Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
    he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are idols,
    but the Lord made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before him;
    strength and joy are in his dwelling place.

• 2 Chronicles 16:25-27

“Above all powers
Above all kings
Above all nature
And all created things
Above all wisdom
And all the ways of man
You were here
Before the world began

Above all kingdoms
Above all thrones
Above all wonders
The world has ever known
Above all wealth
And treasures of the earth
There’s no way to measure
What You’re worth

Crucified
Laid behind a stone
You lived to die
Rejected and alone
Like a rose
Trampled on the ground
You took the fall
And thought of me
Above all”

• Michael W. Smith, Above All

And here is Michael W. Smith singing the song.

I awoke with this earworm today, at least the day that I wrote this.  There had to be a reason.

Jesus struggled on the night the He was betrayed.  As the song says, He came to earth to die, but when that moment arrived, He asked His Father if there could be any other way.

But then, He thought of “me”, above all.  You can substitute your name for the “me.”

What is our greatest test of faith?  There are a few tests of faith in 1 John, but I wonder if the greatest test, the one that just might encompass all the 1 John tests, is do we seek a relationship with Jesus that mirrors the sacrifice Jesus made for us?

He would do it again just for me, but that is unnecessary.  His one-time payment is sufficient for all who call upon His name.

And I know that I do not deserve the sacrifice made on my behalf.  I feel that each of us who goes to God humbly would have that same feeling.  Can you accept Jesus arrogantly?  Can you have Jesus in your heart and honestly think that you deserve Jesus in your heart?  We cannot earn our way.  We cannot wash away our own sins.  We would each be like Lady Macbeth trying to wash out the stain of sin and going mad in the process.

And as I mentioned a few weeks ago that love is an action verb, Jesus took action by dying on the cross.  He took action in rising from the dead.  He loves us.

The least that we can do is live each day seeking a closer relationship with Jesus.

After all, He looks over us and cares for us … above all.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.