Spirit-filled Christians have a song in their heart. Paul and Silas were able to sing praises to God in the Philippian jail, resulting in the conversion of the jailer and his family. What a happy time they had.
Ephesians 5:18,19 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
God gave us gospel music to minister joy, hope, and faith to our hearts. I play it on my IPod in the car everywhere I go. Sometimes a song grabs me, and I play it again and again, anxious to introduce it to the Children's Choir. "Meat-filled" gospel songs will lead them, strengthen them, and bless them on the path of life.
One day around the throne of glory we will join thousands upon thousands of angels and saints, praising the Lamb of God in song. But the angels will fold their wings and listen as we sing our redemption hymn. They have never experienced salvation. I wonder if it will be Amazing Grace. I can only imagine the delight and harmony.
. . . but God know when its from the heart. Today, before my "petitions", I just wanted to give the Lord a big hug and thank Him for the times He rescued me.
- A mid-wife delivered me at home thirteen hours after my twin brother. A few days later my folks asked Dr. Mary Alice Chester to come to our house and examine me. She said I wouldn't make it. RESCUED: Thank you, Lord.
- As a child, I almost drowned while swimming with the other kids in Shoal Creek. RESCUED: Thank you, Lord.
- At sixteen, a surgeon told me the cyst on my right ovary, infected with gangrene, would've killed me if I had come an hour later. RESCUED: Thank you, Lord.
- A split-second head-on miss in my sister's rocking Nash Rambler on Highway 60 in 1959. RESCUED; Thank you, Lord.
- Breast cancer survivor with a 15% recovery for my kind of cancer. RESCUED: Thank you, Lord.
- Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. RESCUED: Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lord.
- And, the frightful drive on I-40 in a blizzard. Peeking through a fogged saucer-size opening, eighteen-wheelers whizzed by. RESCUED: Thank you, Lord.
. . . walk and work. The sequence is important: first, wisdom; then walk; then work. I can't work for God unless I am walking with Him, but I can't walk with Him if I am ignorant of His will.
The believer who spends time daily in the Word and in prayer will know God's will and be able to walk with Him and work for Him. But its not we who work for God, its God who works in us and through us to produce the fruit of His grace.
Philippians 2:12,13 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence; work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Christian service is the result of Christian devotion. The work that we do is the outflow of the life that we live. It is by abiding in Christ that we can produce fruit.
. . . and them at Loadicea, prayed for them and encouraged them through a letter.
Colossians 2:2,3 That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Knit together in love is what seasons the comfort of sweet fellowship in spiritual churches.
We will never understand everything here on earth, but we can know the riches of God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Son -- the Trinity. We can know that's where all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden, available to bless us every day.
Are you struggling with something in your life? If you have a Bible, the Holy Spirit will give you the treasure of God's truth to help your situation as you study the Word.
Many have yet to discover the preciousness of this treasure in Christ. Ask God to lead you there.
