Joy and Strength (Christian life and music)

Day 1 of practicing my songs in obedience to the Lord. I ended up having fun!  This is one that I wrote for the kiddies.  It's chock full of Scriptural truths and Bible characters in a catchy melody. So what I'm re-learning about obedience is this: when I obey God, though what He tells me to do may seem daunting or make no sense, I end up enjoying myself.  There may still be hard work involved, but it becomes filled with God's Presence, which equals joy, because obedience is a form of worship. The minimum time slot I have alloted to practice my song-per-day is 10 minutes.  Since most songs are around three minutes long, that's running through them approximately three times.  I set this time for myself knowing that some days are busier than others, and I may only have ten minutes on a given day. But today is Saturday!  I started practing around 9:30 in the morning.  I played from memory and also checked myself against my sheet music that I self-published.  In this case,

There are all kinds of strength.  You can be physically strong, emotionally strong, mentally strong, and so on. But there is a strength that trumps all of these and that is spiritual strength. This is because when we are strong in the spirit - in the things of the Lord - then we have an inner strength that empowers us to do and face whatever life asks of us. Think of it as a tree where the roots are your spiritual strength and the tree, branches, and fruit are all possible because of the strength of the roots - how deep they go, how strong they are, etc. People can put on all kinds of "shows."  But only God knows each heart. Sometimes, those who "act" the strongest on the outside carry the most fears with them on the inside. Anyone placing all of their confidence in their physical strength, or any other strength, will deep down be insecure.  Why?  Because all other strengths, aside from spiritual, can be weakened and deteriorate.  Because we were not built to build

How do you take things off the "back burner" of procrastination and doubt? Well, the best way I know to stop putting off something is to just do it!  That is not new advice!  We've all heard that before.  So why, then, don't we just do it ?   Effort, energy, being decisive - these are all things that we decide to do. Have faith!  Believe that it is possible to finish that project or assignment from God!  He wouldn't have told you to do it if you weren't able.  And if you still don't think you're up to task, ask Him to come along side you and empower you to get to work and finish! We're all fighting the blues a bit more these days, what with being in quarantine and just the plain weirdness of it all, how our lives have changed as a result of this pandemic.  And it is still happening. Now more than ever we need our resolve! See this as a huge opportunity for good!  Take the extra time you may have on your hands and do  something with it! I am a big b