Showing posts with label Praise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Praise. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

God's Ways Are NOT My Ways: Psalm 42:11

"Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? 
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God." 
Psalm 42:11 NIV

In the book of John, Jesus tells us we will have trouble in this world. It's a guarantee. On any given day we could probably be able to name several troubles in our own lives, and troubles we see happening around the world. Without even researching, I can say with certainty that the troubles in our world are increasing in intensity and visibility as we get closer to "go time." "Go time" = heaven is coming!! This thought also comes from the Bible. Yet in Psalms, David reminds us (and God does too), that we can put our hope in God, and even praise Him, in the midst of troubles.

Last night I found soul downcast and disturbed. In the same breath, I can't help but say that I had a beautiful day yesterday that was full of blessing, and I wanted for nothing. Yet, as predicted by the Savior, I had troubles. As I went to bed I found myself reacting passive aggressively, and aggressively, to my circumstances. This morning I had clarity about what went down, and was able to see with better perspective how I want to react in the future. I want to be able to react with understanding and JOY. JOY is one of those words that even though we can look it up in the dictionary and quote a definition, it's a word that describes a spiritual thing that will be a little bit elusive until we reach heaven. To fully understand the depth of that word, and be able to fully express with words what it means, is a little bit impossible. BUT, I know that if I find joy in anything other than the Lord, it will be a short-lived emotion! However, my desire is to be filled with Holy-Spirit Joy in the evening. This is infringing on a generational sin! Not only that, but to suggest that it is possible to have JOY past 8pm, God will have to break a law of (my) nature. I'm a tried and true morning person, and my father's daughter. After the dinner dishes are done, I'm toast, ready for bed. To have to do any kind of chores, ready books at any length, be social, is quite difficult for me. YET, I know Jesus was raised from the dead, and so certainly God, if given the opportunity, can fill me with JOY after 8pm. The Lord is gracious and I am been an active participant in JOY in the evening, and I will fight for it to be a regular occurrence.

"Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God." So, putting faith into action, I'm going to be asking the Lord for help in redeeming my 8-11pm part of my life and filling it with JOY. I have every HOPE that it will be accomplished, because I can put my HOPE in the living God. His promises are as good as done. It will take some active participation on my part, and is my new learning target.

I can become an active participant in being filled with JOY in the evening, no matter the circumstances.

Walking by faith,
Becky

Monday, June 8, 2015

Dancing, and Singing (in bed)

Psalm 149:3-5
"Let them praise His Name with dancing and make music to Him with tambourine and harp. For the Lord takes delight in His people; He crowns the humble with salvation. Let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds."

Have you sang for joy in your bed? I've sang for joy in my bed, in the shower, as I'm running, as I've danced in my kitchen. This Psalm says to dance and make music with instruments!! It says that the Lord delights in His people. It says he crowns the humble with salvation and that the saints rejoice in this HONOR and will sing in their beds. I love singing, making music, and dancing. Like I've written and said before, worship is a total body, mind, and emotion experience...but it is more than an experience. It is an act not based on what it accomplishes for me. It is in response to the work of God in my heart and my life. My heart LEAPS when God proves His love and faithfulness to me in ways I know only He knows. My heart LEAPS for joy when I can see His work in my heart...when the selfishness leaves, the pride leaves, and instead I'm left with humble awe at the work of His hands. Have you experienced this before? When there is no fear...just trust left in its place. God, the ultimate provider! He provides so perfectly and God longs for us to fully trust His provision...to not worry or doubt Him. Matthew 6:25-33. Do we really believe, in the age of everything-at-our-finger-tips, that God is still our provider? Do we believe, in the age of grocery stores or everything-else-you'd-ever-need grocery stores? Do I still believe in God my provider? Do we seek to steward well what He's given us? Do we seek His wisdom and His kingdom first?

If I can sing for joy in my bed, if I can delight in the honor of being chosen and saved and delighted in by God, I can not be fearful or worried at the same time. Is it possible? I don't find myself experiencing those two things at the same time.

God you are perfectly holy, loving, gracious, just, righteous, merciful, and you have honored us with salvation through Jesus Christ. I praise your Holy Name and sing songs and dance before YOU today. I will sing songs of joy in my bed tonight, tomorrow, and forevermore.

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Surrender, Pt 2

Psalm 27:1-2
"The Lord is my light and my salvation–
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life–
of whom shall I be afraid?"

Psalm 57:1
"Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in your my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed."

Psalm 87 (Beautiful Psalm speaking of God's establishment and love for Zion and the people who were born there. I think this has connections to these other Psalms, but I have too little understanding.)

Psalm 117
"Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol Him, all you peoples, for great is His love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!

Psalm 147
This is a beautiful, majestic Psalm with declarations of all that God has done (God never changes, therefore, will continue to do). It begins...

"Praise the Lord. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise Him!"

and it ends...

"He has revealed His word to Jacob, and His laws and decrees to Israel. He has done this for no other nation; they do not know His laws. Praise the Lord."

It has been interesting to see these Psalms, every day, come together in themes. Usually there are several themes, and usually the Lord brings one to the forefront for me. When I first read these Wednesday evening, I noticed that each one mentioned music. Until now I don't remember there being that consistently a pattern specific to music. That caught my attention and I figured I would write about music. This morning though my attention was brought to WHY we would be brought to a place of worship, and worship with music. To me, singing or playing worship music is a full body, mind, and emotion surrender to the Lord. So often I turn it on when I am feeling low or my mind or emotions are struggling. If I'm willing to acknowledge I don't have it all together, and in fact I don't have anything together, the Lord sweeps in and His throne and kingship is established in my heart once again. His truth penetrates. I think of all those Psalms which speak of the Lord having His way with my enemies. There are certainly no physical enemies, but we know that our struggle isn't against flesh and blood (Romans 8).

As I read this morning I think about what it looks like when I love the Lord with all of the heart, mind, and soul, and my neighbor as myself (the greatest commandment as declared by Jesus Himself,  Matthew 22:36-40). What does it look like to have God as my light and my salvation, and the stronghold of my life? WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE?!? To me this feels like a serious culmination of, who do I place my trust in, whom do I worship, and to whom to I surrender all of myself? I acknowledge, now, out loud, that God's wisdom and thoughts are higher than anything I could conjure up in my little dust person brain (dust person...credit to Anne Graham Lotz). God is my Creator, my Savior, my Redeemer, my Healer, my Provider (there's more). He has declared this of Himself, and I declare it of Him. He has done it. I can look at each one of these Psalms and say, "Yes! God has done THESE THINGS in my life." As I have declared that my wisdom has run out in a certain situation, as I've FULLY rested in a certain circumstance, as I've simply walked one step behind Him in obedience to all the little tedious things, God has worked on my behalf. He has given wisdom, He has worked out circumstances, He has provided moments in which to declare things on my mind, He has truly shown Himself faithful to His promise to work on my behalf while I have kept still (Ex. 14:14).

In this blog I set out to simply declare the praises of God. 1 Peter 2:9, Eph 1. He has done these great things. I am simply observer, and sometimes participant, in the mighty works of God in my life and in others.

And this, this is where the praises of God will reside. It is to extol His Name, for it is a Name which is above every Name. At this Name, the Name of Jesus, every knee will bow, every tongue confess, that Jesus is Lord. (Phil 2:9-11). He is my light, my salvation, my stronghold, and my only hope. Jesus, the Lamb who was slain. He will receive my praise, my life.

Praise Jesus!