The 80's weren't all about big hair and bad clothes. Although, looking back at pictures there was plenty of that to go around. During those years there were some wonderful songs written in Southern Gospel music. Today's post is about just that...
The below favorite from my childhood became our lullaby for naptime today. The toddler in my lap requested "Jericho" (Joshua fought the Battle of Jericho), and I obliged. After a while, the Sunday school songs ran out. It was then that this song came to mind.
Sweet memories flood my heart when I think of this song... or when I hear it, which is very rare. In my mind's eye I see my mother singing in church, which happened often when I was a child. This was one she sang often. It's simple message rang true in my heart then, as it does now.
May the little ones we sing to, and share stories with, know the power of the simple messages of the Bible.
May those truths resonate in tiny lives, that they may be strong and bold in Christ.
LITTLE DAVID
by Sandy Knight
Little David, oh, so small,
Goliath, oh, so tall,
Odds were just too high, poor little David.
So he shook off all of his load
For with the power of God he was clothed,
He said, "The battle's not mine; I give it to You;
Lord, it's Thine."
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Do you know He's walked before you? Happy Palm Sunday!
Today, the hubby and I enjoyed a peaceful wandering in the woods. As we enjoyed the silence and cool breeze, it was hard to not see the immense beauty around us.
This is one of my favorite times of the year. We see all around us the care God has taken with His creation. He gently tucks it in through autumn's cooling temps and wakes it again to new life in spring. How can that not impress upon us the immense love he has for us?
In the midst of my marveling at creation, we jumped a small creek and I tripped on the undergrowth. Playfully, I teased my husband over his 'immense' concern for my safety... Seeing as he didn't pause to help me across the small creek or even turn around to my grunt at having almost tripped. His response though stops me. He says, "I'm walking before you."
While I was teasing him, and we both knew it, it reminded me that there was no lack of concern in his actions. Quite the opposite! He was walking ahead of me to make sure there were no unseen dangers.
As such a simple act swelled my heart with love, it also very vividly brought to life the truth we know about Christ... He walks before us. He has seen the trials we face. He has known the hardship and the heartache.
He chose to enter our lives in human form, which we recently celebrated at Christmas, and to pay the ultimate price for our sins, which we will celebrate this Friday as Good Friday.
Thankfully, the story doesn't end there!
Next Sunday we will celebrate His resurrection, and the promise of the new life He gives us. How precious we are of all creation!
As today we celebrate Palm Sunday, his arrival in Jerusalem for a week he knew would include immense suffering, death, and a trip to hell... HAPPY PALM SUNDAY!
As we celebrate this week, let us remember the ultimate price He paid and the larger than life gift He gave.
And as we draw closer to Easter Sunday, let us rejoice in the realization that He did it all that we may find comfort in the knowledge that He has walked before us.
He paid a debt we could not pay, for a life we do not deserve, and He will not leave us to walk it's road alone.
This is one of my favorite times of the year. We see all around us the care God has taken with His creation. He gently tucks it in through autumn's cooling temps and wakes it again to new life in spring. How can that not impress upon us the immense love he has for us?
In the midst of my marveling at creation, we jumped a small creek and I tripped on the undergrowth. Playfully, I teased my husband over his 'immense' concern for my safety... Seeing as he didn't pause to help me across the small creek or even turn around to my grunt at having almost tripped. His response though stops me. He says, "I'm walking before you."While I was teasing him, and we both knew it, it reminded me that there was no lack of concern in his actions. Quite the opposite! He was walking ahead of me to make sure there were no unseen dangers.
As such a simple act swelled my heart with love, it also very vividly brought to life the truth we know about Christ... He walks before us. He has seen the trials we face. He has known the hardship and the heartache.
He chose to enter our lives in human form, which we recently celebrated at Christmas, and to pay the ultimate price for our sins, which we will celebrate this Friday as Good Friday.
Thankfully, the story doesn't end there!
Next Sunday we will celebrate His resurrection, and the promise of the new life He gives us. How precious we are of all creation!
As today we celebrate Palm Sunday, his arrival in Jerusalem for a week he knew would include immense suffering, death, and a trip to hell... HAPPY PALM SUNDAY!
As we celebrate this week, let us remember the ultimate price He paid and the larger than life gift He gave.
And as we draw closer to Easter Sunday, let us rejoice in the realization that He did it all that we may find comfort in the knowledge that He has walked before us.
He paid a debt we could not pay, for a life we do not deserve, and He will not leave us to walk it's road alone.
May you find joy and comfort in this Easter season and may you see life anew in Christ!
In Christ,
A Southern Sinner
A Southern Sinner
 |
| Foot bridge |
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Learning to let go at the most unlikely of times...
For the first time in over a month, my house feels clean to me. All the plans I had to start 2015 off with a game plan in place and a goal in front of me... Well, I think God laughs at our plans sometimes... at least at mine, when I run ahead of him.
My grandmother's drastic decline and recent passing put life on hold. It felt like we spent most of the month of December away from home. I left dishes unwashed and clothes in piles. The person that loves spending the holidays with family does not want to see a suitcase again for a while.
I would never trade those moments with her for anything in this world, but all my grand plans for mapping out my strategy for 2015 quickly fell to the wayside. To be honest, I actually forgot about them until December 31.
This control craving human (you'll see the irony of that descriptor later) wanted to start the year, on January 1, with a clear and distinct goal in mind...something written on paper so as to not be forgotten as the months rolled by. Like that was going to make everything flow smoothly for the new year and ensure that I would achieve the success I desired. *smirk*
Little did I know that God was working on my mind, my heart, my soul, my family, my accountability partner, and my child to streamline things into small segments that I could achieve without letting my ADD brain shut out something important.
Instead of starting 2015 with a written list of goals in hand, I spent January 1 trusting in the Father for peace and the comfort of my family. I spent the first seven days in what seemed like a surreal fog. Earlier in the month, I had made my peace with the end result that was coming. My grandmother would meet the Lord soon and I took comfort in the fact that I knew she knew Him as her Saviour. While that allowed me to let her go, it did not cauterize my heart to the hurt that would follow. Even now, I feel like life is a little surreal, and one of these days the Husband will come home to find me sobbing and the Itty Bitty drying my tears.
Back to God and our plans... The Father knew she would pass on December 31 and that life would seem to stand still, that the things that seemed important for the new year would now look different, and that I would hear her, in my head, telling me to live my life and care for my family... something that would drive me to view the new year in a light that would honor her wish and give glory to our Father.
Do I think that my original desires for 2015 were bad or will go unseen? No, but I believe that when we wait upon the Lord and put all trust in Him, He works all things in accordance with His perfect will. Until now, I could not clearly plan out my desires for the coming months. My mind just wouldn't settle in one place. All I could see was the end goal, but not the steps in between. I guess you could say I could not seem to get a grasp, or control, of the situation.
In the half week I have been home, I already feel my mind streamlining my business goals, personal goals, parenting goals, and marriage goals with my spiritual goals. My heart is at peace and I am able to draw strength from Him in areas where I am weak and praise Him for areas in which He has blessed me with gifts to serve Him through. Somewhere along the way I just seemed to give up control. I couldn't hold on to it anymore. It wasn't worth it. And you know what... that's exactly what He was waiting for. This control loving human had to get to the place where I knew full well I could not control things before I fully let go to him.
Does that mean that the flesh has now been conquered? Um, no! I'm human, and I like control, but each day I will get up and praise Him for who He is, and acknowledge that by doing my best to let Him have control. Things always go better with God at the wheel and I hope 2015 is quite a ride... so who better to have manning the ship.
In Christ,
A Southern Sinner
My grandmother's drastic decline and recent passing put life on hold. It felt like we spent most of the month of December away from home. I left dishes unwashed and clothes in piles. The person that loves spending the holidays with family does not want to see a suitcase again for a while.
I would never trade those moments with her for anything in this world, but all my grand plans for mapping out my strategy for 2015 quickly fell to the wayside. To be honest, I actually forgot about them until December 31.
This control craving human (you'll see the irony of that descriptor later) wanted to start the year, on January 1, with a clear and distinct goal in mind...something written on paper so as to not be forgotten as the months rolled by. Like that was going to make everything flow smoothly for the new year and ensure that I would achieve the success I desired. *smirk*
Little did I know that God was working on my mind, my heart, my soul, my family, my accountability partner, and my child to streamline things into small segments that I could achieve without letting my ADD brain shut out something important.
Instead of starting 2015 with a written list of goals in hand, I spent January 1 trusting in the Father for peace and the comfort of my family. I spent the first seven days in what seemed like a surreal fog. Earlier in the month, I had made my peace with the end result that was coming. My grandmother would meet the Lord soon and I took comfort in the fact that I knew she knew Him as her Saviour. While that allowed me to let her go, it did not cauterize my heart to the hurt that would follow. Even now, I feel like life is a little surreal, and one of these days the Husband will come home to find me sobbing and the Itty Bitty drying my tears.
Back to God and our plans... The Father knew she would pass on December 31 and that life would seem to stand still, that the things that seemed important for the new year would now look different, and that I would hear her, in my head, telling me to live my life and care for my family... something that would drive me to view the new year in a light that would honor her wish and give glory to our Father.
Do I think that my original desires for 2015 were bad or will go unseen? No, but I believe that when we wait upon the Lord and put all trust in Him, He works all things in accordance with His perfect will. Until now, I could not clearly plan out my desires for the coming months. My mind just wouldn't settle in one place. All I could see was the end goal, but not the steps in between. I guess you could say I could not seem to get a grasp, or control, of the situation.
In the half week I have been home, I already feel my mind streamlining my business goals, personal goals, parenting goals, and marriage goals with my spiritual goals. My heart is at peace and I am able to draw strength from Him in areas where I am weak and praise Him for areas in which He has blessed me with gifts to serve Him through. Somewhere along the way I just seemed to give up control. I couldn't hold on to it anymore. It wasn't worth it. And you know what... that's exactly what He was waiting for. This control loving human had to get to the place where I knew full well I could not control things before I fully let go to him.
Does that mean that the flesh has now been conquered? Um, no! I'm human, and I like control, but each day I will get up and praise Him for who He is, and acknowledge that by doing my best to let Him have control. Things always go better with God at the wheel and I hope 2015 is quite a ride... so who better to have manning the ship.
In Christ,
A Southern Sinner
Monday, November 24, 2014
A God we can never use up or tire out... how about that in a disposable society?
My study buddy and I are at the end of chapter 3 in Ephesians; and the doxology ending of this chapter is amazing!
He is a God "who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine".
That means that even our biggest dreams and desires are not too big for God. I don't know about you, but I can come up with a want list a mile long, if I try (emphasis on the want and try), and my imagination works pretty well.
But God is bigger still??
Matthew Henry says this about him, "There is an inexhaustible fullness of grace and mercy in God, which the prayers of all the saints can never draw dry." Now that's an immeasurably deep well of grace and mercy.
Think, not only is he that amazing, but we can never use him up or tire him out.
That sounds so greedy, but it fits the mindset of this generation. All of our talk is about sustainable resources or the life span of a product.
He is a God "who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine".
That means that even our biggest dreams and desires are not too big for God. I don't know about you, but I can come up with a want list a mile long, if I try (emphasis on the want and try), and my imagination works pretty well.
But God is bigger still??
Matthew Henry says this about him, "There is an inexhaustible fullness of grace and mercy in God, which the prayers of all the saints can never draw dry." Now that's an immeasurably deep well of grace and mercy.
Think, not only is he that amazing, but we can never use him up or tire him out.
That sounds so greedy, but it fits the mindset of this generation. All of our talk is about sustainable resources or the life span of a product.
Sunday, November 2, 2014
"In Him we have redemption..." Is that something you need to hear today?
"In Him we have redemption...." (Ephesians 1:7)
What could be a better opening line for this morning's reading?
No other way is possible for redemption from our sins and ourselves.
Acts 17:28a says, "For in him we live and move and have our being." How true that is because only in him can we fully exist. Only because of the redemption he purchased with his blood, so that we might be free, are we truly free to live life.
Therefore, I am redeemed from the mess I make of my life. Redeemed from my failings as a wife, from my selfish moments in my role as mother, from my unconcerned days of dirty clothes and laundry, from my lazy days when I walk past my Bible repeatedly.
I am human. That does not give me reason to neglect things in my life or react unfavorably, but it does remind me that I will NEVER get it perfect... And in this life, my life, that's something God had to drill into me continuously.
I am a perfectionist and I like to be in control. I'm impatient and short tempered at times. I get lost in the details, because a perfect plan or process begets a perfect result, right?
Am I like this 24/7? No, by no means, BUT I am this way often enough that I feel like I am in a constant state of learning through my trials.
What could be a better opening line for this morning's reading?
No other way is possible for redemption from our sins and ourselves.
Acts 17:28a says, "For in him we live and move and have our being." How true that is because only in him can we fully exist. Only because of the redemption he purchased with his blood, so that we might be free, are we truly free to live life.
Therefore, I am redeemed from the mess I make of my life. Redeemed from my failings as a wife, from my selfish moments in my role as mother, from my unconcerned days of dirty clothes and laundry, from my lazy days when I walk past my Bible repeatedly.
I am human. That does not give me reason to neglect things in my life or react unfavorably, but it does remind me that I will NEVER get it perfect... And in this life, my life, that's something God had to drill into me continuously.
I am a perfectionist and I like to be in control. I'm impatient and short tempered at times. I get lost in the details, because a perfect plan or process begets a perfect result, right?
Am I like this 24/7? No, by no means, BUT I am this way often enough that I feel like I am in a constant state of learning through my trials.
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Wednesdays with Jesus - In Christ Alone by the Newsboys
I absolutely love the words to this worship song and the cadence of the Newsboys version. Enjoy!
Newsboys - In Christ Alone
In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand
In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live
There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sins curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ
Sins curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ
No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From lifes first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
This is the power of Christ in me
From lifes first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ Ill stand
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ Ill stand
Songwriters
GIBB, BARRY / GIBB, MAURICE ERNEST
GIBB, BARRY / GIBB, MAURICE ERNEST
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