Joy and Strength (Christian life and music)

Hope in God for my heart will still praise Him. The Psalms are filled with David lamenting his circumstances. And he certainly had plenty to be down about!  Saul out to kill him, running for his life, waiting for his appointed time as king, enemies all about him.   But what is so wonderful about David is that no matter how much he kvetches to God, He always ends up  praising and thanking God in the midst of his awful circumstances (see Psalm 43:5, for one). Do we do the same?  If only! How do you get unstuck from emotions of disappointment, doubt, fear, and worry when the "hits just keep coming?" Hope in God. Three little words but packed with power and punch. My hope is not in my paycheck, thank you doubt and fear. My hope is not in how others treat me, thank you disappointment. My hope is not in being successful, thank you comparison. Nope.  If I hope in any of these, I will never know true and lasting peace.  Why not?  Because each and every on...

God is in control.  God’s got this. You may have heard, read, or even said these words yourself. Yet do we really believe this when surrounded by tumultuous circumstances? Why hasn’t He intervened yet? He is waiting for us to stay at rest in the midst of it. To hold our peace no matter what.  He is training  us, kiddos. He is waiting for us to stop arguing, reasoning, defending and going around the same mountain of crazy that can never be fixed by these things like reasoning and trying to figure it out; not in a million years. Let's do our best to learn what God is trying to teach us, do in us, so that He can step in and do what only He can do! We do out part so that He can do His.  When we team up with God, miracles happen!  Or at the very least, we get through the day with His love and joy in our hearts instead of disarray, confusion, or stress.  Sign me up! Believe that you truly can do all things through Him including holding your peace in the middle of...

When God brought His people out of the wilderness into the land that He promised them, they were in crisis.  Pharaoah's army behind them, the Red Sea in front of them - they were trapped!  They were trapped in the natural , that is.   They were stuck between a proverbial rock and a hard place with no way out.   Enter God. Ever feel stuck?  Do you want escape from a situation from which there simply is no escape?   Why did God allow this mess to happen to the Jews?  He led them right into it!  He could have confused the troops and sent them off course, but He didn't.  He could have led the Jews another way out of the desert that didn't bring them to the Red Sea, but He didn't. God had a bigger and better way to reveal Himself to them.  He wanted to show them just how much He could do for them.  He defied the forces of nature because He controls all nature!   God parted the Red Sea for them to cross through in...

We are called to love one another.  That is Jesus' command to us - Love each other as I have loved you, He said.   We can do this as a doctor, as a wife, as a mother, as a ditch digger, as a movie star, as a singer, as a high school teacher -- you catch my drift. Our job title or role factors into it zero when it comes to loving others.  We are to love people wherever we go, whatever we do.  This is Jesus' non-negotiable for us.  This is our foundational calling. Jobs comes, jobs go.  Relationships change.  Status wavers.  Careers can leave us wanting more and eventually end.   We have many assignments and roles in life - they change with the seasons or years, depending on our age or circumstances. But our main calling never changes.  Not ever.   If we're the greatest _______ (fill in the blank) who ever lived and yet have little love in our hearts, we're missing our calling. We've come to value the wrong things in li...

When you accept Jesus Christ as Lord of your life, you sign up for all sorts of things that you didn’t know you were signing up for. For me, much of the time I don’t like God’s plan. Just sayin’. Why not? Because. It’s. Hard. You can love the Lord with all your heart and still not be crazy about His plan at times.  Yes, of course I am familiar with Jeremiah 29:11.  But we all know that some days, some seasons, some years, some lives are just plain hard. Growing up is hard and that is exactly what we’re called to do as His children: become mature adults in every way. Where’s the fun in that, you may wonder. God asks hard things of us. There’s a popular saying these days: We do hard things. Good for you. But the sorts of hard things that Jesus calls us to are actually impossible in and of ourselves. Why? Because they are supernatural. How many of these can we actually do in our own strength? - stay in peace while being attacked verbally or spiritually or mentally  - forgive...

What comes to mind when you read those two words?  There is only one being to whom absolute authority has been given: the Lord Jesus Christ.  King Jesus! Now, who comes to mind when I say meek and mild?  Oh yeah.  That's  Jesus. Don't you know He's both? But how can someone meek and mild possess absolute authority?  He simply does. We all know that the most talented in the artistic world neither have to flaunt it nor proclaim it.  They simply are .  It may be a poor analogy (!), but in the same way, Jesus needs neither to flaunt nor proclaim His supremacy.  He simply is . No ego.  No "demanding" presence.  His absolute power is coming from a place of total goodness.  Our minds can barely comprehend this because our points of reference are mere humans - all of whom, even the best of them, are flawed in their leadership qualities. There is something comforting about knowing that the all-powerful force of the universe is a loving,...

How do you know a lie from the truth?  When talking about Scripture, it is very clear.  The Lord made it plain for us to understand His truth by giving us the Bible.  That is the standard by which all other "truths" are to be measured. So that is the lowdown when it comes to what's what regarding truth and Truth. However, I'd like to focus on our thought lives.  Really, do you have to go there? you may be asking.  Hold on. It gets good! It's been said that we have up to 70,000 thoughts a day.  That is a lot of thoughts!   How many are worthwhile?  (crickets) Are you a "positive" thinker?  Maybe you are, but are you dealing in Reality - the light of God's revealed truth through His Word - or just "being good?" When you belong to Christ, you have an enemy.  It is the devil and for now, at least, he is alive and out to stir up as much trouble and evil as possible - both in the world and in the hearts, minds, and lives of the Redeemed. ...