The Heavenly Choir

Last week a dear, precious friend walked into glory with the Lord, after struggling for over 30 years with numerous kinds of cancer.  A few weeks before the Lord took Bob home, a group of us had gone to Bob and Lillie’s.  Bob wasn’t very strong.  He was struggling to breathe, because the cancer was in his lungs.  But the minute I walked up to him to give him a hug, he pointed to the other room and said, “The piano’s in there.”  After we ate a little food together, we all went in to the piano, and I was told to “play that” – “it’s Bob’s favorite song”.  “That” was “The Lord’s Prayer”, and it was in a very difficult version, with timing changes 3 times and notes all up and down the piano – way out of my capability.  My eyes bugged out.  But Bob desired it; so I played.  We were all singing, and I was struggling through the playing (doing an atrocious job!) when we all heard the most precious sound coming from the corner of the room where Bob sat.  Bob was singing his heart out.  It was hard to keep on singing, because we were all in tears. 

That was the last time that I saw Bob responsive.

For the memorial service, Lillie wanted me to play “In the Garden”, which was no problem since it is a very simple-to-play hymn.  Through various circumstances, I also ended up playing “The Lord’s Prayer” for a soloist and also “I’ll Fly Away” for a family of six little children singing. 

Even though I practiced and practiced “The Lord’s Prayer”, and although it sounded fine when I played it at home – I blew it royally playing for the service.  And I didn’t find the children’s song in the key they needed until just a few hours before I needed to leave for the service, plus I had only the chords and one note of melody, had to play it an octave lower, and hadn’t practiced that version with the kids.  So I kind of blew that one, too.

I was devastated.  All of the rest of the service was so perfect and so beautiful, including the taps played at the end because Bob was a navy veteran.  However, I felt that I had royally ruined my part of it.  There was such a heavy weight on me.  I couldn’t go to sleep until the wee hours of the morning, and then I woke up after just a few hours thinking about my mess-up.  It was two-fold:  I felt so bad for Lillie and her children, for my ruining of the beautiful service that was their last memory of Bob; and I was exceedingly embarrassed.  My pride was stomped on.

The morning of the service, God had so encouraged me by Ephesians 1: 17-23.  There, He talks about “having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so you can know and understand:
  1.  the hope to which He has called you,
  2.  how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints, and
  3.  the immeasurable & unlimited & surpassing greatness of His POWER in & for us who believe
as demonstrated when He raised Him from the dead…”

At the time, I thought, “Yes, Lord!  Only your great and awesome POWER is enabling and will enable me to play this extremely intricate song!”

But it didn’t exactly work out that way.

This morning, I cried to the Lord to lift that burden of despair from me.  And you know what?.....He reminded me to get up and go to the piano and sing a praise song for Him.  He also reminded me about “reverse praise” – a little technique God had taught me years ago, as follows: 

  When somebody does or says something that hurts you or angers you or upsets you, or when having a hard time dealing with the regret or shame of your own failures or sins, stop and make a list down the left side the page of everything that’s bothering you.  For example, your boss may have criticized you unfairly, or your grown child may have acted very unwisely, or someone may have lied to you.  Or you may have spouted off to your best friend, hurting her feelings.  Then, on the right side of the page, list the opposite of that characteristic.  For example, the opposite of unfair criticism would be perfect judgement.  The opposite of unwise actions would be acting with total wisdom.  The opposite of telling a lie would be only and always telling absolute truth.  The opposite of thoughtless, hurting words would be carefully thought out responses, full of wisdom and love.  Now look at each of those things on the right side of the page, and you have a list of attributes of God, which you can begin to praise Him for immediately.  Believe me, nothing works better for getting rid of despondency than turning to praise.

So….it was easy to see the opposite of my goof-ups and to begin praising God for His absolute perfection.  Not so easy – but necessary and do-able - to keep on doing it every time Satan brought up the memory of my failure.

When I went to the piano, God took me immediately to an old gospel hymn, “Follow Me”, which talks about how a discouraged Christian says, “the burden on my weary back had bowed me to despair”.  In the song, Christ answers, “My feet were also weary upon the Calvary road, the cross became so heavy, I fell beneath the load.  Be faithful weary pilgrim, the morning I can see – just lift your cross and follow close to Me.”

And then just 2 pages over the song:  “God Can Do Anything But Fail”.

How perfect, when I fail and when I’m discouraged, to fix my eyes on His perfection and on the burdens He carried - for me.  A messed-up piano playing…….so much of a NOTHING aside of what Christ had to deal with for my sake.

Then, I got to thinking about that POWER that God promised me yesterday, and I realized that He HAD “delivered” on His part.  This morning, he had given me the power to overcome despair through praise.  And…He is also able to enable Lillie to remember the good in Bob’s service instead of the mess-ups!

Right now while writing this article, I just got a call from a tenant in my commercial building that I had another flood inside the building.  It’s apparently from a new drain pipe that plumbers put in just two days ago (to correct another problem that they had created by choosing to put in too few downspouts with the newly installed roof).  I’ve just ordered water remediation (for the third time in just a few years), since everything is soaked.

So…..perfect time again to use the POWER that God has given me over despair and anger – power to turn it back into praise to Almighty God – a praise that my friend Bob knows all about right now.  He is praising God FACE TO FACE!  You know, I think that when I was messing up “The Lord’s Prayer”, it didn’t matter to Bob and the heavenly choir.  They were joyously singing along in full harmony, filling in all the notes I missed, adding more to somehow blend and raise up my broken melody in a great symphony of praise to the King of Kings!  And that symphony is still going on today, as I choose to praise Him! 

Over two thousand years ago, the world got a little foretaste of the awesomeness of that great heavenly choir.  Shepherds, living out under the immense open sky, watching over their flocks one night, were treated to an army of heavenly hosts praising God and rapping out, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” 

Halleluiah!  Lord, in this Christmas season of remembering your birth, grant us the power to keep our eyes focused on joining the heavenly choir in praise to You.  In the turmoil of life, mine keep straying.   

 

Thanks, Lord!

I am thanking the Lord today!  After 6 months of my daughter and her family living with me, they have now been able to actually move into their new home.  There is still a lot to do yet to make their home totally livable, but the extensive mold in their home has been eradicated (as far as we know), we have re-painted every square inch of paintable area, the kitchen sink is resting on an actual cabinet instead of 2x4’s, and they have at least one completely usable bathroom.

Don’t get me wrong; this precious family of seven is extremely easy to get along with, and God has brought much good and much joy out of living on top of each other for an extended period of time.  But…. it is SO nice to be able to have my living room no longer standing in as a bedroom…. to have my Bible and prayer time anytime and anywhere I want without having to worry about  waking up 3 little sweeties sleeping beside me…..to have QUIET, order, peace…..to be able to do what I want, when I want, and fix my own little home the way I want……

But as I remember November 2, the international day of prayer for our brothers and sisters of the persecuted church, God reminds me that many of His beloved children do not have any of these things, or most of the other things that we count as so necessary.  I look at the Christians in Syria and Iraq, those in North Korea, Nigeria, India, and China – and in so many other countries around the world – and I see a different picture.  Here there are families that are thankful for a small tent to house a family of 10 (or more) in a tiny corner of a noisy refuge camp – because they have given up their home and everything in it rather than deny Christ.  I see fathers – and mothers – dying in a cold prison cell, separated from children, hungry, sick, beaten, alone – because they have refused to bow to any other than the Lord.  I see wives and children watching their husbands and fathers or sons and daughters murdered before their eyes – because they have dared to tell another the Good News of Jesus Christ.  And countless other heartbreaking, appalling stories.  And I weep.

But yet, in all of this, they are still thankful!  And we are thankful, whether part of the persecuted family or not, for we still ALL share great blessings:

1.  Our sins are forgiven, covered by the blood of the Lamb, and we stand before Christ clean.

2.  An awesome day IS coming – soon - when we will stand before the very throne of God, and He will welcome us as His beloved children.  We will suffer no more – ever, in any way.  We will never again have to struggle with temptation.  We will forever be filled with total, complete joy and peace.  We will fellowship with the King of Kings, face to face, and worship Him in the fullness of how we were created to worship!

3.  Meanwhile, we have His Word – some of us in numerous Bibles scattered around our homes, in various translations and forms – others of us in only a page here or there of His Word, or what we have stored in the pages of our minds.  But it is the same Word that has lasted down through the ages, never changing, all absolute truth, ever powerful, comforting, challenging, and teaching us Who God is, how much He loves us, and what He desires of us.

4.  And, regardless of our circumstances, He has promised us His Presence, His grace, His hope, His joy, His strength – every day, all day long, all night long – until He calls us to our REAL HOME.

On this thanksgiving day, thank you, Father, thank you.

           

DESIRING TO PLEASE HIM IN ALL THINGS

Paul was unceasingly praying and making request for the Colossians, asking that they would 
“ walk, live, and conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Lord...”  Colossians 1:10. 
I have read that many times, but it never fully struck me that:

We are HIS, bought with a tremendous price (His own lifeblood).

HIS.  “Family” of..…..

·         The King of all Kings

·         The Creator of every single thing, person, life

·         The Ultimate Conqueror of all

·         The Omnipotent, The Omniscient, The Omnipresent

·         The All-knowing

·         The Ruler & Lord over every kingdom, nation, tribe, man, woman, child

We are the children of the High and Exalted One over all the universe!

Like royalty on earth –
              but a million times more so –
                         we must conduct ourselves in a manner WORTHY of our inheritance.

What we do and say and how we react,
  even how we THINK,
      all reflect on our Father’s name.
We are being watched.
      It is being recorded.

We have been adopted into this unimaginably royal, holy family.

We are under minute by minute, second by second, MILITARY DISCIPLINE,                                                            
                                                voluntary,
                                         but so far-reaching.

The enemy of our Father’s kingdom lurks consistently behind the scenes,
urging a break in the defense line….

·         Self-centeredness

·         Pride

·         Disobedience to the Holy Spirit

·         Flesh walk

·         Discouragement, despair, anger

    Lord, help us to see the battle lines today and stay focused on victory in Christ
(notwithstanding brain injury, financial woes, disease, disappointments, troubles),
          “fully pleasing to You and desiring to please You in all things,
                                 bearing fruit in every good work,
     and steadily growing and increasing in (and by) the knowledge of  You.”   
                                              Colossians 1:10
 
 

 

 

FAULTLESSLY PURE

The Lord’s been working with me on sin areas in my life – kicking out bricks in strongholds that I’ve become comfortable with and accustomed to……and dependent upon.  “Idols” – He calls them – because they fight for a place on the throne with Him.

And I’m not making it an easy job for Him.  Two steps forward and one step back; sometimes one step forward and two steps back.  My flesh fights to have its “fix”.  I hold onto those bricks with my teeth.

Yesterday He showed me I Thessalonians 3:13 again:  “…that He may strengthen and confirm and establish your hearts faultlessly pure and unblamable in holiness in the sight of our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all the saints!”  (Amplified version)

It struck me that what He is pushing and prodding and spurring me toward IS POSSIBLE.  I can get rid of this unholy “stuff” in me – these mind thoughts, these words, these actions and reactions and attitudes, this “self-on-the-throne, dance around me” mindset.

He says He will strengthen the good that is there in my heart – make it stronger, more able to withstand Satan’s attacks.

He will confirm what is good in my heart, so it may not be lost – that Satan may not be able to lie and discourage me into thinking it’s not there at all and bug me into giving up trying.

And He says He will establish my heart.  He will (1) open my eyes to ways I need to change,
(2) grant me the willingness to change, and (3) firmly establish me in this “new” holiness, not letting me backtrack.

He won’t do all the work for me, though.  I have to learn to let him reign – in my mind, in my day, in my heart.  I have to give Him my will.  He’s slowly unclenching “will” from my clutching fingers - through daily nuggets in His precious Word, through glimpses of His glory and His great love for me, through blessings undeserved, through seeing His grace and patience and so unbelievable mercy…and through suffering…and struggles…and hardships…and tough times. 

But look!  Look what He’s heading me toward – and you……….

FAULTLESSLY PURE and UNBLAMABLE IN HOLINESS!!!!
IN THE SIGHT OF OUR GOD and FATHER,
at the COMING of OUR LORD JESUS with ALL THE SAINTS!

TRUST

We went through the book of Genesis in church awhile back.  One of the things we talked about was Eve’s response to Satan’s temptation with the apple.  Thinking about it, it seems to me that the bottom line for Eve was trust.  She didn’t trust that what God said was absolute truth.

Skipping ahead, that was also Noah’s temptation.   And Abraham’s.  I would guess that Abraham had been in “high protective mode” all of Isaac’s life.  After all, he had waited 80 or more  years for this promised child - who finally came when Abraham was 100 years old!  He would take no chances.  A contingent of servants probably followed Isaac everywhere, making sure this answer to a lifetime of prayers was kept safe.  For God to ask such a thing must have been the shock of Abraham’s life.  So he was faced with the question….”Do I trust that what God told me earlier is truth????”   Or Not???

Abraham had already gone through a number of other “trust tests”(paraphrased or implied):
(1)“Leave your country and go to a far place.  Just start walking.  I’ll tell you when to stop.”  PASS 
(2)“Trust me in Egypt with your life.”  FAIL   
(3)“Trust me that I will use you to defeat Lot’s capturerers, but don’t take bounty, lest they not realize I made you rich.” PASS  
(4)“Trust me for your life in Gerar.”  FAIL 
(5)“Trust that I will keep the Promise, without any help from you and Sarah manipulating the circumstances.”  FAIL

Now, it was, “Trust me for the Promise.  Trust me EVEN IN ISAAC’S DEATH.”

Leaving all of his natural instinct behind, literally laying his great love and hope on the altar, ABRAHAM CHOSE TO TRUST GOD AND OBEY.

Ever since Adam and Eve pulled the foundation stone out of their awesome relationship of trust and love with Him, God has been desiring men and women to again walk with Him in trust.  He found it in Abraham and in Noah….and in multitudes of Christians down through the ages who have chosen to trust GOD over circumstances, suffering, persecution, desires, hopes, trials, fears.

And He looks for it in me.  Every time I don’t listen to the Holy Spirit speaking to me, I’m doing the same thing as Eve.  I’m telling God that I don’t trust that what He wants me to do (or not do) is the best choice or will meet my need of the moment (or what I “think” my need of the moment is.)  I let fear or desire or protectiveness or “whatever” rule….because I think my logic is better than God’s.  So I choose to disobey.  And another stone falls out of the bedrock of trust that our love relationship is built on.

But, thankfully, God keeps offering me another stone!

 

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS:  II Peter 1:5-7

As 2014 begins and we possibly think about resolutions that we want to put into place for the new year – things we want to do differently and better - I’ve been thinking that it would be good for you and me to look at the goals that God wants us to aim for in 2014.  He’s listed them in II Peter 1:5-7, and He has asked us to diligently employ every effort to add these things to our faith.

He starts out with excellence (or “virtue”).  I think He puts this first because it constitutes a “mindset of excellence” – being willing to make Him Lord of every minute of our lives.

We can’t please Him without knowledge – “gnosis” – (the act of) “knowing” Him and His Word.  That means making it #1 priority every day to dig into His Word, ask the Holy Spirit to give us personal application, study diligently for correct interpretation, memorize His Word, pray His Word.  Our goal needs to be full, personal knowledge of Him (“epignosis”, II Peter 1:2, 3, 8; 2:20) – personal relationship with the King of Kings.

We can only do this with self-control – putting aside our personal wants and lusts for the moment and instead following the Holy Spirit’s lead – dying to the “self” within us, kicking out the sin nature that wants to take control.  “Self” controlled by the Holy Spirit – this is the bedrock for a life of obedience.    

But it has to be done with steadfastness – patience and endurance – over and over, until the way of the Spirit becomes our way of life.

This steadfastness of purpose leads to godliness (“eusebeia)” in our lives – growing in the “divine nature” (verse 4), as we begin to reverence and worship God the way He deserves (with all of our life).

As we develop the proper inside attitudes and relationship to God, we then automatically react to those around us with brotherly kindness – fulfilling their needs as the Holy Spirit directs. 

And with this groundwork, the ultimate goal - love (“agapen”), as the Father loves us – begins to take over our heart response to others.  We begin to have their “highest good” as our desire.

These are the “resolutions” that God wants to become “ours” and wants to see “increasingly abound” (verse 8) in us.  Wow!  I have a LONG way to go!  But……He says in verse 3 that “His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that are required for life and godliness, through the full, personal knowledge of Him Who called us to His own glory and excellence.”  So, the power and the ability are there; I just have to start with resolving to let God be Lord, not me, and follow through with “diligently employing every effort” to grow in these virtues He so desires in me.  Likewise with you.     

 Have a blessed New Year, filled with victory.