Joy and Strength (Christian life and music)

I get it. I get why the Jews rejected Christ as their Messiah. Throughout the Old Testament, God showed up for His people working miracles and wonders on their behalf. To them, when all was well, when life was prosperous, they were blessed by God. Enter Jesus. Jesus wasn’t rich with earthly wealth (the way He blessed the Jews in the Old Covenant). Jesus wasn’t a grand, earthly king. He didn’t fit the picture in the Jews’ minds of what a Messiah should look like, should be, how He should act. Jesus associated with the “unclean,” the Gentiles. Every good Jew knew that only they were God’s chosen people. All others were not God’s people. And that was true in the Old Testament, before Jesus arrived on the scene and opened the door for all to come to know God, to belong to God, to be His people. When the Jews were the only chosen of God, they were special. They were “it” in God’s eyes. So I imagine this poked at their pride a bit when we Gentiles were now considered just as chosen as they.

God loves when we come to Him with vulnerability and honesty, when we share our struggles and worries with Him. There is much talk about emotions these days.  It's the flavor of the month among some Christian circles. But... When we take a minute to get our eyes off ourselves, stop promoting our emotions and problems as gods, we can enter in to where God wants us to live: in His glorious Presence.  After all, which is greater - anything we are experiencing, or God Almighty? Lord, I am sad today. I AM THAT I AM. Lord, I am worried and anxious. I AM THAT I AM. Lord, I am uncertain about this situation. I AM THAT I AM. Lord, I am discouraged because You haven't healed the way I've asked You to. I AM THAT I AM. Lord, I am growing weary waiting for Your deliverance. I AM THAT I AM. Lord, I am doubting that this circumstance is really for my benefit. I AM THAT I AM. Lord, I am confused about Your ways and timing. I AM THAT I AM. Lord, I am feeling lost and rejected. I AM THAT I A

I recently attended a Christian women's conference.  It is always nice to get away for a retreat and get refreshed and learn new stuff. Here's a bit of what I learned, or observed, this time around. During one of the segments, some from the audience were to bring their bits of paper and share what they wrote down, how they finished the sentence, "Because I believe Jesus, I will..." It was interesting to me that around 70-80% of the women mentioned the same thing.  "Because I believe Jesus, I will stop controlling everything." It was obvious that this trying to control stuff was a great source of stress and anxiety for these women.  But my first thought was, why do they think they are in control at all? God knows that there are plenty of "movers and shakers" among His daughters.  But who is behind the moving and shaking? As Christians, are we proud when we can "make things happen" in our own strength? How is that being a Christ follower? J

I have been waiting for some email responses lately, some of which can potentially change my life.  It has been nerve wracking for me. I've prayed about it, gave it all to God, and yet it still weighs on my heart and mind - the uncertainty, the wondering, and the not knowing. It's hard to truly let go sometimes.  I believe I trust God with my whole heart.  And yet when there are some issues on the line that affect my life, affect my immediate future, and just plain can either make life harder or easier for me, I give in to anxiety. It is a miserable place to live!  But I do not need to stay in that miserable state of mind. Especially when I belong to omnipotent God who is for me, on my side, ever watching out for me, and doing all sorts of wonderful things on my behalf behind the scenes.   How do I know He does all of these and more?  He promises to do them.  And if you are a child of God, you too have the same promises from His infallible Word. We will still have to wait on so

God humbles us.  He brings us to the point where we realize our need for Him, our dependence upon Him, and how we cannot do anything apart from Him. Only God knows the heart of the person who may say aloud, "God gets all the glory!"  We can say the words and not really mean them, or we can never say them and simply go about doing everything we do to please Him.  That is what gives God the glory. God is glorious!  His glory fills the temple!  We cannot even imagine just how glorious He is! When Jesus performed miracles - acts which are impossible for humans to do in and of themselves - God received the glory.   But we do not have to do miracles in order for God to get the glory in our lives. I've seen it all too often.  The Christian leader whose "charisma" and "personality" get in the way of Christ being seen in them.  I see more of who they are than I see Jesus. But when I see or hear a Christian who is not constantly talking about him or herself, whe

I have stayed on in unbearable circumstances out of obedience to Christ.  But in all honesty, I am not always 100% sure if He wants me to stay or not when I am in those situations.  You see, I see all of life, as a Christian, as Jesus forming me into His image.  And it is never the happy times that do such a thing, but always the hard times, the trials.   This is more than mere "character-building."  This is Christ forming His very nature in me. If you don't think this forming is hard work, think again!  Yes, we are to rest and abide in Him while He does the work in us.  But we must cooperate.  We are to obey.  That is where the rubber meets the road in our lives as Christians. Most will simply walk away from an unpleasant situation before the Lord has fully done the work He wants to do in them there, in the muck and the mire. Especially these days where "boundaries" and "rights" are all the rage.   But many times, our most fruitful and productive time

Continuing my study of Nehemiah, we learned that he finished the physical labor of building the wall around Jerusalem.  But wait, there's more! Once his work was done, there was the work of maintaining what he had built. Isn't that just like our lives?  We think we have "arrived" in some area, finished a task, only to find that it isn't really over.  And though the building process is difficult and wrought with challenges, maintenance brings its own set of issues. We cannot rest on our laurels, as tempting as it may be.  There is always  some more work to do.   In chapter 8, we read that Ezra read God's Word to God's people.  There was much rejoicing and worshiping.  However, there was also weeping and grieving. It does not say why the Jews were weeping, just that they did so while hearing God's Word read aloud to them. "For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law." Nehemiah 8:9 My guess is that they were conv