Joy and Strength (Christian life and music)

If you wait until you feel like obeying God, you never will. The feelings follow the obedience. This modus operandi works when we obey the Lord about anything. Feelings have little to do with obeying Jesus.  The majority of God's people gave in to their "feelings" of fear and dread at the end of wandering in the desert for 40 years.  Finally they could see the end of their long journey!  All they had to do was cross over into the Promised Land and they would receive all that God had promised them. What held them back?  Fear.   There are giants in the land! They chose to focus on what could go wrong, what may or may not happen if they entered in - those giants were huge!  What if they killed us?  What if they enslaved us?  They must have painted all the worst-case scenarios and they let those "what ifs" keep them from moving forward into the land of plenty - the land flowing with milk and honey.  Joshua and Caleb saw things differently.  They knew that God was w

I see it in the faces of those around me everywhere I go - even the masks can't hide it. People have been broken by the events of the past eighteen months.  They are worn out.  Humbled. How can this be good? When we reach the end of ourselves, where do we turn?  I am in the habit of turning to Jesus as the Source of my strength.  His strength remains the same during a pandemic.  Always. But for those who do not have the Lord, where do they go?  Stripped of all social gatherings, we were left to ourselves and those we live with.  If we relied on the bottle before, we turned to it even more. If we relied on reasoning and figuring out, we were stumped.  How do you figure out a pandemic, all of its ramifications, or its end date? Frankly I don't know how people do life without  the Lord.  We weren't built to "do life" apart from God. We were created to live in communion with our Creator.  But the damage from the fall left us (wrongly) thinking that we are on our own;

This morning, during my quiet time, I was thinking about how I put the Lord first.  My internal dialogue went something like this. Lord, I put You before my husband.  I felt the Spirit in agreement. Lord, I put You before family.  I felt the Spirit's approval in this, too. Lord, I put You before self.  Crickets. That is where the Spirit stopped me short.  Not so much agreement there. Oh, Lord.  How do I do this?  I do not want to put myself before You!  Help! I felt the Spirit speaking to my heart: You do this every time you don't trust Me about something or someone.  You put your human reasoning first instead of My Omniscience about a person or situation.  This, My beloved is nothing but pride. Ouch.  The deadliest of all sins.  And yet I know the Lord has humbled me through the many years I have known Him - and I let Him humble me. So is pride something we wrestle with as long as we're in this body?  And how do we even know we still wrestle with it?  I didn't have a c

Poor Job.  That is typically the first thought we have when we think of Old Testament Job. Even those most ignorant of the Bible have most likely heard of Job somewhere along the way.  They say things like, "She has the patience of Job." When we say patience, we think that we are waiting a long time for something. Patience actually means long-suffering.  And Job, above all, is the poster child for suffering. But if you know the whole story, you know that patience and suffering are not Job's entire story. And neither is suffering the whole picture for you, for me. No matter what we have been through or are going through, suffering does not have the final word.   Like Job, God can restore anything and anyone to us at His command.  God can change our story for the better.  How?  Because He is God. There was nothing Job could do to stop the calamities and tragedies that came upon him. He was helpless in that regard. Yet he continued to praise God.  That  is what the takeaway

 My Scripture song on Philippians  2:14-16.

A choir somewhere in the midwest recorded my song, "Psalm 145" years ago.  This was the result. It was out of my hands.  I could mark the sheet music with the tempo that I wanted it performed, but the choir director still took it at a faster tempo than I had written it. It was out of my hands. So much of what we create is out of our hands, isn't it?   As I learn to let go more, I find that the "tempos" of life may take on a speed, or slowness, that I am not happy with.  And that's ok. The song was still recorded.  The song still blessed those who heard it and is still blessing worshipers today.  The powerful lyrics based on David's Psalm are still as powerful.   The main thing is, the song is in God's hands.  How do I know?  Well, everything and everyone is.  But also, because I wrote it for Him, so I know He is taking good care of it - wherever it goes, whomever may hear it.   So when we let go and things don't turn out as we'd hoped, it is

Whoa.  Wait a minute, you might be thinking.  How could this mess I am going through be a blessing ? Let us review, dear friends!   Here's a short list of how trials formed the saints of Scripture: - Daniel experienced firsthand God's supernatural power in protecting him from the voracious lions - Jesus was in  the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (and He is with us in our "fiery furnace!") - God protected David from Saul's murderous plans again and again, bringing him into his destiny as King - Job was doubly blessed - more than he had been - after he lost everyone and everything in life - Paul's letters to the churches are the most-quoted Scripture of all time; he wrote them from a prison cell - Jonah needed to learn that God's grace is for all - even for those he couldn't stand; he finally learned obedience - Joseph was left for dead by his jealous siblings; he ended up ruling over them eventually - Jesus endured severe hunger and

I came across a reference to this familiar verse this morning in my quiet time.  I then asked the Lord to reveal to me what that means - how to do this in my daily life.  He brought another Scripture to mind: "...for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."  Romans 14:17 It really whittles it down very practically. If what I am seeking at any given moment is righteous, keeps me in God's peace, brings me His joy, then I am seeking His Kingdom in that moment! On the other hand, if what I am seeking leads me to idolatry, or anxiety, or any other fleshly thing, then in that moment, I am not  seeking His Kingdom - putting Him first. As Christians, we do both of these on any given day.  Our flesh is constantly waging war against the Spirit. It comes down to choice.  Will we choose  to seek Him first - His righteousness, His peace, His joy - and in so doing enter into His Kingdom right here and how - or will we choos

Are you a member of any rewards programs?  I am.  It's fun to receive bonuses and offers simply for being a good customer.  You know the ones I mean, a discount offer, something for free, and other special perks.  Who doesn't enjoy these rewards? But did you know that Jesus offers us eternal rewards that never spoil, fade, or perish?  I want in on that program!  Of course, it is not a program at all.  But there are definitely awesome rewards.  But you need patience to wait for them, and lots of faith to know that they are waiting for you, because they won't be revealed this side of heaven.   Some of the rewards we can look forward to: Loving our enemies.  Cha-ching! Forgiving those who hurt us.  Cha-ching! Obeying God no matter what. Cha-ching! Seeking Jesus daily.  Cha-ching! Trusting God more than self.  Cha-ching! Believing in God's goodness during the hard times.  Cha-ching! Knowing God.  Cha-ching! Choosing faith over fear.  Cha-ching! Winning spiritual battles in

I am very real with the Lord.  I know He can take it.  I know that He knows what I'm thinking and feeling and going through anyway.   But here's the mistake I sometimes make. I pour out my heart to Him in utter complaining and stop there!   David complained before the Lord throughout the Psalms, too.  He listed his gripes - he really railed (not against God) about some circumstances in his life: he had Saul after him and had all sorts of enemies.  David asked the Lord to deal with his enemies and make it right and I'm sure as he was writing and singing that he wasn't exactly having good feelings! So when I pour my heart out to the Lord about certain things that have been happening in my life that are still going on (and on and on!) - in my mind, far too long - I need to take the next step.   But here's the mistake I make: I don't always end my lament with praise and worship.  When you read the Psalms, even though David let it all hang out before the Lord, and ma

When we are in the thick of it - being tempted to give up, walk in the flesh, doubt God - this is when we are called to practice patience. The meaning of patience in this case is long suffering.  God knows that we suffer when tempted.  Remember, He was tempted by the devil in the desert and it was no fun!  But Jesus resisted the devil by knowing Who He was and by knowing and speaking Scripture.  Jesus was not passive in this and neither should we be. Verse 4 in the King James translation reads, "But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire , wanting nothing."  The purpose of the trial is to produce patience in us which makes us whole.  When we are whole, we are healed, "wanting nothing." Why does it have to work this way?  I have no idea.  And trying to deny it or fight against it only causes great turmoil and stress. Isn't that the way?  We are tempted.  We feel rotten.  We are uncomfortable and not at peace in that moment. Now here