November 16, 2024

Take My Life, Let It Be

June 11, 2015 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee
Take my hands, and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love
At the impulse of Thy love

Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee
Take my voice, and let me sing
Always, only, for my King
Always, only, for my King 

Take my silver and my gold
Not a mite would I withhold
Take my moments and my days
Let them flow with ceaseless praise
Let them flow with ceaseless praise 

Take my will and make it Thine
It shall be no longer mine
Take my heart it is Thine own
It shall be Thy royal throne
It shall be Thy royal throne

Take my heart, it is Thine own
It shall be Thy royal throne
It shall be Thy royal throne 

Norton Hall Band
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary worship band
Frances Havergal – lyrics; Henri Malan – music

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God deserves our all!  Every bit of what makes you…you; and what makes me…me.  Anything that is in us that is good and righteous and pure and holy He has given to us…none of it is of our own making.

Which verse is the one that resonates within your heart?  Would you leave a comment below and share that with us…and why?  I love ‘em all…but I think my favorite is this one.

“Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine.  
Take my heart; it is Thine own;
It shall be Thy royal throne, it shall be Thy royal throne.”

If I surrender my will to God’s will (and so no longer my own!) then all the rest—my life, my moments, my days, my hands, my feet, my voice, my lips, my silver and gold, my intellect, my love—will also be offered to Him for His will to be my guide and rule.

Consider these passages from the Scriptures in light of the gist of this song. Perhaps one or more of them might be just the impetus you need to make the decision to ‘take your life and let it be….”

I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg you in view of [all] the mercies of God,
to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties]
as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God,
which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.
Romans 12:1 AMP

I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy.
Leviticus 11:44

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Psalm 19:14

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5 and 6

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My life
My hands
My feet
My voice
My silver and gold
My moments and my days
My will
My heart

Quite the list, hmmm?   Today, right now even, may we each make a conscious choice to dedicate all that we are to Him—‘Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.’

Dear Lord, we do SO want to dedicate ourselves—every part of us—to You, our Maker!  Please help us to recognize areas in our lives that get in the way of this…and please help us change, Lord!  May we choose to offer ourselves, all we are and all we have, to You!  You deserve the best, the most.  You deserve our ALL!  We ask these things in Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

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On My Knees

June 10, 2015 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

There are days when I feel the best of me is ready to begin
Then they’re days when I feel I’m letting go and soaring on the wind
Cause I’ve learned in laughter or in pain how to survive

I get on my knees, I get on my knees
There I am before the love that changes me
See I don’t know how but there’s power when i’m on my knees

I can be in a crowd or by myself or almost anywhere
When I feel there’s a need to talk with God, He is Emmanuel
When I close my eyes, no darkness there
There’s only light

 

Jaci Velasquez
written by David and Nicole C. Mullen, and Michael Hunter Ochs

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One of the joys (and privilege!) of our relationship with our heavenly Father is being in His Presence, and spending time alone just with Him.  I call it my  ‘quiet time’ with Him.  There are many different ways to seek God but, to me, nothing compares to a dedicated, purposeful, intentional, devoted quiet time. Think about this for just a moment…what are some of the things we do with our bodies as we seek Him? A few that I thought of were:

we kneel
we sit
we stand
we lay prone
we raise our hands
we clap our hands
we walk
we lift our eyes

Perhaps you are thinking, “Oh, that is NOT for me, Coleen!  I am kind of reserved, y’know.  And besides, what might people think?!?”  Let me remind you, my friends, we are talking about YOUR quiet time with Your Father…most probably no one is around, right?

Let’s look at some examples given in the Scripture of people who, using their bodies, gave voice to the cries of their hearts:

When Daniel learned that the document had been signed,
he went into his house.
The windows in its upper room opened toward Jerusalem,
and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed,
and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before.
Daniel 6:10

While Ezra prayed and confessed,
weeping and falling facedown before the house of God,
an extremely large assembly of Israelite men, women, and children
gathered around him. The people also wept bitterly.
Ezra 10:1

Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord
in the presence of all the assembly of Israel
and spread out his hands toward heaven.
He said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like You
in heaven above or on earth beneath,
keeping covenant and showing lovingkindness to Your servants
who walk before You with all their heart…
1 Kings 8:22-24

Then He said to them, My soul is very sad and deeply grieved,
so that I am almost dying of sorrow.
Stay here and keep awake and keep watch with Me.
And going a little farther, He threw Himself upon the ground
on His face and prayed saying, My Father, if it is possible,
let this cup pass away from Me;
nevertheless, not what I will [not what I desire],
but as You will and desire.
Matthew 26:38 and 39

And there are so MANY other examples throughout the Scriptures to show us that it is a good thing to physically express our love…our adoration…our praise…our great need for our awesome and great God! Just as Daniel,  and Ezra, and Solomon, and our Lord Jesus Himself prayed and cried to God, they were ‘on their knees‘ and prone on the ground as they expressed their hearts to Him.

So may I please encourage you to do the same…allow your body to be a part of your expression of the words you are speaking as you spend your ‘quiet time’ with your heavenly Father.

Jesus told us what is required—that we give Him all of ourselves:

Love the Lord your God
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind
Luke 10:27

True worship and praise comes from the heart.  If our worship is not coming from our hearts, it will not matter what posture or physical expression of our praise we use.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my [firm, impenetrable] Rock and my Redeemer.
Psalm 19:14

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Whom Shall I Fear

June 9, 2015 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjvYou hear me when I call
You are my morning song
Though darkness fills the night
It cannot hide the light

Whom shall I fear

You crush the enemy
Underneath my feet
You are my sword and shield
Though troubles linger still

Whom shall I fear

I know who goes before me
I know who stands behind
The God of angel armies
Is always by my side

The one who reigns forever
He is a friend of mine
The God of angel armies
Is always by my side

My strength is in Your name
For You alone can save
You will deliver me
Yours is the victory

Whom shall I fear
Whom shall I fear

And nothing formed against me shall stand
You hold the whole world in Your hands
I’m holding on to Your promises

You are faithful
You are faithful

Chris Tomlin
and written along with Ed Cash and Scott McTyeire Cash

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The Lord is my Light and my Salvation—whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the Stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?
When the wicked advance against me to devour me,
it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall.
Though an army besiege me,  my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.
Psalms 27:1-3

Sometimes life gets tough and we feel that God has abandoned us.  The only thing that can bring us down is believing the lies that Satan would tell us.  The lies are subtle.  They sound so true… ‘You are not pretty’; ‘You are not loved’; ‘You have no friends’…the list can go on and on.  But we have a Redeemer.  We have a Restorer.  We have hope of a better life.  We just have to have faith and believe.

God’s love is enough to surround each of us.  Find a time to spend time in His Word.  Whatever is your best time…whether it is in the morning, afternoon, or evening.  It could be your lunchtime.  It could be during breaktime.  Make time to enter into the Presence of God.  He will repay you for your efforts.  You will be blessed in new ways.

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Drops In The Ocean

June 8, 2015 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

I want you as you are, not as you ought to be
Won’t you lay down your guard and come to Me
The shame that grips you now is crippling
It breaks My heart to see you suffering

‘Cause I am for you
I’m not against you

If you want to know
How far My love can go
Just how deep, just how wide
If you want to see
How much you mean to Me
Look at My hands, look at My side
If you could count the times I’d say you are forgiven
It’s more than the drops in the ocean

Don’t think you need to settle for a substitute
When I’m the only Love that changes you

Open your heart
It’s time that we start again
Open your heart
It’s time that we start again

Hawk Nelson
writer(s): Jon Steingard; Jason Ingram; Matt Bronlee

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798,251,012,325,216,135,654,464,101,128,..
3.425 x 10^25

Are you able to read either of those numbers?  I’m not.  I have no concept of how many that is.  So, what do those numbers represent? They are the two most common answers to my Google search…”How many drops are in the ocean?”  And those are just best guesses based on scientific formulas.  Here is how the Bible answers that question:

The God of glory thunders— the Lord, above vast waters….
Psalm 29:3b HCSB

He assigned the sea its boundaries and locked the oceans in vast reservoirs.
Psalm 33:7 NLT

Here is the ocean, vast and wide….
Psalm 104:25a NLT

Others went to sea in ships, conducting trade on the vast waters.
Psalm 107:23 HCSB

Vast, undefined, unfathomable—the drops in the ocean are beyond measure.  That is how much Jesus loves us.  Better yet, that is how many times He forgives us!  The Scriptures say:

..for you have rescued me from death and forgiven all my sins.
Isaiah 38:17b NLT

…for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.
Jeremiah 31:34b NASB

Truly and solemnly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men…
Mark 3:28a AMP

ALL our sins are forgiven.  Not some…not several…not just certain ones…but ALL!  They are remembered no more.  The HCSB version of Isaiah 38:17 says “You have thrown all my sins behind Your back.”  Out of sight and out of mind.

Think about it this way…

Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day
and each time turns again and asks forgiveness,
you must forgive.
Luke 17:4 NLT

Let’s pretend that is the standard Jesus uses toward us…. So 7 times a day for 365 days equals 2,555 times we are forgiven in 1 year.  I am 55; so now let’s multiply 2555 times 55.  That would equal 140,525 times I have been forgiven so far in my lifetime.  (And I know that estimate is WAY TOO LOW!)  I cannot imagine forgiving any one that many times.  Yet I am loved and forgiven so much more than that.

Ephesians 5:2 AMP tells us “Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a slain offering and sacrifice to God [for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance.”  Romans 8:31 NLT reminds us “God is for us, who can ever be against us?”  1 Thessalonians 5:9 declares “For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out His anger on us.”

God is for us, not against us! He is:

– with us (Isaiah 8:10)
– bearing our burdens and carrying us each day (Psalm 68:19)
– with us; He is our leader (2 Chronicles 13:12)
– will fight for us (Nehemiah 4:20)

That’s how far His love can go for us.
That is how much we mean to Him.
That’s how deep, how wide His love is for us.
More than the drops in the ocean

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Have Everything

June 7, 2015 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

The first time I met You, I was on my knees
Praying, “Lord, if You’re out there, can You speak to me?”
‘Cause I was in a desperate place,
My life looked like a hurricane
The moment I felt Your grace

You can have me, You can have everything
Oh, I am Yours
Not holding on, onto anything
But Your promise, Lord
It’s a new day, it’s a new dawn
I’ve found a place where I belong
Nothing I want more than what You’ve given me
Hey, so You can have everything
You can have everything
You can have everything

You are like the sunshine in the dead of night
You’re the only One standing when my world ignites
So why would I hold anything back
‘Cause You keep my world intact
It’s true, oh, God, it’s true, so I’ll say

Every day
I’m gonna wake up, gonna wake up
Wake up and say
You can have me, have everything

David Dunn
written along with Justin Ebach

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I love to talk to Jesus when I’m on my knees.  It’s a position of total surrender and love and submission.  And my prayers will be…to let Him have everything.  To surrender all the worldly things that I hold on to and worry about, and to know that when its dark, He shines so bright!

Most of the time, left on our own, our lives can really be a mess and God is the only One Who can straighten them out.  But all we have to do is ask Him to take over!  How simple is that?  So simple that we sometimes forget that He can.

Daily, we must empty ourselves of our own agenda and ask God to fill us with His.  You don’t have to be in a desperate place to cry out to Him, but if you are, there is no better place to be than at His feet.

As you listen to this today, may you use these words as a prayer to Him today.  No matter where you are or what you are struggling with, He is not far away.  He always answers the prayers of His children.  Are you far from God?  He is close to the brokenhearted and He will shelter you from all this world.  All you have to do is ask!

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Psalm 34:18 NLT

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me;
Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.
Psalm 23:4 KJV

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Dear Lord, You are so awesome and full of love for us.  You never change.  Thank You for being there for us as a constant.  For sheltering us from storms and giving us hope in this hard world.  You are the light in the darkness and the lover of our souls.  Today, I pray for those who are hurting and need You.  I pray that they would release it all into Your mighty hands.  We love You and we praise You.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

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I Can Pray

June 6, 2015 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

I may never sing a song that brings people to their feet
And mighty men of world renown I may never get to meet
But I have an invitation to hasten to His throne
To lay my burdens at His feet and make my petitions known

I can pray
Though the storm around me rages
I can trust the Rock of ages when I pray
And the peace I can’t explain when I call upon His Name
I just know I’m not the same when I pray

When it seems the road I’m trav’ling on just doesn’t have an end
I have found that He will be my brother and my friend
For He never will forsake me; He will always hear my plea
Because He stands beside the Father, interceding just for me

If my people
Who are called by My Name
Will humble themselves
Will humble themselves and pray

Singer/ Songwriter: Kim Culpepper
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I heard this song several months ago, and it spoke to me.  I put it in my ‘maybe’ list of songs to blog, not knowing when or if I was to share it.  Over the past two months a 16 year old young man in our church has been struggling with a deadly illness and has been through several brains surgeries already, with the almost certain need for more.  Our congregation, friends and family, both near and far, are praying for this boy!  What more can we do?!

Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2

Instead of worrying, pray.
Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers,
letting God know your concerns.
Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness,
everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down.
It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
Philippians 4:6-7 MSG

The songs I sing will never bring people to their feet, and won’t heal Zach.  The mighty men of world renown can visit him at his hospital bedside, but they can’t heal Zach.  This road that Zach and his family are traveling on seems to have no end.  This is a storm that is too great for any human to conquer.  Perhaps you, too, (physically, emotionally, or spiritually), are on a rugged road that seems to have no end, and are in a storm too great to conquer.

BUT GOD!  Each of us has an invitation to hasten to the Throne of the One and Only God, the Rock of Ages, Who can do anything, including heal our dear Zach and calm your storm. That is exactly what Zach’s parents, and we are doing daily, even moment-by-moment, and I encourage you to do the same.

Where else can we find peace?
Who else assures us that He hears our prayers?
Who else promises to never leave us or forsake us?
Who else can calm the storm?
Who else can heal Zach?
Who else can smooth your road?
No one, BUT GOD!

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.
There we will receive His mercy,
and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
Hebrews 14:16 NLT

Trust in the LORD always, for the LORD God is the eternal Rock.
Isaiah 26:4

Trust in Him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our Refuge.
Psalm 62:8

As one song says, “Our God is an awesome God, Who reigns in Heaven above, with wisdom, power, and love, our God is an awesome God.”  With that assurance, we run into God’s Throne Room, and lay our “burdens at His feet and make my (our) petitions known.”

It is there

  • we have the assurance that He hears our prayers
  • we know that Jesus is interceding before our Father for us
  • we find our peace
  • we find our answers
  • we are “not the same when I (we) pray.”

If God is for us, who can be against us?
He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all,
how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?…
Christ Jesus is the One who died
—more than that, Who was raised—
Who is at the right hand of God, Who indeed is interceding for us….
Romans 8:31-39

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Whatever your storm is today, dear friend, believe that Jesus wants you to come to Him with it.  Believe He will take care of your need, no matter what is it.  When you can’t do anything else, YOU CAN PRAY.  And we, your sisters in Christ, will pray with you.  Jesus is waiting and listening…and answering.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:7 NIV

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in You.
Isaiah 26:3

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you.
I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
John 14:27

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Touch The Sky

June 5, 2015 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

What fortune lies beyond the stars
Those dazzling heights too vast to climb
I got so high to fall so far
But I found heaven as love swept low

My heart beating, my soul breathing
I found my life when I laid it down
Upward falling, spirit soaring
I touch the sky when my knees hit the ground

What treasure waits within Your scars
This gift of freedom gold can’t buy
I bought the world and sold my heart
You traded heaven to have me again

Find me here at Your feet again
Everything I am, reaching out, I surrender
Come sweep me up in Your love again
And my soul will dance
On the wings of forever

Hillsong United
written by Joel Houston, Dylan Thomas, Michael Guy Chislett

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In life there are lessons to numerous to count.  In our Christian walk, these lessons seem to multiply.  Sermons are preached, books are written, songs are created to help us discover and learn and re-learn these lessons.  One of these lessons that is so prominent in my life is surrender.  Whether I have lost my car keys and I hear the soft whisper of surrender, ‘Stop looking’…at that moment I pray for God’s guidance to help find them.  Or whether I am dealing with a family crisis and God says ‘Surrender, give it to Me’.  Big or small, this message of surrender surrounds our lives.

Listening to the words of this song, the idea of surrender takes on new meaning.  It shows how, despite reaching certain heights in our life, we can feel so low.  And how at our lowest points—when we truly make the decision to surrender—we are higher than we will ever be.  “I touch the sky when my knees hit the ground”…

Surrender is not easy.  Relinquishing control is not easy.  But it is necessary.  We can live life and go through the motions, trying to manage every aspect of our lives.  But the truth is we are not designed to do that.  We are not designed to carry it all…all of the time.  We will not know or understand what true freedom is, or what truly living is, until we surrender to God.

Surrendering all of ourselves—our hearts, our minds, our families, our entire lives.  We will find our lives when we lay them down.

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Dear Lord, let our knees hit the ground.  Help us to lay our lives at Your feet.  Surrender is a struggle for some…for most.  But there is true beauty in surrender, in allowing You to be the center of us and giving You total control.  In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

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Cielo

June 4, 2015 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

I’m walking through the bright white gates
Breathing in and out Your grace
All around me melodies rise
That echo with a joy inside
So I start to sing

But I can’t sing loud enough
I can’t sing loud enough
When I’m singing for You, My God

With a thunder roll and a brilliant light
Your glory bursts and the heavens shine
Saints and angels stand in awe
Captured by the beauty of it all
So I fall to my knees

But I can’t bow low enough
I can’t bow low enough
At the vision of You, my God

I can’t hold it all inside
I’m reaching for the One
Who brought me out of death and into life

Now I can’t lift my hands high enough
Lift my hands high enough
When I’m reaching for You, my God

Singer/Songwriter: Phil Wickham

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The very first time I heard this song, I can truly say that my heart was overwhelmed by this song!  It literally brought me to my knees…both physically and in my heart.

This beautiful, captivating song is written to paint the picture of being in God’s Throne Room.  Phil Wickham shares his heart about this song in the very beginning of this video clip.  Here is what he said: “The song is kind of a story about a man, kind of waking up…his first kind of entrance to the heaven and seeing God and being overwhelmed, in the light, in the love, in the mystery and beauty of the whole place, so I wrote the verses as a story and the chorus is kind of a sing-a-long response.”  {wow!}

And each verse DOES depict such a vivid mind-picture, don’t you think? “Thunder rolling, brilliant glory bursting, walking through bright white gates, breathing God’s grace, hearing joyous melodies rising about…” But what caught me and drew me in was the idea of it not being possible to sing loud enough…or bow low enough…or lift my hands high enough in worshipful response to the absolute Presence of my God!

It reminded me of this passage in the very beginning of the Book of Revelations:

Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me.
And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands;
and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man,
clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash.
His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow;
and His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace,
and His voice was like the sound of many waters.
In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword;
and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man.
And He placed His right hand on me, saying,
“Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One;
and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore….

Revelations 1:12-18

The apostle John was given incredible and amazing and awesome and hard-to-fathom revelations. He was shown the most magnificent and truly breathtaking things in the Kingdom of Heaven.  Perhaps, do you think that, had he known this song, he might have been singing, “I can’t bow low enough, I can’t bow low enough at the vision of You, my God!”

Listening to this song, I desire to be real before my God acknowledging my desperate need for Him.  I would love to plead with you, friends, to take your music-listening device and go in your ‘closet.’  Play it as loud as you are comfortable with…and worship Your God!  I pray that you won’t be able to sing loud enough or bow low enough or lift your hands high enough!   But DO sing and bow and lift your hands because God is as close as your breath…and He SO desires to receive your worship and praise!

Filed Under: Psalms Hymns and Spiritual Songs Tagged With: , , , , , ,

All Things

June 3, 2015 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjvI met a woman down the street at the park where my kids play
She was living underneath the trees because it’s pretty hard to find a job these days
We talked about the ups and downs of her life
As the tears filled her eyes she smiled and said something I will never forget

That in all things, all things
Give thanks to the One
Who meets our need before we know we even need it
Because all things are all the things I just can’t handle
So I hand it to the One who takes care of all things

Tweet tweet tweet way up high in the sky fly the little birds
(Without a care in the world)
And how much more does our Father provide for the ones He loves
And I’m ashamed how I complain everyday about things that don’t matter anyway
And it makes me think of the woman down the street who said

In all things, all things
Give thanks to the One
Who meets our need before we know we even need it
Because all things are all the things I just can’t handle
So I hand it to the One who takes care of all things

To the scared soldier there on the front lines
To the cancer patient running out of time
To the father afraid he’s gonna lose it all
To the single mom who doesn’t even know where to start
To the ones who think they’re all out of hope
To the ones who know the sting of death and feel all alone
Cast your cares for He cares for us
And there’s nothing in this life that’s bigger
Bigger than His love

I have a reason to, in all things, all things
Give thanks to the One
Who meets our need before we know we even need it
Because all things are all the things I just can’t handle
So I hand it to the One who takes care of all things

All things, all things
I know You’re taking care of all things, all things
I’m gonna trust You

 Citizen Way
Written by Ben Calhoun

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

And we know that in all things
God works for the good of those who love Him,
who have been called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28

What a great promise from God!  Paul is writing to the believers in the Roman church, teaching them, counseling them, growing them in God’s wonderful ways.  We need to be reminded how much God gave for us.  How much He sacrificed for us to be grafted into His family, to serve Him in His command to share the good news of His great love.

Then in 2 Corinthians 9:8 we read this:

And God is able to bless you abundantly,
so that in all things at all times,
having all that you need,
you will abound in every good work.

How cool is that?  “All that you need“, God will bless us with it as long as we strive to do good work for the Kingdom of God.  We had some folks over to the house this past weekend.  One of the people was our youth pastor.  As my husband was introducing the various people, the pastor began to ask about a friend’s salvation status. (Do they believe, do they go to church, how have you done with sharing your beliefs….)  I think we passed with the ‘sharing’ part, but our friend has not chosen to return to church.  Sometimes all we are to do is plant the seed of Truth.  Hopefully someone else will come along and water the ‘seed’ and it will mature and become the follower God has created them to be.

Who of us has planted seeds, watered those seeds, and then helped it ripen?  Each one of us is given gifts to further the Kingdom.  Have you used yours lately?  If we do not exercise our gift, we will lose it.  God will continue to bless us with these gifts we exercise on a regular basis or He will take it and give to someone else.  I pray we will use our gifts and will ask for God to restore to us the ones we have not used in a long while.  How about you?

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Father, thank You for Your sacrifice You gave us many years ago through Your son, Jesus.  Help us to be brave and seek Your gifts and use the ones You have given us.  Give us the courage to seek Your will and not our own.  Help us to not seek approval of men, but Your approval.  Forgive us as we fail, give us the strength to succeed.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Filed Under: Psalms Hymns and Spiritual Songs Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Thrive

June 1, 2015 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

Here in this worn and weary land
Where many a dream has died
Like a tree planted by the water
We never will run dry

So living water flowing through
God, we thirst for more of You
Fill our hearts and flood our souls with one desire

Just to know You and to make You known
We lift Your name on high
Shine like the sun, make darkness run and hide
We know we were made for so much more than ordinary lives
Its time for us to more than just survive
We were made to thrive

Into Your word, we’re digging deep
To know our Father’s heart
Into the world, we’re reaching out
To show them who You are

Joy unspeakable, faith unsinkable
Love unstoppable, anything is possible

Casting Crowns
Mark Hall, Matthew West

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

How happy is the man who does not follow the advice of the wicked
or take the path of sinners or join a group of mockers!
Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction,
and he meditates on it day and night.
He is like a tree planted beside streams of water
that bears its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
Psalms 1:1-3 HCSB

With God all things are possible.
Matthew 19:26, Mark 10:27 NKJ

This sounds funny but, a lot of times, God speaks to me in sound bites (think Bumblebee from Transformers).  There is some uncertainty in my life right now and “we were made to thrive” (not just the words but the actual lyric) has been popping into my mind repeatedly.  I started to wonder what it really means to thrive.

Often, ‘to thrive‘ is associated with prospering, or to prosper.  If you took a poll, most people would probably say that to ‘thrive‘ or to ‘prosper‘ means having all you need and more…being able to live comfortably and have all the extras too…blessed beyond measure.  As I read this commentary by David Guzik, I thought “what if ‘to thrive‘ isn’t just about material things but is also about digging in and maturing spiritually?”

“It isn’t that the righteous man has a “Midas Touch,” and everything he does makes him rich and comfortable. But in the life of the righteous man, God brings forth something good and wonderful out of everything. Even tough circumstances bring forth something that shall prosper.”

Mark Hall says this song  “…is an effort to draw a picture of what a believer, a follower of Jesus, would look like if they dug into their roots and understood God and themselves more.”  As I looked for Scriptures about thriving, I found most of the Old Testament Scriptures use ‘thrive‘ in the context of plants:

  • the smell of water makes it thrive and produce twigs like a sapling.
    Job 14:9 HCSB
  • …may the people thrive like grass in a field.
    Psalm 72:16 NLT
  • The righteous thrive like a palm tree and grow like a cedar tree
    Psalm 92:12 HCSB
  • Planted in the house of the Lord, they thrive…
    Psalm 92:13 HCSB
  • They will thrive like watered grass, like willows on a riverbank.
    Isaiah 44:4 NLT
  • I made you thrive like a plant in the field; and you grew, matured and became very beautiful.
    Ezekiel 16:7 NKJ

In these verses, ‘thrive’ seems to be related to growth.  They speak to me of being firmly planted and deeply rooted, growing even in the hardest of times.  Enduring and beautiful.  Could it be that ‘thrive’ means to grow spiritually?  In his commentary on Psalm 1, Matthew Henry calls it “soul-prosperity.”

Is it possible that the rewards—the benefits—of thriving is “joy unspeakable, faith unsinkable, love unstoppable…?” Anything is possible.

Filed Under: Psalms Hymns and Spiritual Songs Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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