Tag: Song

Not ashamed

“Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”

Psalms 95:7  For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice,  do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,  when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.

Psalms 48:14     that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever.

Psalms 67:6     The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us.

Psalms 115:3     Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.

Exodus 15:2    The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him

Jeremiah 31:33     For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Romans 1:19  For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.  For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Hebrews 3:7  Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice,  do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness,  where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years.  Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’  As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’”  Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.  But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

“Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” – When I think about God not being ashamed, it makes me think a bit about my daily actions and thoughts.  some days it seems as though I am only giving a few nods Gods way.  This is not what life of honor, service, obedience, and full commitment should be like.  Trusting in, relying on, clinging to is not only for times of immediate need.  It is a way of life.

I will thank you forever

 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

Psalms 92:1   It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night,  to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre.

Isaiah 58:13     “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;  then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Hebrews 4:9     So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,

Psalms 33:1     Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright.

Psalms 50:23     The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!”

Psalms 52:9     I will thank you forever, because you have done it. I will wait for your name, for it is good, in the presence of the godly.

Psalms 73:28     But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.

Psalms 107:8     Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!

Hebrews 13:15     Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

Psalms 147:1     Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.

Isaiah 57:15    For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Daniel 4:34-37     At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation;  all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”  At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me. My counselors and my lords sought me, and I was established in my kingdom, and still more greatness was added to me.  Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

“But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.” Being near to God brings safety, refuge, hope, peace, joy, courage, strength, and love.  Being near (continually in His presence) will bring “praising” God to your mind.  Desiring and seeking to be in His presence will have a direct impact on our understanding and knowledge of Him.  It will grow, giving rise to praises on our lips.  Look at Nebuchadnezzar, everything was taken away from him and after 7 years he came to the this understanding.  Stay in His word, grow in understanding and knowledge of His steadfast love, mercy and grace, and praise Him.

Kicking and Screaming

“The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. The LORD is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed.”

Psalms 86:16  Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant, and save the son of your maidservant. Show me a sign of your favor, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame because you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.

Psalms 69:16     Answer me, O LORD, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.

Psalms 90:13     Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants!

Psalms 119:132    Turn to me and be gracious to me, as is your way with those who love your name.

Psalms 84:5     Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.

Psalms 138:3     On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased.

Isaiah 40:29     He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.  Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;  but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Zechariah 10:12     I will make them strong in the LORD, and they shall walk in his name,” declares the LORD.

Ephesians 3:16     that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

Philippians 4:13     I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Why is it important to have the right source for inner strength?  Where does true inner strength come from? How does it appear in our life?  Living this side of eternity will have it’s battles.  Walking into these battles there are times we walk with God, times God carries us through them, and times when He drags us kicking and screaming through them.  In Him alone will there be strength to face whatever comes our way.  In Him we have no fear of tomorrow.  In Him there is peace that passes all understanding.  The times we walk with God to face head that which is before us are during times when His Holy Spirit fills us, we are listening and in tune with His leading, we walk fully trusting and relying on His power.  The times He is carrying us are during those times when life hits us with a punch so hard it takes the wind from our sail and we can’t seem to move or find out way through it.  He picks us up and carries us in His power, strength, might, and love.  His arms wrap around us and we find comfort, refuge, and hope.  The times He drags us is when we don’t listen, we shut Him from our life, we walk apart from Him and try to go our own way.  We think we are in control and have no need for Him or His word of truth.  It seems as though God drags us into a battle so big with so much uncertainty, where we truly can’t seem to find our way through it.  Our own strength is drained to a point we quit kicking and screaming and seek Him for we have tried to handle it on our own.  We find peace, hope, joy, and comfort.  I don’t know where you are but the best place to be is humbly serving, honoring, following, and obeying God.  Spend time in His word and build your faith in Him who can do all things. In Hi who can do more than we ask and much more than we can imagine.

Prayer to Praise

“Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.”

“For he has delivered me from every trouble”

“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

Psalms 54:1   O God, save me by your name, and vindicate me by your might.  O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth.

Psalms 26:1  Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.

Psalms 43:1  Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people, from the deceitful and unjust man deliver me!  For you are the God in whom I take refuge;

Psalms 55:1-2   Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!  Attend to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and I moan,

Psalms 28:7    The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.

Psalms 140:7    O LORD, my Lord, the strength of my salvation, you have covered my head in the day of battle.

Exodus 15:2    The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

Isaiah 40:31   but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Zechariah 10:12    I will make them strong in the LORD, and they shall walk in his name,” declares the LORD.

Ephesians 6:10   Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

We all come up against trials and troubles throughout this life.  We can take note of David and how he brought these trials before God, almost like a complaint, but he always ends in praise proclaiming God’s love, mercy, might, strength and his faith in it.  Acknowledging our trials and troubles to God, our heavenly Father, should be natural.  Likewise we should have continual praise for Him and proclaiming our faith in His power, might, sovereignty, strength, love, mercy, and grace.  Try this for a week.  Read His word for 5 minutes each day and highlight His promises.  These promises are your building blocks for praise because not only do we see what He has done but what He is doing and will do.  Take your problems to Him and lay them in His hands.  Trust in His promises to never leave you or forsake you, to have steadfast love for you, to be your strength, your rock, your power, your refuge, your joy, your peace, and your hope.  In Him you will find rest and reason for hope.

Garden or Desolate wasteland

“And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.”

Joe 2:3
Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them.

Psalms 50:3
Our God comes; he does not keep silence; before him is a devouring fire, around him a mighty tempest.

Amos 7:4
This is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, the Lord GOD was calling for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land.

Genesis 2:8
And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.

Isaiah 51:3
For the LORD comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.

Gen 1:31
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Gen 2:8
And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.
And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.

God created man and planted the garden of Eden. It was pleasant to the sight and good for food.  In fact God saw everything He had made and behold it was very good.  However we see in Joel that the land before them was like the garden of Eden and behind them desolate wilderness.  It seems to me that our lives are somewhat like this.  If our eyes, heart, mind and soul are desiring to humbly serve , honor, and obey Him and continuing to look to God for our strength and guidance we have blessings and hope of a place created for us in eternity.  Alternatively if our eyes, heart, mind and soul are focused on what seems right in our own eyes and not focused on God the only thing that is ahead of us is desolation, waste, and judgement. Knowing this, why would we neglect our calling to serve and obey Him?  I wonder how much of what we approve of is ok’d by our culture and is detestable in the eyes of God.  My wife and I were talking last night about a popular face book personality who has many followers and looked upon for their understanding, knowledge and application of scripture into everyday application.  This person had changed their view on essentials and was condoning something that is not right according to scripture.  It confirms to me that society/culture has influence on even the best of us.  We need to be absolutely sure our actions and stances are based on what God’s word speaks into our heart.  For every stance of obedience there will be multiple corresponding views.  We are going to be held accountable for our walk in this life before God.  The excuse “I thought what so and so said was true and I followed it” or “everyone else was doing it” or “it was ok by law” will not be an excuse before God.  We have at our finger tips more access to scripture than anytime in history yet we choose to neglect this blessing from God.  We will be held accountable for this neglect.  Today choose to find purpose, meaning, hope, joy, love, peace, etc… each day through reading His word with the single purpose of knowing Him and how to honor and glorify Him more and more.