Miracle Maker

Miracle Maker, by Delirious:

I’m waiting here
For my life to change
When the waters stir
You can rearrange me
Just one touch is all I need
I’ve nothing much
But the wounds I feel
I’ve come to find the hand of the Miracle Man

Holy, you are holy
Who was and is and is to come
Holy, you are holy
Saviour Healer
I’m standing at the feet of the Miracle Maker

I’m holding on
With your life in mine
Living waters come
And you’ve rearranged me
Oh, you are holy, you are holy
Who was and is and is to come
Holy, you are holy
Saviour, Healer
I’m staring in the face of the Miracle Maker

(instrumental break)

You are holy, you are holy
Who was and is and is to come
Jesus, precious Jesus
Thank you, Saviour,
I’m walking in the shoes of my Miracle Maker

I’m standing with the faith of a miracle maker

This is one of the best all time songs ever written. It's best played alone in the car, with the volume up loud! And because it starts so quietly it's easy to put it on top volume. By the time the instrumental break comes I'm always singing at the top of my voice - but the volume is such that I can't hear myself sing. If the lyrics don't make you sing, the instrumental break will!

I progress from coming to find the hand of the miracle man. I'm standing at the feet of the Miracle Maker. I'm staring in the face of the Miracle Maker. And staring into his face, what can I do but fall down in worship - that's what the instrumental bit is for. And staring into his face will rearrange me. With the result that when I recover from the experience I am walking in the shoes of my Miracle Maker. He's the leader, I'm the follower. He's the teacher, I'm the disciple. He's the mentor, I'm the protege. What comes next? I'm standing with the faith of a miracle maker. That's the scary bit. I become a miracle maker. That's what God calls me to.

Do I get stuck looking for his hand? Or do I get restless and can't stand at his feet? Or can I not bear the heat of his holiness and fail to star in his face? Wow, the music! Or are his shoes an uncomfortable fit? Where is my faith?

Michael

Awake me

Today: just the song. Awake me by River Deep

intoxicated with my sleep
dreaming of my world on heat
release me please

burning out from spinning in circles
blinded by my apathy
release me please
heaven calls my name

I feel alive
I’m rising like the sun
awaking from my sleep
awake me
awake me

my selfish man is comfortably happy
fighting for passivity
release me please

awoken from the stench of corpses
my inner man arose to scream
release me please

heaven calls my name

eyes wide open, no more dreaming in the clouds
praying for a glimpse of you

Holding on

“Crucify the flesh.” A painful but necessary process. I don’t want to give God only half a heart – but that is what I am doing. The two most crucial passages in the OT are Exodus 34 (God’s love for us) and Deuteronomy 6 (our love for God). If I love God I will obey his commandments. I will do what he says. Not because he is imposing anything on me but that is a simple and straightforward application of love for our Holy God. Or do I forget he’s holy? Do I focus so much on the fact that he forgives me and gives me freedom that I forget to bow down before his holiness? And not just when singing Matt Redman’s Facedown but in my life, which is real worship.

I happened to pick up Kevin Prosch’s Kiss the Son to play over dinner. Passionate, heartfelt, authentic music. By the time I got to Holding on I was on my knees:

I’ve been tested and tried when you counted on me
But I failed you, oh I failed you
And the prayers I prayed, promises made
I could not keep them though I’ve tried

I should know by now that I can run to you
And you’ll embrace me, not forsake me
That it’s not my goodness, that caused you to love me
But in my failures you loved me still

And the weakness of God is stronger than the strength of man
And the shame is leaving now
This is what I want, to be drawn near, to be set free
There is now no condemnation for those who are in you Lord
I still want to walk with you, to talk with you, to hear your voice

I’m holding on to the hem of your garment
I won’t let go till the blessing comes
I’m bowing low at the foot of the cross
For you my Lord I would give it all

I’m holding on to the hem of your garment
I won’t let go till the blessing comes
I’m bowing low at the foot of the cross
To be transformed this is what I want

How many ways could I tell you that I love you, oh I love you
How many ways could I tell you that I need you, oh I need you
You always provide and you care for me
I’m so grateful, so thankful
Everything is mine because I am yours
What else do I need when there is no more

You could offer me things, silver-lined dreams
But to be transformed into the image of God, this is what I want
To be drawn near to be set free

And in all my mistakes I know you love me still
I want to know what pleases you
I’m broken Lord I’m broken Lord.

I used to think that the line, I’m holding on to the hem of your garment, I won’t let go till the blessing comes was rather aggressive towards God. What right have I to hold him to ransom like that? But no, this line simply expresses my recognition of my desperate need. And isn’t it this “blessing” that I’ve been waiting for (rather half-heartedly) ever since I saw it in a vision in October last year (1st blog)? This is what I want, to be drawn near, to be set free – that is what the vision was about and what I’ve been yearning for (rather half-heartedly) since: to be transformed into the image of God, this is what I want, to be drawn near, to be set free… My problem is that I keep on letting go. I do not keep hold of the hem of Your garment, and so I flounder around with no progress and no blessing... holding on...

Holding on with you . . . Michael

The power of vision

The power of vision. In order to reach for the future we need that glimpse of the future. In her song Sand in my shoes, Dido got her glimpse in a two week experience by the sea. (Praying for a glimpse of you...) If Dido had just been told about the other life she could have been leading, away from her flat on the road where the cars never stop going through the night, it would have sounded nice but would not have had the oomph for I wanna see you again, and neither would it have left the sand in her shoes, that perpetual itch so that she would never forget. The best way to instil vision is through experience.

But how to give folks that visionary experience? “Two weeks away, all it takes to change and turn me around I’ve fallen…” Dido’s vision for a new lifestyle came from experiencing that new lifestyle for two weeks. It included a human relationship. And then the second challenge is when I’m back home after the visionary experience: “Two weeks away it feels like the world should've changed, but I'm home now and things still look the same” – how to sustain the vision during the ordinariness of normal existence. The beginning of transformation and the sand in my shoes. The prophetic sand. And the I wanna see you again. The desire to live the vision.

My vision is to be set free and for you to be set free. God is putting that sand in my shoes so that I won't lose the vision. We don't need to be content with ordinariness. I still haven't found what I'm looking for, sang U2. If I think I've found all there is to look for I've lost the sand in my shoes. There is more to life that what I'm experiencing now.