Hallelujah My Soul Sings
Though we may not recognize it in every moment, our very deepest need is the same one as the first man and woman that walked with God in the garden. They had face to face, heart to heart communion with Him. That was all they ever needed, and all any of us need. But…
How I long to join in with Heaven
How I long to meet with You face to face
But until I see You completely
I’ll wait with eyes of faith
Though we may not recognize it in every moment, our very deepest need is the same one as the first man and woman that walked with God in the garden. They had face to face, heart to heart communion with Him. That was all they ever needed, and all any of us need. But now we live in a broken world facing the consequences of having chosen something lesser.
In Christ, we've been forgiven and made alive; we're given a new heart that yearns for the breath of God the way our bodies require oxygen.
Paul says in Romans 8 that all of creation is groaning as it longs for the day that we will be glorified with Christ as the children of God. And in 1 Corinthians 13, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” What a promise! The earth, the heavens, our very bones, aren’t crying out in vain. One day I’ll know Jesus as intimately as He knows me. For now, In His kindness, He is revealing more and more of Himself through His Word and His Spirit than I’ll ever be able to fully grasp in this lifetime.
How I long to join in with Heaven
How I long to meet with You face to face
But until I see You completely
I’ll wait with eyes of faith
A Word from Melanie Tierce on City Of God
Right there in the midst of barren ruins, joy compelled me to dance. Over and over again I decided to spin on top of and in spite of the decay that surrounded me….
“For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come” - Hebrews 13:14
There is nothing that more thoroughly reminds me, “You are here on the map”, than when my eyes are filled with the sight of where we, as the Body of Christ, are headed! Again and again, I tell my soul of the destination toward which we are steadily running, where this race of faith finds its ultimate finish: the City of God. How often I must remind myself, “This is temporary! Look ahead! Do not forget what Jesus Himself is preparing! Don’t get too comfy! This world is not your home! Jesus is coming!” It is when I am filled with this faith that I am fueled to do what He has asked of me until He returns.
I once heard one of the most profound messages presenting the Gospel from pastor Renaut van der Riet, who spoke of our responsibility as Christ’s followers to “redeem the unredeemed spaces” by bringing the message of Christ’s redemption. This requires a willingness to go where most people do not want to go. It requires forsaking comfort and ease for the sake of loving sacrificially. We who have been redeemed can do nothing less than share Christ’s redemption to all people! We who have had our ashes traded for beauty, now, have the honor and responsibility of seeing all desolate things made beautiful.
This is why I love how the Lord orchestrated the artwork for this album, City of God. Right there in the midst of barren ruins, joy compelled me to dance. Over and over again I decided to spin on top of and in spite of the decay that surrounded me, hoping to capture in a picture the commissioning message of the Body of Christ: to live a life of redeeming the unredeemed spaces.
As the people of God, there is not a moment we wait aimlessly. As we actively and patiently anticipate God’s Kingdom, here in this in-between, we have the mandate to not grow weary in doing good. All of our sufferings, joys, tribulations, and triumphs dim in comparison to the glory in Him that is in fact being prepared for us! It is His word of promise to us,
“Let not your hearts be troubled […] I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
John 14:1-4 ESV.
We find our footing on the solid ground of the promise that faith indeed will one day be sight! Weeping will in fact only last for the night, and joy will stay for good when He brings that final morning dawn. Death will be fully swallowed up. Tears will be dried. And we will have Him—all of Him! No more seeing Him dimly as through a veil. Our hearts will finally meet what they have been longing for all this time: Our God, face to face. Jesus, the Son of God, on full display!
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. “ And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’”
Revelation 21:1-5
Everything will be shaken. Everything temporary will pass away. Build here on Earth with materials that will last into eternity, and stake your life on the only things that will remain: the mercy, the magnificence, and the beauty of Jesus! Forever and ever, Amen.
Melanie Tierce