March 19, 2024

10,000 Reasons

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before, O my soul
I worship Your holy name

The sun comes up; it’s a new day dawning
It’s time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes

You’re rich in love and You’re slow to anger
Your name is great and Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness, I will keep on singing
10,000 reasons for my heart to find

And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending
10,000 years and then forever more

Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before, O my soul
I worship Your holy name
Jesus, I worship Your holy name
I worship Your holy name
Sing like never before, O my soul
I worship Your holy name
I worship Your holy name
I worship Your holy name

Matt Redman
written with Jonas Myrin

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Bless and affectionately praise the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is [deep] within me, bless His holy name.
Bless and affectionately praise the Lord, O my soul,
Psalms 103:1-2a AMP

Recently I have seen several FaceBook posts about blessing the Lord.  This song immediately came to mind.  And, as I thought about blessing the Lord, two questions were at the forefront:

1) Why are we to bless the Lord?    2) How do we bless the Lord?

First, WHY  are we to bless the Lord?  The song title says there are 10,000 reasons to bless the Lord.  And in the second verse, it gives us several specific reasons taken from Scripture:

  • The Lord is rich in love

But God, being [so very] rich in mercy,
because of His great and wonderful love with which He loved us…
Ephesians 2:4 AMP

Yahweh—Yahweh is a compassionate and gracious God,
…rich in faithful love and truth,
Exodus 34:6 HCSB

  • The Lord is slow to anger

Return to the Lord your God,
For He is gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger,
Joel 2:13 NKJV

The Lord is slow to anger…forgiving wrongdoing and rebellion
Numbers 14:18 HCSB

  • His name is great

Inasmuch as there is none like You, O Lord
You are great, and Your name is great in might
Jeremiah 10:6 NKJV

I will vindicate the holiness of My great name
which has been profaned among the nations
Ezekiel 36:23 NASB

  • His heart is kind

For His merciful kindness is great toward us
Psalm 117:2 NKJV

“But with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,”
says the Lord your Redeemer.
Isaiah 54:8 AMP

The Lord is righteous in all His ways
And kind in all His deeds
Psalm 145:17 NASB

But, the best reason is because He loves us.  John 3:16 tells us He loved us so much that He sent His only Son to die in our place, so that we could have everlasting life.

Augustine explained it like this
“God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.”

His plan would have been put into effect even if you or I were the only person on earth. This leaves me speechless!

And, second, HOW  do we bless the Lord?  What could I possibly do that would bless Him?  Thankfully, in the words of David, we have the answer:

I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;
The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together.
Psalm 34:1-3NKJV

We are to praise the Lord continually—boast about Him, magnify Him, and exalt His Holy name.  That’s how we bless the Lord.  (That’s not asking too much, is it?)

10,000 Reasons

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv
Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul
Worship His Holy name
Sing like never before, O my soul
I’ll worship Your Holy name
 
The sun comes up
It’s a new day dawning
It’s time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes
 
Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul
Worship His Holy name
Sing like never before, o my soul
I’ll worship Your Holy name
 
You’re rich in love and You’re slow to anger
Your name is great and Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing
10,000 reasons for my heart to find
 
And on that day
When my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending
10,000 years and then forevermore, forevermore
 
Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul
Worship His Holy name
Sing like never before, O my soul
I’ll worship Your Holy name

Singer/ Songwriter: Matt Redman

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   * 

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and all that is within me,
    bless His Holy Name!
Psalm 103:1

This song makes me forget all my troubles and focus on what is most important—worshipping our Lord God with every fiber of my being.  And lifting Him up in every area of my life.

As you begin your day and as you go through your day, stop and worship God. Praise Him for whatever you are going through. Have the confidence for Him to show up and show off. I have done this recently. I was doubting myself and doubting God. But I decided to praise God and tell Him whatever happened, I would trust it to turn out for my best. God is so awesome. He shows us who He is. All we have to do is trust Him… He will love us no matter what we have done.

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   * 

Father, thank You for caring enough to be there for us when we do not deserve it.  Thank You for second, third, even 100 chances.  Thank You for Your grace and for sending the Helper to be our conscience.   Help us to always heed the prompting of our Friend.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

Bless The Lord (10,000 Reasons)

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning
It’s time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes

Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before, O my soul
I’ll worship Your holy name

You’re rich in love, and You’re slow to anger
Your name is great, and Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find

And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending
Ten thousand years and then forevermore

God, I’ll worship Your holy name
I’ll worship Your holy name

 Written by Matt Redman and Jonas Myrin ~ Performed by Yancy

  *   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~   ♥   ~   *

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.
Psalms 103:1 and 2

Now that is what I want to do!  How about you?  Of course…it comes so easily to the heart of one of God’s children! Oh…how we love to praise and declare His goodness!

I will [earnestly] recall the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will [earnestly] remember the wonders of old.
I will meditate also upon all Your works and consider all Your [mighty] deeds.
Psalms 77:11 and 12

Haven’t we all had times when you have palpably experienced the goodness and faithfulness of God so intensely that you wanted to leap in the air and shout and say, “How could I ever doubt You, my God, after this?  How could I ever again despair of Your help?”  And we go along remembering His goodness and blessing Him.   …And then…some short time later…we falter.  We find ourselves doing just that—being discouraged, and doubting, forgetting our confidence in the goodness and greatness of God.  Why does this happen?  Perhaps because we so easily forget the evidences of God’s goodness which we ourselves have experienced; not to mention the vast number of records in Scriptures which tell us of God’s faithfulness and His goodness.

What are some of His ‘mighty deeds’…the ‘wonders of old’ spoken of in Psalm 77? Think about it; I am sure you won’t need to think but a moment to recall God’s awesome works!  Now, these are not quite 10,000 reasons…but here are a few that immediately came to mind—and these are all from the very first book in the Bible:

  • God spoke into existence His Creation (chapter 1:3-31)
  • God gave Noah His plan for saving a remnant of mankind, the animals and birds (chapters 13-21)
  • God protected mankind from making too much of themselves (chapter 11:3-9)
  • God promised (chapter 18:10-15) AND then made a way for a 100 year old man and a 90 year old woman to conceive a child (chapter 21:1-7)
  • God provided in an incredible way as Abraham obeyed to the uttermost (chapter 22:1-14)

That God is GREAT <in every way that greatness could possibly be!> should be obvious to everyone.  Paul reminds us,

Ever since the creation of the world, His invisible nature, namely,
His eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made.
So men are without excuse for, although they knew God,
they did not glorify Him as God or give Him thanks.
Romans 1:20 and 21

We ARE without excuse…if we are not continually voicing our gratitude and our thanks!  Our great God, the Great I AM, has done many and mighty works throughout time!  And His lovingkindness and goodness continue…His faithfulness to each of us is incredible!  We each have numerous stories to share praising God for His incredible blessings in our lives.  Every day in a variety of ways we should be expressing our thanks.

I will praise the name of God with a song.  I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
Psalm 69:30

Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God,
that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.
Hebrews 13:15

Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving and pay your vows to the Most High;
Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.
He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me;
And to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God.
Psalms 50:14 and 15, 23

  *   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~   ♥   ~   *

This is my prayer…for you and me.  Let us bless the Lord with all that is within us!

O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.
My soul will make its boast in the Lord; the humble will hear it and rejoice.
O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.
Psalms 34:1-3

10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)

SeekingHimLogo

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;
Who pardons all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases;
Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
Who satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.
Psalms 103:1-5

The sun comes up; it’s a new day dawning
It’s time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes

Bless the Lord, oh my soul, oh my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before, Oh my soul
I’ll worship Your holy name

You’re rich in love and You’re slow to anger
Your name is great and Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing
10,000 reasons for my heart to find
Bless the Lord, oh my soul

And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending
10,000 years and then forever more
Bless the Lord

Songwriters: Matt Redman, Jonas Myrin / Performed by The Rend Collective

10,000 Reasons

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before, O my soul
I’ll worship Your holy name

The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning
It’s time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes

You’re rich in love, and You’re slow to anger
Your name is great, and Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find

And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending
Ten thousand years and then forevermore

Jesus, I’ll worship Your holy name
Lord, I’ll worship Your holy name

 Singer/Songwriter Matt Redman with Jonas Myrin

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear this song?  For me, it’s all the things God has redeemed me from….  God has been so good to me!

Here is what God wants from us in return:

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
Do all things without murmurings and disputings….
Philippians 2:13-14 (KJV)

We are to do ALL things without murmurings and disputings (or complaining).  I heard Joyce Meyer once say, “Complain and Remain, or Praise and Be Raised.” This reminds me of the Israelites who complained on the 40 year journey that should have only taken them 11 days.

Does this mean that we have to like our current circumstances?  NO!!  In fact I haven’t liked most of my circumstances.  But it does mean that we trust God’s faithfulness so much.  And that we hold onto the joy that is only found in Him. And we choose to remember and be thankful for what He has done for us and then be obedient to what He calls us to do.  Obedience is at the core of receiving this new life of blessings.

He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
Luke 11:28 NIV

No matter what we are currently walking through…God is worthy to be praised!

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Heavenly Father, I bless Your Holy name and thank You that whatever may pass or whatever lies before me…I will be singing before the evening comes.  Bless the Lord, O my soul!  Lord, I’ll worship Your Holy Name. Amen.

Bless the Lord, o my Soul

thanksgivweekblogpic

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.
Psalms 103:1 and 2

Now that is what I want to do! How about you? Of course…it comes so easily to the heart of one of God’s children! Oh, how we love to praise and declare His goodness!

I will [earnestly] recall the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will [earnestly] remember the wonders of old.
I will meditate also upon all Your works and consider all Your [mighty] deeds.
Psalms 77:11 and 12

Haven’t we all had times when you have so palpably experienced the goodness and faithfulness of God so intensely that you want to leap in the air and shout and say, “How could I ever doubt You, my God, after this? How could I ever again despair of your help?” And we go along remembering His goodness and blessing…and then…some short time later…we falter. We find ourselves doing just that—being discouraged, and doubting, forgetting our confidence in the goodness and greatness of God. Why does this happen? Perhaps because we so easily forget the evidences of God’s goodness which we ourselves have experienced; not to mention the vast number of records in Scriptures which tell us of God’s faithfulness and His goodness.

What are some of His ‘mighty deeds’…the ‘wonders of old’ spoken of in Psalm 77? Think about it; I am sure you won’t need to think but a moment to recall God’s awesome works! Here’s a few that immediately came to mind—and these are all from the very first book in the Bible:

  • God spoke into existence His Creation (Genesis 1:3-31)
  • God gave Noah His plan for saving a remnant of mankind, along with the animals and the birds (Genesis 6:13-21)
  • God protected mankind from making too much of themselves (Genesis 11:3-9)
  • God promised (Genesis 18:10-15) AND then made a way for a 100 year old man and a 90 year old woman to conceive a child (Genesis 21:1-7)
  • God provided in an incredible way as Abraham intended to sacrifice to God his precious boy…obeying to the uttermost (Genesis 22:1-14)

That God is GREAT in every imaginable way that greatness could possibly be described should be obvious to everyone. Paul reminds us,

Ever since the creation of the world, His invisible nature, namely, His eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So men are without excuse for, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or give him thanks.
Romans 1:20 and 21

We ARE without excuse if we are not continually voicing our gratitude and our thanks! Our great God, the Great I AM, has done many and mighty works throughout time! And His lovingkindness and goodness continue…His faithfulness to each of us is incredible! We each have numerous stories to share praising God for His incredible blessings in our lives. Every day in a variety of ways we should be expressing our thanks.

I will praise the name of God with a song. I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
Psalm 69:30

Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God,
that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.
Hebrews 13:15

Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving and pay your vows to the Most High;
Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.
He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me;
And to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God.
Psalms 50:14 and 15, 23

* * * * * * *

My prayer…for you and me; let us bless the Lord with all that is within us:
O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.
My soul will make its boast in the Lord; the humble will hear it and rejoice.
O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.
Psalms 34:1-3

GCH:decaf — Meet Robin!

Hello Decaf!!!

I am so LOVING getting to know all of you! Amazing…this week, we have had the opportunity to meet Amber and Diamond, Michaela, so far, and now I have the privilege and honor of introducing to you all a very awesome young lady ; ) My kiddos and I enjoyed meeting and having lunch with her last month. She was with her mom and dad, and the young ladies (their parents) that she enjoys playing soccer with, in the tournaments that she competes in all over the U.S.! Is that amazing or what?!!! I think she has the coolest Mom ever 😉 She is pretty cool herself!! Have you guessed who my person is yet????

The young lady that I have the honor of introducing to you is none other than….Robin Bolme!

Robin is 17 years old and she lives in Smyrna, Tennessee…I’m going to get to visit there one day really soon.  😉

Robin in the sun

Robin’s favorite musician is Matt Redman and 10,000 Reasons is her favorite song. I am going to have to check him out for myself! Courageous is her favorite movie of all time! Castle is her favorite TV show and ANY sport on ESPN is what she loves to watch. On Saturday mornings, she also loves playing soccer, soccer, soccer…did I say soccer?!!! My kids and I tried to catch her in action at one of her tournaments, here in Memphis, but it was raining so hard on that day, that we decided to wait until the next time to go see her!

Robin’s favorite style to wear is Jeans, T-shirts, and flip flops (Toms occasionally). She likes to EAT and be active! The eating part reminds me of her visit here to Memphis! We met her parents, her and her teammates and their families at Hueys restaurant! We had never been there before, but I will tell you that everyone had a GREAT time!!! Adults and all!! When you are finished eating, you can take your toothpicks that they place in your sandwiches and you can place the toothpick in your straw and you can blow them up out of the straw at the ceiling. The ceiling is made of this special material that will hold the toothpicks, and I was told by Mama T that at the end of the year, they have a contest to see who can guess how many toothpicks are there and whoever guesses the closest, wins; and the money raised is then given to the charity that was chosen earlier that year. How amazing is that?!! Can I say that Robin was the Queen for that day!!! My Justin tried to keep up, but he was no competition for Robin…he came close….NOT!!! LOL!! Just by spending that time with her, I could tell that she LOVES a good competition  : )

Sole Mio, an Authentic Italian restaurant, is her favorite place to eat. I will have to say that I will have to find that restaurant as well, and check it out. We definitely have that in common…just love me some Italian food!!!! Yum, Yum, Yum!!!

Robin stated that the one thing that changed her life was “God blessing her with the ability to play soccer well. (I have to agree) She said that it has shaped what her life looks like and who she is.”

I have to share something with you girls about Robin that I found out through the grapevine ; ) Robin has the wonderful opportunity to play soccer on a US National team in Austria this summer!! How AWESOME is that!! This kid Rocks!!! A small select number of students are chosen each year to play, and Robin was chosen to be the Goalie!!!! She loves to travel, but she is a little nervous about traveling abroad, and not knowing anyone. I could understand that. Let’s send up prayers for Robin, that she goes and meets lots and lots of new friends!!! What an AWESOME opportunity that God has Blessed her with!!!

Congrats Robin from ALL of us here at GCH: Decaf!!! May God continue to take you higher and higher, in the name of Jesus!

 

Tonya



If you are interested in joining us in our GCH:decaf Teen Girls Ministry, please email GCH_Decaf@girlfriendscoffeehour.com for more information.

We’ll be starting our next online Bible study soon! So be sure to keep checking back for sign-up details to be posted soon!

If you are interested in sending Tonya a private message in regards to this blog, please email her at: TonyaElliott@girlfriendscoffeehour.com.