SING!

Singing. Have you ever thought about it in reference to spiritual things? My understanding was instantly taken to a whole new level when I read this verse.
“And these are the singers, heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites, who lodged in the chambers, and were free from other duties; for they were employed in that work day and night.” 1 Chronicles 9:33

Wow! You mean there were special men whose service in the temple was solely to sing!? Somehow I had not grasped how important to God songs of praise are, but looking closer we can find much more in the Bible that speaks to singing than just this verse. Think about it, what is the longest book in the Bible? It’s psalms! A whole book of nothing but songs written to God. In other books of the Bible we find many references to singing as well, here are just a few



“Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him: talk of all His wondrous works! Glory in His holy name… 1Chronicles 16:9-10

“Sing to the Lord, for He has done excellent things; this is known in all the earth. Isaiah 12:5

“Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord! For He has delivered the life of the poor from the hand of evildoers Jeremiah 20: 13

“’Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I will dwell in your midst,’ says the Lord” Zechariah 2:10

　
So I wonder are we as the church faithful in this? Do you suppose that now, at every moment, of every day, God always has a song of praise being lifted up to Him just like in the days of the temple? If not don’t you think there is something wrong?!

What would keep us from this amazing work God has called us too? It’s not hard. There are many excuses however I think the main reason we sometimes fail in this is simply because we do not meditate on God and His greatness and therefore our minds are empty of praise. Look back to the verses I listed above. When God’s word tells us to sing it nearly always gives us a good reason; His wondrous works, His deliverance of the poor, His soon return, and we could each make our own list. Our Salvation, God’s constant faithfulness to us, His unconditional love toward us, the forgiveness he gives us again and again, this beautiful creation, His daily care for us manifest in so many ways,… Your list will look different from mine but no matter what trials we are going through we ALL have a very real, very long list of things to praise God for. We simply do not always recognize these things or turn them into joyful song.

And you know what else? I believe God moves when His people praise Him! Listen to this piece of an incredible story from the Old Testament

‘And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: “Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever.” Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.’
2 Chronicles 20:21-22

Are you getting excited? I am! I am definitely beginning to think there is much more to singing to the Lord than I ever realized. We may never know the significance of this service to God but is it not thrilling that we get to enter into it! So my sisters will you take part in this mission with me? When we are cheerful let us sing! When we are discouraged let us sing! When we are facing a battle let us sing! Will you join your voice with believers everywhere and the angels in heaven praising our great God? for He truly is praiseworthy!

keep your heart

"Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life."  Proverbs 4:23

Your heart is where your dreams are born!  Your heart is where your character and mannerisms are formed.  The things in your heart say who you really are... they lead to the choices you make and how you live your life... they pave the way for the quality of your future.  Ultimately, the things you ponder deep within your heart reveal where you'll spend eternity.

So what's in your heart?  Consider it...

Ask yourself-- do the things in your heart honor Christ?  Do you think of ways to benefit others?  Do you dream of Heaven and the splendor of spending eternity in the Kingdom with your Christian brothers and sisters?  Do you seek to draw closer to the Lord, to feel the warmth of His presence and love?  Do you desire to understand God's word to acquire wisdom and discernment from it?

Or are there thoughts in the secret places of your heart that you would be ashamed to reveal?   

I can't see what's in your heart, and a lot of times, I can't even make sense of what's going on in my own heart, but God always does... He sees and knows.  Ask Him to purify your heart completely.  It's a matter of surrendering it all to Him and desiring to change.  "I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings."
Jeremiah 17:10

The world is full of individuals who are lost-- their lives are void of Christ and their hearts are full of unholy and impure things.  They are suffering... emotionally and often externally as well... Remember, the things you fill your heart with lead to the way you live your life.  (Thank the Lord that He can purify and bring light to even the darkest of hearts!!!!)

So how do you "guard" (or keep) your heart?  First of all, set aside time every day to spend in God's Word.  Fill your heart with good things from the Scriptures (Philippians 4:8), meditate on it as often as possible (Psalms 1:2), and spend time with other like-minded Christians for accountability (Hebrews 10:24,25)  The best way to cause evil thoughts to die is to stop feeding them.  Be very careful about what you're viewing on the internet or TV, what your reading, or who you're hanging out with. If a certain influence is causing you to be tempted in your heart or thought-life, it's time to cut it off.  Instead, if you feed wholesome, productive, purposeful and kind thoughts on a regular basis, that's what will start to thrive.    Furthermore, guarding your heart will begin to characterize who you are-- how you act, what you choose to do day to day.    

Guarding your heart has life-long benefits!

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by your generous spirit."
Psalms 51:10-12

Press On!

Train yourself for godliness; 

for while bodily training is of some value, 

godliness is of value in every way, 

as it holds promise for the present life  

and also for the life to come. 

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. 

For to this end we toil and strive, 

because we have our hope set on the living God, 

who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe . . .

Set the believers an example 

in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 

Until I come, devote yourself 

to the public reading of Scripture, 

to exhortation, to teaching . . . 

 Practice these things [spiritual gifts],  

immerse yourself in them, 

so that all may see your progress. 

Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching.  

Persist in this, 

for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

(I Timothy 4:7b-10, 12b, 13, 15-16)

My life is about my walk with God, about making progress, about revealing His character and His glory to others. Nothing matters so much as this. And nothing is so dangerous to a Christian as stagnancy or, worse, degression.

Let us know; let us press on to know Jehovah;

His going out is sure as the dawn;

He will come to us as the showers,

as the spring rains that water the earth. 

(Hosea 6:3)

What motivation! To devote myself to knowing God. Not growing weary in well-doing, but longing for Him. And not just longing, but pursuing, actively pursuing godliness, pressing on the upward way, striving for the higher ground.

This is what God requires of me. This is how I glorify Him. By toiling and striving and progressing and persisting.

Devoted to God, practicing godliness through the gifts He has given me, immersing myself in service to Him, progressing in sanctification, keeping myself pure.

God does not demand perfection.

He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. 

(Psalm 103:14)

He does require change.

Be transformed by the renewal of your mind.

(Romans 12:2b)

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord,  

are being transformed into the same image 

from one degree of glory to another. 

(2 Corinthians 3:18)

God is on my side. The battle is the Lord's! Press on!

O LORD, I pray, give me success [in my Christian walk]! 

(Psalm 118:25b)

bought with a price

“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20

It’s a simple statement with profound implications. My body, my spirit, I do not belong to me. Your body and your spirit do not belong to you. Why not? For one very glorious reason - if you have accepted God’s gift of salvation - the death of His Son Jesus bought your life from it’s slavery to sin. Such an overwhelming price to be paid, the death of God’s Son a perfect, spotless lamb, for such a sinful wretch as I and for such a sinful wretch like you.

It’s sobering to realize that we don’t belong to ourselves because we very often live as if we do. It’s easy to get up in the morning and put on what you think makes you look good, eat what you find tasty and spend your time on what you find enjoyable or even what you think is good. We need to refocus and get our eyes off of ourselves and what we want. It may seem restrictive at first to think of being owned by someone else but when that someone is the almighty, all loving God it is actually freeing. Imagine if we had only to live for ourselves, what a shallow existence that would be! Imagine if we had to decide on our own how to best spend our life, how frightening that would be!

So if our body belongs to God - He calls the shots in the area of our clothing. If our body is God’s - perhaps He has ideas about how we eat and take care of that body. If our body is God’s - you know He has plans for how it can be used for His glory. Are you willing to serve Him when He calls? On the other hand let us not fret or worry about what God’s plan is for us, rather simply surrender ALL areas of our life to Him.

To correct this self-centered way we often live we must submit to Him and to the knowledge that nothing in our lives is beyond His jurisdiction. Humbly seeking His will and changing through His power and grace as He shows us areas in our life where we are not honoring Him with our spirit and body that belong to Him - that is living as one bought with a price!