What a Friend We Have In Jesus..

“Speak out to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, offering praise with voices [and instruments] and making melody with all your heart to the Lord, At all times and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.” Ephesians 5:19-20AMP

Good morning, friends, beloved of God the Father and Lord Jesus Christ!

These two verses are instrumental in my life today. I have struggled to balance physically and as a result, a balance in my life has tipped. What I thought to be the most important, well, has been slowly stripped away as this disorder has overwhelmed me. This morning, early, early, my husband and I were awake and turned on Moody Radio‘s Music Through the Night, every song was exactly what we needed to hear, every testimony Mike Kellogg included spoke directly to our hearts and we joined in prayer. I have had great stress on caring for my children and caring for them well. God reminded me this morning of where my focus truly needed to be. I have been so panicked that they get their schoolwork done, checked off a list, kept a clean house, that I forgot the most meaningful call I have, which is to guide them to Jesus first. Keep their eyes focused on Him, all else will fall into place.

Elephants (Loxodonta africana) crossing the Luangwa River, South Luangwa National Park, Zambia. by Geoff Gallice

Well, friends, I’m here to tell you today, my greatest calling is to speak out these psalms to my family…

such as Psalm 1, Psalm 139 and Psalm 127:

¹ Except the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; except the Lord keeps the city, the watchman wakes but in vain.

² It is vain for you to rise up early, to take rest late, to eat the bread of [anxious] toil—for He gives [blessings] to His beloved in sleep.

³ Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.

⁴ As arrows are in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth.

⁵ Happy, blessed, and fortunate is the man whose quiver is filled with them! They will not be put to shame when they speak with their adversaries [in gatherings] at the [city’s] gate.

To play the music of the hymns (quietly), ahem…

such as...Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing, Tis So Sweet To Trust in Jesus

Whisper praise to God instead of continually pointing out where they are not working hard…

Making melodies in their hearts and mine…

I am always amazed when I start singing a song how all of a sudden I hear the kids singing while doing their little things…

Giving thanks in all things…teaching one another to give thanks…Ann Voskamp comes to mind..

There I found a free gift of a 100 days of thanksgiving chart..

I know not what the future holds, I know who holds my future.

God bless you today. Pray on, pray on.

 

 

 

Name of Jesus

Harvest in Provence. by Vincent Van Gogh

Dear beloved of God,

On this blog, I have shared my heart and my soul. It is always my hope that you would benefit from my ramblings and more than that, this would bring God glory. I haven’t been consistent this week to which I am sorry, yet, I receive notes saying people are blessed by this offering.  Ministering in the midst of pain, I believe, is a great gift we can give to our Most High God. Not pretending everything is “fine” and having a stiff upper lip, but as you serve, make your time an offering to Him. Beautiful. Yesterday as stress started to overwhelm me, I began saying aloud every verse I knew. Not only did the kids stop their verbal spat with one another to listen, they began speaking truth back in the form of peace in the household. (Had to do this many times..) Another way grace filled our house, music. I smile as I think of this, I let Luke and Ella wear their swimsuits in the bath last night so they could play in our huge tub. (Another grace..) I began to sing this song and they both in a minute or so began singing it too. So cute.

Every life has a choice
To rise up to fill the void
Every heart has a mission
And we are called to be humanWe gotta do better than this ’cause we only got
One chance to make a difference
We gotta do better than this ’cause we only got
One life that we’ve been given

A little love, a little kindness
A little light in this time of darkness
It’ll be what makes us different
It’ll be what makes us human
I’m human, you’re human, we are human

We are marked with His image
And we are scarred with indifference
Maybe now we should listen
Hear the cry of God’s children

We gotta do better than this ’cause we only got
One chance to make a difference
We gotta do better than this ’cause we only got
One life that we’ve been given

A little love, a little kindness
A little light in this time of darkness
It’ll be what makes the difference
It’ll be what makes us human

I’m human, you’re human, we are
We are human
I’m human, you’re human, we are
We are human

Gotta do better than this ’cause I only got
One chance to make a difference
Gotta do better than this ’cause I’m only
Just one

I’m human, you’re human, we are
We are human
I’m human, you’re human, we are
We are human

It’ll be what makes the difference
It’ll be what makes us human

We are marked by His image..oh friends, when God sees us, He sees Jesus. Jesus. My dear friend has struggled with fear. One thing the Lord impressed upon me to share with her was to say His name. Jesus. This morning I want to look at the power of His name. It will not be an exhaustive list but let’s look at what it means to just say the Name.

1 Corinthians 6: ¹¹ And such some of you were [once]. But you were washed clean (purified by a complete atonement for sin and made free from the guilt of sin), and you were consecrated (set apart, hallowed), and you were justified [pronounced righteous, by trusting] in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the [Holy] Spirit of our God.

We are purified. I think of towels we get at a hotel. They are so white. I love that. Of course, it’s the bleach..not great. When we travel to the Bruinius family, we stop at hotels and insist on baths or showers for our crew. Now after we use the towels, ahem…not so white and then we throw in the bathtub, um, after water’s been drained. Anyway, according to Paul guided by the Spirit of God, because of the work of Jesus, we are purified. We don’t walk in the ways of darkness, we can remember we are clean, made free from the guilt of sin. We are set apart. We are pronounced righteous. How? My friends, we trust in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Holy Spirit.

He doesn’t throw us away like a towel when we mess up. He continues to love faithfully. We confess our sins, remaining in communion with Him.

Ephesians 5:19-21 ¹⁹ Speak out to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, offering praise with voices [and instruments] and making melody with all your heart to the Lord,²⁰ At all times and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.²¹ Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

We are on this earth to be an encouragement to one another. You are worth more than gold. Sharing worship with one another.

I’ve sung up front in church. I love it. I’m not a great singer. Yet, they still want me. Joy. I love it. I watch my kids worship. I get a chance to share in the ministry of worshiping the High King of Heaven. And we give thanks. in whom? Our money? Our treasures on earth? No way…in the name of Jesus. Out of reverence for the Anointed One..be subject to one another.

Philippians 2: ⁹ Therefore [because He stooped so low] God has highly exalted Him and has freely bestowed on Him the name that is above every name,¹⁰ That in (at) the name of Jesus every knee should (must) bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,¹¹ And every tongue [frankly and openly] confess and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus, let’s face it, stooped low to come here as a baby. He gave up so much out of His deep, deep love for us. Think of all He endured for us, God knew and He has highly exalted Jesus. That name, my dear friends, is over and above every other name. No other name has the power. Jesus’ name brings every knee down to the ground. “Should” is the past tense of “shall,” implying authority or compulsion.

So, my friend, when you are in a train wreck, emotionally speaking, call upon His Name. Confess what you know of Him. I’m going to take this with me today. God bless you. Pray on, pray on.

Dying…

Papaver orientale by Kurt Stüber

Good morning, beloved of God,

How did you begin your morning? As I am sitting here, contemplating what the Lord has for me this morning, I am remembering the retreat in more detail..and more of what the Lord is teaching me. He keeps bringing me back to Luke 9.

²³ And He said to all, If any person wills to come after Me, let him deny himself [^[g]disown himself, ^[h]forget, lose sight of himself and his own interests, ^[i]refuse and give up himself] and take up his cross daily and follow Me [^[j]cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying also].

Michael Easley said every morning he prays Lord help me deny myself, my rights.  And that clicked for me. Of course, Lord, we’ve been working through this before..nice how I pick things up work on them for a while and then drop them. (I’m sure you never do that…then I remember that my God knows I am dust, it’s a good thing…)

Papaver rhoeas, (en) Corn Poppy by tanja niggendijker from apeldoorn, the netherlands

And being thankful…because…(join me?)

1 Corinthians 1

⁹ God is faithful (reliable, trustworthy, and therefore ever true to His promise, and He can be depended on); by Him you were called into companionship and participation with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Did you read that quick? Don’t rob yourself. Read it again. God is what?

• Faithful,
•  reliable,
• trustworthy,
•  true to every promise AND
• He can be depended on.

Dearly beloved, by Him you were called in companionship and participation with Jesus! Can’t you just see His beautiful hand beckoning you to come? Die to your rights, beloved, follow me. Surrender it all.

Papaver somniferum – with rain drops by Takkk

1 corinthians 1

¹⁰ But I urge and entreat you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in perfect harmony and full agreement in what you say, and that there be no dissensions or factions or divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in your common understanding and in your opinions and judgments.

I believe this has everything to do with dying to self. Cease striving with your own rights. Pick up your cross and follow Jesus. Follow His example.  Well, of course, by the name of our Lord Jesus..right?

Be in perfect harmony…listen to this harmony…

Now each voice can’t go off and do what it wants.  She can’t belt out the Battle Hymn of the Republic! She has to sing with the other voices. Her part of the song… It works beautifully. We would, as the church, do well to take note.

And good heavens, just look at what Christ endured before and during the Cross from His beloved disciples..if you want to see the antithesis of united. If any had reason to shun or walk away, it would have been Jesus. He did not. He brought them together to give them their mission.  Let Jesus always be our example of love and forgiveness. Always…

pink flower with deep purple cross through its centre by Angie from Sawara, Chiba-ken, Japan

Die to your rights, give thanks and as always…pray on, beloved. Pray on…