December 23, 2024

Shout To The Lord

August 30, 2014 by

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Sing for joy to God our strength;
Shout joyfully to the God of Jacob.

Psalm 81:1

My Jesus, my Savior
Lord, there is none like You
All of my days I want to praise
the wonders of your mighty love 

My comfort, my shelter
Tower of refuge and strength
Let every breath…all that I am
Never cease to worship You

Shout to the Lord
All the earth, let us sing
Power and majesty praise to the King
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar
At the sound of Your name

I sing for joy at the work of Your hand
Forever I’ll love you, forever I’ll stand
Nothing compares to the promise I have in you….

Songwriter: Darlene Zschech/ Performed by American Idol Top 8, Season 7
 

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Singing to Infinity

August 29, 2014 by

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Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
Psalm 81:1

Disney’s Frozen is one of those hits that just don’t leave your mind a few days after watching it. For kids and toddlers, mainly girls, it has been a huge hit. Try finding an Elsa costume in a Disney store. It’s not happening most days. The music itself is not going away either. This music has stuck around longer than most one-hit wonders. It’s amazing. My daughter is three, and all she has to do is hear the first strains of Let It Go, and she breaks into song. She almost knows the entire song word for word. My parents were amazed at how much she knew.

However, worldly songs and things are only finite.  Our love of them should not interfere with our love and wanting of God.  When things begin to interfere with our relationship with God, they become idols.  Worldly things can grab such a strong hold over people that they lose sight of what is really true in this world—God’s love and a relationship with Him.

Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
Acts 3:19

But yet we can have an infinite love and life.  We cannot let the worldly things get in our way.  If we repent and accept a relationship with God, our sins will be blotted out.  Our lives will be refreshed by the Spirit and love of God.  We shall always be in His Presence.  We are able to rely on the strength of God when we are down, sick, or in need.  He is our Rock and Shield.  All we have to do is have faith.

When our relationship with God is strong and unbroken, we are so much more than we could be without Him—which is weak.  We can sing to the moon and back about His love and saving grace.  We can shout to the Lord about His wonderful and fulfilling love.  With God as our strength, we can fight any fight that we are thrown into.  We can help those who need it, and we can share the joy of loving God.

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your love.  Thank You for Your grace.  Without You, we would be weak.  You give us strength to get through these troubling days.  You love us like no one else.  You are our Rock and Strength.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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God Our Strength

August 28, 2014 by

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Sing for joy to God our strength, shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
Psalm 81:1

Jacob is an excellent example of a man who knew God gave him strength.  In times of trouble he called on God who helped him overcome the challenges.  He had run away from Esau and met Laban (his uncle who also became his father-in-law.)  He worked for 14 years to get his best wife.  In all those years Jacob endured painful circumstances through his God who gave him strength.
We can also do the same through Christ who strengthens us. We can trust God for His strength.

Blessed are those whose strength is in You, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
Psalm 84:5

In Psalm 89:21, God is saying, “My hand will sustain him, surely My arm will strengthen him.” This promise is for you and me. God’s promises are Yes! and Amen!  Let us embrace this truth that His arm will strengthen us.

It is about 2-3 weeks now I have been down with pain inside me due to feeling not favored, and not loved, etc., due to failing in my exams many times in the same subjects.  I could not even stand in prayer because of the pain and disappointment.  But I am here to tell you that I had an encounter with God, Christ Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in their Trinity—Who confirmed to me that this is not the end of the world…and I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And that God REMAINS God…He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

At first it wasn’t making sense, but later I came to realize that “NOTHING can separate me from the love of God” and so, with that feeling, I am up again. I may have been dropped down but not knocked out!!

I beseech you, my dear friends, we need to give it all to God in prayer and in Jesus’ name. And He WILL answer us. And give us His strength when we are weary. He gives strength to our weak souls.

  *   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Father, I thank You for Who You were, Who You are, and Who You will be forevermore. You are such an awesome God, the Creator of the universe. The heavens and the earth are full of Your glory. Holy are You, Lord! We glorify Your Holy name. May we always find strength in Christ Jesus Your son. May He give us the strength we need to carry on! We need You more than ever before. Dwell in us always because on our own…we cannot make it. Let Your joy be our strength. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen!!!

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He Is Our Strength

August 26, 2014 by

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Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
Psalm 81:1

It is the simplicity of this sentence that grabs my attention—a simple act that makes such a difference.  In life there have been countless times when God has proven His love for me, countless times when the only way I made it through a situation was by relying on God for my strength.

I look at what God for Jacob and for Israel.  I look at the battles won, the victories celebrated, and I know that the glory for those victories belongs to God.  He gives strength in the tough situations, He gives strength in day-to-day life…and everything in between.

Shouting for joy is a simple request compared to what He has accomplished in my life.  I’ll sing His praises to my kids, to my husband, to my friends and family.  I’ll thank and praise Him in my quiet time, when I’m driving, during soccer practice, while working, and whenever I can because it is in these times when His strength sustains me.  It’s in the everyday when His strength surpasses the weakness of my flesh.

 *   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Let’s Pray:  Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, teach us how to sing Your praises! Thank You for accepting our songs and shouts, for reminding us that what we have to offer in thanks is good enough.  Thank You for the victories in the everyday and in the tough spots.  Your love gets us through it all.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

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My Strength for the “Impossible”

August 25, 2014 by

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Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob.
Psalm 81:1

How?  That’s a question I ask myself often when reading the Word of God.  I want to know exactly how things are going to work…down to the tiniest detail…and then, if it makes sense to me, then I’ll trust.  However, God is Almighty and Sovereign, therefore He make promises that seem impossible to the natural part of us.  And I don’t always have the luxury of knowing every detail.  I simply have to trust God’s Word, regardless of how things seem in the natural.

How am I supposed to trust in something that makes no sense to me?  How do I keep up the momentum to do something that defies what I know to be possible? How did Peter walk on the water? How did Jesus face the cross?

Let’s take a look at Peter,

“But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
“Lord, if it’s You,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to You on the water.” “Come,” He said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.
“You of little faith,” He said, “why did you doubt?”
Matthew 14:27-31

Peter was able to walk on water because of his focus and trust in Jesus.  God is our strength; nothing else can sustain us like the Father.  God is the spiritual version of caffeine—except there’s no type of crash afterwards and you can’t build up a tolerance for Him.

Jesus relied on the Father to strengthen Him during, what I feel, is the most challenging and seemingly impossible thing God could ask a person to do. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful that Jesus died for me, but one man to die for ALL mankind…that doesn’t make sense.

“Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”
An angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him.
Luke 22:42-43

If Jesus saw it fitting to lean on God as His strength, then we should, too!  If God would strengthen Jesus, then He will do it for us, too.

 *   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Lord, thank You so much for being my strength in good times and bad. Amen.

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Sanctified

August 24, 2014 by

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Sing for joy to God our strength; shout in triumph to the God of Jacob.
Psalm 81:1

This summer I am working through a Beth Moore study called “Believing God”. The current chapter is entitled “Believing God Can Sanctify Your Mouth.”  Say WHAT?!?  Psalm 81:1 shows us what our mouths should be doing—“sing(ing) for joy to God our strength; shout(ing) in triumph to the God of Jacob.”

Each one of us is called to glorify His name.  But…Psalm 10:7 (NLT) also tells us: “Their mouths are full of cursing, lies, and threats.   Trouble and evil are on the tips of their tongues.”  God and satan both desire to have authority over our mouths.

Beth Moore puts it this way:

“A wayward tongue signals a wayward heart.  A clean mouth unplugs a primary pipe of divine power.”

Now take a look at this familiar passage:

Even so the tongue is a little member, and it can boast of great things.
See how much wood or how great a forest a tiny spark can set ablaze!
And the tongue is a fire. [The tongue is a] world of wickedness set among our members,
contaminating and depraving the whole body
and setting on fire the wheel of birth (the cycle of man’s nature), being itself ignited by hell (Gehenna).
For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea animal can be tamed
and has been tamed by human genius (nature).
But the human tongue can be tamed by no man.
It is a restless (undisciplined, irreconcilable) evil, full of deadly poison.
James 3:5-8(AMP)

So, according to this Scripture, we cannot tame our tongues. So, is it even possible to sanctify our mouths?   Are we ever going to be able to “…guard my ways that I may not sin with my tongue; <and> will guard my mouth as with a muzzle while the wicked are in my presence” (as David says in Psalm 39:1 NASB).

As Psalm 81:1 reminds us, God is our strength. It is only by daily dependency on Him that we can control that unruly muscle in our mouths. When we develop that intimacy with Him, His Word becomes ingrained in us. Then, “We too believe, and therefore we speak,” (2 Corinthians 4:13b AMP).  As Luke 6:45b (AMP) points out: “…for out of the abundance (overflow) of the heart his mouth speaks….”

Inconsistency in our talk may be common but it is very costly. It deprives us of God’s divine power flowing through us. That is not a price I am willing to pay. (Are you?!)  If not, then let us boldly approach the throne of grace and seek Christ’s assistance in consecrating our hearts and sanctifying our mouths.

All we need to do is lift our faces to Him and ask.

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Father God, we come before You today very much aware of our unclean lips. Forgive us for our wayward hearts and inconsistent speech.  We ask that You set our tongues ablaze with Your Holy fire so that we continually glorify Your name. We ask this in the precious name of Jesus.  Amen – it is so!

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