“Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.” Ephesians 5:19-20
Throughout church history men and women have expressed their devotion and praise to God through music. For many composers, the words and music came during times of intense trials.
- Martin Luther, after years of spiritual embattlement, wrote A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.
- John Newton, sickened by his life as a slave trader, accepted Jesus Christ. He soon penned the words, “Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see!”
- David on the run from King Saul wrote, “I love You, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies” (Psalm 18:1-3).
The next time your are confronted by disillusionment, doubt, or fear, try praising God through song. The Bible tells us God inhabits the praise of His people. You may not feel like praising Him. That’s okay. He knows you’re hurting. Ask Him to help you begin; and He will not only place a song in your heart, He will also provide comfort and hope to face the future.
“He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God...” Psalm 40:3
Friday, October 8, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Jesus is Lord!
“Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’” Matthew 16:16
“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” Luke 6:46
During a conversation with His disciples, Christ asked: “Who do you say I am?” (Matt. 16:15) Peter responded without hesitation : “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16). The Greek word for Christ is translated Messiah which means anointed of God and refers to His lordship.
From this point on the disciples were never the same. The spiritual blinds that once covered their eyes rolled back, and the light of God’s truth bellowed in. Jesus was no ordinary teacher. He truly was the One the prophets had written would come.
Something remarkable happens when we confess Jesus as our Lord - bonds are broken, burdens are lifted, and our joy is made complete. When we give Him His rightful place in our lives, we are no longer left to face life alone. He is with us through the power of His Spirit.
Some say Pontius Pilate unknowingly published the first gospel tract when he wrote our Lord’s epitaph: “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” It announced to the world that Jesus was not only the Savior but the ruling Lord.
Does He reign in your heart?
“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” Luke 6:46
During a conversation with His disciples, Christ asked: “Who do you say I am?” (Matt. 16:15) Peter responded without hesitation : “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16). The Greek word for Christ is translated Messiah which means anointed of God and refers to His lordship.
From this point on the disciples were never the same. The spiritual blinds that once covered their eyes rolled back, and the light of God’s truth bellowed in. Jesus was no ordinary teacher. He truly was the One the prophets had written would come.
Something remarkable happens when we confess Jesus as our Lord - bonds are broken, burdens are lifted, and our joy is made complete. When we give Him His rightful place in our lives, we are no longer left to face life alone. He is with us through the power of His Spirit.
Some say Pontius Pilate unknowingly published the first gospel tract when he wrote our Lord’s epitaph: “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” It announced to the world that Jesus was not only the Savior but the ruling Lord.
Does He reign in your heart?
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Be Still and Listen
“My son, give attention to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.
Do not let them depart from your sight;
keep them in the midst of your heart.
For they are life to those who find them
and health to all their body.” Proverbs 4:20-22
“Blessed is the man who listens to me,
watching daily at my gates,
waiting at my doorposts.
For he who finds me finds life
and obtains favor from the LORD.” Proverbs 8:34-35
Probably the greatest antidote for anxiety is quiet reflection and mediation upon the Word of God - especially the passages dealing with God’s provision and power. It’s hard to hold your troubles and anxieties when the faithful and true Word of God is relaxing your grasp.
One key passage to read is Isaiah 51. What a wonderful pronouncement of God’s super ability to handle any of life’s problems. Our anxious fears melt away in light of His comforting words of assurance. That’s much of what listening to God is all about - being quiet enough to focus our attention on what the Word reveals about Him and what He has to say about our concerns.
Of course, a great hindrance to hearing God speak is our inability to set things aside long enough to get quiet, stop worrying about it, and begin to see the truth about God reflected in His Word. The next time you feel the flood of anxiety, stop. Take the time to renew your mind in the Word and reacquaint yourself with God’s viewpoint of this life.
I make the choice of whether I’ll carry my anxiety around with me or if I’ll let it slip away as I relax my grip on it and take instead God’s loving hand in mine.
“...in quietness and trust is your strength...” Isa. 30:15
incline your ear to my sayings.
Do not let them depart from your sight;
keep them in the midst of your heart.
For they are life to those who find them
and health to all their body.” Proverbs 4:20-22
“Blessed is the man who listens to me,
watching daily at my gates,
waiting at my doorposts.
For he who finds me finds life
and obtains favor from the LORD.” Proverbs 8:34-35
Probably the greatest antidote for anxiety is quiet reflection and mediation upon the Word of God - especially the passages dealing with God’s provision and power. It’s hard to hold your troubles and anxieties when the faithful and true Word of God is relaxing your grasp.
One key passage to read is Isaiah 51. What a wonderful pronouncement of God’s super ability to handle any of life’s problems. Our anxious fears melt away in light of His comforting words of assurance. That’s much of what listening to God is all about - being quiet enough to focus our attention on what the Word reveals about Him and what He has to say about our concerns.
Of course, a great hindrance to hearing God speak is our inability to set things aside long enough to get quiet, stop worrying about it, and begin to see the truth about God reflected in His Word. The next time you feel the flood of anxiety, stop. Take the time to renew your mind in the Word and reacquaint yourself with God’s viewpoint of this life.
I make the choice of whether I’ll carry my anxiety around with me or if I’ll let it slip away as I relax my grip on it and take instead God’s loving hand in mine.
“...in quietness and trust is your strength...” Isa. 30:15
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Are You Listening?
“The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of disciples,
that I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.
The Lord GOD has opened My ear;
and I was not disobedient
nor did I turn back.” Isaiah 50:4-5
How do I know that God is speaking to me? How can I be sure of God’s direction for my life? Does God “speak” to people today? And if so, how does He speak?
Those questions (and many more like them) are voiced by those who struggle to understand the Christian life. Those types of questions lead to satisfying answers and a deepened relationship with God. We know from experience and from the truth of God’s Word that God speaks most often through His word, through His people, and through the circumstances of life. The big question is: “Are we listening?” Do we have the sensitivity to hear when God speaks to us? Are we anticipating an answer, looking for God’s response?
There are many hindrances to our ability to hear when God speaks to us. We throw up a wall by known, willful sin; by quenching the Spirit; by hardening our hearts to needs around us; by being too busy to stop to listen and evaluate. Don’t let anything get in the way of your ability to hear the Lord speak to you clearly. We face immeasurable loss when God gets a “busy signal” when trying to reach us. “When God speaks, do I hear?”
To listen to God, you must tune your “receiver” to hear His voice.
that I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.
The Lord GOD has opened My ear;
and I was not disobedient
nor did I turn back.” Isaiah 50:4-5
How do I know that God is speaking to me? How can I be sure of God’s direction for my life? Does God “speak” to people today? And if so, how does He speak?
Those questions (and many more like them) are voiced by those who struggle to understand the Christian life. Those types of questions lead to satisfying answers and a deepened relationship with God. We know from experience and from the truth of God’s Word that God speaks most often through His word, through His people, and through the circumstances of life. The big question is: “Are we listening?” Do we have the sensitivity to hear when God speaks to us? Are we anticipating an answer, looking for God’s response?
There are many hindrances to our ability to hear when God speaks to us. We throw up a wall by known, willful sin; by quenching the Spirit; by hardening our hearts to needs around us; by being too busy to stop to listen and evaluate. Don’t let anything get in the way of your ability to hear the Lord speak to you clearly. We face immeasurable loss when God gets a “busy signal” when trying to reach us. “When God speaks, do I hear?”
To listen to God, you must tune your “receiver” to hear His voice.
Monday, October 4, 2010
The Believers’ Assignment
“For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:14-21
Have you realized that if you claim to be a Christian (a follower of Jesus Christ), others look at you as an example of what God Himself is like? Now, nobody may actually say it in those words; but in reality, you and I are representatives of God to the rest of humanity. As representatives, we are literally ambassadors for Christ.
What does an ambassador do? He or she functions as a go-between for their homeland to a foreign land. Those foreigners develop their view of the ambassador’s homeland through the attitudes and deportment of the ambassador.
As the redeemed children of God, we may be someone’s only opportunity to become acquainted with the love of God. We have been commissioned as ambassadors for Christ. Do your attitudes and deportment reflect the true character of God, or are people getting a tainted view of the One you represent?
Ambassadorship is a high calling. It is a position of great responsibility and influence. Use it to accurately represent the King of kings and Lord of lords. When the world looks at you, what do they see? Jesus?
Have you realized that if you claim to be a Christian (a follower of Jesus Christ), others look at you as an example of what God Himself is like? Now, nobody may actually say it in those words; but in reality, you and I are representatives of God to the rest of humanity. As representatives, we are literally ambassadors for Christ.
What does an ambassador do? He or she functions as a go-between for their homeland to a foreign land. Those foreigners develop their view of the ambassador’s homeland through the attitudes and deportment of the ambassador.
As the redeemed children of God, we may be someone’s only opportunity to become acquainted with the love of God. We have been commissioned as ambassadors for Christ. Do your attitudes and deportment reflect the true character of God, or are people getting a tainted view of the One you represent?
Ambassadorship is a high calling. It is a position of great responsibility and influence. Use it to accurately represent the King of kings and Lord of lords. When the world looks at you, what do they see? Jesus?
Sunday, October 3, 2010
The Witness of the Kingdom
“But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’” Matthew 28:16-20
“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14). This verse states the mission of the church of Jesus Christ. Every member is commissioned. How have you responded to your heavenly commission? Have you wholeheartedly embraced it and given yourself to the furtherance of the kingdom? Or have you responded with little enthusiasm? What is the mindset of the fellowship (church) you attend? Do you meet together to better carry out your commission? Is that first and foremost in the pulpit challenge from week to week? In the budget considerations? In the deacons’ meetings? In the youth activities?
We often tend to “major on the minors.” There are a lot of good and even great things that a group of believers could focus their attention upon, but have you ever considered your holy commission given by God? Then how about your personal response as an individual? Are you seeking ways to share the gospel of the kingdom in your neighborhood and among your circle of friends?
The kingdom of God is established where He rules over the human heart.
“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14). This verse states the mission of the church of Jesus Christ. Every member is commissioned. How have you responded to your heavenly commission? Have you wholeheartedly embraced it and given yourself to the furtherance of the kingdom? Or have you responded with little enthusiasm? What is the mindset of the fellowship (church) you attend? Do you meet together to better carry out your commission? Is that first and foremost in the pulpit challenge from week to week? In the budget considerations? In the deacons’ meetings? In the youth activities?
We often tend to “major on the minors.” There are a lot of good and even great things that a group of believers could focus their attention upon, but have you ever considered your holy commission given by God? Then how about your personal response as an individual? Are you seeking ways to share the gospel of the kingdom in your neighborhood and among your circle of friends?
The kingdom of God is established where He rules over the human heart.
Friday, October 1, 2010
The Kingdom of God
“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’” Matthew 25:31-34
The use of the term kingdom sets in our minds the idea of rule, order, plan, organization, purpose, and authority. It was for this reason that those who penned the Scriptures used the term to indicate and illustrate the realm of God. Scripture consistently holds this though while communicating the truths concerning God.
- We are called sons (not slaves) who will inherit the kingdom.
- We are given the armor of God as a champion of God’s forces.
- We are commissioned to preach the gospel of the kingdom to the whole world.
- Jesus will return bearing the name “King of kings and Lord of lords.”
- We possess the kingdom of God within us.
In one sense, God’s kingdom is a future reality, and in another sense, it is an immediate realty - expressed in and through the lives of each child of God. Once we realize the magnificence of the kingdom of God, our present way of life mirrors what has been revealed, and those around us will become aware that our citizenship is in another place.
As the lion rules the animal kingdom, the Lion of Judah rules the Kingdom of God.
The use of the term kingdom sets in our minds the idea of rule, order, plan, organization, purpose, and authority. It was for this reason that those who penned the Scriptures used the term to indicate and illustrate the realm of God. Scripture consistently holds this though while communicating the truths concerning God.
- We are called sons (not slaves) who will inherit the kingdom.
- We are given the armor of God as a champion of God’s forces.
- We are commissioned to preach the gospel of the kingdom to the whole world.
- Jesus will return bearing the name “King of kings and Lord of lords.”
- We possess the kingdom of God within us.
In one sense, God’s kingdom is a future reality, and in another sense, it is an immediate realty - expressed in and through the lives of each child of God. Once we realize the magnificence of the kingdom of God, our present way of life mirrors what has been revealed, and those around us will become aware that our citizenship is in another place.
As the lion rules the animal kingdom, the Lion of Judah rules the Kingdom of God.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)