Joy and Strength (Christian life and music)

Boy, have we become a touchy people!  Everywhere you turn, someone is getting out of joint over some comment made either to their face or on social media. "How dare he!" He dared. What do we do with such upsets and comments aimed at us?  Do we let them get to us?  Can we just forgive and forget? When we are offended and don't nip it in the bud immediately, it becomes a stumbling block.  Don't take my word for it, it's in God's Word. "Great peace have they which love Thy law: and nothing shall offend them." Psalm 119:165 The Hebrew for the last part of this verse is: a stumbling, means or occasion of stumbling, a stumbling block. In other words, an offense trips us up and we fall - if we let it. Is it really worth it?  I mean the slightest thing can cause the touchy to be offended.  It's gotten entirely out of control! But as Christians, we do not have to stumble.   Do you realize how many times Jesus was offended when He was here?  The religious

Lord, I have already been set free by You!  Thank You for this deep and wonderful truth, Lord. Christ set me free to know freedom in and through Him. When I keep choosing to stand firm in this blessed freedom, I am not subject ever again to a yoke of slavery in the form of: - fear - anxiety - reacting in the flesh - overthinking - caring what others think of me - stress Add to this list your own "yokes of slavery." Know that Christ has already set you free from all of your chains!  You simply need to walk  in the freedom! I am not a slave to others' wrong or judgemental opinions of me. Only Christ can name me! And He has. I am called His beloved. He calls me free He calls me redeemed He calls me honest and true He calls me reverent He calls me forgiving He calls me loyal He calls me righteous He calls me exemplary He calls me chosen He calls me His Lord, please help me walk in Your freedom always.  May it be an ever-present awareness in me, as part of my DNA, that I act o

In the natural, when wars are fought, each battle has a duration of time that it takes before it is over.   As Christians, we go into each spiritual battle knowing the outcome!  We are in Christ.  Christ is the Victor. Ergo, we are victorious in Christ! However (clear throat), some battles are "bloodier" than others.  Some battles take longer than others.  And if we are going to live the Christian life, we must be aware of these facts. We are called by God to be strong and courageous.  We see these commands all throughout Scripture.  Fear not!  Be very strong and courageous for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go! The Lord knew we would need courage, and lots of it.  He knew the battles each of us would face and the weapons we would need in order to fight them. I won't go into detail here about how we wage war in the heavenlies, or about the armor of God - you can find plenty of teachings on these online, articles and YouTube. What I am here to say is this:  Don

I have always believed that we progress spiritually not in a neat little row but haphazardly.  We take two steps ahead, one back.  Or we zigzag a lot, trying this and that, when sometimes we just need to wait and rest.   If we're always looking for something to do , we may end up a nervous wreck.  Our bodies are designed to move, yes.  But they are also designed to rest .  Scripture tells us to be still and know that He is God.  Why can't we be frantic and know that He is God?!  Because He is peace.  He is calm.  He is tranquil.  So we meet Him where He is, Who He is - in peace. If our life is hidden with Christ in God, which the Word tells us it is, then why are we frantically looking for life or peace anywhere else, as if being busy and accomplishing was the stuff of life?  I want to know that inner stillness where Christ lives inside of me and live my life from that place. I want Him to be the calm inside me amidst the storms around me and even within my unsettled thoughts a

I read these familiar verses this morning and they came to life for me. What do we really need in life?  According to the most famous prayer in the world, our Lord's Prayer, we need: - daily bread - to receive God's forgiveness and extend the same to others - to be delivered from evil There you have it: food, forgiveness, and freedom. To be content with and ever grateful that we have food to eat every day.  Of course we take this for granted.  Others around the globe do not. As Christians, we are forgiven people.  This is huge.  Do you know how many unbelievers are walking this earth with the weight of guilt, shame, and condemnation?  Another thing we take for granted - that we are forgiven in and through Christ.   That need is twofold: yes, we are so gratefully and undeservedly forgiven.  But the second part of that is even bigger: we are to forgive others the same exact way that Christ forgives us. How is that possible, you may wonder.  Well Jesus would never tell us to do so

 

  Jesus heals.  He healed people when He walked this earth as a man and He is still healing people today through His power and Holy Spirit. Even when He was among us, He didn't have to be present to heal someone.  There is the account of the canturion (if you are not familiar with this account, please read here ).  And there is the account here in Luke 17:14, the verse I want to write about today. Three words stuck out to me: as they went.   Jesus could have easily touched the lepers and healed them right then and there.  But for whatever reason, He told them to go on.  He told them to go show themselves to the priests.   Now why would they want to go show themselves with their leperous bodies to the priests?  Did they simply do as Jesus asked, knowing that He is Lord, and not think why they were doing so?   Jesus didn't tell them that He would heal them on their way to the priests.  He simply told them to go.  Did they intuitively feel that they would be healed as they went? 

 

 

Years ago, someone once told me that my music was for a time.  I took that to mean a time when people are broken, lost, suffering, and hurting.  A future time when life would be harder than it is now.  The Lord seems to inspire much of my songwriting in a prophetic way - lyrics to soothe, exhort, and call to Christ for a time in the future, collectively. But there are always hurting people around us.  Oh they may put on a good show, but God knows the pain they carry in their hearts.   I asked someone the other day what her "takeaway" from the pandemic was and her answer stunned me with its shallowness. She said something about wearing a mask, or some such thing.  Wow.  To be fair, I had only just met this person, so maybe she didn't feel comfortable opening up her deepest feelings to me.   But there was gold to be mined during this pandemic!  Did we turn to Christ more?  Did we see His hand in all of this?  Did the isolation force us to realize our need for others that mu