Brother Keith was a remarkable man. He was a gifted song writer and a wonderful pianist. This video is live Keith Green performing, “When I Hear The Praises Start” (live) He left many of us with an indelible mark.
Some of his quotes:
“It’s time to quit playing church and start being the Church (Matt. 18:20)” — Keith Green
“I repent of ever having recorded one single song, and ever having performed one concert, if my music, and more importantly, my life has not provoked you into Godly jealousy or to sell out more completely to Jesus!” — Keith Green
“If your heart takes more pleasure in reading novels, or watching TV, or going to the movies, or talking to friends, rather than just sitting alone with God and embracing Him, sharing His cares and His burdens, weeping and rejoicing with Him, then how are you going to handle forever and ever in His presence? You’d be bored to tears in heaven, if you’re not ecstatic about God now!!” — Keith Green
“Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This isn’t a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in. If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? You’re at least decent to your own children. So don’t you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better?”
Matthew 7:9, 11, Message
His miracles for us often require some responsiveness on our part. He truly supplies what we need–but from day-to-day. He doesn’t just deliver a “pallet” of bread every 2 months. He simply provides what we need, day by day, contingent on us asking. If we don’t ask, he won’t provide. But his ear is very attentive to our cry for provision.
The bread provided is a gift. We are of the impression that we earn our bread, we work for it. This verse simply and profoundly says that he gives it. Bread is an issue of his grace and kindness. It is something that is given. You might say that our bread is grace in wheat form.
We must learn to trust him at this basic need. We need food on a daily level. We really should be aware of this essential need. Your supper tonight is infused with His goodness. He was the provider. Someone else may have taken certain ingredients and enhanced your dining experience, but he made the provision to your table.
The definitive issue is the “day-by-day” factor. We must learn that this is the way our Father operates. We are compelled into His daily care. Grace comes to us with a day-by-day submission. That is not a bad thing. We simply surrender our wills to our Lord. We must keep coming to him, and asking.
A day’s portion, arriving a day at a time. It is a profound deception if we believe we can move beyond this. We accrue wealth and anticipate “protection” from the vagaries of a deity we can’t see. We want safety and security that is definite and solid. We feel that if we have worked long enough, and sweated enough, then we will eat well. It is our privilege.
And we have gone the extra mile, and have developed a “doctrine” that fits our decision-making process. Theology is important to us, and we try to develop something that will cover us and soothe us, and provide a maximum amount of coverage. However being his disciple is not like buying good car insurance. But we can’t shake a deep conviction that we have “adjusted” what is real and lasting.
The Father intends that we are to be reliant on him, exclusively. But that, to be perfectly honest, frightens us. (That maybe why it is done so rarely.)
Being a believer is something quite radical. It should affect us at the deepest of levels. We must insist on a way of thinking that propels us into the place of a simple faith. Our faith in our Father will always be day-to-day. We can’t think otherwise. If we try to make it otherwise, we end up in a deep confusion. The Father has insisted that we depend on Him.
Exodus 16 is the Manna Chapter. To always rely on God daily was for many to be an issue. When they attempted to get ahead, that extra would become rotten. If I remember right, the surplus manna produced maggots.
We come to Him hungry. That is the way he insists. Our stomachs may growl, but He will always provide all that we need. Always–our hunger for a day’s provision should move us into a place of grace. You could say we have a substantial need for His grace. He will always provide for his children. And we really do trust Him. (Or do we?)
The healing of the paralyzed man is loaded with lessons for us. He lies motionless on his pallet, unable to move. His incredible and loyal friends have dedicated themselves to getting him into Jesus’ presence. But the house is full; its beyond standing room only, they can’t get close. They are desperate. Jesus is so near, they can hear Him teach, and yet so far away.
One of them has a wild idea. They will lower him down into the room from the roof! Energized by this thought they put the plan into action. I can just see them, working feverishly. When the hole is big enough, they carefully lower the paralyzed man down slowly. We read that, “Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.” (Luke 5:20).
Example of 3D without glasses
God can see faith. It is invisible to us, and takes a special work of grace for us to do so. It is not an easy thing to see faith. If you go downtown to watch a movie in 3-D the attendant will issue you special glasses. With them everything is enhanced.
The Lord sees faith, and responds in kind. His powers of perception and discernment are advanced far beyond our puny human efforts. But God is pleased when we show our faith by our works. They fascinate Him and He delights when His children prove a living faith by actions. Our faith can only be seen by what we do.
The faith of the paralyzed man, and the faith of his friends makes them fluorescent in a black & white world. It jumps out to Jesus, and it is hard to see anything else. Faith stands out, and it cannot be hid.
There is so much here in Luke 5, so many lessons and so much wisdom. Much of it lies at the surface, and can be picked up like gold nuggets. I think that I could preach six months on this chapter alone. It is that good.
The hymn A Mighty FortressIs Our God gloriously celebrates God’s power. It was penned by the great 16th-century reformer Martin Luther, who believed God’s power could help believers overcome great difficulties — even depression. Given his pastoral heart, he sought to bring spiritual counsel to struggling souls. His compassion for those souls shines in numerous places, including his sermons, lectures, Bible commentaries and ‘table talks’. In addition, he devoted many letters to counseling troubled folk.
Luther’s writings reveal his knowledge of various emotional difficulties. For example, in August 1536 he interceded for a woman named Mrs. Kreuzbinder, whom he deemed insane. He described her as being “accustomed to rage” and sometimes angrily chasing her neighbor with a spear.
In addition, Luther’s wife, Kate, struggled with pervasive and persistent worry indicative of generalized anxiety disorder. Prince Joachim of Anhalt, to whom Luther often wrote, exhibited signs of obsessive-compulsive disorder, and he believed he had betrayed and crucified Christ. Conrad Cordatus, a pastor and frequent guest at Luther’s table, exhibited signs of hypochondriasis, a disorder involving preoccupation with fears of having a serious disease.
Besides observing mental difficulties in others, Luther had a compelling reason to affirm their reality. Luther himself endured many instances of depression. He described the experience in varied terms: melancholy, heaviness, depression, dejection of spirit; downcast, sad, downhearted. He suffered in this area for much of his life and often revealed these struggles in his works. Evidently he did not think it a shameful problem to be hidden.
Satan as the “accuser of the brethren,” causes Christians to dwell on past sins. Such thoughts induce melancholy and despair. Concerning a friend’s depressive thoughts, Luther wrote, “Know that the devil is tormenting you with them, and that they are not your thoughts but the cursed devil’s, who cannot bear to see us have joyful thoughts.”Luther recognized a spiritual truth about depression. One can expect Satan’s persistence until faith is destroyed, but in the midst of depression God is with us. He never leaves us alone. In the midst of trouble He draws near to us.
Sometimes the invisible God draws near through visible people, and they become the bearers of God’s comforting and strengthening words to troubled souls. What’s more, God seeks to assure us of His love and esteem. And through His Word, He counters Satan’s lies with His truth.
Some Martin Luther Quotes
Luther’s Seal
“All who call on God in true faith, earnestly from the heart, will certainly be heard, and will receive what they have asked and desired.”
“Faith is a living and unshakable confidence, a belief in the grace of God so assured that a man would die a thousand deaths for its sake.”
“Christ took our sins and the sins of the whole world as well as the Father’s wrath on his shoulders, and he has drowned them both in himself so that we are thereby reconciled to God and become completely righteous.”
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“A Mighty Fortress is Our God,” by Luther
1. A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; our helper he amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing. For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe; his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal.
2. Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing, were not the right man on our side, the man of God’s own choosing. Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is he; Lord Sabaoth, his name, from age to age the same, and he must win the battle.
3. And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God hath willed his truth to triumph through us. The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him; his rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure; one little word shall fell him.
Broken Believers 