Your Thoughts Determine Your Feelings

Are you experiencing fearful thoughts? Are you worried and anxious? I know I’ve had moments this past week. Despite all the study and the reading and writing that I do, I am not immune to experiencing fear and anxiety. No one is. In this current world crisis that we are all going through, fear abounds, and despair is very prevalent. 

But do you realise that your feelings are based on your thoughts? Your feelings come from your thoughts. Your thinking is what causes you to fear. 

Your body chemistry is not to blame for your feelings. Your thoughts originate in your heart. Your feelings come from your thoughts and your thoughts come from your heart. 

The Bible is very clear on this point. 

Mark 7:21-23 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

Proverbs 23:7a  For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: 

We feel what we feel because of how we think. My husband has often told me, “It’s all in your head.” I don’t like to hear this, especially when I’m sick or upset or worried. But it seems, most of the time, he’s spot on! It is all in my head.  I worry about things and work myself into a state just because of how I’m thinking. I can actually worry myself sick! 

When I begin to have these worries, it’s because I don’t have the right view of God.  I am not fully trusting God in the particular situation and so I begin to have ‘evil thoughts’ and then these thoughts translate into feelings and the raw emotion spills out. 

Now, don’t get me wrong, emotions are not wrong. God created us with emotions and they are a gift. He made us to have and show feelings. Imagine a life without feelings? Being with your friends yet feeling no pleasure. Holding a newborn without elation. Feeling no relief at good news shared. Without emotions, you couldn’t experience good feelings. 

Life without emotion would be colourless and bland. We don’t need to be afraid of our feelings. We just need to not let them control us. Don’t let your feelings be what defines you. 

Thoughts come from our hearts. What is going on in your life may tempt you to have wrong thoughts. But it’s up to you whether you give in to that temptation. It’s up to you what you choose to think about. We are not excused from wrong thinking just because the world is falling apart. God holds us responsible for our thoughts. 

God doesn’t want us to focus on our feelings. He wants us to focus on our thinking and the choices we make. We should be watching our thinking, not our feelings. As I said before, our feelings are based on our thoughts. So, it’s what we think about that we need to rein in. 

2 Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Now, fear can be helpful in certain circumstances.  When fear serves as a caution and alerts us to danger, be it spiritual or physical, it can be a good thing. Fear drives us to be cautious about certain things that could be harmful. 

But when fear keeps us from carrying out God’s will and our Biblical responsibilities, fear becomes a bad thing. When we have fear that stops us from doing what God would have us do. Whether it be leaving all that we know and love to go to the mission field, or whether it be something as small as helping a friend in need. If fear drives us to disobey God, then that fear is not a good thing. Our thoughts have caused us to have feelings of fear and these fears don’t need to be there as we have so many promises in the Word to cling to. 

I know, it’s easy to say, ‘don’t fear’, God commands us not to fear. But it’s not so easy to actually live it. I know that in counselling others, I have often quoted the scriptures on living without fear and they are good verses to memorize and comfort others with, but at times I find myself failing to practice what I preach. Why then is it so hard to grasp? Because of my thoughts! 

Yes, it all comes down to my thinking. Yet again. I begin to dwell on the circumstances around me, I take my eyes off the Lord and begin to have doubts at His ability to keep me under the shelter of His wings, and my thoughts take control and pretty soon, Boom! feelings of fear take over. 

Proverbs 1:33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

The Bible tells us that if we’ll just hearken, or listen attentively, hear intelligently, consider and obey the Lord, we will dwell safely and we will be quiet from fear. That’s not a quiet like a shushing, that’s a quiet that means peaceful, restful and at ease. 

2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

When we are fearful, we lack faith. Our faith needs to grow and be grounded in the Word of God. The Lord will test our faith and that may be what is happening right now. How strong is your faith? Will it stand up during troublesome times? 

Don’t rely on your feelings to guide you. They lead us astray continually. How we feel comes from our hearts. Our hearts need to be in tune with God. The closer we are walking to Him, the more faith we have in Him, the more we trust Him, the surer we are to weathering life’s storms. Yes, at times, the waves will crash over us and threaten to hold us under, but if we are trusting God like we should, we’ll feel His strong arm pulling us up again onto the rock, steeling ourselves against the next wave and the next. 

Don’t let your fears drown you. And don’t let your thinking cause you to fear. Remember that it’s your thoughts that cause you to respond or react to your circumstances. 

Beware of what you think about! 

“Feelings come and feelings go,

And feelings are deceiving;

My warrant is the Word of God--

Naught else is worth believing.

Though all my heart should feel condemned

For want of some sweet token,

There is One greater than my heart

Whose Word cannot be broken.

I'll trust in God's unchanging Word

Till soul and body sever,

For, though all things shall pass away,

HIS WORD SHALL STAND FOREVER!”

Martin Luther

Pain May be Part of the Plan

In going over some of my archives, I came across this article I had written a few years back and thought it was worth reposting in light of the present circumstances. 

“Pain, suffering, trouble, adversity, temptation, affliction, can exercise a wonderful ministry of spiritual discipline, refinement, and enrichment.

Some flowers, as the rose, must be crushed before their full fragrance is released. Some fruit, as the sycamore, must be bruised before it will attain ripeness and sweetness. Some metals, as gold, must be flung into the furnace before they reach full value and purity The old oak log must be laid on the fire, and the flames encircle it, before its imprisoned music is set free.

 So is it with the saints. It is true with many of us that we must be laid low before we will look high. We must know God's smiting before we can appreciate His smiling. The Potter must break the vessel before He can make out of the same material a new and beautiful vase. Our hearts must be broken before their richest contents can leak out and flow forth to bless others.

 But whenever God sends a trial with one hand, He gives grace with the other. Thus trials become triumphs. Burdens become wings. Affliction, instead of being a bed of thorns and a pathway of nettles, becomes a quilt of roses.

The very things which seem to break us are the things which really “make” us.

Lo, God is in the hurricane, and instead of driving us to destruction, it beats the scared mariner into that safest of all harbours, the encircling arms of God's love!”  J. Sidlow Baxter

In reading this passage this morning, I was reminded how true it is. That 'pain may be part of the plan'. I also realised that I wasn't able to explain it any better, so I decided to write out the whole passage to share.

So often, we think that 'pain' in our Christian walk is not supposed to happen. We get the idea that if we're walking close to the Lord and serving Him faithfully, that we won't struggle with trials and disappointments. Where in the Bible do we find that??

1 Peter 4:19

Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God

 commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator. 

Did you get that, “according to the will of God”?

Meaning, it is the will of God that we suffer. He alone knows what's

best for us and what we need to endure in order to become more like Him.

And because we are all unique individuals, we have tailor made sufferings

to bring us closer to Him and to refine us and rid us of impurities in our lives.

As I've written so many times before, trials are often blessings in disguise.

There are certain people in Christian circles, that have this idea,

that if you're suffering, then you must be sinning.

Well, I know one thing. My Lord Jesus NEVER sinned. Was perfect.

Sinless. Holy.  Righteous. And yet, read this verse:

Hebrews 2:10

For it became him, for whom are all things,

and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory,

 to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

The Lord Jesus Himself even suffered! The Crown of thorns

was in God's eternal plan. The Cross was but a step to the throne.

When we look at suffering in that light, we might just

change our perspective on how we view our trials.

Here we have the Lord Jesus, the only sinless and perfect

being, suffering as part of God's plan.

Suffering so that we might be free.

There are so many discouragements and disappointments

in our lives and often we feel like all we do is struggle and battle on a

day to day basis. But if we could only grasp that it may be part of the

plan and that God has a purpose and a work to do.

Would we look at our sufferings in a different light? Would we be able to be

content to go through the furnace of fiery trials?  Could we hold

our head high and give praise to a righteous God who knows

exactly what he's doing?

And when we come out the other side,

would we be willing to thank Him for the trial, and praise Him for the

blessing it turned out to be in our lives?

Our trials can become triumphs and our burdens, wings.

It all comes down to our response to Him.

Are we resisting the purifying work of the Lord in our lives?

Or are we letting it drive us into the 'encircling arms of His love'?

Let Go

and

Let God!

Hope 

I recently read this quote by Oscar Hammerstein

“It is a modern tragedy that despair has so many spokesmen and hope so few”

How true this statement is! And we don’t have far to look during these trying times. All we read about, all we hear about, all we watch, all we talk about is despair. Despair. Despair. Despair.

The dictionary defines despair as, ‘the complete loss or absence of hope’. Absence of hope. Hopelessness.  It refers to a state of mind caused by circumstances that seem too much to cope with.

Our world is in a state of despair. It has no hope. And despair has many spokesmen. Too often we read of despair. But how often do we read of hope?

We as Christians, have hope. We have a God who is greater than all the world’s problems. A God who is all knowing, all powerful, all present and all righteous! What a blessed hope it is to know that God holds the world in His hands.

Psalm 95:3-4 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.

As a Christian, I have the hope that when God promises something in His Word, I can have full confidence in that promise and put my trust in Him, wholly and completely. I can trust that something will come to pass because God said it would come to pass. It’s not just wishful thinking. I KNOW! I BELIEVE!

Christ died for me. He rose again for me. I have trusted in Him wholly and completely and I have the hope of eternal security. He is my hope. And looking around this world today, He is my ONLY hope!

1 Peter 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

We need to be spokesmen of hope rather than despair. We ought to be spreading the message of hope instead of listening to the screams of despair. The Bible clearly tells us in 1 Peter, to be ready always to give an answer.

1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

If you are asked why you are able to stay so calm during chaos, if you are questioned as to how you can live without fear and worry, be ready to give an answer of hope.

Psalm 42:5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.

Take Comfort in the Word of God

Psalm 61:1-4 Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.

Well, I’m not even sure where to start! I just know that there is encouragement in the scripture for these trying times and that I can’t get to my gigantic pile of chores and errands until I search the scriptures a little more and write down a word of encouragement (even if it’s only me that needs it).

In the past week, the world has descended into utter chaos and yes, it has even reached our little part of the world here in Katherine.

I awoke this morning with a feeling of anxiousness. A fear, slowly welling up deep inside of my being. A restlessness. Turmoil.

I knew this wasn’t a good way to start my day, but business called, and I had to make it through my busy day, dealing with people, rushing here and there, and all without letting the chaos overwhelm me.

I didn’t have time for my usual quiet time with the early start, and so, as I made my deliveries around town, I let my Bible app read the Psalms to me.

Oh, what blessed comfort the Word of God can bring to the troubled heart. Before long, I felt my spirits rise and the tears welled up in my eyes as I thought of my faithlessness and my doubting.

As the reading got to Psalm 61, I had to stop and note down where the passage I was hearing was found so I could go over it again later.

I found myself meditating on the passage and pondering over the strength we find in its verses.

If you are feeling overwhelmed today, if you are doubting, if you are lacking in faith, if you are finding it hard to trust God’s hand, then take heart, God has comfort for your soul.

Read over this portion of scripture again.

Psalm 61:1-4 Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.

I found many strong things in these verses.

A rock. A shelter. A strong tower. A tabernacle. Wings.

I see all these things as symbols of safety. Protection. Refuge.

A rock symbolizes strength, and we know that God is our rock.

Psalm 18:2 The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

He is a shelter for us, a place to run to. Somewhere safe we can hide. He is a strong tower. Not just a tower to take refuge in, but a STRONG tower!

What about the reference to the tabernacle? In Old Testament times, the tabernacle was the place where God dwelt among his people. It was a portable place of worship, God was there.

And wings.” I will trust in the covert of thy wings.” God’s wings are a protection over us.

Psalm 91:4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust:

 his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Psalm 36:7 How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God!

Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.

If you’ve ever seen a mother hen sheltering her baby chicks under her wings, you are able to get just a little glimpse of how God shelters us with His mighty arm of protection.

In these uncertain times, and as we look around at the circumstances, it’s not easy to see God. We can become fearful, anxious and doubting. But God is still God and He never changes. He is in control and we have only to trust Him and not waver in our faith.

It’s a lot easier to say this than to do it. We know the promises in the Bible. We know that God is in control, but when it really comes down to it, we are called upon to put our faith into action. What a time to draw close to God. What a time to see if you really believe those promises!

There are over 300 verses in the Bible telling us to ‘fear not’. I think God wants us to really get a hold of the fact that we don’t have to fear. If we have Him living in our heart and we are walking close by His side, we don’t have to have a spirit of fear. He will bring peace to our souls.

One of my favourite verses in the Bible is found in the book of Isaiah.

Isaiah 43:2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

God allows us to go through things in our lives that are not comfortable. They’re not pleasant. They are stressful, they are frightening. But if you allow Him to, He will do a purifying work in your heart and you will come through the other side, praising Him for His goodness and protection over you.

Although we don’t understand why this is happening in our world right now, we can be comforted in knowing that God knew about it long before we heard of it and that He is sovereign and holy and righteous and knows what He’s doing and is in control of the situation.

Don’t take my word for it. Search the scriptures for yourself and dig up the precious promises that God has for you. There are so many that I could be here for a year, but you will get a lot more out of it if you get into your Bible and study them out yourself. And when you do, share them with others. There is a world out there that needs hope. We need to share the good news of the gospel with them. We need to be faithful Christians that can show a lost world that we can live without fear.

Trust Him. Stay faithful. Don’t fear. Don’t doubt.

Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,

shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

” DON’T DOUBT IN THE DARK, WHAT YOU KNOW IN THE LIGHT”

 Man Pleaser or God Pleaser?

Galatians 1:10

 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men?

 for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

In following on from my last post, “Get Excited”, I wanted to look at something that each and everyone of us has to struggle with almost every day. The choice we make to be a man-pleaser or a God-pleaser. 

As I wrote about worshipping the Lord through song and singing heartily to the Lord and getting excited by the messages that are found in the hymns and choruses we sing, I began to think about the many times we become afraid to follow God’s leading because of the fear of man. 

We are naturally bent towards pleasing man. But God would have us focus on pleasing Him. The actual word “menpleasers” is only found twice in scripture. In Ephesians and in Colossians. 

Ephesians 6:6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;

Colossians 3:22 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God:

It has the meaning of, ‘studying to please man, courting the favour of men’.  

I sometimes think that we as women, are more prone to be man pleasers.  For some reason, we seem to care a whole lot more about what people think about us than men do. I know that’s not always the case, but you have only to look at Instagram and Facebook and other social media platforms to see that there are a lot of people out there seeking man’s favour and appreciation. We’re worried about our weight. Our hair. Our clothes. The way people see our families. The expectations of others weighs heavily upon our shoulders. We have become man pleasers. 

I am saddened to think that we have become such a generation of lovers of self and pleasers of man that we have forgotten the One who we should be striving to please. God. He is the one we ought to be looking to for favour and appreciation and love and attention. 

We are often afraid to be ourselves for fear others will laugh or mock. We’re afraid to sing out wholeheartedly to the Lord. We’re afraid to speak up for the Lord publicly, even though we know it’s the right thing to do. We’re afraid to pray in front of others, worried that if we truly prayed with our whole hearts and talked to the Lord as we do privately, some may laugh and think we’re over the top and too charismatic. I’m not joking here, it is a very real thing in prayer meetings all over the world. We feel inadequate and think that our prayers are not as polished as the veteran Christian praying with us. Maybe we think we need to use more ‘thees’ and ‘thous’. You know what I say? Who cares? As long as God is happy with my prayer and it is prayed sincerely and from my heart unto Him, then I don’t care what you think of my delivery and my emotion that flows from my heart and out of my mouth. 

That may sound callous and unfeeling and I don’t mean to offend, but I think it’s time we stopped worrying about what others think and start being concerned about what God thinks!

I’m so glad that God sees our hearts.  I’m so glad that I can strive to be a God pleaser and not be afraid of what others think. Yes, it’s taken many years to get to this point, and of course there are still times that I hold back because of the fear of man, but there, in the back of my mind, I remember that I ought to obey God rather than men and that I really want His favour and His blessing on my life. It’s more important to me that I be concerned with what God thinks of me rather than what others think of me. 

And you know an amazing thing? By striving to please God, you will please who He wants you to please. In obeying God, we end up pleasing who we should please and not who we think we should be pleasing. Does that make sense? 

Don’t be overly concerned with pleasing others. But DO be overly concerned with pleasing God. Make it your wholehearted desire to please God in all things. In everything you do. Don’t think about what others may think. If you know you are doing what God wants you to do, then let go of the notion that you need ‘likes’ and ‘thumbs up’ and praise for all you do. 

John 12:42-43 Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

Notice here in this passage that many believed on the Lord but would not confess Him because of the fear of man. The loved the praise of men just too much! Does that bring to mind anything in your life lately that you have held back from because of wanting praise and knowing that if you did that thing, you wouldn’t get the praise you craved? 

Proverbs 16:7 When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

This verse in Proverbs reminds us that if we are busy pleasing the Lord, even our enemies become our friends. How does that work? I don’t understand how the Lord works sometimes or even what exactly He means by what He says in His Word, but I do know, that I don’t have to understand it all, I only have to obey! 

Now, I do have to say a little here on care for others, just in case you are thinking that I am uncaring and heartless. We do have to have care for others and we need to love others. We have to be careful that we don’t cause others to stumble and we need to show love and compassion. We don’t want to have an “I don’t care” attitude when it comes to showing love, but we should have an “I don’t care what others think as long as I am doing what the Lord wants me to do and doing it with love” attitude! 

What relationship is the most important to you? Is it your followers on Instagram? Is it your family? Or is it God? If your heart is truly focused on your relationship with God, then what others think of you will become less and less important and what God thinks of you will become more and more important. Pleasing God will take centre stage. The accolades of others will fade into the background. As you draw closer to Him, all the other voices will not matter. Yes, they will still scream for attention, but you will able to silence them as you step out in obedience to Christ. 

So, when you sing at church, when you dress differently than others because you care about modesty, when you speak out about what God has done in your life, do it wholeheartedly! Don’t worry about what others think. Don’t let others dictate to you how you should act. Let the Lord be the ultimate guide and judge. Let Him be the one you follow. Let Him be the one you listen to. Let His voice override all other voices. Listen for His still, small voice amongst the clamour of the world. Tune your heart to Him. Focus on your relationship with Him. Draw close to Him. The closer you are to Him the easier it will be to hear His voice. 

Be a God pleaser NOT a man pleaser!

Get Excited

Does anyone else get so excited about the things of the Lord while listening to or singing good Christian music? Do you feel like shouting, “Hallelujah”! at the top of your voice?

Do the words to a song lift your heart in such a way that you can’t help but close your eyes and think about God’s goodness and love that he showers upon your life?

Often times, on a Sunday morning, during the song service, I get so caught up in the meaning of the songs we sing, that I feel like shouting out loud and praising God with words of praise! I want to yell, “Amen!” and “Praise God!”.

During these times, I lift my voice to Him and I don’t care who’s listening. I don’t care that I may not be able to reach those high notes. I don’t care that my voice warbles and doesn’t quite stay on the note. I’m not singing for anyone except the Lord. He alone deserves my praise. He is the one that wants to hear me worship Him through song.

And yes, some may look at me and roll their eyes (and they do), and some may whisper something to the person next to them and snicker quietly (and they do),  but all I feel is pity for them. Pity that they are not able to get so caught up with thinking on spiritual things that all they can do is be critical. They sing their songs by heart, not even stopping to really think about what the words are saying and how they might apply them to their lives. They go through the motions. Stand up. Sit down. Shake the hand next to you. Sing a verse. Sing a chorus. Amen.

But where is there fire? Where is there zeal? Where is their excitement? Where is their passion for the things of the Lord? Is there not just a little spark of joy that wells in their hearts as they sing their songs of worship? Can they really sing the songs with no feeling whatsoever?

I see a lot from my vantage point up the front while playing the piano of a Sunday morning. I don’t think people realize how often I look around at the faces of the people in the congregation. (watch out, I could be looking at you!)

I look out and see people that are hurting. People that are in pain. I see people who are totally indifferent. But I also get to see the joyful faces. The faces of those who are really meaning what they’re singing, and it shows on their face. You can see that they are not just singing the words off by heart, mouthing without expression. No. They are excited. They are worshipping the Lord in song. And interestingly enough, often, these people don’t have the most beautiful voices. They are not trained singers. They don’t know how to sing parts. But they know the joy of the Lord and it comes out in their worship to Him through song.

There are times I can’t stop the tears streaming down my face as I play the piano. My vision blurs and I can’t see the hymn book through my tears, but God guides my fingers and keeps my hands moving while I close my eyes and worship him. I think seriously about the words I’m singing and what they mean to me personally and I am overwhelmed by God’s love and mercy to me, a poor and wretched sinner in need of a Saviour. 

I think of His Amazing Grace and His Wonderful Love and His Everlasting Peace and the Burdens that He lifted at Calvary. I think of Heaven and the joy it will be to live with the Lord forever. I think of the time I have here on this earth and how it will be worth it all, when we see Jesus.

Passages regarding music are found in many places in the Bible. God knows the importance of music and the way it can help us. Remember Saul and the effect music had on him as David played his harp for him.

1 Samuel 16:23 And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.

And then we have the priests who praised the Lord so joyfully, that they couldn’t even minister because of the house being filled with a cloud because of the glory of the Lord filling the place! Oh, that that would happen on a Sunday Morning in our churches!

2 Chronicles 5:12-14 Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets:) It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD; So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.

I wrote a series of articles on praise in song a couple of years back and I was amazed to read of all the times that music is mentioned in the Bible.

We are continually reminded to praise God in song.

Psalm 98:1 O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.

Psalm 96:1 O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth.

Psalm 40:3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.

When we are walking with the Lord and praising Him as we should, He will put a song in our mouth and we will want to sing it. We won’t care who’s listening. We will just want to praise Him.

So, can I encourage you, as you stand to sing at church or wherever it may be, that you sing from your heart? Read over the words carefully as you sing them. Take time to really think about their meaning. Give thanks to God as you sing. Lift up your voices unto the Lord. Don’t be afraid of what people may think. Only be concerned at what God would think as you sing. Sing unto Him. Close your eyes if you need to. Or sing louder if you’re so excited about God’s working in your life that you can’t help but shout it!  Praise Him for what is to come. The promise of eternal life. A life where we will never tire of praising Him. An eternity of worshipping Him.

Get excited about what God has done for you and don’t be afraid of showing your excitement through your worship of Him through song. 

So yes, if you visit our church, you will find me singing and playing unashamedly, wholeheartedly and loudly unto the Lord and no, it won’t bother me if you roll your eyes or snicker. I’m not doing it for your enjoyment, I’m doing it for the Lord!

Psalm 98:4-8 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. Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together.

Beautiful music is the art of the prophets that can calm the agitations of the soul; it is one of the most magnificent and delightful presents God has given us.

- Martin Luther