I am so thankful for worship music. I almost always have a song "stuck" in my head. It's not unusual for me to fall asleep with a song running through my mind and wake up the next morning with that same song still playing. God speaks to me through these songs of worship and praise.
Our ladies' Bible study group is currently doing Beth Moore's study "Here and Now, There and Then" on the book of Revelation. Throughout this study I have often had Chris Tomlin's song "I Will Rise" pulsing through me as I've read the apostle John's words as he recorded the images and visions from God. It's been the perfect sound track to this study!
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I am linking up with Dawn (anotherDawn!) at the Goodlife for 30 Thankful Days. What are you thankful for? Feel free to link up and join us or leave your answer here in a comment!
"And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." (Romans 12:1-2 NLT)
Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders. And they sang in a mighty chorus:
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered— to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.”
And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang:
“Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.”
Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb.
Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow.
The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint.
Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. (Matthew 28:1-6)
I am back from Ohio. And Granny's funeral. It was a time of conflicting emotions.
Sadness... over the loss of Granny and all that she meant to us.
Concern... for my grandfather.
Relief... Granny's pain and suffering has ended.
And even joy. Seriously - JOY!
Because we know that Granny is in heaven. More than several times I've caught myself smiling as I've wondered what she's doing up there. I can only imagine! The whole family took great pleasure in knowing Granny would have been delighted with the gorgeous snowstorm that hit the night before and the day of her funeral. Not a blustery snowstorm. Rather, a deep, quiet snow. Huge flakes drifting down from the sky and blanketing everything. Muffling all the sounds. During her life, she was known to call people during a snow to say, "Have you looked outside? Isn't it beautiful? I'm just sitting here enjoying God's beautiful creation!" (And for those of us not living in the area: "I sure wish you could see it!")
I wish each of you could have known Granny. To that end, I plan to occasionally share some of my memories of Granny with you. And some "Granny-isms."
Thank you to all of you who prayed for me and my family. Your prayers were so tangible to us. We felt wrapped up in them!
And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. (Hebrews 10: 19-25 NLT)
The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with his love, He will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV)
Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:28-31 (NLT)
I mentioned earlier that I've been humming numerous praise songs recently - going to sleep with one running through my mind and waking the next morning with the same one still playing. I don't know why, but I love it. It fills me with a sense of peace and puts me in a calm, worshipful (is that a word?) state of mind. Combine that with having all things beachy also running through my mind and that narrows down my song selection.
One of my favorite songs is "Ocean Floor" by Audio Adrenaline. I love the music because it sounds like the ocean. And, I love the imagery of the words - our sins being forgotten and as far away as the bottom of the ocean's floor. Our family spends a lot of time on the water in the Gulf which makes this imagery so real to me.
Watch and listen... see if you don't agree.
"My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world."I John 2:1, 2
Right smack dab in the center of God's country! (That would be Texas.)
I am a wife, mother of two, daughter, sister, friend. Oh, yes - and a Princess. (Really! It's all about the lineage... "But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God." John 1:12
) I love my life and find lots to laugh about - although it's usually at my own expense and often at the wrong time! Can I share the fun with you?
