Contents:
A MUSICAL MY POINT OF VIEW
WHY WE SING...
AWESOME GOD
MIGHTY REFUGE
GIVE HIM GLORY
SINCE JESUS CAME INTO MY
HEART
PRAISE HIM
YES, LORD, YES!
I GO TO THE ROCK
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!
OUTLOOK
LIFE UPDATE...
Hi, everyone. Page 20 took a lot of time to turn over, but I finally
made it to page 21. I hope you haven’t missed my comments too greatly.
Some of you have actually mentioned its absence to me, and for that I say
thank you. It reminds me that what I have to say does reach those
to whom I write. Part of this one was written last Saturday afternoon.
The rest, this Friday evening. In between there, Windows 95 left,
and Windows 98 took its place here in the Jeffrey household. I praise
the Lord for a successful migration. =)
As I sit and listen to various choirs of the Northern District of Seventh-day Adventists sing at the District Youth Convention, I thought I’d give some thoughts based upon the songs being sung:
Someone asked the question, why do we sing… I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free, his eye is on the sparrow, that’s the reason why I sing. Being a Christian, experiencing the providence of God gives on the freedom to live a life unhampered by the cares that burden and trap so many others. The protecting eye of God is on each sparrow, and since we know that in the grand scheme of things, we are far more important to God than the birds of the air, we can take the knowledge of God’s watch care over such seemingly insignificant beings as a sign of how much more he will take care of us. And when we realise that God has taken care of all of our needs already, not least of these being salvation, we can rejoice and sing for the world to hear!
This song, penned by the late Rich Mullins, speaks to the awesomeness of our God who reigns from heaven above. His creative power, his mercy and grace at the cross, the expectation of a home with our Creator, all speak to the awesomeness of our God. We should never bring him down to our level. Our God is not like the gods of the Romans and Greeks, with humanlike frailties. He is above all that we could ever expect, and a God we should strive to emulate.
The Lord our God is a mighty refuge, a God who provides, a God who heals, and b brings peace. If we don’t praise Him, the very rocks will cry out in our place. God gave us voices, and the least we can do is to use them in praise!
(And boy, the tenor soloist on this one is a young man with great promise!)
A common theme – our God is worthy of praise, because the Lamb, Jesus Christ, has overcome. He came here to take on the best that this world has to offer – the temptations of the devil, the tendency to look out for oneself, the opportunities to reach for personal fame and fortune. He laid down his own life for us. So we ought to give him the glory due to His name.
SINCE JESUS CAME INTO MY HEART
A wonderful change has taken place in my life since Jesus came into my heart. Before he was there, all I cared about was myself. Looking good, performing well, taking care of my needs and dealing with my stress. Without knowledge of the great God of heaven and His love. I was lost, but didn’t know it. But he brought me out of darkness into his marvellous light, and Oooooh! There’s a great change in me!
Jesus, blessed Saviour, He’s worthy to be praised!
I will agree with the Spirit of the Lord when He speaks to me. Yes, to His will and to His way. But how do we discover the will of the Lord unless we seek it. Too many of us are unwilling to discover the lord’s will, especially if it might conflict with our own. But we have to! And once we do, we have to trust God that His will will be best for us! And as we practice saying Yes to God, his will becomes our own, and we can take no step except that which He has ordained for us.
(Joey Legall on lead vocals, and Sherry-Lyn tearing up the keyboard!)
Where do I go when I have no one else? When my friends desert
me, when my foes assail me. When everything would go wrong, I can
go no where else than to Jesus, the rock of ages! You too, can go
to the rock when you need someone!
I hope these thoughts inspire you!
Somewhere in the next 2 weeks, I will go from 26 to 27. Wow, a
whole year in a single day! Who said life was logical, anyhow? =)
Not, Microsoft… but you should be aware that how you perceive life often depends on how you look at it. The age-old story is told of the optimist and the pessimist, who upon observing that same glass of water proclaimed it “half full” and “half empty” respectively. It’s too easy to look at the negative aspects of situations we face, and ignore totally the positive. It’s too easy to dwell on the faults of those near us, at the cost of missing the positive qualities. It’s often too easy to criticise ourselves without recognising the value we have as children of God. While balance is necessary to keep from losing a sense of reality, a heart that dwell on the uplifting and positive elements of life will find itself being lifted up. By beholding, we become changed, by dwelling-on, we find ourselves cemented in that state.
So, in the middle of the bad news the world constantly tries to throw at you about wildfire in Florida, murder in Mexico, your favourite World Cup team or Wimbledon athlete losing; despite bills piling up around you and children talking back to you, failures at school and in relationships, let me remind you of some good news that wipes away all the bad: God loves you! Jesus died for YOU! And he’s coming back soon!
God bless you all!
Well, Mr. Shazard is still coming by. I still don’t know what the truth is about his situation and his reality, but I’m dwelling on the positive aspects.
I’m not sure if I told you all about the guy who came to visit, needing assistance, and also claiming to speak 18 languages (which I tested him on and found him wanting), well apparently he drove his car and stuck and killed a school-child this week. I haven’t seen him since then, but I feel for him… Pray for him, his name is Vaughn.
[Erratum: Sources closer to the event tell me that the child who was struck by the car did not die:
"Guess the would-be prayers have been answered. The child was critical condition, but has since been stable at the hospital. I guess God really does know what we want even before we ask it of Him.
"You would be amazed at the number of stories that surrounded that accident, when people realised that the child survived some doubted and thought it was two children that were in the accident, really bizarre!"]
Drive safely!
Well, I know some of you are in withdrawal from MPOV, so I won’t give you too much all at once! Watch for next week’s edition!
Dave.