Here is a version I made of “How He Loves.”
James 1
1James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:
Greetings.
Trials and Temptations
2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
9The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. 10But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. 11For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.
12Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
13When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
16Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. 17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
Listening and Doing
19My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. 21Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.
26If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. 27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
“Most of our thoughts are centered on the money we want to make, the school we want to attend, the body we aspire to have, the spouse we want to marry, the kind of person we want to become… But the fact is that nothing should concern us more than our relationship with God; it’s about eternity, and nothing compares with that.”
Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.
Proverbs 3:3
Love and faith are dependent on each other. We can’t experience the one without the other.
He is jealous for me.
Last night I slept on the floor here in the hotel. I pulled together a bunch of pillows and hit the hay. As I was laying there I decided to put on the new CD from Passion 2010 “Awakening." I drifted in and out through out the night and caught some highlights of the CD but at 4:14 I woke up.
"How He Loves Us” came on and something come over me and my chest began to tighten. The lyrics in this song came rushing over, I felt something I had never felt in the 22 years of my life. I began to weep on the floor in the hotel. It was something about being humbled sleeping on the floor and just being happy and content with the fact that God gave me a roof, a blanket, and a group of friends around me.
Over and over I kept saying to myself He is jealous for me. I thought about how I’m this little 22 year old man on this giant earth full of people and our Great God cares enough for this one man laying on the floor of a hotel room to be jealous to have my life in his hands. So jealous that he sacrificed, let his Son die to save my life. He is jealous for me, He is jealous for you, He is jealous for all of us.
This led to me reciting the lyric How He Loves Us. I tend to forget how much He does love us. I began to think about my life and all the ways God has loved me. The greatest evidence of His love is my parents. Its my mother holding me in her arms from the day I was brought into this world. Its my father teaching me to throw a baseball. Its my mother teaching me how to play piano. Its my father telling me “I’ll get em next time” when I strike out to end the game. Its my mother and father understanding I have to move 800 miles away to grow up. Its my parents providing for me and believing in this insane dream that I share with 4 other guys. Their love is Gods love on this earth. Its God putting 2 men in my life to help me through the toughest time I have ever had. Its God putting a church in my life to keep my heart focused. Its God gracing me with relationships to help me grow in His love even when I don’t see it or understand it. Its God putting 4 other men in my life who share this incredible passion to dedicate their lives to making it happen just like I want to. He Loves Us.
He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.
And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all
Yeah, He loves us,
Oh! how He loves us,
Oh! how He loves us,
Oh! how He loves.
We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
And Heaven meets earth like an unforseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…
I beg of you to listen to this song and meditate on it.