Joy and Strength (Christian life and music)

  My new song based on Psalm 34:7 and stuff.

Admit defeat and win?! That statement doesn’t make sense! Or does it? When we surrender to God, admit that we cannot win against the spiritual principalities in our own strength, then He comes in and wins for us. That is the only way to victory in the Christian life!  But first, we must acknowledge that we are no match for the devil, the enemy of our souls, when it comes to spiritual warfare.  That is a job for Christ, for only He is the Victor. Our Lord made a spectacle of the devil when He died for us on the cross.  Satan was defeated then and there.  Alleluia! So though the devil is still active in this world (duh), think of him as always trying but never winning.  That is the great deception that he offers the world - that he can still take God’s place.  He is already defeated. But millions around the world do not know this, and that is how he gets into people’s hearts and lives, unknowingly. So when we admit that we cannot slay our Goliaths, but in the power of the Lord we can, th

I know nothing. I don't even remember what I was thinking about, but the other day I blurted out this sentence, head lowered humbly before the Lord, and do you know how He replied?   "Now I can use you." You mean You haven't been using me all along, Lord?! I believe that the Lord uses us whenever we work for Him, give to Him, give out of our love for Him and to bless others. But for some reason, it seems like when we admit that the more we think we know, the more we realize we really know nothing, God has more "room" to use us.  We get out of His way.  We get out of our own way. Compared to our all-knowing Creator God, we truly know nothing, right?  I mean He knows everything about everyone, all science (the stuff yet discovered, too), all wisdom, every number of every hair on every head (boggles the mind), every book ever written, every event in the history of the world (and why), every future event and how it's all going to play out. When we truly medi

 I thought you might enjoy seeing the process of how I create sheet music for my songs.  

  The title song to my musical, "Knowing God."  Enjoy!

In a word, slowly. Nothing in nature grows instantly or overnight.  No flower blooms in a day.  There is no kind of fruit that reaches ripeness in one second.  And an acorn takes many years before it becomes the mighty oak. So when we don't see miraculous, overnight results in our spiritual growth, we should not be surprised one bit.  Growth of any kind takes time. Now these may seem obvious statements that I make, but how many of us want to grow up and mature in our faith more quickly?  How impatient are we with ourselves in this area? The pace of our modern age has ruined us in some ways.  We've come to expect instant this and instant that. Instant success.  Instant income.  Instant fame.  The younger generations know how to "grow a brand" in a matter of weeks, or even days.  They can release a new app and see overnight results in its sales or downloads.  And we call this progress.  We call these "advances" good.  But why? How is anything that causes more

Here it is! My latest album available for streaming. Details here:  https://elizabethvecchione.hearnow.com/scripture-songs-ii Enjoy and be blessed as you allow God to place His Word deep in your heart through my songs. Elizabeth  ❤️

I believe that all prayers to God are good and that He hears every one of them. But I have found that when I pray on my knees, there is a supernatural power found there.  God still may not answer my prayers in a way that I want, but it is not always about "getting" answers.  Praying on my knees is a faith-builder nonetheless because it draws me closer to Him. This is because it shows my dependence on God, my need of Him.  The posture of being on my knees reminds me that my place is to be humble before Him.  It reminds me that He is Lord, worthy of my reverence. Do I believe He hears me better when I pray on my knees?  I do not. I believe that He hears all of our prayers, written, spoken, thought but not spoken out loud, sighs, anywhere, any time, all the time. But there is something about getting on my knees to pray that calms me, centers me, brings me to a better place simply by doing it.  It is not magic.  But I believe the Lord is pleased to no end when we pray this way.  

I have learned over these many years how our Heavenly Father sometimes treats His children.  It may surprise you. Our Heavenly Father is the only perfect Father there is. He knows each of us more intimately than any earthly parent ever could.  He is equal parts mercy and discipline, and both are done in the purest love imaginable.   Everything He does, He does in love. Everything. Now that we have established that, let's talk! I recently looked back at some of my blog entries and I noticed a pattern.  I write a lot about suffering.  Lots of referrals to Job.  Lots of lessons being learned, spiritual growth, and such.   But lately, I've started to wonder if all  of my life is supposed to tip heavier on the suffering side of the scale.  And if there is no seeming let-up, what’s a girl to do? We’ve heard all of the grape analogies. The crushing, the pruning, the tilling, the waiting for ripening, etc., etc. But when you are the grape (!), you may start to think, ok, when do we get

Perhaps you think I am going to say that the #1 thing that changes people is God.  And that is true.  Only God can change a human heart. However, there is something that we can do to help others along the way, and it is this: Accept them as they are. It is that simple. People can sense when we are judging them.  No matter what we say on the outside, our thoughts and demeanor carry an intangible weight. Are we placing ourselves in God's position by acting as judge and jury?  "I would never do that," you may claim.   Yet we do it all the time when we make judgments about others.  Is it possible to see only the good, and is that what God requires of us? Well, let's go to the Source and see what He has to say about the matter.  As always, He is very straightforward about it, if only we would listen and obey! “ Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 2 For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. 3 Why do

 

Most believers, when asked who they are in Christ, as part of their answer, will say that they are “sinners saved by grace.”  Perhaps, in their minds, this sounds humble.   When Jesus said He was God, it sounded anything but humble to those listening!  But it was Truth.  And He was the most humble Person ever because He was fully submitted to God, never acting out of His own volition. So, we know that when truth is spoken, it may or may not sound “humble,” but it is truth and that's all that matters. So yes, we were sinners but now, since we are saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8), who does that make us after the saving?  We are new creatures in Christ! (2 Corinthians 5:17) The problem with saying we are still “sinners” is that it leaves a fundamental mark in our souls that says that our identity is still that of a sinner. Don’t let the Catholic definition of a saint (as if we could somehow earn it) mar the truth of the identity that Christ died to give us, that is ours in Him.   Is Chr