A Song In Your Heart

 Hello, again!  Thank you for this opportunity to share some thoughts from God’s word. I edited an older article, shared a year or so ago with some of my sisters, and I pray you find it useful as well.

Thinking back in my earliest memory, I have an image of myself standing on the end of the pew at church, clutching a hymnal and singing, “Bringing in the cheese, Bringing in the cheese..." after everyone else had finished.    My childish mind changed the words to something I could understand.  I love cheese and had no idea what sheaves were, so I just made it so. 

Next memory;  I’m standing on the floor behind the driver's seat of my parents old car.  We are flying down a dusty country road, and I’m belting out songs at the top of my voice, one after the other. . . Jesus Loves Me,  Count Your Many blessings, on and on I sang.  

Fast forward to one more memory.  This one is during my college years.  I attended a youth rally in Seattle and I learned the 5th Psalm, verses 1-3, set to song;

                

                Give ear to my words, O Lord.

Consider my meditation.

Harken unto the voice of my cry,

My King and my God.

For unto thee will I pray

My voice shalt though hear in the morning.  

O Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer 

Unto Thee and will look up.  

I believe this was when ‘singing the scriptures’ became a great love of mine. This love of singing Bible words has continued and grown through the years. 

For me, the easiest way to talk to God is through song.  Like the shepherd boy David, I  love to sing.  It was simple for me to translate my love of music into my Christian walk.  But what about those who didn’t?  Those who were perhaps told in music class, “You be a listener.”  Or perhaps when the music teacher heard them, gave them the triangle and asked them to watch quietly and  intently for her nod.  :)  We just aren’t all made the same.

I know the joy of sharing whats in my heart with God.  Imagine my grief at looking out and  seeing more than a few of my sweet sisters sitting mute during ladies days or during worship.  I look over those assembled and wonder at the mouths that sit silent!  I’ve asked many why they don’t sing.  Answers range from, “I just can’t sing,”  “I have allergies,”  “I croak like a frog.,”  “My neighbors won’t appreciate my voice,”  or the most perplexing, “I hate to sing.”  

Forgive me, but this prompts another memory of  a wooden sign I saw on my music professors desk, it read:  '"If only the bird with the loveliest song sang, the forest would be silent.”  (John James Audubon.)  

What does this have to do with  worship? What does this mean to us as individual worshippers?   Did God just randomly choose this form of worship or did he  have a purpose in what he asks of us?  

We understand that not all of us grew up with musical parents or opportunities.   God is not interested in our ability to impress our fellow worshippers with our talents.  He is in the business of hearts and souls.  Keep that in mind as we read the following passages and discuss them.  

Let's read Colossians 3:1-2, 

        “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things 

which are above, where Christ is, seated at the right 

hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, 

not on things on the earth.”  

Where are the eyes of our hearts to be turned, but up?!  Set your hearts-eyes on God the Father and his son Jesus.  Stop worrying or thinking about our own abilities or gifts.  Focus on Him.   It makes all the difference in the world when our eyes are set above. When we focus on God and His plan for us, it changes everything.   Stop thinking, "What will others think?" Or even, "What do I think?,"  and respect God's wants and  our hearts and minds can be at peace  in giving him due praise and honor.  

I’m going to skim some of the next verses and just point out that we are new in Christ. . . we are to put off the old nature of sin and anger and uncleanness.  These are no more a part of our life.  Let's jump down to verse 12 (still in Colossians 3) here I’m going to quote from the English standard Version:

12) “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, 

compassionate hearts, kindness, humility meekness, and

patience, 

13) bearing with one another and, and if one has a 

complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the

Lord has forgiven you, so you must forgive.  

14) And above all these put on love, which binds everything 

together in perfect harmony.

15) And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which 

indeed you were called in one body.  And be thankful.

16) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and

admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms

and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your

hearts to God.

“Put on then…”  it’s the idea of clothing ourselves, our hearts with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience. . . .there’s the heart again.  It’s at the center of it all. . . What is in my heart?  I want to focus on the compassionate heart.  Websters II New College Dictionary defines compassion as a noun, from the Latin ‘to sympathize, to suffer”  The Greek word is “oiktirmos” which is: compassion, pity, mercy

as in :  a) bowels in which resides a heart of compassion

  b) emotions, longing, manifestations of pity.

If we think of what this means, it will cause us to rethink our ideas of compassion or pity and not just voice our thoughts, but realize we must act on them.  If I manifest something, it is going to be visible to others in my character and actions.  It’s not just my view of my voice.  I honestly don’t think God cares about the sound  of my voice as much as the manifestation of my heart.  

One of my favorite verses, learned from my mothers instruction:  

“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring 

the issues of life.”  KJV Proverbs 4:23

God goes on in the next section to encourage us to put on, above all else, LOVE, which binds everything together in “perfect harmony.’  It’s beautiful how his very words here, inspire us to act out our faith in real time with our brothers and sisters in perfect harmony.  Now, our ears may say one thing, but our hearts will say another.  And I dare say that our practice in righteousness will win out over the physical! This love is the agape form, and it tells us that our fellowship with our brothers and sisters will show itself to them, as well as to God in our desire to please our Him.

We move on to see that peace will rule in our hearts.   We know that living in this world we will have persecution and tribulation.  But he promises us peace in our hearts.  Let it rule!  I like the idea of the authority that peace has here.  In a world that’s out of control, peace in our hearts is the answer. . . .But then we also have some other responsibilities.  That may be an difficult word sometimes.  It means I must drag myself out of bed each morning and tend to the responsibilities of the day.  And in my spiritual life, those are not burdensome, or heavy.  Because God has promised us help and hope along the way.  Remember the words in verse 16?  You knew I was getting there eventually. . . Let the words of Christ dwell in you richly. . . here is another adverb, don’t neglect them!  It tells us how his word is to live in our hearts.  . . Richly!  You know, I pulled out my dictionary again.  it means;  “having great value or worth;  magnificent, luxurious, abundantly supplied.”  Now physically speaking, we love luxury. . . lots of the good stuff, bubbles in the bath, sand by the sparkling sea, chocolate, coffee, or whatever your thoughts run to . . . Money in the bank?!   Now, apply that thought to your time spent in the word.  would 'richly' define your knowledge and time spent in the word, with the word around God’s word?  If not, determine today to change that.  Here is your motivation;  God asks you to!  Don’t we want to please God?  I do and I hope you do too!

Now we are coming to my personal favorite part ". . . . in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts  to the Lord."

First let me mention that there is the heart again, it’s the instrument God wants us to use to glorify him and to encourage one another.

Lastly, I’d like to point out that there are  two focuses. . . both spiritual.  We are told to sing to the Lord. . . that was easy wasn’t it?  

But we are told to teach and admonish one another in our singing.  I know what you are thinking, “Wait a minute!  I’m not a teacher.”  Yes, you are.  You teach in so many ways through your actions and your words.  And now you know that one of the purposes of singing is to teach one another.  You are participating in the teaching of the church when we sing together.  Do you see, now, why it bothers me to see those who sit, not singing?  It’s commanded here.  I am no scholar nor an English major, But I do know  when you can put the word “YOU” in front of a sentence and reading it makes sense, it’s an imperitive, which means strong suggestion or command.  There is no doubt we ‘must’ do it.  But not as a compulsion, for we act as loving, obedient children.  We want to please our Father and help our brothers and sisters to be more Christ-like each day.  

One more thought I’d like to share,

“Do not fear, Zion

Let not your hands be weak,

The Lord your God in your midst,

The Mighty One will save;

He will rejoice over you with gladness,

He will quiet you with His love,

He will rejoice over you with singing.”  

Zephaniah 3:16b-17

God never asks us to do something He himself is not willing to do himself.  Jesus came and lived on this earth, experiencing everything we do in this life. God asks us to teach and admonish through our singing from the heart.  And here he tells us that he, too, rejoices over us, his faithful ones, with singing.  Doesn’t that just make you smile? Perhaps you want to sing?  

These words are not meant to guilt you into doing singing.  I hope you understand the encouragement and admonition you find here is out of love for my sisters and my God.   Search the scriptures daily to see if they are so, and I pray you find the song in your heart.  

Jesus Is the Answer

Long ago, on the day of our marriage, Rodger and I heard these words, “Jesus doesn’t just have the answers to life, He is the answer.” While many of the other words and memories have faded or been forgotten, that truth has stuck with me.  

Life’s problems seek an answer. As Christians we are uniquely equipped with the answer. Now maybe I’m over simplifying this, but I don’t think so. We forget so often that heaven is our home and we should have the eyes of our hearts and minds set on that home.  

In the meantime, we have to live in this old world. Sometimes it is sweet, and we press our lips to the heads of sweet babies and drink in the love and beauty of God’s creation. But then disaster strikes; that sweet baby has a rare disease, the love of our life is tragically taken away, our secure, recession-proof job is cut, our bank account shrivels or disappears, and on and on the disasters of life attack us, These disasters and troubles leave us reeling and stunned. If our hope is set on the One who made us, we can stand firm in our faith, knowing on Whom our hope is set. We will grieve and cry. We may even have occasion to be depressed and down-hearted. Life is not something that happens to others. It happens to Christians. But our hearts and minds will be set on knowing God will deliver us. It might be today, or tomorrow, or in heaven, but ultimately He will do so.  

Jesus provides the center, the “enoughness," if you will, the realization that our shortcomings, our problems are all resolved in the truth found in Jesus.  

We are told over and over in scripture as Christians the world will hate us for standing for Christ. Our very lives, lived for Him, are repugnant to them. Also, life on this earth simply offers no guarantees. Paul’s second letter to Timothy states, “All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (3:12) Wow! What a promise!  But read over in 1 Peter 5:10, “After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has call you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you.” 

I just spent a lovely afternoon with a dear friend who also happens to be my grandchildren’s other granny. As we talked about the recent and sudden loss of her husband, she told me “I have no regrets.” That simple statement of confidence touched my heart. She spoke of her grief and the difficulties of sorting through a lifetime of memories in preparation for selling their home. They spent long days working together in their business or sitting at their front window, talking about their life and sharing some memories. They had no idea what December would bring. It did not take away the pain of loss, the shock of having to do this alone. But she has the confidence of his faith in Christ.
I share this to say that we as Christians face many of the same trials as anyone living on earth. We face more for simply being Christians. But we do this with the hope of eternal security, knowing the blood of Christ covers us and He is waiting at the gate for us.  
An illustration which occurs to me is this photo I'm sharing. It is of a running/walking track we often take. When we enter a race, which my husband and I are known to do on occasion, all the entrants run the same course. But those who are prepared finish 
the race. Everyone runs the same hills and the same path, but not everyone gets to the end at the same time with the same ease. The prepared are better fit for the finish line.  
Don’t loss your perspective when things get rough. Have the confidence of knowing that life is temporary and heaven is eternal for those who love him and obey the gospel. Prepare yourself by putting on the armor of God. Light your lamps and prepare for the steps to heaven. When you are mistreated, remember He was mistreated and paid for our sins. Share this joy of salvation with those around you. Hang on to the Answer! 

(This was written and posted for a devotional page, June 2021, but is my original work.) 

Finding God in the Mess

 

Good morning!  I was encouraged to get back to blogging by circumstances.  It's a place to share thoughts, encouragement, inspiration, in the messiness of everyday life.

Life doesn't always go according to plan.  That goes without saying, doesn't it?  My kids in the past jokingly called me "Captain Obvious."  I like to make sure that my point, no matter how transparent, ia acknowledged by those I'm speaking to.  

Here we are, coming out of the mess of the pandemic, and life is not what we were expecting at this time.  If you, like me, thought that it would take weeks or even a few months, raise your hand!  I totally did not think that we'd still be using sneeze guards, wearing masks in public, and  'social distancing.'  But here we are, working our way to a new way of doing things. 

Look around the world today.  It is spiraling out of control.  Even those we expect to uphold the foundations of moral and ethical behavior are setting a low-bar.  We are constantly disappointed by those in authority.

Many today think that we can then not obey the authorities, that it's okay to go our own way.  We start to believe that God's word is not relevant for today.  Oh, my dear sisters, don't give in to this line of thought. God's word transcends the ages and He is able to relate that word at any time and place.  His word is ageless. 

I'd like to encourage you to read God's word and pray for wisdom.  James 1:5-7 encourages us to seek Godly wisdom, through faith, believing He will answer.  He promises stability for these uncertain times.  Hebrews 3:1-13 encourages us to keep our eyes on Jesus Who was faithful, so that we might also be counted faithful.  He writes later in Hebrews 11:6 that it is impossible to please God without faith.  

The world is whirling out of restraints.  It wants freedom, but true freedom and peace, hope and joy come with submitting ourselves to the Almighty God, Creator of Heaven and earth.  He promises us these things in abundance and a heavenly home, if we learn to love and trust Him completely.  

May God guide you as you seek after Him.  <3 

Blessings!

Denise