Everyday Encounter

I recently picked up the new Tim Hughes album, which is called Holding Nothing Back. One of the lines from the title track has really been jumping out at me recently.

‘Nothings gonna hold me back’
‘My chains fell off, my heart was free’

How often do we feel stifled and restricted – like we can’t give our all – because of whats around us, and the baggage we are carrying? In some ways we are trapped by our own doing. We bring all this baggage of what other people will think about us if we are seen to be in any way passionate or interested in our faith! And we also carry with us barriers like ‘I didn’t like the way he/she lead worship cos it didn’t let me jump about’, or ‘I didn’t like his voice/accent’ or ‘it was too loud/quiet’ or whatever else it is we are looking for. When we are looking for those sorts of things we wont see God – we aren’t really looking for Him.

Nothings gonna hold me back…

Also if any of the encounter worship team are reading this (or I suppose anyone involved in Encounter -i was just drawn to these verses in a worship team context!), here are a few verses I came across and just really want all of us to dig into over the next while as we look to move forward:

‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands you sinners, and purify your hearts you double-minded’ James 4v6-8

I found these verses to be both challenging and encouraging – filled with promises and tasks to sink our teeth into. Let’s really grab a hold of these verses and see God at work in our lives and Encounter…