Three Days- One Song

       For the last three days I have had the chorus to one particular song pop up in my head many times during the day.  Perhaps it’s because I’ve really been pondering lately how much we are able to fully give ourselves to God and still live in this world.  I used to hear the words, “He/ She’s sold out for Jesus” in the 80’s and 90’s, but you don’t really hear that anymore.  I digress… Here’s a portion of the song ‘All to You’ by Lincoln Brewster.

     I'm living my life for You

     And I'm giving everything to You

     Not holding back, from every part

     I'm giving it all to You

       I think a lot of us desire to live our lives for the Lord, we just don’t know what that truly means from God’s perspective.  We do know that He considers the two most important things to be to love Him with all our being, and to love others as ourselves.  So we try to fill those two things in the way we think we should do them.  But God’s mind is not our mind.  He often sees more in us than we see in ourselves and so we shortchange the Lord by doing only what we think we can do.

       Like the song, we need to give everything to Him.  Not just our words and actions, but our hopes, dreams, reputations, skills, really- everything but most of all our willingness to do what He wants us to do, even if we think we can’t do it.  Have you ever noticed though, that no matter how often you say you give it all to Him, that you are still holding part of you back?  I have, and I wonder why that is.  Is it selfishness, lack of commitment, fear, pride, lack of knowledge, or am I simply expecting more of me than what the Lord expects?  That has been my contemplation of late.

One thing I do know, and this is from another part of the song…

     You are the Lord of all I am

     And, I'll never be the same again

Twenty some years ago when Jesus became the Lord of my life, I changed- for the better.  It has been a long and often treacherous journey so far, but the journey from who I was to who I am today has been astounding.  Life with the Lord is never boring.  He is here waiting for me every morning and He continues to work in my life.  He doesn’t mind when I question things, but leads me on His path (Pr. 3:5,6) one step at a time. (2Cor. 3:18; Pr. 16:9)  I am aiming to give my life completely to Him, from His point of view, and so I will follow Him (John 10:27) on the path He has laid before me trusting that His light (Ps. 119:105) will guide me along the way.

and I will continue to be transformed…

(Rom. 12:2)

A Joyful Noise- Praise

       When I was a young adult, I used to help in the children’s ministry in my local church.  We always started out with lively and God honouring worship led by a great team.  One day as I stood among the kids during worship, the lead singer stopped to speak about making a joyful noise unto the Lord.  How no matter what we sounded like, if we put our hearts into it, God would enjoy it.  He then asked for those of us on the floor to come up to the front.

       After we got up there, he shocked us by saying we would be leading the next song.  I was horrified!  None of us had any musical experience- or musical talent at all.  He handed me a guitar: I’d never played a guitar!  And my singing was out of tune.  ‘This was not going to be pretty,’ I thought.  The worship team left to stand amid the kids and they informed us when to start the familiar song we were supposed to sing and play to.

       Totally unskilled and making an un-tuned cacophony of noise we did our best to worship God.  Everyone joined in if I remember right... and overall it didn’t sound as bad as I originally thought.   I truly thanked God that it was only one song, and we were relieved of our positions.  The lead singer came back and spoke some more about making a joyful noise to God and how it was sweet to His ears even if it wasn’t to ours.  I’ve never forgotten the lesson I learned that day.

    … O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. Ps. 47:1

-clap, sound an alarm

     …Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob.  Bring a song, and give the timbrel, the pleasing lyre with the harp.  Blow the ram’s horn… Ps. 81:1-3a TIB

-sound an alarm, shout, sing, play the tambourine, harp, lyre, horn (purpose of shofar- to give alarm or signal)

    Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. Sing unto the LORD with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm. With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King. Ps. 98:4-6

-make a joyful noise- shout, split the ear, sound an alarm, break out in joyful noise, shout, make music, use trumpets, horn

    Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.

Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD. Ps. 150:3-6 

-praise- boast, rave about, celebrate: blast of a horn, lyre, harp, tambourine, dance (yes, it really says dance!), stringed and wind instruments, differing cymbals.

       As you can see, worship can be joyful, noisy, full of differing musical instruments and can include clapping and dancing.  Sing with all your heart whether or not you think your voice is good: if your heart is in it, God will be pleased.  Worship is a time to praise our great and holy Lord for all He is and has done.  Let’s celebrate Him by making some noise!

       J  !!! PRAISE THE LORD !!!  J

If I had a million dollars…

       Did you ever have one of those fantasy thoughts?  As I was driving in the car this morning, I thought of it.  What would I do if I had a million dollars?  Ever practical me, immediately I thought I’d buy a new (meaning good used- to me) vehicle.  Ours is getting old… Next I could pay off the mortgage and our debt, and then I could get the two bathroom walls fixed that are literally falling apart.  Suddenly it struck me that I hadn’t considered the Lord at all, and that made me kind of sad.

       Why was He not my first thought?  Why, at least, didn’t I think that I would start by praying and asking what He wanted me to do with the money?  Instead I had already planned what to do with my blessing without even consulting the Lord who would have given said blessing.  We say we long for more of the Lord, to be closer to Him, to know Him more, but when it comes to our daily activities, we don’t often consider Him first, if at all. 

       So the big question on my mind, is how do I change my whole thought process to consider the Lord first, or at the very least sooner than I do now?  I guess I’ll start with prayer for all the many believers who want more of the Lord.

Lord,

Rekindle our love for You, set our desire on fire so that our longing for You cannot be surpassed by anything or anyone else.  Stir up our passion that lies dormant under the cares and stresses of this world.  Let us awake to thoughts of You and feel Your Spirit with us through each moment of our days.  You who are mighty and all powerful help us in Your mercy and Your grace.  Thank You for being so long suffering with us.  All glory and honour to You forever.  Amen