11 Responses to “Have faith in God”

1. 1
   Tim Says:
   August 26th, 2005 at 6:35 pm

   This rewrite has given me dejavu (sp?). The church I went to when I was young loved Geoff Bullock’s work as a song writer, but this song (the original version) gave members some problems theologically, so they rewrote some of the lines … Geoff’s rewrite is very similar to the version we sang. Wierd! Great work Geoff, I love the new focus on God’s wonderful grace.

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   kbartha Says:
   August 27th, 2005 at 8:11 am

   great changes. How about “Let your hope rest on Him. Grace sufficient for all.” I don’t know the tempo, tone or pace, but hope rests in him, not his grace. His grace is sufficient, but he, our hope, is the anchor of our rest. I love the repitition “The grace and mercy of God” It’s hard to read lyrics and have never heard the lifeblood of the song. You have a stronghold, a drink, a night time escape, and a desert….sounds like a number of biblical stories. Well done.

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   Geoff Bullock Says:
   August 27th, 2005 at 4:11 pm

   Thank you for your comments. Yes, kbartha, I agree with you. Let me work through it, unfortunately your suggestion doesn’t fit with the measure. How about:
   HAVE FAITH IN GOD,
   LET YOUR HOPE REST ON THE ONE WHO HAS COME FOR US ALL
   then the rest of the chorus follows as beforer:
   Always assured
   Forever secure
   In His grace that’s sufficient for all

   What think you all, I quite like it and it will be able to be sung easily.

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   Nigel Mann Says:
   August 28th, 2005 at 10:04 pm

   (Geoff, you asked for feed back so let me step through it. I hope any advice that follows doesn’t come across as too precocious.)

   Hope resting in our faith (even if it was a gift from God) has become hope resting on God’s Grace.
   That makes more sense to me. I think of my faith building on my hope, which definitely rests in God and not my imperfect ability to trust or believe something.
   Theologically speaking I think it is a moot point whether you say our hope is in ‘God’ or ‘God’s grace’ since God is gracious.
   Grammatically speaking “the one who has come for us all” is better than “His grace that’s sufficient for all” because it should really say “His grace, which’s sufficient for all.” and that would be terrible to try and sing.

   Never give up, never let go has become always assured forever secure
   This sounds like the words of someone who has learnt to surrender to God and is now free rather than being driven by a fear of ‘giving up’ and letting go’.

   The power of the presence of God becomes the grace that’s sufficient for all
   Obviously you like the line Paul heard from Christ about “My grace is sufficient for you” but this one could change to the “the Grace and the mercy of God” if you wanted verse and chorus to end the same.
   Either way, I don’t object to God’s presence being powerful - so long as we recognise that God’s power is found in weakness and brokenness (a la the cross) and not in the cult of self-power and self-glory. The change helps avoid this misconception.

   When next to the still waters God’s the promise of glory has become sweet words of comfort
   This is another change from trying to glorify ourselves to acknowledging our need for God’s comfort and healing.

   Verse 3
   The most important change is addition of the whole third verse set in the dry desert. Without it, all the images of where we encounter God are either black or white, bad or good. “By the still waters” is a good place. A place where indeed God does bless us. The only alternative was the “dark night” and that is a bad place that must be transformed into day as quickly as possible so that we can be in a good place again. In this scenario we are either blessed and living it up in the light next to the still waters or out in the bitter darkness.

   But now Geoff has added a third place, a liminal place, a wilderness place. God doesn’t recuse us out of the wilderness but meets us there because it is there that our hearts can be softened and we can learn to thirst after God.

   The images of “dry desert” and “hard hearts” reminds me of the Exodus story where the children of Israel had to worship God in the wilderness before they could learn God’s new way and enter the promised land. It is interesting that it was their constant desire to go back by the waters of the Nile that kept getting them into trouble.

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   » Geoff Bullock rewrite index » » Blog Archive » Signposts Says:
   September 26th, 2005 at 9:41 pm

   […] ll here Alternatively, here is a index of all the song rewrites. Until we see the cross Have faith in God You rescued me The power of your love The heavens […]

6. 6
   AKT Says:
   December 4th, 2005 at 3:12 am

   did u ever feel like you messed up on something so bad that u fell like nothing can change it? i just have to keep looking up to God and pray and have the faith that he will help me

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   AKT Says:
   December 4th, 2005 at 3:16 am

   I keep trying but i keep messing up and sometimes it feels like that the more i try the more messed up it gets and sometimes i just feel like giving up,but if i keep looking up to God he will help me threw this

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   dan Says:
   December 4th, 2005 at 8:38 am

   AKT, I feel for you. I think that sometimes we get tied up in this idea that we cannot make mistakes and then when we do something wrong, we try to hide it or fix it rather than deal with it. I believe that God’s forgiveness and grace is unlimited and he can help us through anything. Hope that you are able to feel his presence.

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   Geoff Bullock Says:
   December 4th, 2005 at 8:43 am

   the beauty of grace for me is that “messing up” does not change how God sees me and therefore challenges as to how I see myself. I also have found that my expectations of myself were based on atoning for my guilt and shame. Somehow I had to prove myself worthy, as growing and changing. Now, I am learning to accept that guilt and shame are deeply rooted problems that need to be healed by applying an action of love and grace towards myself. Growing and changing? It hasn’t worked for the rest of the human race. It’s not that I give up trying, it’s simply trying to not judge myself by my progress.

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    kevin Says:
    December 4th, 2005 at 11:58 am

    “Now, I am learning to accept that guilt and shame are deeply rooted problems that need to be healed by applying an action of love and grace towards myself.”

    geoff - could you expound on this. Interested on your views of how guilt and shame are healed by an action of love toward yourself. What would be an action of Love toward oneself - could you give an example? I can understand the accepting of oneself as healed by the atonement, and not accepting the concept of our unworthiness based upon our actions, but righteous by faith in the blood.

    Are you saying that a person needs to accept guilt and shame as a part of their makeup, or that we should reject guilt and shame.

    I kind of see it as one should reject guilt - because Jesus paid for our shortcomings and iniquities. Their comes a time and place where we quit identifying ourselves based upon our who sin says we are, and accept ourelves as God says we are - and then live in His identity of who He says we are.

    Hence, I am no longer a sinner saved by grace - the sinner died with Christ and now I am a new creation where the law does not apply becasue the old man that it did apply to has died. I think in some of the things you have written I may have halucinated as a different point - but it seems that you were saying we are all worms and pond scum, becasue of sin - that to me, is not grace but absolute law. I really may have been misreading you so would appriciate some thoughts from you.

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    Geoff Bullock Says:
    December 4th, 2005 at 9:08 pm

    Are you saying that a person needs to accept guilt and shame as a part of their makeup, or that we should reject guilt and shame……YES!! That’s it.

    If we choose to measure ourselves, all we can end with is the above.
    If bwe let the love of God “measure us” we are left with an overwhelming sense of acceptance.. unconditional and unmerited acceptance.
    For me, it is thos growing realisation that helps me to “se and be me” and then be accountable to the responsibilities that being me forces onto my community. The other way makes me etrenally scared of failing God, failing my spirituality and morality and leads me to an endless desire for holiness in the sight of God. At this point I am of no earthly good. I am simply trying to seek a human perfection that has been proved inadequate in the light of the divine perfection ascribed to us.
    Having been loved, graced and forgiven, i must endeavour to be loving gracious and forgiving.
    Does this help?