I Can Only Imagine

A dear friend and OBC team member, Caren Almeida from Montevideo, Uruguay, sent me a link last night to a beautiful worship song called "I Can Only Imagine." I've sung the song before, but this morning, it became such an integral part of my worship this morning and, since it follows on from my post "Heaven on Earth", I'd like to share it with you.

Go to the following link and be prepared to be overwhelmed by the love of the Lord and the wonder of knowing him...and I recommend having a handkerchief handy...

http://www.andiesisle.com/icanonlyimagine.html

What can you imagine? If you've not yet made a personal commitment to the Lord Jesus, in response to his great love and the ultimate sacrifice he made for you, can I encourage you to listen to this song one more time and, afterwards, to pray this simple prayer:

Dear God, my Father
Thank you for sending Jesus into the world for me
I acknowledge that I have fallen far short of your expectations for me
I acknowledge that I am a sinner in desperate need of your mercy
I believe that Jesus died on the Cross to take my eternal judgment, the penalty for my sin
I believe that He was raised back to life by the power of God's Spirit
I believe that He is Lord of all
More than that, I declare Jesus to be the Lord of my own life
I commit myself to following Jesus as his disciple
Both now and forever, my life now belongs to you
Come into my heart, by the power of your Holy Spirit, and transform me
Take away my old life and give me a brand new life through Jesus
I thank you for your love and your mercy, expressed to me in Jesus
Amen

If you prayed this prayer sincerely before the Lord, welcome to God's family! Ask the Lord to help you find others who have made the same commitment to Jesus, and to help you to continue to grow in your relationship with the Lord.

You too are on a Journey, but that Journey is now defined by the Lord Jesus, who declared in John 14:6:

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

With Jesus as the Way, everything changes. The problems themselves may not change on the surface, but the "you" in the middle of the problems have! And with the Lord's help, not only will you begin seeing life through new eyes, he will also begin to help you to approach the same old problems in new ways. After all, if the "you" in the middle of the problem changes, this will eventually outwork into the problem itself!

You are on a Journey, and that Journey has a goal (see Romans 8:28-30). And at the end of that Journey, there is another beginning, another bend in the path, which at the moment is unseen but which, the Bible promises, is beyond anything you can possibly imagine! For 1 Corinthians 2:9 says:

"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him..."