Worship Song Sunday --O Come O Come Emmanuel, by Aaron Shust

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed and qualified me to preach the Gospel of good tidings to the meek, the poor, and afflicted; He has sent me to bind up and heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the [physical and spiritual] captives and the opening of the prison and of the eyes to those who are bound ~ Isaiah 61:1, AMP

Shade and Darkness, by William Turner

A hauntingly beautiful song of a captive people, crying out from the darkness, crying out in their pain and suffering, for Messiah's deliverance -- then and now. 

Emmanuel.  In Hebrew, it is Imanu'el, meaning 'God is with us.'  And for those of us who believe that this child - born to ordinary parents and into humble circumstances over two-thousand years ago - was and is God's very own Son, 'God is with us' should indeed be the summation of what Christmas is REALLY all about. 

The birth of hope. 

Restless Child

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.' ~ Jesus


I cannot sleep,
My mind and heart are racing;
My body cannot rest.

The accusing voice asks -
"When did you become who you are today...
Someone other than who you were meant to be?"

I cover my ears,
And close my eyes;
But there is no peace for me...

A mocking voice shouts -
"You are worthless!
You are nothing!
You are rejected!
You do not matter!
You are invisible!"

Out of the room I run,
Down the stairs and
Out the door,
Into the cool, night air;
And under the moon and stars
I cry.....

But the still, small voice whispers -
"You are precious and honored in My sight.
You are Mine.
You are loved.
You are the apple of My eye.
NO ONE can take you from My hand,
On which your name is engraved."

My Father's voice comforts,
And resonates in my soul;
It is His lullaby
To His weary, burdened,
Restless child.

Carry Me!

Only two days back from vacation and I’m SO missing sitting by the ocean in my beach chair, listening to the soothing roar of crashing waves, feeling the warm sun’s caress on my face and the soft, wet sand under my feet, the smell of suntan lotion in the air and the beautiful sight of dolphins playfully jumping in and out of the water.

Last Thursday afternoon, as I was sitting on the beach reading, I happened to glance up and saw the family encamped in back of me packing up to go back to their house. It was a young mom and dad and their adorable toddler son. They had a lot of stuff to bring back with them….several chairs, a beach umbrella, a small cooler, a bag with towels and sunscreen, another bag with beach toys and a backpack. As their little boy continued playing in the sand, totally unconcerned with what his parents were doing, the mom picked up a chair, a bag and the backpack, while the father graciously grabbed and carried everything else. When they were ready, they told their son it was time to go. Of course, the little boy did NOT want to leave the beach, and he put up a fuss. The dad leaned down and spoke gently to him, then straightened back up and they all started walking. They had gone only went a few feet when the little boy ran in front of his father, held up his arms and cried, ‘Daddy, up, up!!’ Once again, the father, who was loaded down like a beast of burden, patiently looked down and said to his child, ‘you want Daddy to carry you?’ ‘Yes, peeze, Daddy, peeze ca’y me!’ was the response as he stood on tip-toe, continuing to reach for his father.

As I sat and smiled and observed this little scenario, I shook my head, wondering how in the world this man, who was slight of frame, was going to manage to pick up and carry this child, what with everything he already had in tow, and since his son was a bit on the stocky side. But I watched in awe as he bent down and, without tipping over or dropping anything (as I’m quite certain I would have done), easily swept his young son up off the sand, into his arms and trudged off the beach towards the long path through the dunes that led to the street and, eventually, home.

I watched until I could no longer see them and in all that time, the little boy’s father never set him down nor did he seem to struggle with all that weight he carried. Corny as it may sound, I watched them with tears in my eyes. Maybe someone else might have thought, ‘Good grief, why didn’t the mom pick him up since she had less to carry?’ or ‘Oh, give me a break, way to spoil your kid, just let him walk!’ But I was thinking what a sweet picture this was of a father’s love and compassion for his child. And then I thought what a great similarity this was to our Father God’s love and compassion for us.  It was a visual that God knew I needed to see displayed at that moment. You see, there are some issues and concerns I’m struggling with and believe me….spiritual attacks do not cease when you go on vacation. In fact, for me last week, they actually seemed to increase in strength and frequency. I was hurting, I was anxious, I was weary. I’d had enough, couldn’t go another step and my faith seemed to be unraveling rather quickly. Yet, here is my Father God, reminding me that no matter how many things He has going on, no matter how many ‘things’ He has in His hands, nothing is too hard for Him. For it does say in His Word, in Jeremiah 32:27, “Behold, I am Yahweh, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?” (World English translation). Yes, He is right here with me, and if I would simply reach up my hands and cry out to Him, “Carry me, Abba, please carry me!!” He is big enough and strong enough to bend down, sweep me into His arms and carry me all the way through the hard, wilderness places of my life.

I know the scripture
I've known the songs,
I sang the words
from my hollowed heart;
But You've spoken softly
Through the storm
I've heard Your voice
and I've felt the calm;
I stand only because
You've given me faith to walk,
Only because

You carried me
You carried me,
You carried me through it all ;
And I believe,
Yes I believe,
You'll carry me all the way home ~ ‘You Carried Me,‘ Building 429