisterns and seeking satisfaction apart 02:11 from him and it will never hold any water. Maybe we're trying 02:16 to find peace and satisfaction from our jobs or from money or 02:21 from status or education, from relationships, acquiring more 02:26 and more things. None of these things, however much they may 02:31 temporarily gratify us, will ever satisfy the longing of our 02:35 hearts because what we hunger for above everything else is 02:39 relationship with the God who made us and loved us with an 02:43 everlasting love. 02:45 Chasing of the Wind Jennifer LaMountain 02:50 Every heart is filled with longing. 02:57 to be free from all life's pain. 03:04 Yet the search through earthly pleasures 03:15 always ends in vain. 03:23 Only God who made the heavens 03:31 can satisfy our souls. 03:39 Apart from him and all his meaning 03:49 All things fail as they begin. 03:58 And hearts deceived can only know 04:07 A chasing of the wind. 04:18 All achievements, 04:23 all possessions, 04:27 these all with time 04:31 return to dust. 04:36 Only God can be our reason 04:44 for deep and quiet trust. 04:52 He will guard us from the dangers 05:01 that gladly make men fools. 05:08 Apart from him and all his meaning 05:16 All things fail as they begin. 05:24 And hearts deceived 05:28 can only know 05:35 a chasing of the wind. 05:46 A chasing of the wind. 05:57 Why do we live without Jesus? 06:07 Why do we waste another day? 06:16 He is the life that sustains us. 06:26 The only hope for us today, 06:34 So tell me, Why do we live, why do we live 06:44 without him? 07:08 When the Holy Spirit opens our hearts to begin to recognize 07:14 the beauty of the treasure that Jesus himself is to us, 07:20 everything else that once seemed desirable or valuable to us 07:25 begins to just slowly fade away and we realize that nothing but 07:31 Christ matters. 07:36 I am crucified with Christ, Therefore, I no longer live. 07:43 Jesus Christ now lives in me. 07:49 I am crucified with Christ, 07:53 therefore, I no longer live. 07:59 Jesus Christ now lives in me. 08:04 I am crucified with Christ, 08:08 therefore, I no longer live. 08:14 Jesus Christ now lives in me. 08:19 I am crucified with Christ, therefore, I no longer live. 08:27 Jesus Christ now lives in me. 08:34 ¤ ¤ 08:45 Embrace the cross 08:49 where Jesus suffered, 08:52 though it will cost all you claim as yours. 09:00 Your sacrifice will seem small beside the treasure 09:09 eternity can't measure what Jesus holds in store. 09:18 Embrace the love the cross requires. 09:26 Cling to the one whose heart knew every pain. 09:33 Receive from Jesus fountains of compassion. 09:40 Only he can fashion 09:43 our hearts to move as his. 09:49 Oh wondrous cross, our desires rest in you. 09:57 Oh Jesus make us bolder to face with courage 10:06 the shame and disgrace you bore upon your shoulder. 10:23 Embrace the life that comes from dying. 10:30 Come trace the steps the Savior walked for you. 10:37 An empty tomb concludes Golgotha's sorrow 10:44 endure then till tomorrow your cross of suffering. 10:58 Embrace the cross, Embrace the cross, 11:05 the cross of Jesus. 11:14 ¤ ¤ 11:35 The noise in our lives today can be pretty much overwhelming. 11:42 First there are the actual voices in our lives, they are 11:45 voices of our family and our friends and our co-workers 11:48 talking to us, voices from doctors or therapists or 11:52 teachers and preachers. Next there are the voices and the 11:57 noise from television, cell phone, FAX, texts, tweets and 12:00 more. Then there is the noise of the magazines and the 12:04 newspapers and the books, all this information coming at us 12:08 and our ears and our eyes and our thoughts can become 12:11 overloaded with this bombardment of noise. It drains our time and 12:17 our energy and it leaves our hearts empty. In God's loving 12:22 desire to heal our fractured emotions and our weary lives, 12:27 Jesus calls us to step apart from the noise. He calls us to 12:30 peace and to be restored and to return our hearts to their 12:35 source and their center. He calls us to be quiet and still 12:41 in the presence of his love. 12:47 Be still and know that he is God 12:55 Be still and know that he is holy. 13:01 Be still, Oh restless soul of mine. 13:06 Stand before the prince of peace 13:12 Let the noise and clamor cease. 13:19 Be still and know that he is God 13:26 Be still and know that he is faithful 13:33 Be still, Oh restless soul of mine 13:39 Stand in awe and be amazed. 13:44 Know that he will never change. 13:50 Be still. 13:56 Be still and know that he is God 14:21 Be still, be still. 14:31 Be still and know that he is God 14:36 Be still and know that he's our Father. 14:44 Come rest your head upon his breast. 14:52 Listen to the rhythm of 14:56 His unfailing heart of love 15:00 Beating for his little ones 15:07 Calling each of us to come. 15:13 Be still. Be still. 16:04 Great is thy faithfulness Oh God my Father. 16:13 There is no shadow of turning with thee. 16:23 Thou changeth not 16:26 They compassions, they fail not. 16:32 As thou has been Thou forever wilt be. 16:42 Great is thy faithfulness. 16:52 Morning by morning 16:56 new mercies I see. 17:01 All I have needed thy hand hath provided. 17:13 Great is thy faithfulness Lord unto me. 17:22 Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, 17:32 Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide. 17:42 Strength for today and 17:46 bright hope for tomorrow, 17:51 Blessings all mine, 17:53 with ten thousand beside. 18:03 Great is thy faithfulness Great is thy faithfulness. 18:12 Morning by morning new mercies I see. 18:22 All I have needed thy hand hath provided. 18:31 Great is thy faithfulness 18:39 Lord unto me. 18:48 All, all I have needed 18:53 thy hand hath provided. 18:59 Great is thy faithfulness, 19:04 Lord, unto me Oooo. 19:46 My peace I give unto you, 19:55 It's a peace that 19:58 the world cannot give. 20:05 It's a peace that the world 20:09 cannot understand. 20:15 Peace to know, peace to live. 20:23 My peace I give unto you. 20:32 ¤ ¤ 20:49 My love I give unto you. 20:58 It's a love that the world cannot give. 21:05 It's a love that the world cannot understand. 21:15 love to know, oh love to live. 21:23 My love I give unto you. 21:32 It's a love that the world cannot understand. 21:40 My love I give unto you. 22:07 No matter what each one of us is facing at any given point in our 22:14 lives, Jesus comes to us. He says, I have a gift for you. 22:17 I have my peace in exchange for whatever you're facing that is 22:22 causing you anxiety or worry. Sometimes we think of storms in 22:27 the context of huge and catastrophic events, but storms 22:31 can simply be the noise of our daily lives that crowd out the 22:37 voice of God and come to steal our sense of security and safety 22:42 and rest. In any of the situations we face, whether big 22:47 or small, when we will come and sit quietly in the presence of 22:51 God we will find our strength renewed and his peace will give 22:56 us a restored ability to go out and to serve him better and to 23:00 serve each other more. And when the hard times come we know that 23:04 even though we don't always see the answers, he is providing 23:09 for us and will bring us safely through because of his great 23:13 love, his great care and the fact that he has redeemed us and 23:18 called us his own. We never need to be afraid of the storms again 23:35 All things work for our good though sometimes we don't see 23:45 how they could. Struggles that break our hearts in two 23:54 sometimes blind us to the truth. 24:01 Our Father knows what's best for us. 24:09 His ways are not our own. 24:16 So when the pathway grows dim and you just don't see him 24:24 Remember you are never alone. 24:35 God is too wise to be mistaken. God is too good to be unkind. 24:45 So when you don't understand, When you don't see his plan, 24:56 When you can't trace his hand Trust his heart. 25:09 He sees the master plan and he holds our future in his hands 25:22 So don't live as those who have no hope 25:29 All our hope is found in him. 25:36 We see the present clearly, but he sees the first and the last. 25:50 And like a tapestry, 25:54 He's weaving you and me 25:57 to someday be just like him. 26:06 Oh. God is too wise to be mistaken. 26:16 God is too good to be unkind. 26:22 So when you don't understand, When you don't see his plan 26:29 When you can't trace his hand Trust his heart. 26:38 He alone faithful and true. 26:43 He alone knows 26:46 what is best for you. 26:51 For you. 26:58 God is too wise to be mistaken. God is too good to be unkind. 27:09 So when you don't understand, When you don't see his plan, 27:20 When you can't trace his hand, 27:22 Trust his heart. So when you don't understand, 27:33 When you don't see his plan, When you can't trace his hand 27:43 just trust his heart. |
Revised 2014-12-17