Bless The Lord, Oh My Soul!

During my devotion today, I was reading Psalm 107 and I was struck with wonder, once again, that mankind waits until they are in dire despair before crying out to God.  God is faithful and just... He is always present and has promised never to leave us or forsake us.  Why, then, would we not long to soak in that presence every minute of every hour of every day?  Why do some wander in deserts or flounder in raging waters?  Better yet, why do some wait until then to cry out to God?

Christ died so that we might have life and have it more abundantly, not so that we could continue in our sinful ways.  His desire is to have a loving, ongoing relationship with His creation... yes, YOU!  Why wouldn't we want the same?  Instead we struggle and think we know better.  

I've wondered a similar thing through the years as I see young adults or new parents ignoring the advice of their parents.  Ok, admittedly we all make mistakes as parents but, still, don't you think we may have learned from them?  But I digress... the point is, God is our Heavenly Father so why don't we come to Him for guidance and encouragement or a loving embrace as well as help in troubled times?  All He wants is for us to ask.  

And, if you are a parent, look at things from His perspective.... isn't it harder to wait on the sidelines than to step in and clean up the mess without being asked?  God wants to be included in your life.  He's just waiting for an invitation.

"Bless The Lord, Oh my soul!  And all that is within me bless His holy name!

He has done great things... He Has Done GREAT Things... HE HAS DONE GREAT THINGS!!!!

Bless His Holy Name!"

This song by Matthew West has been running through my head for weeks now.  I just love it because it is so powerfully true...

Hello, my name is regret 

I’m pretty sure we have met 

Every single day of your life 

I’m the whisper inside 

That won’t let you forget 

Have you ever heard that whisper?  Something that God asked you to do that you didn't do or an opportunity not taken has left you with a feeling of regret that you just can't shake?  How about defeat?  Ever felt defeated?...

Hello, my name is defeat 

I know you recognize me 

Just when you think you can win 

I’ll drag you right back down again 

‘Til you’ve lost all belief 

These are the voices, these are the lies 

And I have believed them, for the very last time 

Satan is the father of lies... he is constantly whispering over and over in our heads until we can't take it any more.  I remember seeing a drama performance "Heaven's Gates and Hell's Flames" and during one of the scenes a woman is contemplating suicide and satan is literally walking all around her whispering lies of regret and defeat.  Is this how you are living?  Being bogged down by Satan's lies?  Well, here's the good news of the song and God's story:

Hello, my name is child of the one true King 
I’ve been saved, I’ve been changed, and I have been set free 
“Amazing Grace” is the song I sing 

Hello, my name is child of the one true King 

I am no longer defined 

By all the wreckage behind 

The one who makes all things new 

Has proven it’s true 

Just take a look at my life 

What love the Father has lavished upon us 

That we should be called His children 

I am a child of the one true King

Isn't that awesome?!  If you've been born again, if you've asked Jesus into your life, if you have a relationship with Him, then you are a child of the one true King and, as scripture says, "You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world." (1 John 4:4).  

So stop listening to the lies of the devil.  Scream out and tell him to leave in the name of Jesus because you are a child of the one true King and He has made you new... He has lavished you with love and He has overcome.

Are You Washed in the Blood?

My husband and I like watching crime shows... Bones, CSI, NCIS, etc.  One thing that is remarkable is how blood is never completely washed away... it might be invisible to the naked eye but they put these chemicals on them or shine their special lights and there it is... the blood that is so incriminating.

As Christians, that is a great promise.  Being covered in the blood of Christ makes us acceptable to God... a pleasing sacrifice... a living sacrifice... and that blood, once applied, can never be washed away.  Isn't that wonderful news!

Today is Good Friday.  Although it is a sad day because it's a day of darkness... a day of remembrance... a day when we think of Jesus' death on the cross, it is also a great day.  If Jesus had not died on the cross, there would be no resurrection and without the resurrection of Jesus, there would be no promise of eternal life for you and for me.

So, here is my question today... Have you been washed in the blood?

"Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing pow'r?....

Are you fully trusting in his grace this hour?...

Are you walking daily by the Savior's side?...

Do you rest each moment in the Crucified?...

When the Bridegroom cometh will your robes be white?...

Will your soul be ready for the mansions bright?...

Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin, and be washed in the blood of the Lamb!

There's a fountain flowing for the soul unclean, O be washed in the blood of the Lamb!

Are you washed in the blood, In the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb?

Are your garments spotless?  Are they white as snow?  Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?"

Bless The Lord, Oh My Soul!

It's so easy to become complacent in this day and age.  We see so much hardship... see so much cruelty and experience so much pain that it's easy to "live and let live".  But that isn't the life God has called us to live.  That's not the plan He has for us in Jeremiah 29:11.  In Luke 9:23 when Jesus describes what it means to "follow me", He didn't say, lay on the couch with the remote and a bowl of chips for hours on end.  No, he said we must lay down our lives and daily take up our cross.

Sometimes the things He asks us to do are easy and sometimes they seem hard.  But, no matter what it is He is asking us to do, it will never be beyond the capabilities of what He can do through us because we can do all things through Him.

This weekend I was reminded of a phrase I've heard before but it was so perfect for this weekend... God has a plan.  God invites us to be part of that plan.  But, it's not because He needs us.  See, God's plan will always come to fruition with or without us.  If we decide not to be part of God's plan, His Will will be done using someone else but we will miss out on the blessings He has for us.

Although they can be, God's blessings aren't always physical.  This weekend, my husband and I had opportunities to help friends and family.  We had opportunities to pray for and minister to a friend and when we allowed ourselves to be used and we were able to see the results of what God had asked us to do, we felt such happiness and peace.  We didn't do anything fantastic, but we did things that we had not planned for ourselves... opened our home, prayed, put on our winter clothes and went out in the cold instead of staying on the couch in front of a nice warm fire.

Then, after doing these things, we were blessed with not one, but two wonderful church services/sermons... one about the prodigal son and one about God's invitation to work in His plan from Isaiah 6:8.  And the words that have been ringing through my heart are, "Bless The Lord Oh my soul, oh oh oh my soul, and worship His Holy Name.  Sing like never before, Oh my soul, I'll worship Your Holy Name."

God is calling... He's knocking at your door... Who will go?  

"Also I heard the voice of The Lord, saying: 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?'  Then I said, 'Here am I!  Send me.'" ~ Isaiah 6:8

Last year, being fairly new to this blogging thing, I typed out a wonderful word study of a song that God had laid on my heart but then I was so disappointed that my posting efforts didn't work that I ended up losing that note entirely and, to date, had not tried to recreate it.  But, alas, today I must because, once again, I woke to the sound of birds and thought of the song, "Morning has broken".

For those of you who don't know, we have 4 little pet birds... finches.  We started out with three but one of the three always seemed to be the outcast so, after noticing this for a few days, we went and found him a mate. 

The finches are not all the same.  We have a society finch, an orange cheeked waxbill, and two green singer finches (who, if you actually look at them, look more yellow to me).  All of them make some cute little sounds but those singers?, Oh my!  When they want to, they can sure sing.  One of the first things we noticed about them is they like to give a concert when the lights go out at night and when the lights come on in the morning.  I'll have to admit, I don't hear them much in the morning but we have the light in their cage set to a timer and when it goes out at night, they can sing for at least 3 min... most of the time they'll go on for 5 min.

Anyway, after noticing this for a while, I finally put two and two together... you may or may not remember that, last spring, I kept mentioning how I would wake to birds singing outside my window.  Well, it's nature's way of welcoming the day.  When I realized this, it reminded me of that movie "City of Angels" where the angels would greet the sunrise with reverence each morning.

So, here is what God laid on my heart with the song, "Morning has Broken":

"Morning has broken like the first morning,

Blackbird has spoken like the first bird.

Praise for the singing!  Praise for the morning!

Praise for them, springing fresh from the Word!"

Each morning is new with new mercies and new adventures... new stories to write in our pages of life and God creates day uniquely but, at the same time, with some similarity to the first dawn of creation.  We are to praise Him.  Praise Him each day.

"Sweet the rain's new fall sunlit from heaven,

Like the first dew fall on the first grass.

Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden,

sprung in completeness where His feet pass."

Do you take time to meditate?  When you look at nature, it is so easy to praise God... he is the Master Creator, the most wonderful artist ever... even the rain drops are soothing and mesmerizing to watch.  And just think, when He created the garden, He didn't start with seeds planted in the soil, no, he spoke and full grown trees and plants sprang from the earth's surface.  And, He actually walked on this earth... even before He became man, He socialized with Adam and Eve on a daily basis.

"Mine is the sunlight!  Mine is the morning

born of the one light Eden saw play!

Praise with elation, praise every morning,

God's recreation of the new day!"

Let's join with the birds and praise His holy name.  In Luke 19:40, it says, "Jesus answered... 'if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.'"  Who is louder in their praise today?  You or the nature around you?

Jesus loves *****

A few weeks ago, we were watching two of our little granddaughters and I was getting ready to sing to them before bedtime. Amie, the older of the two, requested "Jesus", Amie (or so I thought) so I asked her if she wanted to hear "Jesus Loves Me"? She shook her head yes and then I asked if she wanted to sing with me and she also shook her head yes. So, as I started singing, and she was not, I kept asking her about singing but now she was saying no. So, I thought, ok... maybe she's planning on joining on the chorus.

I got to "Yes, Jesus loves me..." and she said, "no, Amie". So, I stopped and, once again, asked if she wanted to sing with me. She said no. This happened a few times and now there were tears along with it... I was so confused... I finally moved on to a different song and she seemed to be ok so I chalked it up to a little girl being tired.

Well, last week, their mommy and daddy brought home a baby brother and, during the week, mommy mentioned that Amie had been singing "Jesus loves Gordie".... Wow! Talk about senior moments! Why didn't grandma get it several weeks ago! "Jesus loves Amie!!!" Live and learn, right?  "Jesus loves, insert name here... Now the only difficult part is, when you have three (or more) grand babies on your lap, whose name do you insert into the song? I mean, after all, Jesus loves all of us, grandmas included. I guess I should switch my bedtime song to "Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world..." I could insert several names into that one.

"Yes, Jesus loves *****. Yes, Jesus loves *****. Yes, Jesus loves *****. The Bible tells me so."

Joy to the World

Obviously, this post was meant to appear before Christmas but I always use my iPad for creating and posting to my blog and I kept getting an error message each time I tried posting.  So, for those of you who may have been missing me, I think I finally got the new Blogger changes figured out and, as a test, I'm once again trying to post something that hit me before Christmas because, after all, the joy of the Christmas season should truly last all year long:

As we prepare for the Christmas celebration, are we preparing our hearts for the King?  Last night, during a time of worship, we sang the first stanza of "Joy to the World" and then the song changed to...

"Joy, unspeakable, joy!

An overflowing well..."

And I kept getting the words backward, singing...

"Joy, unspeakable, joy!

An overwhelming flow..."

But isn't it almost the same?  Not really... An overflowing well can happen slowly, even with a constant drip or dribble, but the joy we can experience, the joy that comes from a relationship with Jesus is more like an overwhelming flow, the kind of overflow that comes from a torrential rain.  It's constant and steady... Joy that makes your heart sing even when the life around you is in total chaos.  Doesn't that sound more like the joy you would want to experience?

"No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground;

He comes to make His blessings flow..."

Isn't that a beautiful promise?  In John 14:27, Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you."  When Jesus gives us peace, he replaces other emotions with joy... Again, doesn't this sound like something you want to experience?  You can... All we need do is ask... Ask and you shall receive... Come to Jesus today, lay your sorrows and burdens at His feet and let Him fill your heart with Joy.

"Joy to the world! The Lord has come; Let earth receive her King;

Let every heart prepare Him room, And heaven and nature sing..."