Category Archives: Jesus

Babies & Children, God, Heaven, Jesus, Relationships, Thanksgiving or Gratefulness, Wednesday Worship

Worship Wednesday – You’re Beautiful – with Phil Wickham

January 28, 2015 admindeb 1 Comment

The wonder of worship and the God we worship are difficult to describe and even harder to capture in a picture. Worship in a house church has some of the same elements of that in a larger congregational setting. When God draws near to us, we can experience Him in the love that wraps around a room, among His worshippers. In our house church, we usually project lyrics on a widescreen, but this time we had pages handed-out. As we started worshipping, I couldn’t stop watching the little ones…with their song sheets in hand…looking and smiling around the room as we were singing, “You’re Beautiful.”

I grabbed up my phone, wanting to get that image of these little buddies captivated – watching Nathan and Bryant leading us in worship, mouthing some of the words themselves, catching the looks of adults who love them around that circle. Adults who love them and love God. Little ones, who usually need to be corralled by their parents, were sitting quiet, together, enrapt in those few moments, taking in what was happening. With the sweetest smiles. I missed taking that picture, but the image of their little faces has stayed with me.

Baby worshippers. How lovely that is. We pray for these children of ours to know and love God from an early age. To see them with eyes wide, full of wonder…that’s exactly my experience of God, too…in worship. So beautiful – the Lord God, Creator of the universe and Lover of our souls.

Worship with me:

You’re Beautiful
I see Your face in every sunrise
The colors of the morning are inside Your eyes
The world awakens in the light of the day
I look up to the sky and say
You’re beautiful

I see Your power in the moonlit night
Where planets are in motion and galaxies are bright
We are amazed in the light of the stars
It’s all proclaiming who You are
You’re beautiful

I see You there hanging on a tree
You bled and then you died and then you rose again for me
Now You are sitting on Your heavenly throne
Soon we will be coming home
You’re beautiful

When we arrive at eternity’s shore
Where death is just a memory and tears are no more
We’ll enter in as the wedding bells ring
Your bride will come together and we’ll sing
You’re beautiful

I see Your face, I see Your face
I see Your face, You’re beautiful
You’re beautiful
You’re beautiful

YouTube Video – You’re Beautiful – Phil Wickham

YouTube Video – You’re Beautiful – with lyrics

YouTube Video – Live Performance – Phil Wickham’s You’re Beautiful (with lyrics)

Story Behind the Song – You’re Beautiful

Phil Wickham website

Raising Up Worshippers

You’re Beautiful at Reform Worship

Culture & Religion, Faithfulness, God, Gospel, Inspired, Jesus, Lives Full of God, Music, Wednesday Worship, Worship

Worship Wednesday – How Great Is Our God – Chris Tomlin & the World

January 21, 2015 admindeb Leave a comment

Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor and majesty…O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions…May the glory of the Lord endure forever; May the Lord rejoice in His works…I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. – Psalm 104:1, 24, 31, 33

Yesterday morning, in the pre-dawn quietness, I was struck by the thought of the world in worship. Here in this suburb of Richmond, Virginia, my Bible open, and my journal page full of how God had spoken to my heart. Then it came to me how this was happening in some form or other in other homes in Richmond…across the state of Virginia…and then across every time zone around the globe.

Friends came to mind who live and work and worship in Morocco, in in the United Kingdom, in Egypt…Jordan, Pakistan, India, China…and countries in between. All across the world, there are people who worship God moved by His Spirit and through the Truth of His Word.

The glorious thought then came to me of all those who have come to know Him, truly know Him, across history. These dear saints populating Heaven right now, where their faith has become sight. That took me to thinking about today again, as the Day of Salvation. God tells us in His Word to choose this day whom we will serve. “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15) I am enthralled at the wonder of people, all around the world, drawn by God Himself, coming into His Kingdom on this very day. Today.

Centuries ago, John the Baptist announced the arrival of the Messiah to those gathered that day, when he said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) As the morning sun brightened my window yesterday morning, I thought of all those in the generations ahead who will receive that same Messiah into their hearts. Glory!

Another John, one of Jesus’ apostles, recorded his vision of the end times and the Kingdom of Heaven. After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, ¹⁰and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” – (Revelation 7:9-10)

A multitude from every language, people, tribe and nation knowing and worshipping God, through the Lord Jesus Christ. How Great Is Our God.

Chris Tomlin performed the World Edition of this song in the 2012 Passion Conference. It was a glimpse of Heaven for me to see all those worshippers singing in their various heart languages. English, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish, Hindi, Afrikaans, Russian, Zulu, and Indonesian. Over the years, I have had the sweet opportunity of worshipping in other languages, alongside other Christ-followers (in Spanish, French, Arabic, and Swahili).

In Heaven…a multitude of peoples from all languages. Raising their worship to God, together. Such love…all of us for Him and for each other, because of God who loved us first and forever.

Worship with me:

The splendor of the King, clothed in majesty
Let all the earth rejoice
All the earth rejoice

He wraps himself in Light, and darkness tries to hide
And trembles at His voice
Trembles at His voice

How great is our God, sing with me
How great is our God, and all will see
How great, how great is our God

Age to age He stands
And time is in His hands
Beginning and the end
Beginning and the end

The Godhead Three in One
Father Spirit Son
The Lion and the Lamb
The Lion and the Lamb

Name above all names
Worthy of our praise
My heart will sing
How great is our God

How great is our God, sing with me
How great is our God, and all will see
How great, how great is our God

Writers: CHRIS TOMLIN, JESSE REEVES, ED CASH

YouTube Video of How Great is Our God [World Edition]

YouTube Lyric Video of How Great is Our God with multi-languages

Chris Tomlin Talks About “How Great Is Our God” [World Edition]

Songfacts – Story Behind How Great Is Our God

Lyrics in English – How Great Is Our God

How Great Thou Art – great old standard performed by Carrie Underwood & Vince Gill – standing ovation – for them and hopefully for Him

Chris Tomlin website

Photo Credit

Christmas, God, Inspired, Jesus, Walk with God, Word of God

Christmas in a Verse, a Prayer, & a Poem

December 24, 2014 admindeb 1 Comment

A Christmas Verse

For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. – Isaiah 9:6

[And One More]

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. – Matthew 1:23

A Christmas Prayer

O Lord, how hard it is to accept your way. You come to me as a small, powerless child born away from home. You live for me as a stranger in your own land. You die for me as a criminal outside the walls of the city, rejected by your own people, misunderstood by your friends, and feeling abandoned by your God.

As I prepare to celebrate your birth, I am trying to feel loved, accepted, and at home in this world, and I am trying to overcome the feelings of alienation and separation which continue to assail me. But I wonder now if my deep sense of homelessness does not bring me closer to you than my occasional feelings of belonging. Where do I truly celebrate your birth: in a cozy home or in an unfamiliar house, among welcoming friends or among unknown strangers, with feelings of well-being or with feelings of loneliness?

I do not have to run away from those experiences that are closest to yours. Just as you do not belong to this world, so I do not belong to this world. Every time I feel this way I have an occasion to be grateful and to embrace you better and taste more fully your joy and peace.

Come, Lord Jesus, and be with me where I feel poorest. I trust that this is the place where you will find your manger and bring your light. Come, Lord Jesus, come. Amen. (The Road to Daybreak by Henri J. M. Nouwen)

A Christmas Poem

Not Celebrate?

Your burden is too great to bear? Your loneliness is intensified during this Christmas season? Your tears have no end?

Not celebrate?

You should lead the celebration! You should run through the streets to ring the bells and sing the loudest! You should fling the tinsel on the tree, and open your house to your neighbors, and call them in to dance!

For it is you above all others who know the joy of Advent. It is unto you that a Savior is born this day, One who comes to lift your burden from your shoulders, One who comes to wipe the tears from your eyes. You are not alone, for He is born this day to you. – Ann Weems

A Verse – Isaiah 9:6 & Matthew 1:23

A Prayer

A Poem

All Good Gifts, Christmas, Holidays, Inspired, Jesus, Lessons Learned, Monday Morning Moment, Thanksgiving or Gratefulness

Christmas Countdown – Is It Enough? Is It Good Enough? Am I Good Enough?…No matter. Jesus is Good. Jesus is Enough.

December 23, 2014 admindeb 1 Comment

“Thanks be to God for His indescribable [unspeakable] gift!” – 2 Corinthians 9:15

The countdown to Christmas can be both exhilarating and exhausting. Last shopping trips. Last online ordering. Lists checked off. Presents wrapped or bagged.

Is it enough? Is it good enough? If there is any holiday that coaxes out our need to please people or to perform well, it’s Christmas. Our motives are well-intended. We love those whom we shop for…otherwise we wouldn’t spend all that time and money searching for that special something to put under the tree for them.

The dilemma comes when we look back over our lists and look under the tree and wonder, is it really enough? What would be enough anyway? There’s always one more thing that would just be the perfect gift…one more thing that would make you the best. mom. ever. Or not….

Thanks be to God for His unspeakable, indescribable gift in the Lord Jesus Himself! Brooding over whether I’ve sufficiently displayed my love for family and friends through these Christmas gifts adds nothing to what we’ve already been given.

What fun to see the joy a wisely-chosen treasure brings to someone I love on Christmas morning. Yet that is nothing, less than nothing, compared to the glorious gift of Jesus…His very nature God, His human birth, His perfect life of love, His sacrificial death for our sins, and His amazing resurrection. He is the Best. Gift. Ever.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. – John 3:16

God gave…God already gave. It is enough.

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! – Matthew 7:11

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. – James 1:17

What God gives is good, and what God gives is enough. Even Jesus bore witness to this, when He said, from the cross, “It is finished.”

It’s enough, Friend. Take a deep breath, and let Christmas wash over you with the peace of God. Jesus is good. Jesus is enough.

Image – Christmas card front – Anton Raphael Mengs’ Nativity Scene

YouTube Lyric Video of Indescribable written by Laura Story and performed by Chris Tomlin

What does “unspeakable” gift mean?

10 Reasons Jesus is Enough by Jarrid Wilson

God’s Unspeakable Gift – Sermon by Charles Spurgeon, January 8, 1893

YouTube Lyric Video Christ is Enough by Hillsong Live

Bookmarked Summer, Books, Christmas, God, Inspired, Jesus

Worship Wednesday – Jesus – Do You Know Him by Name?

December 18, 2014 admindeb Leave a comment

It has happened again. My desire this December has been not to lose Christmas to crazy. From the first of the month I was determined to spend a bit of every single day quiet…just quiet. There’s something to be said about the verse, “Be still, and know that I AM GOD.”

Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth! – Psalm 46:10

In that quiet, I wanted to reflect on Jesus…what He did for all the world…what He did for me…and who He is to us today, until forevermore. I have spent lovely days in wonder this month, and then in a week, life became a jumble…crammed full of happy “other” things and stretched with “must do’s” as the year draws to a close.

Still, God is faithful…and here’s this story: on Monday morning, I pulled out a tiny book which I’d never read. It was a Christmas gift years ago, and I unpack it each year meaning to read it, and don’t. On Monday, I read it, in front of the fireplace, coffee mug warm in my hand. Roy Lessin’s Jesus – Name Above All Names.

Jesus is known among many peoples in the world…but He is not known like He can be…His names in Scripture tell a fuller story of who He is than what we hear in public discourse today. He is sometimes treated so common, I feel the shame of it, though I don’t think Him common at all. He is all that is good, all that is God. His love is perfect, and He loves all of us who are far from perfect.

After reading that little book, I determined to write a Worship Wednesday piece this week on the names of Jesus…then it became Thursday. If you write you know the experience of sitting in front of a computer or typewriter, and the words don’t come. I wanted to do justice to Jesus this week…and yet the words failed me…not because of Him, but because of me.

Then…[here’s the sweet nature of God]…I discovered that Roy Lessin already did the writing. He wrote a Christmas series for this December on the names of Jesus at his website Meet Me in the Meadow.

Read the daily readings along with me, and worship with me…this Jesus…the God who came near to us to show Himself to us, where we wouldn’t miss Him.

My heart is full. Thankful to God for this discovery that brings me back to Him and out of the craziness of December. One week from Christmas, life is sure to get full again…but in this moment, I am rejoicing, like old Ebenezer Scrooge, when he discovered Christmas and could begin again…joyfully and generously.

Meet Me in the Meadow with Roy Lessin – Blog & Website

Christmas Series – Jesus – Name Above All Names – Roy Lessin

YouTube Video – That’s My King by Dr. S.M. Lockridge – [OFFICIAL]

The Wonder of His Name – 32 Life-Changing Names of Jesus by Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Lullabies Naming Jesus – Raising Up Worshippers

Photo Credit (2nd image) – Marina Bromley

All Good Gifts, Christmas, God, Inspired, Jesus, Music, Redeeming & Restoring

Worship Wednesday – Our God is With Us – Emmanuel

December 10, 2014 admindeb Leave a comment

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” – Matthew 1:18-23

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. – Isaiah 7:14

I worship in my car. You know when you are stopped at a traffic light, and your windows are buzzing with the sound of the bass in the car next to you? You look over and they’re rocking out to some cool song? Well, I sometimes do the same…on a quieter less rockin’ level…but there’s still a lot going on in my car, too. Just to an Audience of One.

When Steven Curtis Chapman’s song Our God Is With Us comes on my Christmas music radio, my thoughts rein in to this great truth. We are not alone. God is always present with us.

He brought that reality as near to us as possible in the birth of Jesus, the God-Son, born to the virgin, Mary, over 2000 years ago. God revealed Himself personally through Jesus. I am no theologian, but this is very clear to me – everything I have read in Scripture on the life of Jesus, and everything I have experienced of Him myself. My heart resonates with the words of this song. Jesus is the “Immanuel” – He came to be with us – to save, to heal, to restore us to Himself. Hallelujah!

Worship with me…

Our God Is With Us

One of us is cryin’ as our hopes and dreams are led away in chains And we’re left all alone. One of us is dyin’ as our love is slowly lowered in the grave, oh, and we’re left all alone.

But for all of us who journey through the dark abyss of loneliness There comes a great announcement, we are never alone. For the maker of each heart that breaks, the giver of each breath we take, Has come to earth and given hope its birth.

And our God is with us, Emmanuel He’s come to save us, Emmanuel and we will never face life alone. Now that God has made Himself known as Father and Friend, with us through the end, Emmanuel, oh.

He spoke with prophets’ voices and showed Himself in a cloud of fire But no one had seen His face. Until the One Most Holy revealed to us His perfect heart’s desire and left His rightful place.

And in one glorious moment, all eternity was shaken as God broke through the darkness that had kept us apart. And with love that conquers loneliness, hope that fills all emptiness, He came to earth to show our worth.

And our God is with us, Emmanuel He’s come to save us, Emmanuel and we will never face life alone. Now that God has made Himself known As Father and Friend, with us through the end, Emmanuel, oh So rejoice, oh rejoice, Emmanuel has come.

And our God is with us, Emmanuel He’s come to save us, Emmanuel and we will never face life alone. Now that God has made Himself known as Father and Friend, with us through the end, Emmanuel.

Our God is with us, Emmanuel Our God is with us, oh Emmanuel Our God is with us.*

Steven Curtis Chapman & Michael W. Smith

*Lyrics to Our God Is With Us

YouTube video of Our God Is With Us – Full song – 6:43 minutes

YouTube video of Our God is With Us – shortened audio, with lyrics

Website for Steven Curtis Chapman [Our God Is With Us was a title on his first Christmas album, 1995, The Music of Christmas]

The Title Emmanuel and the Name Jesus

God Is One – the Wonder of Trinity [Tri-Unity] – God the Father, God, the Son, God the Holy Spirit – a simple lesson on an amazing reality

“Best of all, God is with us.” – John Wesley [for more great God-glorifying quotes by the John & Charles Wesley, click here.]

Give, Inspired, Jesus, Lives Full of God, Monday Morning Moment, Redeeming & Restoring, Seasons, Walk with God

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Finally…Giving Tuesday

December 1, 2014 admindeb Leave a comment

I hate shopping. There was a time I was good at choosing gifts, just right for person or occasion. Those days may be about over. Too many challenges – which electronics and what version…what style, size, color…what does he need that he hasn’t bought already…if not earlier this year, then for sure he bought it this shopper-paradise-post-Thanksgiving weekend…at the best. price. ever.

It is pretty sweet to get that just right Christmas gift for the people you love. So we stay on the hunt, and work ourselves into a frenzy of trying, once again, to get it right. If only. I would love our kids to tell us exactly what they would like for Christmas, and I would buy it for them. Bag it up and we can all act surprised and pleased when the tissue paper is pulled away. What do they tell me? “Gift cards” pretty much. Ugh…

When I stopped into the post office this morning, on the first day of December, the line of people waiting stopped me in my tracks. All those packages to be weighed…maybe their adult children did tell them what they wanted for Christmas, and these waiting in the post office line went out on Black Friday, bought those presents, and here they are mailing them. Sigh…

I’m thinking that Advent Conspiracy is a good idea.

Oh, we are still buying gifts for each other, but I’m not frantic about it anymore. It’s pretty certain that I won’t be the Queen of Christmas shopping, but that’s O.K. I’m coming to terms with gift cards.

Then there’s #GivingTuesday.

#GivingTuesday* has only “been around” a couple of years. It’s a global initiative to make generosity a priority this time of year. Not just in giving gifts to those we love, but in giving to those we may never meet. Those in greatest need.

Last year, my daughter gave me some chickens for Christmas. Well, she didn’t give them to me outright. They are laying eggs, hopefully, somewhere in Africa. In fact, although I don’t know what family got those chickens, I feel a Christmas kinship with them. That family. Those chickens. Knowing the gift I received was also received by someone else whose need far surpassed my want…it was definitely a gift that kept giving.

My favorite charity is Baptist Global Response (BGR). Some charitable organizations have disappointed us, with so much of our donations going to administration and fund-raising. I appreciate the low overhead of BGR and the heart of this organization toward the peoples of the world. There are other great non-profits as well (some are listed below), but BGR is my #GivingTuesday focus this year.

Just to be clear, in case my children are reading this, I like presents and enjoy celebrating that part of Christmas together. We already have the best gift of all in Jesus. So everything else is frosting…unless you’re a family who could really use some chickens, or a goat, or a water well.

Black Friday is finished. Cyber Monday is winding down. Now that the spending is done, let the giving begin.

How do you plan to spread Christmas around the world?

Baptist Global Response Christmas Gift Catalog

International Justice Mission (IJM) Gift Catalog

World Vision Gift Catalog

*Photo Credit for #Giving Tuesday

Photo Credit – GoBGR

Culture & Religion, Film, God, Inspired, Jesus, Music, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving or Gratefulness, Wednesday Worship

Worship Wednesday – All Good Gifts – Thanksgiving Memories

November 26, 2014 admindeb 6 Comments

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. – James 1:17

For most of 20 years, we lived in North Africa where a Thanksgiving holiday was a foreign concept. “Eid el Shukr” (“Feast of Thanks” in Arabic) was understood but not a day set aside. We, along with other expat Americans, brought Thanksgiving with us and invited our local friends into the experience. On the surface, American Thanksgiving has pretty much three constant components – food, family, and football. In those days of living overseas, watching football on T.V. on Thanksgiving Day was a bit challenging, but these days, it seems, all things are possible.

Now, back in the States, the old traditions are changing. My Mom, who always laid out an incredible Southern-style feast on the kitchen counter back home in Georgia, is no longer with us. As with some of you, I’m sure, I miss her still every day and how she lavished love on us through these family times together. Our children are grown now and establishing their own traditions with more families and friends added into the mix. After so many years being away, we find ourselves needing to re-work our own traditions as well.

Last night, we participated in a community Thanksgiving dinner for international students. This is our fourth year, So I’m thinking it’s a new tradition for us. As we visited with new friends from Iran and Colombia, we marveled at how small the world has become. Enjoying Thanksgiving yummies together with them took us fondly back to our years in Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco.

Thanksgiving is, for us, all about food, family, and football…but there’s also another element…faith… I am grateful every day for the kindnesses of God and those he’s placed in my life. Celebrating Thanksgiving allows us to put an exclamation point on being grateful. It’s not just about a tableful of food, although food is clearly a focal point. Thanksgiving, even as a national holiday and not a religious one, focuses our sight beyond ourselves. There is an object in Thanksgiving beyond ourselves.

Over 30 years ago, a funky little Broadway musical was turned into a film – Godspell. It was an adaptation of the life of Jesus according to the Gospel of Matthew. At that time, I was in that season of life young people pass through of searching out what I believed. It wasn’t going well at that time. Praise God, He did not forget me during those days when I had all but forgotten Him. Watching Godspell, of all things, was one of the occasions God used to wake me up. There’s a wonder and delight in the young followers of Jesus in the musical. It reminded me of what I had once with God…and what could be again.

All the songs in the musical Godspell are lovely. Composer and Lyricist, Stephen Schwartz, beautifully captured some of Jesus’ teaching and the depth of love and rightness between Him, His followers, and creation, in general. All Good Gifts, adapted from an old hymn, is one such song and is a pure and proper doxology of praise for Thanksgiving.

Worship with me. [Here’s the YouTube video from Godspell to give you the melody.]

All Good Gifts*
We plow the fields and scatter the good seed on the land..
But it is fed and watered by God’s almighty hand..
He sends us snow in winter, the warmth to swell the grain…
The breezes and the sunshine, and soft refreshing rain…

All good gifts around us
Are sent from Heaven above
Then thank the Lord, thank the Lord for all his love…

We thank thee then, O Father, for all things bright and good,
The seedtime and the harvest, our life our health our food,
No gifts have we to offer for all thy love imparts
But that which thou desirest, our humble thankful hearts!

All good gifts around us
Are sent from Heaven above..
Then thank the Lord, thank the Lord for all his love..

I really wanna thank you Lord!
All good gifts around us
Are sent from Heaven above..
Then thank the Lord, oh thank the Lord for all his love..

Food – Family Favorites in Mom’s Kitchen

Football – on T.V. or out on the street with cousins and friends

Family – Time together…savoring every minute.

Happy Thanksgiving…

Oh…just in case Thanksgiving is a struggle…and it isn’t all happy family fun…I pray you take courage and rein in your heart to remember that God sees and loves you. We can be a blessing…if you’ve read this far…you are a blessing to me. Wish you were at our table…maybe one day you will be. You are definitely welcome at God’s table.

*Lyrics and Story Behind the Song – All Good Gifts (Godspell)

YouTube Video – All Good Gifts (Godspell 1990)

YouTube Video Clip – All Good Gifts (Godspell original cast 1973)

Wikipedia article on original hymn/lyric – We Plough the Fields and Scatter (1862)

God, Inspired, Jesus, Music, Redeeming & Restoring, Thanksgiving or Gratefulness, Wednesday Worship

Worship Wednesday – No Other Name – Jesus Christ of Nazareth

November 19, 2014 admindeb Leave a comment

There are days I just want to cry out the name of Jesus over my city. HE IS WHO HE SAYS HE IS. His followers, in those early days of the church, knew Him. After He returned to the Father in Heaven, these followers were transformed by the power of God’s Spirit burning inside of them. Their boldness and earnestness gave witness to that. They put their lives on the line for the truth of who Jesus was…is. Read and resonate with just one of the accounts from the Bible, in the Acts of the Apostles:

Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer…and a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God. Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

“By what power or by what name have you done this?” [Peter was asked by the religious authorities present that day in Jerusalem]

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all…that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” – Acts 3:1-10; Acts 4:7-12

There is no one like Him. He is the picture God gave us of Himself…His very Word. He came close to us that we might know God…

Worship with me.

No Other Name

One name holds weight above them all
His fame outlasts the earth He formed
His praise resounds beyond the stars
And echoes in our hearts
The greatest One of all

His face shines brighter than the sun
His grace as boundless as His love
He reigns with healing in His wings
The King above all kings
The greatest One of all

Lift up our eyes, see the King has come
Light of the world reaching out for us
There is no other name
There is no other name
Jesus Christ our God

Seated on high, the undefeated One
Mountains bow down as we lift Him up
There is no other name
There is no other name
Jesus Christ our God

Find hope when all the world seems lost
Behold the triumph of the cross
His power has trampled death and grave
Our life found in His name
The greatest name of all

Lift up our eyes, see the King has come
Light of the world reaching out for us
There is no other name
There is no other name
Jesus Christ our God

Seated on high, the undefeated One
Mountains bow down as we lift Him up
There is no other name
There is no other name
Jesus Christ our God
Jesus

The earth will shake and tremble before Him
Chains will break as heaven and earth sing
Holy is the name
Holy is the name of
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
[x2]

Lift up our eyes, see the King has come
Light of the world reaching out for us
There is no other name
There is no other name
Jesus Christ our God

Seated on high, the undefeated One
Mountains bow down as we lift Him up
There is no other name
There is no other name
There is no other name
There is no other name
Jesus *

*No Other Name Lyrics & Chords – Writers Joel Houston & Jonas Myrin

YouTube Video – No Other Name – With Lyrics – Hillsong

No Other Name Hillsong Worship album

Give Me Jesus – Trevin Wax – Kingdom People

Image Credit – Hillsong Church Germany

God, Inspired, Jesus, Lives Full of God, Music, Walk with God, Wednesday Worship

Worship Wednesday – Hallelujahs Multiplied by NeedToBreathe

October 29, 2014 admindeb Leave a comment

[The LORD speaking] “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” – Isaiah 43:19

I was so mad. Details aren’t important for this. Let’s just say, all it takes for me sometimes to rocket from baseline to ballistic is to be ignored. Especially when I think what I’m saying is important. Sigh. Not that I would do anything with my anger except to go all silent and fuming. Yet, it still happens…after all these years, walking with the Lord. Getting angry because I didn’t get the consideration “deserved”.

Entitlement is such an indictment of our heart – our all-out absorption with self.

En·ti·tle·ment – the fact of having a right to something; the amount to which a person has a right; the belief that one is inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment.

Thanks be to GOD, that He doesn’t leave His children wallowing in their muddled thoughts. Within minutes, the Holy Spirit’s kind reasoning broke through my anger. I came to my senses thinking of how GOD must deal with our ignoring Him. Nothing in what I’ve experienced of His character shows Him stewing in anger toward us. He is not surprised at our behavior. He knows our frailty when we stomp our feet and kick at the dust in whatever frustration we’ve allowed ourselves to focus on.

He does not retaliate. Even when He is silent, it never seems like the kind I perpetrated against my husband, for instance, in those early years of marriage. It would take me three days to return to normal conversation with him when he “made me mad”. How thankful I am that God has grown me well past those days. How thankful that He does not get angry at His children in ways that punish.

Now, in minutes, instead of days, God gently reminds me how to release the anger toward another, frail as me. He brings Himself to mind in the life and example of Jesus, who suffered long with those He loved. My entitlement falls in pieces at the foot of the Cross, where He died for me.

Bear and Bo Rinehart, brothers out of Seneca, South Carolina, wrote Multiplied. They, along with Seth Bolt, make up the band NEEDTOBREATHE. The song Multiplied came to mind yesterday as I recovered from my fit, remembering Whose I am. His love, not judgment, helped me clear my head. How amazing that He (like the song says) comes to find us, wherever we are and whatever condition we put ourselves.

We have such a small life…such a short one here…God, please take all our “hallelujahs” and multiply them to Your magnificent glory.

Worship with me.

Multiplied

Your love is
Like radiant diamonds
Bursting inside us
We cannot contain
Your love will
Surely come find us
Like blazing wildfires
Singing your name

God of mercy
Sweet love of mine
I have surrendered to your design
may this offering stretch across the sky
And these hallelujahs be multiplied.

Lyrics of Multiplied from the album Rivers in the Wasteland; written by Bear Rinehart and Bo Rinehart

YouTube Official Video of Multiplied

YouTube Unofficial Lyric Video of Multiplied

Story Behind the Song and the Band

Images – NeedToBreathe Website