Sunday Selah

Between a "real-life" sermon from our Pastor today and these two songs I found on a bloggy friend's site, I'm pretty sure God's got a message for me...



So you thought you had to keep this up
All the work that you do
So we think that you’re good
And you can’t believe it’s not enough
All the walls you built up
Are just glass on the outside

So let ‘em fall down
There’s freedom waiting in the sound
When you let your walls fall to the ground
We’re here now

This is where the healing begins, oh
This is where the healing starts
When you come to where you’re broken within
The light meets the dark
The light meets the dark

Afraid to let your secrets out
Everything that you hide
Can come crashing through the door now
But too scared to face all your fear
So you hide but you find
That the shame won’t disappear

So let it fall down
There’s freedom waiting in the sound
When you let your walls fall to the ground
We’re here now
We’re here now, oh

This is where the healing begins, oh
This is where the healing starts
When you come to where you’re broken within
The light meets the dark
The light meets the dark

Sparks will fly as grace collides
With the dark inside of us
So please don’t fight
This coming light
Let this blood come cover us
His blood can cover us

This is where the healing begins, oh
This is where the healing starts
When you come to where you’re broken within
The light meets the dark
The light meets the dark

~Tenth Avenue North~



Take these empty hallelujahs
Fill my lungs again
’cause I wanna sing
And I wanna mean it
I wanna feel again

And when the world wears me down
You’re my life’s love
You keep my heart alive

~Sanctus Real~

Sunday Selah

Change is hard. It is painful. But oh, so very worth it.

Stop and listen, all who have ears.



Selah.

Sunday Selah

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. One of my favorite bloggers, Octamom (note that she is the ORIGINAL Octamom, not to be confused with the Octomom) has a weekly Sunday post she calls "Sunday Selah".

The word "selah" is a Hebrew word that is often translated as "stop and listen". Sunday morning is a perfect time for Selah, which is a beautiful sentiment in today's go-go-go society.

Selah can be music or words, a picture or a thought, a point to ponder. Stop and listen, all who have ears.

I tend to be hard on myself. I joke that it's my Catholic upbringing...the guilt that never really goes away. I've had a lot of folks try to remind me that God never intended us to continue to berate ourselves for past or perceived sin. It's a tough lesson for someone who tends to harbor perfectionist tendencies and think in black and white.

"But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"

"No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin." (John 8:1-11)

I've heard that story dozens of times. Usually I think "well of course I wouldn't treat another person like that". But how about myself? Why would I treat one of God's precious children like that?

A dear friend recently introduced me to a new song. And since I love to know the stories behind the songs, I found it. Story first, then song.

Selah.