Standing Out...

Have you ever been in church in the midst of singing praises and something about a song, one that you have sung before ,stands out at you. It has meaning...significance ; something you didn't notice before.

Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me
Text by Augustus Toplady
(The musical score was somewhat different from the original score I believe, but the lyrics were the same.)

1. Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
 let me hide myself in thee;
 let the water and the blood,
 from thy wounded side which flowed,
 be of sin the double cure;
 save from wrath and make me pure.

2. Not the labors of my hands
 can fulfill thy law's commands;
 could my zeal no respite know,
 could my tears forever flow,
 all for sin could not atone;
 thou must save, and thou alone.

3. Nothing in my hand I bring,
 simply to the cross I cling;
 naked, come to thee for dress;
 helpless, look to thee for grace;
 foul, I to the fountain fly;
 wash me, Savior, or I die.

4. While I draw this fleeting breath,
 when mine eyes shall close in death,
 when I soar to worlds unknown,
 see thee on thy judgment throne,
 Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
 let me hide myself in thee.

   The  song sums up our very existence and the reason for it.
 Our natural state....sin and wickedness of heart....saved by 
the atoning blood of Christ on the Cross  through the grace and
 mercy of God Almighty.  There is absolutely NOTHING that we can 
bring or offer God; Redemption is from God , through God  with
 nary a thing from us.

        Isaiah 64:6 " For all of us have become like one who 
is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy
 garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities,
 like the wind, take us away."


   Then we have Ezekiel 36:26:
   
       "  Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new 
spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from
 your flesh and give you a heart of flesh."

   Regeneration...God doesn't  just "start" our heart again; it
never worked at all.  Rather He removes the stone heart for a 
flesh heart...a new heart.  One for Him; one that enables to see 
Him rendering us in a spirit of repentance and worship all at the
same time!  Then we find ourselves seeking Him alone and all that
He wants us to do to glorify Him! Then we await the moment in which
we will see our Redeemer! Oh glorious day to see the One that has 
us 'hid' in Him-fashioning us for heaven!

   Yes this song prompted me to shift my focus and why I am doing 
what I am doing:  being a wife, a mother, teaching the kids, etc.  
It's all for Him in the end, not to prove to anyone anything,
( I sometimes feel scrutinized  by others whereby it gives me the 
feeling that I should justify or prove myself), but to glorify the
name of God in what I am doing at all times.

   I hope to raise my children in the fear and admonishen of the
 Lord, to be a good wife and a person who is always able and ready
to give an answer for the Hope that lies within me!