Romans 1 Inverted

As I take another close examination of the whole chapter of Romans 1, I am looking for an uncluttered description of what a saint looks like. This is not a saint in the typical thinking of the word but in the Bible's understanding of the word. A saint is not one who has achieved self-perfection and boring piety but is a person who is submersed in the grace of God and is responding to being called by God, drawn by His lovingkindness to abandon himself to the pursuit of God's heart.

There are two main sections of this chapter. The first talks about Paul the messenger and the Roman believers he is writing to and the second is his description of all sinners who are refusing and resisting this drawing of God. In this second section I am taking the inverse of the negative descriptions so that I can more clearly see what he is saying by implication. I find this technique very helpful sometimes to clarify in my mind some of the meanings that are often masked by the back and forth switches in language when alternate descriptions are being presented.

I am also separating the descriptions into two categories for simplification. The first is a description of the messenger of which Paul is an example and the second is an illustration of a person who would be responding to the grace and gospel of God. To separate the two I will use two colors of print to identify what is referring to each.

Description of the Messenger

A person who is a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, a love-slave living under the compulsion of a passionate response to God's love and grace.

Called as an apostle, one who has been “sent out”, who cannot be content to remain in their home base because of the inner compulsion of God's passion burning in their heart.

Set apart for the gospel of God; intentionally dedicated by God and His family members on earth to effectively share the good news about God with anyone who will listen.

One who has received grace and apostleship through Jesus Christ our Lord, to bring about the obedience of faith among all for His name's sake.

I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you who are believing in this gospel.

I unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers.

I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established and that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other's faith.

Often I have planned to come to you that I may obtain some fruit among you....

I am under obligation....

I am eager to preach the gospel.

I am not ashamed of the gospel.

Description of Those Accepting the Good News About God (Gospel)

They have the obedience of faith for Jesus' name's sake.

They are the called of Jesus Christ, all who are beloved of God called as saints.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Their faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.

THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.

This life “by faith” results in godliness and righteousness.

Through faith in response to God's faith in them they help God reveal the truth in righteousness.

That which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them – His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made.

They knew God, and they did honor Him as God and give thanks.

As they become more effective channels of God's wisdom their hearts grow stronger and more filled with light and the fire of God.

They humbly look to God for wisdom and become mature.

They embrace the glory of the incorruptible God as they see that glory reflected in various ways through His creation. They see some of the invisible attributes of God visibly reflected in man, in birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

God draws them closer to Himself in the passion of their hearts for purity. As a result their bodies become honorable among them.

They hold on to the truth of God and reject THE lie of Satan.

They worship and serve their Creator.

For this reason God fills them with His own uplifting passion of love.

As a result their women are fulfilled as they discover their natural function in the family.

Their men are also fulfilled by the natural function of the women and burn in their desire to honor and cherish their wives with greater and deeper acts of kindness and love.

In consequence they receive in their own persons the gifts of grace as they live in the truth.

They see fit to acknowledge God more and more.

As they grow in grace, love and maturity God imparts to them a noble, clear mind, to do those things which are proper, being filled with all righteousness, purity, nobility, generosity, goodness; full of thoughtfulness, life-giving energy, peace, truth, kindness; they are jealous for the truth, full of blessing, lovers of God, cooperative, humble and kind, quick to give affirmation to others, schemers of kind surprises, obedient to parents, with growing understanding, trustworthy, loving, merciful; and they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are considered worthy of eternal life, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

(ref Romans 1:1-32 NAS95)

What do you think? Is this a valid transposition of the original text?

(next in series)

Revealing Opposites in Romans 1

Today I spent some time extracting what I see as parallel opposites that help explain each other in Romans 1 along with context explanations of words and phrases. I particularly was interested in exploring what the word “glory” might mean. These are all things taken directly from the text.

What is glory?

Descriptive of the incorruptible God.

Opposite of an image.

Images come in the form of corruptible man, birds, 4-legged creatures, reptiles.

(Man is the image of God, a reflector of His glory)

This is a movement from higher intelligence to lower and from higher physical position to the lowest.

An image causes lust in the heart to impurity. (Opposite of lust for purity)

Impurity causes dishonor of the body. (Opposite of honor for the reflected image)

Opposite of releasing them, giving them over. (Presumes a previous attachment)

Synonymous with the truth of God vs. the lie.

Opposite of worshiping and serving the created.

Worship and service of the Creator who is blessed forever.

Opposite of degrading passions. (Uplifting passions)

Natural function of the woman. (Listed “for woman” in reference to both women and men.)

Opposite of men burning with desire for other men. (Desire for women?)

Opposite of committing indecent acts with resulting penalties.

Acknowledgment of God.

Opposite of a depraved mind.

Opposite of doing things which are not proper.

Opposite of being filled with the following attributes:

unrighteousness

wickedness

greed

evil

envy

murder

strife

deceit

malice

gossip

slander

hating God

insolence

arrogance

boastfulness

inventing evil

disobedience of parents

without understanding

untrustworthy

unloving

unmerciful

More than just knowing the ordinance of God.

Opposite of giving hearty approval to those who practice these evils.

(More clues for glory going the opposite direction in the chapter starting at verse 22 backwards)

Knowing God AND honoring Him and giving thanks.

Opposite of becoming futile in speculations.

Opposite of foolish and darkened heart.

Opposite of professing to be wise and becoming fools.

Evidence within us of what is known about God.

Invisible attributes of God

His eternal power.

Divine nature.

These have been clearly seen – they are understood through what is made (creation).

Opposite of suppressed truth through unrighteousness.

Opposite of ungodliness.

The gospel.

The power of God for salvation.

Power to everyone who believes (in order of foreknowledge of Him)

God's righteousness.

God's faith that inspires man's faith that he can live by.

Contrasts in Romans 1:

Righteousness of God vs. wrath of God revealed.

Known evidence about God clearly seen and understood vs. futile speculations and suppression of the truth.

God is revealed vs. foolish darkened hearts.

Wise vs. fools.

Worship of higher Creator vs. worship of lower creatures.

Glory vs. image.

Incorruptible God vs. corruptible man, birds etc.

Honor for God vs. dishonor of their own bodies.

The truth of God vs. THE LIE.

Eager to preach the gospel vs. degrading passions and burning with lust.

Feeling under obligation to serve vs. committing indecent acts.

Truth vs. deceit.

Faith vs. lust.

Invisible attributes vs. image in (visible) forms.

Serving in the spirit of the gospel vs. professing to be wise

Longing to see you to impart some spiritual gift vs. lusts of the heart to impurity and burning with homosexual desires.

Evidence of God within them vs. darkened heart.

Obtaining fruit (for God) vs. exploiting others for lust.

Knowledge of God vs. foolish “wisdom”.

Thanking God (8) vs. not giving thanks (21)

Natural function of women vs. unnatural function in homosexual desires.

Salvation (restoration) vs. depraved mind.

Just living by faith vs. professing to be wise.

Encouraged together with you by each other's faith vs. practicing sins worthy of death and giving hearty approval to those who also practice them while knowing the ordinance of God.

Obedience of faith (5) vs. disobedience to parents.

Received grace and apostleship vs. receiving due penalty of their error.

(Obedience for) His name's sake vs. haters of God.

Unashamed of the gospel vs. committing indecent (shameful) acts.

Beloved of God vs. haters of God.

(next in series)

Why Questions?

What are questions for? This came to my mind and the immediate ideas needed to get captured so I could review them later and think about them more.

I thought about the questions that God asked in the Garden after our parents sinned. I remembered how Jesus so often responded to questions with His own questions. From the context of thinking about things more from a heart perspective I found this very fascinating and revealing.

Quite obviously God does not need to ask questions to get information that He does not already completely know about. On the other hand that is the main reason we ask questions, isn't it? Or maybe I am showing my male bias here. I have been learning that women, generally speaking, dialog primarily to explore their feelings together more than to gather information. Men tend to be more solution oriented and want to collect facts for the purpose of compiling an answer to an exposed problem to dispense with it and move on. This is a source of much misunderstanding between the sexes particularly in marriages much of the time. It is also well addressed by the Love and Respect seminars put on by the Eggerich's which I recommend.

But what does questioning reveal about the questioner? And by this time you may be wondering what all these questions might be revealing about me. That too is probably a very valid question.

I am starting to see two distinct categories of questions that are not so much always distinguishable in the wording of the questions but in the spirit of the questioner. This is because of the difference between a person living primarily from their head/left brain and one who is living more from their heart/right brain.

I think a very good example of this is some of the very first questions found in history. After Adam and Eve sinned and suddenly felt overwhelmed with shame and guilt, God came along and began asking questions. Now, what you assume about this situation is greatly affected by several factors such as what you believe God is like and what His motives were for His questioning. If you assume that He was there to interrogate them, intensify their guilt and make sure they understood how bad they had been, then you are definitely living from an external-oriented religion no matter whether you profess to be religious or not.

On the other hand, if you see a God full of emotion and anguish reaching out to repair a ruptured heart relationship with two of His favorite children, then maybe you are on the road to understanding what the kingdom of heaven is really about.

When a person is more interested in heart connections than in external compliance and conformity, then their questions will be designed and their voice and body expressions will convey a deep desire to draw out the heart and affections of the other person being addressed. The questions will not be just about finding out things, though as humans that is necessary since we cannot know hearts as God can, but they will also be used to explore the real condition of the other person's heart. A person who lives from their heart always wants to connect more deeply with other hearts – that's just what hearts are designed for.

But when a person is still caught in the trap of being locked out of their own heart for whatever reason, they will tend to relate to others on a mostly information-based level or will tend to move toward a more condemning position that will further shut down or damage other hearts. The questions in this situation will be fishing for information that will likely be used for or against the other person later on.

This brings me to the difference between “judgment” vs. “condemnation”. True judgment (contrary to what many of us assumed from our upbringing) is simply a revealing outwardly of an inward condition. Condemnation, in contrast, is an imposition of shame, an intensifying of guilt feelings and an enhancing of the environment of fear. None of these things are in the heart of God and He does not operate to bring those things into our lives. Those are lies and death-producing techniques that Satan has developed to destroy the heart relationships that God desires to have with us and for us to share with each other.

This flows right into the common analogy of light and darkness so often mentioned in the Bible. When a person is trying to connect with the heart, their questions will be an attempt to bring that heart out into the light so that healing and understanding and bonding can take place in the warm atmosphere of the light of truth. But when a heart is locked down under the tyranny of left-brain a religion/philosophy/lifestyle way of thinking, then it will always be afraid to come to the light. That fear is justified by its belief that coming to the light of exposure will only result in more damage, more pain and more shame. Since our hearts are not wired to enjoy those kinds of things and does not desire them, a person who does not believe that the questioner has his best interest in mind will continue to hide deeper and deeper under a shell of self-defense and darkness. And if the questioner is more interested in the externals and in appearances than in restoring peace and love to the heart, then the other person who is afraid has good reason to continue to retreat deeper into his fears and hiding mechanisms even though those activities will further deepen his isolation and pain.

This brings to mind another problem that I have observed. I have repeatedly seen people who observe the wonderful results of a person who knows how to truly live from their heart working with another who is struggling in that direction. After getting excited about the tremendous potential of bringing relief and healing to others, these observers attempt to do the same work by carefully analyzing and trying to copy what they saw the first person do. They study the example very carefully, they create charts or complex analysis of the data, the techniques or any other of a multitude of tools that can be hypothesized and condensed from their study. Then they try to carefully copy the example, often turning it into a training program that they then “sell” to others and detail the parameters that they have set up for “success”.

But as many of us sadly realize, after awhile these programs prove to be inadequate to reach hearts effectively like the original demonstrations produced and more people line up with new programs and techniques to replace the old ones and everyone jumps on the next bandwagon to success. Does this sound familiar? I have seen it happen over and over and it will continue till the end of time. This is because simply copying the external “formulas” created by observing someone living from their heart never works well because the most important element has been left out and overlooked. Copying the questions word for word that work so effectively when used by a person of the heart does not produce the same results when used in the sterile environment of externalism.

By no means at all do I claim to know a lot about this subject. I have spent most of my life living on the “external” side of this issue and only recently have become more aware of the heart side. I am just beginning to even be more aware of my own heart and am even less skillful at working with the hearts of others. But I am becoming more and more aware of the vital significance of not only living from my heart but relating to others at a heart level more than any other level. It does not mean that information, facts and external are not important at all. It is just that when I allow them to eclipse the greater importance of staying relational and connected at the heart level I am back into activities and misunderstandings that cause more damage that later has to be addressed as well.

So how do I learn how to use questions to connect at the heart level? How do I learn to explore and encourage and heal with my words? Even more important, how do I get my body language and voice tone and facial expressions to synchronize with my hearts desires to bond in healthy relationships with other hearts? I know there are a lot of people who know me asking the same questions about me. So many questions – but how are they asked and what will they be used to accomplish?

Unpacking Wrath More

It is of quite considerable interest to me to understand and explore the meaning and implications of the phrase “wrath of God revealed” (Rom. 1:18). I have been discovering the real truth about God's wrath for several years now and have even devoted a blogsite for collecting my findings on it. This truth about God is radically challenging much of my own belief system and has greatly improved my attitude toward Him. I really believe that as the truth about this subject becomes more and more exposed throughout the world that the glory of God will fill the earth as spoken of in Revelation 18. So it is with great interest that I want to take plenty of opportunity to see what God Himself has to say about this in the context immediately surrounding a place where He says it is revealed. I do not wish to become dogmatic or confrontational about the subject, but I do want to really grasp its significance and allow it to transform my heart much more as the truths about God become more evident and clear in my own consciousness.

As I meditate and consider the various words and phrases surrounding this text, I am looking for clues and connections that will lead like threads of gold to new insights. One method I use in my study is to condense sentences into their most compact form to more clearly see what is may be saying, since my mind can sometimes become easily confused with too many descriptives, adjectives etc. Then I also like to go back and check with the original language to find further clues that may expose even more hidden details and suggestions.

As I am looking at this sentence which includes v. 18 and 19 I find that the operative key words seem to come down to this – The wrath of God is revealed against men... who suppress the truth...because....

What my mind is grasping for is another analogy that depicts an obvious force, like the strength of a mighty river, that is being resisted. I recently used the analogy of a river for white-water rafting or tubing in the context of God's love and passion. Because I firmly believe that God's passionate love is really one and the same as what is interpreted as His wrath my fallen beings, that analogy still works very well. One does not necessarily notice the immense power of the current until they try to resist it.

That is the situation that I see emerging from these two verses. It is stated the truth being suppressed is evident within them and verse 20 expands that to say that it is also evident outside of them in all of creation. So when a person attempts to resist the obvious (like trying to conjure up rational excuses for evolution) they find themselves in intense resistance to self-evident truth. Living in that kind of lie requires tremendous amounts of denial and effort to justify and shore up untenable positions which is exactly what most of the world is doing today. It is almost a description of the classic question, “what happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object?” I think we may have just found the answer right here – the wrath of God is revealed. The laws of physics, which God invented in the first place, states that resistance produces heat. Given enough heat the elements composing that resistance will melt and disintegrate and “self-destruct”. Where does the blame lie? Well, that answer depends largely on how much you are resisting the real truth about God yourself. If one insists on clinging to the angry, vengeful God model of believing, then they will insist that the fault lies with God, that He runs out of patience and “gets even” with His enemies and explodes in (human style) wrath, torturing anyone who resists His overtures of affection for them.

This belief system is one of the most diabolical and heinous lies about God that Satan has ever invented. It is strongly promoted by nearly every world religion and assumed to be “gospel” truth by most Christians. Yet this teaching about God's character has caused more souls to turn away in sickening disgust from trusting themselves to God than possibly any other scheme of the Devil. No matter what version or variation of this belief we hold, if it includes believing that God's “wrath” is a reflection of sinful human wrath then we are attempting to force our view of God into our own image.

The very activity of teaching these ideas I believe is the suppression of the self-evident truth about God described in this passage. If this passage is to be understood, then we have to discover in the context clues as to what truth is being suppressed that causes the wrath of God to be revealed.

It is necessary to challenge the common assumption that the word “against” generally produces. The common belief is that it is God-initiated as well as a reflection of human-type wrath. When this assumption is allowed to go unchallenged we are already well down the road of misunderstanding and resisting the truth about God's character and personality, so we need to carefully consider what else this word may imply besides an angry God lashing out against homosexuals. Against can just as well be initiated by the resisters of God as well as from God's side of the relationship. So which side does the context reveal the resistance of “against” coming from?

It is extremely clear throughout the rest of the chapter and into the next that all of the resistance going on is coming from the side of sinners and not from God. God is simply being Himself, remaining consistent with “His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature”. He is an incorruptible God (23) so He cannot adapt to the faultiness that sin produces in those who were created originally in His image.

It is unrighteous people (opposite of righteous God) who suppress the truth, are without excuse, do not honor God or give thanks, profess to be wise but are fools, exchange the glory and truth of God for a lie, exchange natural function for unnatural and become filled with all the symptoms of unrighteousness described at the end of this chapter. And how does God respond to all of this? Does He get angry and thunder down condemnation on them? It simply states repeatedly that He gives them over to their choices and the natural consequences. The attribute that is revealed in these statements is more of a sad “releasing” of those who determinedly resist His love in contrast to a reactionary or arbitrary vengeance so often portrayed by religious philosophies. This is a most crucial truth that is foundational to correcting the lies about God and revealing the true righteousness of God to a confused and lost world frightened away from the very One who wants to save them.

If we do not want to be among those who are given over by God to the consequences of the lies of sin; if we do not want to be those who “exchange the glory of the incorruptible God for an image” of our own imagination that resembles the devil more than the truth about God, then we should take a serious look at accepting this beautiful truth about God that will liberate us from so many peripheral confusions and usher us onto the road to freedom in Christ.

(next in series)

Perfume Poured Out

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth-- for your love is more delightful than wine. Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens love you! (Song of Solomon 1:2-3 NIV)

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? (2 Corinthians 2:14-16 NRSV)

I smelled the aroma of death and of life yesterday and this morning. It is that strange mingling of the two that challenges my heart to avoid the one and embrace the other. In the morning I attended a large church and was fading fast in my spirit through all the less than inspiring preliminaries so I made my way up to the video control room to touch base with people I used to work with and offer my services again. While up there I listened to the sermon and became deeply moved with both the message and the unusual passion with which it was delivered. It really connected with my heart and was needed and accepted.

In the afternoon I spent the rest of the day with one of my daughters and her friends. I found myself involved in discussions that were examining carefully some of their and my frustrations with how church or its alternatives are being carried out. We touched on a number of related subjects throughout the afternoon and I was trying at the same time to remain in awareness of the condition of my heart and spirit. At times in the intensity of my feelings during a discussion I find myself beginning to slip into a little bit of aggressiveness that begins to spoil the sweetness of the spirit that I want to maintain inwardly. I realize then that the mingling of aromas will send confusing messages to the hearts of others and I want to more carefully guard against being that kind of messenger.

I was blessed with the beginnings of heart connections with new people who I sensed shared some of the same desires and beliefs that I have. I tried to listen more openly to what different ones were sharing and try to pay attention to what their heart was trying to express behind their words. It is part of my effort to live more in awareness of the spirit realm and be more in touch with heaven's reality.

I ended the day with another heart-warming talk with a person very important in my life listening to their heart pains, their desires and their questions. I feel honored to be used at times as a channel of love, caring and blessing at these times and realize that in the process I receive strength, comfort and blessing myself. My heart feels more alive and synchronized at these times and I want to live that way more often and more consistently.

As I was waking up this morning I began talking with God about my feelings and listening to what He might have to share with my heart. It seemed more close and affectionate than usual and I lay there for awhile just enjoying the moments together. Later I opened my devotional book and the first text I read for today reminded me of something I had jotted down a few days ago and never finished putting together.

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” (Ephesians 5:1-2 )

“Love was the element in which Christ moved and walked and worked. He came to embrace the world in the arms of His love. . . .” {SD 147}

Suddenly a number of things began to coalesce and I felt a picture of having the privilege of snuggling up on God's lap and kissing Him on the cheek while being hugged in His arms. My heart remembers that God is neither exclusively male or female but the ultimate expression of both depending on our needs. So to say “him” is strictly for the purpose of getting through the narrow limitations of language and cannot be used to define our relationship, particularly in this context.

It felt so comforting to be able to realize that God not only allows me to offer Him/Her my affections but deeply longs for me to become “addicted” to this relationship. This also felt relieving in that I do not feel guilty about these emotions like I would have a few years ago. My picture of God has been radically improving over my recent past allowing me to come closer to Him in intimacy in ways that would have frightened me not long ago. As I have chosen to believe and fill my mind with more truth about what He is really like I am less afraid to come closer in affectionate ways to Him and receive more of His affection for me.

Sometimes I feel reluctant to quote a number of texts to support what I am experiencing because of the bad taste I have experienced from so much proof-texting in my life and my church in the past. On the other hand I realize that linking my experience and my beliefs to the words that God has spoken will breath power into my experience that is inherent in His word as it springs to life in my heart. So when I use texts in these communications I am not trying to prove that what I am sharing is “right”, but I am simply relaying how these verses were a part of the process of God communicating His feelings, His thoughts and the truth about Himself to me.

As I pondered the exciting ideas in the first passage from Song of Solomon two main things caught my attention and drew it to a number of other places that God wanted me to think about. The first was the beauty of the smell, the intense attractiveness and lure of the perfume that is the essence of the presence of God. This perfume is a part of the identity of God and emerges in a number of interesting places and ways throughout the Bible. This perfume also appears to have opposite interpretations in the noses of those who smell it depending on what they believe about God, “to the one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.” This ties directly into the parallel phrases about the righteousness of God revealed and the wrath of God revealed that I have been seeing in various places also.

This fragrance of God is linked very closely with the symbol of oil which was also used a great deal in the very instructive system of the sanctuary services. Oil is also a symbol of joy which is the source of our strength. That makes joy and perfume nearly synonymous which would make a lot of sense given what perfume is generally used for, especially in the context of the first verse quoted. Perfume “poured out” is here defined as an exhibition of God's “name”. That took my mind to a number of other verses that shed a lot of additional insight on this thought.

I remember at least two other places that talks about God and “pouring out”. The first was one of my favorite passages to camp out in over in Ezekiel 36. “Therefore I poured out my wrath on them for the blood which they had poured out on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols; and I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them. When they came to the nations, where they went, they profaned my holy name; in that men said of them, These are the people of Yahweh, and are gone forth out of his land. But I had regard for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations, where they went. Therefore tell the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I don't do this for your sake, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations, where you went. I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am Yahweh, says the Lord Yahweh, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.” (Ezekiel 36:18-23 WEB)

The other place that talks about “poured out” is in the words of Jesus at the last supper with His disciples as He shared the juice of the Passover service with them. He may very well have been thinking of the verse from Song of Solomon in His heart when He said, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” (Luke 22:20) A covenant is the most intimate of relationships possible and is what marriage and the intimacy of sex is all about. Jesus was really opening His perfume bottle, His own body, containing the fragrance of God's name, His true identity, and offering it to us as an alluring attraction into the deepest intimacy of love with God that can ever be experienced. He did this by the breaking of His body (the perfume bottle) and the spilling out of His blood in His death for us (the full release of the fragrance of God's passionate love) so that we would drawn to desire God with the passion expressed in Song of Solomon 1:2-3.

As I soaked in these wonderful emotions from God I put on my headphones and listened to a song from the group Selah that has been so enriching for my heart many times. The music and the words lift me higher and closer into the presence of this sweet perfume.

"You Raise Me Up" When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary; When troubles come and my heart burdened be; Then, I am still and wait here in the silence, Until you come and sit awhile with me. You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains; You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas; I am strong, when I am on your shoulders; You raise me up... To more than I can be. There is no life, no life without its hunger; Each restless heart beats so imperfectly; But then you come, and I am filled with wonder; Sometimes I think, I glimpse eternity. You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains; You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas; I am strong, when I am on your shoulders; You raise me up... To more than I can be. You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains; You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas; I am strong, when I am on your shoulders; You raise me up... To more than I can be. You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains; You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas; I am strong, when I am on your shoulders; You raise me up... To more than I can be. You raise me up... To more than I can be.

Lyrics by Josh Groban