An equipping place for worshipers from all denominations, nations and generations.
This is a collection of thoughts on worship, Bible study, lists, life, art, music, animals, fun, New Zealand - anything to make you smile, worship, or (hopefully) both.
I was reading Psalm 89 today - in this psalm, there are 6 declarations of God's faithfulness, and I claim them for your life and mine:
v1 I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; with my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations.
The Lord wants us to to keep going in the things He has called us to - keep declaring his great faithfulness to all - young and old. rich and poor. His faithfulness comes out of our mouths! Sing and speak of His great faithfulness!
v2For I have said, "Mercy shall be built up forever; Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens."
God's faithfulness reaches to the heavens - everything from earth to the rest of the universe is dripping with the touch of God. He is seen in us, through us and in everything He has created. His faithfulness is faithful!
v 5And the heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord, Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the saints
He wants us to declare His faithfulness to one another - let people hear what great things He has done and boast in Him.
v8O Lord God of hosts, who is mighty like You O Lord? Your faithfulness also surrounds you.
Everywhere God goes, and every part of Him is clothed in faithfulness - Surely, He has surrounded us with His faithfulness as we are His dwelling place.
v26But My faithfulness and My mercy shall be with him and in my name his horn shall be exalted (NLT …and by My authority he will grow in power)
The Lord spoke this over David, but He also speaks it over each of us today - Because of His faithfulness and mercy working in our lives, He is able to trust us with his power and authority. As we live in mercy, faithfulness and under His authority, the power of the Lord will grow in us!
v33Nevertheless My lovingkindness I will not utterly take from him, nor allow My faithfulness to fail (NLT But I will never stop loving him nor fail to keep my promise to him.)
The Lord is speaking of His faithful covenant with us - it cannot be taken from us - His love will never fail and His promises will last forever.
One more verse really jumped out at me as I also read this psalm from the Message Bible:
v 15 - 18 Blessed are the people who know the passwords of praise, who shout on parade in the bright presence of God.
Delighted, they dance all day long; they know who you are, what you do - they can't keep it quiet!
Your vibrant beauty has gotten inside us - you've been so good to us! We're walking on air!
All we are and have we owe to God, Holy God of Israel, our King!
Oh my goodness!! Is that wonderful or what!!?? We are blessed when we know the passwords of praise that open up a parade of God's presence throughout the land. I want to be a part of that parade! This parade is God on display in, and through us wherever we go! When we know His presence we can't keep it quiet. Also, His vibrant beauty has gotten inside us - we are consumed with Him and all else fades in comparison. How good He is to us - how wonderfully good. How good He is - what favor He grants us all right now!
For those of you who follow this blog - I am in Texarkana (Tex = Texas; ark = Arkansas ana = Louisiana, as this little city is right on the border of these three states). I am here to work on the Worship Arts Conservatory, and all things concerning the future. Please pray for me at this time - I appreciate that very much. God is up to some amazing things in my/our life/lives. I have never seen this degree of His kindness and favor, and I can sense some great things ahead. May it be so for all of you who need clarity and direction for your lives.
12 Therefore, as the
elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility,
meekness, longsuffering;
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if
anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also
must do.14 But
above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also
you were called in one body; and be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom,
teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
• Col. 3:12 Put on Christ’s
nature – live in Him, act like Him, talk like Him. Our song flows out of our
heart relationship with Jesus
• Col. 3:13 Seek to build up your
brothers and sisters in Christ. This is the gift God has given you to
strengthen the Church – it flows out of love and a desire to bless others
• Col. 3:14 Beautiful songs are
born out of God’s love for His Church – When we sing prophetic songs, we are
singing His song into the hearts of His people
• Col. 3:15 Allow God’s peace to
rule your heart – not the fear of man
• Col. 3:16 If you want to sing
the song of God, you must first learn how to sing the Word of God – it has to
dwell in you (it dwells when you read the Word) – it has to become rich in you
(it becomes rich when you live the Word) – is has to become wise in you (it
becomes wise when you pour out the Word on others). Meditate on the Word – true
prophetic songs are born there.
• Col. 3:16 It is important for
singers to understand the difference between psalms, hymns and spiritual songs
– these three are all important and all have a place in every church.
• Col. 2:16 We need to have grace
in our hearts before the Lord – grace for ourselves, grace for one another –
there is no room for pride in God’s singers
• Col. 2:17 Make Jesus the center
of everything you do. He is the reason for the song, the singer of the song,
the object of the song, the subject of the song, the power in the song, the
anointing on the song
• Col. 2:17 Live as a thankful
person – don’t allow your feelings to rule your heart. Rule your heart as a
person of thanks…a person of praise – then you are qualified to be a singer of
God’s songs
I am meditating on God’s footsteps tonight – loving the idea
that He uses His own footsteps to make a pathway for us:
Psalm 82:13Righteousness will go before Him, And shall make His footsteps our pathway. (NKJV)
(Amplified) Righteousness
shall go before Him and shall make His footsteps a way in which to walk.
Not many translations seem to see it this way, but this is very
beautiful to me – the thought that we walk in a pathway of God's as He leads
us throughout our lives.
I am reminded that the first ones to hear God’s footsteps were
Adam and Eve:
Gen. 3:8And they heard the sound
of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his
wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the
garden.
This is also the first mention of anyone hearing anything in the
Bible…they heard God walking! I don’t think they hid themselves because the
footsteps of the Lord were ominous in any way – surely, they hid themselves
because of their sin…but I wonder what God sounded like as He walked in the
garden. I am sure this is not the first experience of sound…it is just the
first time sound is recorded in the Word, and it just so happens to be the
sound of God walking…
Now we are invited to follow Him, or walk in His footsteps…and
what a walk this proves to be:
Matt. 16:24Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me,
let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
I think this can only be possible if we walk closely to Him –
placing our feet in the pathway He has made.
I really love this song by Joel Houston, Matt Crocker and Salomon Lighthelm that our worship team lead
today – I have placed one section in bold – those words really “got me” this
morning:
"Oceans
(Where Feet May Fail)"
You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep
My faith will stand
And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine
Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand
Will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed and You won't start now
So I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine
Spirit
lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me
walk upon the waters
Wherever
You would call me
Take me
deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my
faith will be made stronger
In the
presence of my Savior
I will call upon Your Name
Keep my eyes above the waves
My soul will rest in Your embrace
I am Yours and You are mine
This all reminds me of that 1936 Mary Stevenson poem “Footsteps
in the Sand.” The premise is that the writer could see herself walking with
Jesus and creating 2 sets of footprints in the sand. She was concerned that
during times of trial, there were only one set of footprints, and she seems to
suggest that the Lord had left her alone. He replied, however, that it was
during these times that He would carry her. Delightful.
May I suggest one more reason why we might only see one set of
footprints during our seasons of greatest struggle…we are walking so closely to
Him that we walk exactly where He has walked, do what He is doing, say what He
says, and reflect His glory to others.
Be like a child and walk on your Father's feet today. Leave only one set of footprints behind you - the Lord's. Follow wherever He leads and enjoy Him.
A friend, Deby Dearman posted this story on her FaceBook page, and I just love it - I wanted you all to read this and be amazed again at God's beauty and wonders - I am reprinting this with Deby's permission:
Life seemed to be unraveling. Everything we had
counted on for our livelihood was gone. The music industry was rapidly changing
and we couldn’t seem to reinvent fast enough . . . and we didn’t have the
energy anyway. We were weary to the bone. It felt like we were sinking in
quicksand; everything we had worked so hard for was about to slip through our
fingers. We were fighting all the “dis” words: dis-couragement,
dis-appointment, dis-illusionment. Never in a million years could we have ever
imagined that what was about to happen would be the most unique, beautiful and
unexpected therapy to lift us out of the pit, into a place of wonder and awe.
A Few Fireflies
It was particularly hot and dry in late May that
year, and this seemed to mirror the heat that had been turned up in our lives.
We were taking our usual route home, which just happens to be on very dark and
winding roads in the country. In the daytime, the scenery is beautiful . . .
rolling green hills and fertile farmland. But at night, it’s pitch dark. As we
drove, the only thing visible was the twinkling of a few fireflies in the
fields. Suddenly, my husband stopped the car in the middle of the road and
turned out the head lights. Even though there were no cars coming, it made me
very nervous and I was aggravated.
A Road Less Traveled
As our eyes adjusted to the pitch-like darkness,
we noticed that there weren’t just a few fireflies glowing in the field
around us, but it seemed there were millions of them . . swirling in what
looked like a choreographed ballet. In the distance a car was approaching, so
we pulled over to the side of the road and indulged ourselves in this
spectacular, magical light show of nature. Every now and then, a car would go
roaring by, its occupants completely oblivious to this magnificent, dazzling
display of nature at it’s finest. We were sad for those who couldn’t see what
we were witnessing, even though they had the same opportunity. They were on the
same road, but were in such a hurry they missed the magic. It was so
spectacular that we decided to go down a road less traveled.
We Didn’t Want the Magic
To End
We rolled down our windows and, to our delight,
we were overcome with the fragrance of honeysuckle! For me, this brought back
precious memories from my childhood . . . of being at my grandmother’s with my
cousins, feasting on the honeysuckle’s sweet nectar on a warm summer’s eve. So
we pulled over to the edge of a field, rolled down our windows, put on our
favorite CD and cranked up the volume. All at once we entered into a
world that magical. We sensed that this was a supernatural event designed
by God to let us know that we were not forgotten; that no matter how crazy our
circumstances, He was still choreographing them – just like the firefly dance
all around us. He was speaking through nature, through a still small voice and
we were being encouraged. Reluctant to leave the “firefly field” that night
because we didn’t want the magic to end, we vowed we would return.
And we did . . . night after night for those few weeks the fireflies were
performing. We would even bring our friends. We’d invite them over and tell
them we had a “surprise” for them, then pile in our car and take off down the
back country roads. They would ask us where we were taking them, to which we
would eagerly reply, “Just you wait!”
Nashville’s Best Kept Secret
Our little SUV suddenly became the “magical
mystery tour bus.”. We would take late night picnics to our “firefly field”. .
. complete with quilt and our favorite music. I think our tour guests thought
we were out of our minds. But they were just as delighted as we had been that
first evening we made the discovery of what we called “Nashville’s Best-kept
Secret!” Some nights it seemed that the fields were an ocean and the fireflies
were illumined in rolling waves, the timing of their glow perfectly
synchronized to the music. Other nights, it was as if the fields had been
decorated for Christmas . . . every tree full of twinkling lights. There in
that field that summer, we prayed, we wept , and sometimes giggled like little
children. And we most definitely emerged from that wilderness, transformed by
God – demonstrated in nature -by something so unexpected.
Within view of the masses, the miracle of the
fireflies was noticed by only a few. To those who were willing to slow
down and stare into the darkness long enough to see the flickering lights. And
for all who are needing encouragement, there are wonders awaiting in
unexpected places. God is always speaking. So if you’re life is
unraveling and darkness is closing in, don’t be afraid. Just hold on . .
. there’s bound to be a ‘field of delight’ awaiting you, somewhere just beyond
your view. Wait quietly until you hear God’s still small voice.
Check out Kirk and Deby Dearman's ministry HERE and the story about the fireflies HERE
