With Harp And Lyre

Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty expanse. Praise Him for His mighty deeds; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. Praise Him with trumpet sound; Praise Him with harp and lyre. Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe. Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!  Psalms 150:1-6 NASB

Holy Spirit pours a song into our hearts - each of us an individual song - but as we sing together - all songs become one song of love, of worship, no matter the genre worship is written in - no matter what decade lyrics are written in ….. Let Praise Arise. 

Have you met Jesus? Whoa! He is amazing grace.  He is all that is all that was all that will be! 

Welcome a turbulent grace filled mercy covered life, to a journey of putting Jesus over everything and living a life of purpose designed by God. This is the perfect place for us to start - today. by really focusing on knowing God personally. One of the greatest things we can believe is that we are known by God and that He wants to be known by us! He wants to invite you to get to know Him for yourself.

I don’t know if you have ever thought about this or seriously asked yourself this question, but who do you really think God is? I mean, deep down in your heart, who is God to you? This question is actually really important because so many things in our daily journey are determined by our answer to it. 

We get to know who the Bible says God is and that who He is doesn’t change, but who He is to each of us, to you to me, will determine the way we live, the way we pray and the decisions we make - the way we stand up with praise lifted high even though our lives are heavy.

We can’t afford for our understanding or perception of the Lord to be based off someone else’s stories or things we’ve just heard about Him. No my friends, we need understanding to come out of what Holy Spirit reveals in the written down, living Word of God. 

Read the Bible - let’s ask Holy Spirit to reveal the truth of who God is so that we can come to know Him intimately. Living a life of worship brings us into our Heavenly Father’s presence, gives us moments of refreshing with God and offers a glimpse of how He redeems us, forgives us, loves us, calls each and every son and daughter His own, those who seek Jesus and revive Him as the risen Saviour.   

Ephesians 2:19-22 NIV Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of His household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by Holy Spirit.

Putting Jesus over everything is all about living your life to know God, to give Him the gratitude, glory, for all He does - worship Him…. and what a journey! Holy Spirit wants to show us how He starts changing our perspective, our interpretation of  what our eyes take in. When we find out who Jesus Christ is - we find out who we are… and who we are, is His!

When Jesus died for His people, each and every one of us, on that cross - it wasn’t just a demonstration of His love, it was a powerful transaction that took place ‘buying back’ our freedom from prisons of sin, so that we are reconciled to God. Hallelujah! 

Psalms 47:1 NASB O clap your hands, all peoples; Shout to God with the voice of joy.

God made us and Jesus paid for us, but you and I still need to make the personal decision to give ourselves to Him. God gives humanity the gift of choosing Him, that’s a big part of what a daily life of worship looks like - giving ourself to God. 

In other words, we don’t just invite Jesus to be our Saviour, but to be the ‘Lord’ of our lives too. He is control. I belong to Him! So does my past, my present, my future, my body and all of my decisions. And because I belong to Him, I get my identity, value and purpose from my relationship with Him. And God receives each and every person who reaches for Him.  Many people in God’s world are all about personal rights, their identity is attached to an outward source, their future and everything that matters to them fuelled by wants.  But the Bible shows us that those who belong to Jesus actually make the decision to give up living for those things so that we can make our life all about Him.