Inspired by Romans 8:28 - We have been pre-destined from the beginning to be molded into the image of Jesus and share inwardly in His likeness!” We seem to make a big mess of things when we try and live life our own way... But if we desire God, and delight in Him, He will give us the desires and secret petitions of our hearts! If your dreams seem impossible or ripped apart hand them over to God, trust Him and He will bring it to pass... (Psalm 37:4-5) God, by His power working in and through us is able to carry out His purpose and do superabundantly, far over and above all that we dare ask or think, infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams (Ephesians 3:20) God redeems (buys back) the lives of His servants, and none of those who take refuge and trust in Him shall be condemned or held guilty! (Psalm 34:22) Not only that but he fixes, beautifies, dignifies, us with his love, grace & mercy... There is only one way to God.... Jesus said “I am the way, the truth & the life, no one comes to the father except through Me”... Because He died on the Cross and rose again to save me from my sin, I can choose to live with Him for eternity! That’s pretty epic... ( John 14:6, John 3:16) God’s mercies are as high as the heavens are above the Earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear (honor, respect) Him... He has removed our sins as far as the east is from the west! (Psalm 103:11-12). God even says that if we come to Him and confess our sins or wrongdoings, He will not even remember them! (Hebrews 8:12) We can resist, defeat & overcome the devil by speaking the word (Bible) to him like Jesus did... If we submit to God, & resist the devil he will flee (check it out in Matthew 4:1-11, James 4:7)... We have all authority over the enemy in the name of Jesus! (Luke 10:19)... Do not be afraid or discouraged... Be strong & courageous!!
There are basically two types of grace... There’s the old testament kind of grace that gives us God’’s favor, acceptance & blessing that we don’t deserve, but when Jesus died on the cross for our sins, rose again & gave us the Holy Spirit He also empowered us with a new kind of grace, not to cover up our weaknesses but to empower us to lead a life pleasing to Him.... As Christians we’re on a journey of being washed clean, and made holy like Jesus! God not only forgives our sin when we mess up but His Spirit lives inside of us helping & guiding us everyday to make the right choices & to be holy (apart or separate from sin) like Jesus! The moon has no glory or light of it’s own but reflects the light of the sun... That’s how we need to be in this world reflecting God’s beauty & love to a hurting, lost & broken world... The more we take on the nature of Christ and the fruit of the Spirit grows in us (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control...Galatians 5:2223) the more we’ll reflect His glory... Fire is a symbol for the presence of God... He is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29)... His fire purifies us like gold or silver... Let’s never push out God’s Spirit with our busy programs & lives without His power, passion & presence... We need His fire burning in our hearts, lives, churches and worlds! How good is it in a church or youth meeting, at a camp or at home in your bedroom or out somewhere for a pray and you feel the Holy Spirit’s presence right there with you... In that moment you know He’s there with you... you know He’s real... God says in James 4:8 ‘Draw near to God and He’ll draw near to you’... That means He’s yearning eagerly to meet with us... Put on your favourite worship album, or some good preaching on your headphones and talk to God, tell Him you love Him and you want to be closer to Him... Tell him He did a really good job making the Earth and all the animals and the trees... He just loves spending time with you... We need to understand that no matter how hard we try we can’t live this life to the fullest on our own but we need His Word and His Spirit to be constantly guiding us and teaching us how to live... We need Him! We must desire Him with all our hearts! We need Him to set alight His passions in our hearts! If you don’t know what I’m talking about, life at it’s best is extremely empty... thanks so much for your time...
Everyone at some point has been lost... We didn’t get lost on purpose... and we didn’t know we were lost but when we realised we had lost our way we experienced that sick, alone, empty sinking feeling... The only way to get found again is to find a map, a compass or a g.p.s... The Bible with the leading of the Holy Spirit into our hearts is like a map or g.p.s... When we learn to recognise His leading we can be guided into God’s will and plan for our lives... If we cry out to Jesus for help & guidance, He has the power & authority to calm the storms of life and bring order to chaotic and hopeless situations... The inspiration for this song came from Matthew 8:18-22... “Without warning, a furious storm came upon the lake, so that the waves swept over the desciples’ boat. But Jesus was sleeping... The disciples woke Jesus, crying out, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and the waves, and it was completely calm”... Jesus has all authority over every storm, over every situation and struggle we are facing and He has given the authority of His name to us and the Word in our mouth! We need to use our faith, believe and speak to the storm, command the mountain to be moved in the name of Jesus! How do we get faith? Faith comes by hearing the Word of God... We must read and meditate on the Bible, planting it into our hearts like spiritual seed... The Bible says the Kingdom of God is like a man scattering seed (Luke 8:11, Luke 13:18, Mark 4:26), we need to find what God is saying about our situation in the word of God... Learn it, confess it, pray it and get it straight from God’s Word and into the soil of our heart, believing God to bring His will and plan over time from a seed form, into a tree, into harvest and breakthrough into the circumstance bringing glory to God! The Word of God is imperishable, living, enduring, sharp, active and incorruptible! (1 Peter 1:23, Hebrews 4:12), Don’t give up on God, seek Him for an answer! The enemy has come to steal, kill and destroy but Jesus has come to give you life abundantly! David said in Psalm 27:13 “I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living”... I love his relentless heart that believed in and trusted his God no matter what!
While our Bibles are shut tight, gathering dust on a bookshelf it remains helpless to our lives, but when we open it, read it, learn it, study it, meditate on it and speak it out it carries huge power - like wielding a sword... When you declare Scripture out loud and live it out loud like Jesus did then it becomes the sword of the Spirit piercing through the darkness, breaking down the enemies plans to ruin your life! We must take the sword in faith, in His wisdom, power and in cooperation with the Holy Spirit... So however you are feeling or what you are facing God loves you and wants to help you and carry you through... You might feel down, lost, alone, dead or hopeless right now... You can find hope in God... He will never leave you or forsake you... He’s a good and loving Father! Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him”...
Romans 4:17 says that God speaks life to the dead and calls non existant things as if they already existed... Believing and confessing God’s word isn’t a way to manipulate our own will to happen, or a formula for getting anything we want, but we must pray in agreement with the will of God - be careful never to take it out of context - but pray and ask someone else for help (your pastor or leader)... As we believe what God’s Word says we are aligning our hearts and lives in agreement with Him for His great plans to come to pass! God’s plan for our lives fits us perfectly, and couldn’t be better! He has an abundant full life planned for us... Faith isn’t actioned by negativity, murmuring, doubting or unbelief... God wants to work in and through us to successfully fulfil the assignments He has given us on planet Earth... God is faithful and completely trustworthy and we need to continually hand Him our lives, our concerns, our worries, our fears, our temptations and give Him our whole lives... When our circumsances seem chaotic and orderless we know that God is right there with us in the storm, is able to calm the raging seas and set us on the right path! How cool is that? Just try it right now, say “God I trust You”... So in conclusion, I strongly encourage you to believe what God is saying about your situation, standing firm on His word and vocalising it on a regular basis and over time, as you plant these incorruptable seeds, in due season you will reap a harvest - don’t lose heart! The spoken Word of God is an offensive & powerful weapon; a double edged sword defeating the enemy and opening the blessings from Heaven!!
Produced by: Luke Munns Recorded/mixed/mastered by Luke Munns *‘Shine Your Glory’ mixed by Blair Simmons & Luke Munns @ Crank recording, PERTH (crankrecording.com) *Drums recorded @ Paradise Studios, Gosford, assisted by miles thomas all songs written by luke munns © copyright 2009 LUKAS Harrison wood: drums...troy munns; bass, guitars...chris whitehall: guitars Luke munns: vocals, guitars, piano/keyboards, percussion ARTWORK by: jordan munns, glenn stewart (mindscapefilms.com) *‘feels like home’ additional production: brendan anthony, guitar: michael guy chislett, djembe: luke munns, string arrangement: laine loxlea dannan, string quartet: lucy warren, sallie campbell, DAVID COLLINS, DANIELLE BENTLEY. *PIANO IN ‘I’LL BE THERE’: Matt sharp quote in ‘shine your glory’ sampled from John bevere’s ‘drawing near’ series. used with permission. www.messengerinternational.org if you would like to ask jesus christ into your life please pray this prayer from your heart: “dear jesus, i confess my sin & ask for your forgiveness. i believe that you died for me ON THE CROSS & ROSE AGAIN, PLEASE COME INTO MY HEART & BE MY LORD & SAVIOUR, AMEN.” if you have prayed this prayer or would like any additional information please contact us: EMAIL@thelukasband.com thank you father, son & holy spirit, you are our everything and we are nothing without you... Thanks: phil & krista kennedy, christina wardle, frazer & tammy rowe, ps. phil & chris pringle, ps. mark & birnie kelseY, john & lisa bevere, ps. theo & beverly wolmarans, colin mackenzie, andy & jan munns, dave & deb wardlE, blair & alicia simmons, jordan munns, glenn stewart, brad cheney, kristian anderson, billy hyde music parramatta, ryan smith, sharpy, noel Tiufino, tiMmY williams contact us: bookings@thelukasband.com | www.thelukasband.com | www.twitter.com/lukasband www.myspace.com/lukas | www.facebook.com/LUKASBAND