Singing!

Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy. Psalm 33:3 NIV

Singing praises to our God is a wonderful way to not dwell on our surroundings, especially when those surroundings can cause us grief. The beauty of singing a new song, one no one has ever heard before is that no one can criticize the words, the rhythm, or our voices–since we usually sing them to ourselves.

Over the years, whenever I prepared to minister to God’s people, He always gave me a song to conclude the message. Reception to these songs was usually pretty good and at one time, the church I attended had an awesome musician who could play anything just by listening to a few bars. And when a musician couldn’t pick up the song, I sang it acappella.

Now, when things get too embroiled for me to address without causing more turmoil, I sing a song. Sometimes, it’s a new one–whatever is poured into my spirit–and sometimes, it’s a song that really ministers to me. Recently, I sang to myself–Encourage Yourself In The Lord–and I had to keep singing it in order not to respond to foolishness.

Lately, I find myself singing quite a bit. Most of the songs are based upon The Word, so I can get a chance to meditate on The Word as well as to calm me. Like David playing to keep Saul calm, singing has supernatural power to keep us calm before we create a storm.

Most mothers sing to their infants to calm them. Choirs sing to magnify The Lord. There are songs that make people want to dance and some that make people cry, but singing is a good way to wipe out negativity and the desire to avenge oneself when one feels they have been wronged.

O Lord, You who know everything,

Soothe my heart and let my voice ring,

With a melody that praises You,

And encourages my spirit, too,

Praising You for all You have done

And will do, creating all under the sun,

Providing us with its marvelous light,

Negating the wrongs, to always do right,

As unto You, not to cause others flight,

Away from You. O Lord, I sing

And hear angels’ voices ring,

Carrying the melody meant to calm

In the midst of every storm–until joy,

Releases its healing balm.

There is indeed a balm in singing unto You!

Whenever we feel like we’re about to lose it–our tempers or get emotionally distraught, we can solve it all, by singing!

 

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Rejoice Before The Lord!

“Let all creation rejoice before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.” (Psalm 96:13 NIV)

If we are part of God’s creation, we should rejoice–He created us, He loves us, He willingly died for us, He rose from the grave and gave us power through Holy Spirit–Rejoice in The Lord and again I say, Rejoice for all He has done, is doing and will do!

The Lord lives and blessed are those who love Him enough to obey Him!

For our soon coming King will judge the earth and everyone in it–Believer or Unbeliever and He will judge according His righteousness, not our opinions, and our faithfulness to Him, not man’s continual revisions of what He said, trying to change God’s Word to suit their lustful desires.

Wake up and know–the end is not yet, but will be and when He returns–what will His judgment of you, be?

When we know we have done all we can to please Him, we can be like the birds to chirp in praise of Him and all other creation who raise their voices to rejoice in The Lord of our salvation, grateful for every opportunity to share His love and know of His goodness.

Rejoice for His mercy!

Rejoice for His love!

Rejoice for the grace He gives us!

Rejoice for all lessons learned from disobedience to walking in His Light!

Rejoice for another opportunity to tell someone else how good God is!

Rejoice–sing a new song that praises Him with a melody that will be a sweet, sweet sound to Him!

Rejoice–for He has given us life, love and liberty to live for Him!

Better Than Life Love!

“Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.” (Psalm 63:3 NIV)

People may have a number of different opinions about David and I’ve heard many of them. He was a hero, he was murderer, he was adulterer, he was callous, he was… and the remarkable thing about David is that he was probably all the things many say about him, but he was also quick to repent when he was wrong and he had no problem remembering who God is and praising Him, even in the midst of trials.

In this Psalm, David is in the desert and begins it my talking about how his thirst is quenched by God even when there is no water in the land. Jesus reminds us that when we hunger and thirst for righteous we will be satisfied.  But when we are lacking in the natural substances–food and water, are we praising God simply because His love is better than life?

We are so quick to complain about current circumstances rather than praising God for His love that we sometimes lose our focus and become bitter and angry and our faith wanes. David is our example of how we should treat those moments (and we all have them) when things are going exactly the way we want them to go. Instead of complaining, let’s sing a song of praise, even if we have to create one–just for our moment. When we sing praises to God, it lifts our heart and the weight of circumstances become lighter. If we would just remember that every trial is only for a season and we can determine–in that season–how we respond to it.

I’ve often said out loud when trials come that appear to want to take me out, “Devil, I will come through this and even if I don’t, I get to go home sooner so I still win!”

If we exercise our lips to lift our hearts, we will experience the love of God that truly is better than life–just surviving it– and know that God’s love will help us get through anything.

Exercise for the lips to lift the heart:

You, O God, always know what I need when I need it,

You, O God, are the creator of my life, know my every thought and deed,

And You, O God, love me enough to life me from the bottom of the pits in which I fall,

In the face of all those who would scorn me and You shower me with favor so they understand,

Just how much You love me and that Your love is better than life,

Because it is You, who makes life worth living!

And I praise You, lifting Your name higher than any trial that comes my way,

You, O God, have already established victory as the end result! We Win in the end!

Joyful Heart!

“Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing” (Psalm 100:2).

With our whole hearts, and joy overflowing, we should be glad to serve the Lord!

If we cannot think of anything else for which we should be glad, we should be glad that He loved us enough to die for us–so we would have access to heaven.

For whom we truly love, we serve with a joyful heart and are glad to have the opportunity to serve. Hopefully, this is our attitude towards spouses, children, other family members and friends–who we claim to love. It is extremely difficult to “serve” someone when a person does “have” any love for them.

We say we love the Lord. Are our hearts full of joy? Are we glad to serve Him in whatever capacity He has called us? Do we have the audacity to burst into song at any given time–just because we love to serve Him? If we serve Him because of our relationship with Him, doing what He has called us to do, brings joy to us and others. There is no hardship in serving the Lord, even though the enemy is always on the attack, we know that the Lord has never forsaken us and when we are doing what He has destined us to do, He will get the glory!

It’s shouting time! Hallelujah! Don’t look back–look forward and be glad He has called you into service and let your heart overflow with the joy serving Him brings! Bless The Lord! It’s time for a praise dance–excuse me while I sing His praises as I move along this morning! Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised!

 

Why We Praise Him!

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9 NIV).

Do you remember playing games in school or in your neighborhood that meant you on a team?  We decided who would be the team captains and they “chose” who they wanted on their teams and many of us, stood waiting, almost breathlessly, hoping to be chosen to play on the team that was going to win. Remember that feeling?  When it got down to the last few to be chosen, the person choosing was resigned to accept the fact they would have a few people on their team that were not the best players.  The people being chosen last, usually did not feel good about themselves.  They knew they were on certain teams by default–not real choice.

We don’t have to worry about that now!  Hallelujah!  We are chosen by the Creator and He has no favorites, no respect of persons, and on His team, we are all guaranteed winners!  Knowing this, “that He who began a good work in us is faithful to complete it”! Glory to God! We are special to God and because of who He is, we are royalty, and we have a right to praise Him–all day and all night!  Whenever we want to declare His goodness and mercy, we can and we should!  It is He who called us out of darkness (our habits of sin) and into His wonderful light (knowing Truth and The Light)!  Praise Him!  He loves us enough to keep us focused on Him and in drawing others into The Light.  Hallelujah!  What an awesome God! 

Is there anybody else like Him?  No, not one!  No one else who could forward into history and plan our destiny to be a praise unto Him.  No one else who could forget about all we did–that was not like Him, and forgive us and use us to His glory!  Nobody like Him who refuses to give up on us when we falter, but instead gives us strength to keep going!  No body like Him!  No, not one! Nobody else who gives us new mercies, every single morning!  Nobody else who can give us favor with others when they don’t even understand why they support our efforts!  Nobody else!  There is none like Him in all the earth!  He alone is worthy of all our praise!  Hallelujah!

Thank You God for choosing us to be on Your Team, Your Special team of people who do declare unto the nations Your praise!