Worship Song Sunday -- Grace Like Rain, by Todd Agnew

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. ~ Ephesians 2:8-9, NASB

Bring On The Rain! by steeleAcooper

And Hallelujah, grace like rain

Falls down on me;

And Hallelujah, and all my stains

Are washed away

They're washed away! 

Worship Song Sunday - Carry Me To The Cross, by Kutless

Even to your old age and grey hairs, I am He, I am He Who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you. I will sustain you and I will rescue you. ~ Isaiah 46:4, NIV

Rescued By Love, by Darren Tan

When the path is daunting,
And every step exhausting,
I'm not alone, I'm not alone, no...no

I feel You draw me closer
All these burdens on my shoulder,
I'm not alone, I'm not alone,
You pull me from this place

Hallelujah!
You carry me every day,
You carry me all the way;
Hallelujah!
You carry me to the,
You carry me to the cross. ~ Carry Me To The Cross, written by Jason Walker, Nick DePartee, Mark Stuart

Worship Song Sunday -- Come to the Cross, by Michael W. Smith

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." ~ Galatians 2:20 (NIV)

At the request of someone who is special to me, I am resurrecting Worship Song Sunday.  In our church service this morning, the message was about the cross of Christ -- how the apostle Paul's letter to the Galatians spoke of boasting in the cross, and what a scandalous concept it was for the Jews to wrap their brains around, since the cross was considered a device of torture and a murder weapon. To the Jews, being hung on a cross meant you had fallen under God's judgement.

Yet to followers of Jesus Christ, the cross is a symbol of freedom....freedom from death, freedom from God's wrath because of our sins.  

Only The Cross, by Ron DiCianni

Jesus's death on a cross -- a wooden, rugged, scandalous cross -- has set us free!

Hallelujah!!! 
Everyone, everyone can come to the cross!
It doesn't matter what you've done,
Everyone can come to the cross! 

God Is Good

Because of the LORD'S great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. ~ Lamentations 3:22-23, NIV

God is good.  So very good.  I know people say this all the time, so much so that it often can become meaningless; just another one of those ‘lame’ sayings that Christians like to say. Or like to put on T-shirts.

 

I admit – I have said this “God is good” phrase many times myself. Spouted it off with everyone else like the (sometimes) obedient little congregant that I am, when called upon to do so by the pastor, along with the accompanying response “All the time!”

But today...this very moment...I am saying it and meaning it.  I received something I asked for, but did not deserve. I am not going to go into detail about what it is and all that it entails.  Because really – that’s not the point of this post.  I do not wish to brag or boast here, as if I am some favored, golden child of the Lord.  Again, I am all too aware that I DO NOT deserve this provision, this immense kindness from God. I am completely in awe and greatly humbled that He even allowed this to take place. I know there are many folks out there who beg God daily to provide for a desperate need, or to remove a thorn from their side – and they are waiting.  And waiting.  And wondering while they continue to wait.

Believe me, I KNOW what that’s like.  There are quite a few things on my ‘list’ that I’ve begged God for over the years -- and I’m still waiting and wondering.

Today, I found myself yet again in dire need of something. And even after praying about it, I still found myself sickened with worry and anxiety over it. Several things occurred in the past few days that actually made my situation worse, not better, bringing me to that ‘dire’ status today.

What’s so totally weird and off-the-wall is, I KNEW that the answer was coming.  I KNEW the need was going to be fulfilled.  But I also knew that the timing was off.  WAY off.  The timing of the answer and the fulfillment wasn’t aligned with the timing of my need.

But God’s timing is completely different from my timing and that of the world’s.  This afternoon, God saw fit to turn the tables, so to speak, by shaking a bountiful, extra amount of grains of sand into my almost empty hourglass. He moved a mountain and provided for my need in a way I couldn’t have imagined or planned.  And I am so very, very grateful.

HALLELUJAH!!

No....I did not deserve it. Not one bit. Not at all. 

But God showed me mercy and grace, and saw fit to provide me with this gift ANYWAY.  Despite the fact that I'm a hot mess. Despite the fact that my central nervous system was riddled with anxiety and doubts and discouragement and every other kind of garbage.  Despite the fact that I had accepted that I was going down and would have to face the music and deal with the consequences some foolish choices I’d made were about to reap.

Because God is good. So very good.  His mercies are new EVERY morning, for sure. He is faithful, even when I – His flawed and fallen child -- am not.

How has God shown YOU His mercy, His grace, His love, His goodness and His faithfulness, dear ones? In what ways has He provided for you in your desperate time of need? Give some thought to that some time today, and give thanks that God IS good.  So very good.

Thank You, Lord, for hearing my cries and my pleas. And thank You that, despite the fact I am not perfect, that my prayers are often stilted and selfish, and I often doubt that You even hear me, You love me still. You look at me with eyes of mercy and grace; with a heart of compassion and forgiveness and unfailing love, and You rescue me. You protect me.  You provide for me and my family. May I never, EVER forget what You did for me today.  What You do for me every day. Thank You, THANK YOU, my Lord, my God, my King. Amen.

Disciples so often get into trouble; still God is there every time. ~ Psalm 34:19, The Message

Worship Song Sunday -- What a Savior, by Laura Story

"The LORD, the LORD is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation." ~ Isaiah 12:2


We all need a savior. Without a savior, we would all be dead in our sins. 


I must see Jesus, not just as a savior, but -- making this personal  -- as my Savior.


Yes, Jesus left everything behind, humbling Himself and taking on human form, and came to this earth to be our atoning sacrifice, our perfect, spotless, Lamb of God, to save us from our sins.  He is indeed our Savior.


But today, I'm not looking at Jesus as the Hero of a one-time rescue mission.  No, for me, right now -- I NEED to see and KNOW HIM as One Who saves me on a daily basis.  Jesus is Whom I will look to today and every day to save me from:


my anxieties


my depression


my doubts


my fears


my loneliness


my deepest heart-hurts


my self

"Jesus, You are stronger
More than any other


Hallelujah -- what a Savior!"

Worship Song Sunday -- Hallelujah, by Heather Williams

But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. ~ Acts 16:25-26, NASB


Hallelujah.  We hear the word a lot, especially at church or in Christmas carols.  On TV, televangelists use the word almost as often as the word  'and' is used in daily conversation.  We ourselves may even use the word a lot. I read that in our modern world's vernacular, 'Hallelujah' is most often used to express great happiness that something one has been hoping or waiting for has finally come to pass, and doesn't necessarily indicate the religious belief or faith of the person using the word. 

In the Bible, the word Hallelujah occurs often, mainly in Psalms and several times in Revelation, and is said to be a request for a congregation to join together in praise towards God. It can be translated as "Praise God" or "Praise Yahweh, you people," and is usually worded in English contexts as "Praise the Lord."


For most of us who are followers of Christ, Hallelujah is considered a joyful word of praise to God, rather than an injuction to praise Him.


And when are we to praise God?  All the time.  Not only in those times that we deem God as being 'good.' You know...when we have no problem chanting in church or to other people that "God is good, all the time.  All the time, God is good."  When everything in our life seems to be going our way. 

But we're also called to 'praise the LORD' in those times when, if we're totally honest with ourselves, God doesn't seem so good.  In those harsh, dark, lonely and frightening times when God 'seems' to have forgotten about us and He 'seems' to be busy with other, more important things or people; those times we're left feeling like a scared puppy that someone has abandoned along the side of a road less traveled.

But that's just a lie of the enemy, a lie he delights in force feeding us until we're ready to choke, leaving us unable to utter a syllable of praise.   Because God IS good...all the time.  Our circumstances and situations may change, but God's character does not.  So no matter what, God is worthy of our praises. 

I'm sure you've heard it said, as I have, that God inhabits the praises of His people.  This is actually biblical, coming from Psalm 22:3 ~ But Thou art holy, O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.  We may not be Israelites, but we are still God's people, His dearly loved and chosen children. So to me, this verse means that when we praise Him, no matter what we're going through or dealing with, He is right there with us. In our good times and our bad times, God is as close as our breath -- the breath that joyfully shouts or the breath that tearfully whispers, 'Hallelujah!'

Today's song by Heather Williams is a beautiful testimony to that. I did a little research on Heather and her song.   She didn't grow up in a loving, Christian home.  She grew up in an environment of extreme poverty and physical, verbal and emotional abuse. She became involved in alcohol and drug use, and she was homeless for a time.  She gave her life to Jesus when she was about 18 years old after living such a harsh and wild life, a life in which she openly admits that she cursed God, boldly told Him she hated Him on a regular basis, and blamed Him for every awful thing that happened to her. But one day, at a church service she attended with her birth father, she heard God speak to her heart, inviting her to 'come as you are.'  And all she could say to Him right then was, 'Forgive me!'

Not long afterwards, she met the man that is now her husband.  They were married for seven years before they were finally able to have a baby, their son, Caedmen.  But Caedmen had a heart condition and died when he was only 6 months old . About a year after Caedmen's death, Heather tells the story of sitting down on the floor of her home one day, guitar in hand, and was moved to begin composing this song.  She asked Jesus to show up, right where she was.....and He did, in a powerful and awesome way. 

This song is so very special to Heather and she shares that the cry of this song, her Hallelujah, is that even in that place on the floor with her guitar, remembering her beloved son and crying out in a blubbering mess, she still chose to say Hallelujah; she still chose to say to the Lord, "I love You,"  and she still chose to glorify Him.

Paul and Silas, after having their robes torn from them in public, beaten with rods by an angry crowd and then thrown into prison with their feet fastened together in stocks, chose to do the same, singing praises to God and glorifying Him in song, despite their horrible and seemingly hopeless circumstances. And didn't God show up, right where they were, in a powerful and awesome way, setting free Paul, Silas and the other prisoners from their chains.

Today, what are those horrible and seemingly hopeless circumstances that have you imprisoned?  Are you afraid or anxious?  Are you discouraged or depressed?  Are you financially broke or spiritually broken?  Are you grieving the loss of someone or something?

Whatever it is, in spite of it all, it is my hope that as you listen to this song, you'll still choose to sing out "Hallelujah!!"  Still choose to tell God, "I love You!"  Still choose to glorify Him. 

Let your own Hallelujah invite God to show up right where you are and to set you free.