All creation, join in praising
God, the Father, Spirit, Son,
Evermore your voices raising
To th’eternal Three in One.
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King.
Angels, from the Realms of Glory
By: James Montgomery, 1771-1854 (1816)
Listen to this simple piano version as you read, or watch the video complete with lyrics then read. Please make certain to enjoy the podcast below.
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Everyone enjoy this podcast and transcript below! It features meditative music and moments to contemplate the Scriptures and reflections shared.
Transcript may be found below, at the end of the blog.
We culminate our journey to, through, and beyond our celebrations of the arrival of our King today with a final invitation to come and worship. It is easy to take down the tinsel and garland, the tress and wreaths, and settle back into the rhythm of life without allowing the miracle of His coming to change us. How will you continue to respond to the access His arrival had made available today and all year long? Let’s think about this.
Raise Your Voices, Now and Forever
Will you use you lips? The carol puts it this way, “Evermore your voices raising”. Surrendering our lips to His praise is a key piece to our response of worship, and if you have tried to consistently do this, you know it is not always easy.
Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Hebrews 13:15 ESV
A sacrifice of praise. This is a very common concept in Scripture: the idea that to offer something to God will cost us something.
Think about it. If I say to God He is worthy of worship, then I must examine my other allegiances. Are there other things that rather than being an expression of my desire to honor God, are actually competitors? Of course. When we resolve to do something, there are invariably adjustments we must make to follow through with that.
What adjustments do you need to make to allow your praise to be offered to our eternal Father?
Continually. Now that is resolve. Not a few times a week, or even few times a day. Continually. Without ceasing. That is a challenging standard to try to live by. None of us can do it in our own strength. We absolutely need the power of the Holy Spirit to follow through on this commitment. But find confidence in the fact that if you are willing to even make this commitment, the same Spirit that empowered you to want to offer a sacrifice of praise will help you do it.
Ask the Holy Spirit right now to make your praise continual.
Through Him. If you look back at the verses before this, you see that the “Him” being referred to here is Jesus. How incredible that our desire to offer God our worship is not only imparted by Jesus, but actually accomplished through Him. How kind of our Father to give His Son so that we could not only be made right, but continually live right. The fruit of our lips acknowledging His name. Not one of us can do this perfectly, but fortunately for us, Jesus has taken care of the perfect part. Praise His name!
Thank Jesus for providing everything you need to acknowledge God with your lips.
But Our Lips are Simply Not Enough
We must join the eternal praise with our lips today, but that praise demands and informs an even greater response: our lives poured out accordingly. As we offer our praise to the eternal Three in One, it must find expression beyond just the fruit of our lips. And what exactly frames that expression?
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Matthew 28:19 ESV
We repeat the invitation that was first heard from angels and shepherds, sages and saints. Come and Worship.
We repeat it in every stanza. Come and Worship.
We repeat it every day. Come and Worship.
We repeat it so others may hear and join the throng of the people of God singing, living…Come and Worship!
Let it resound and grow in our voices. Come and Worship. Let it find expression in our daily living. Come and Worship!
Let it echo from the hills and across the plains. Come and Worship.
Let it reverberate across all time and space, even into eternity. Come and Worship.
May it inform our actions as it consumes our lives and fills the world. Come and Worship.
Worship Christ the (newborn, risen, _____) King!
Jesus, fill my lips with the praise of Your name. Fill my life with the invitation to worship. Fill eternity with the worship of Your people. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Inviting Thinking!
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Podcast 54.6 Transcript, 12.6 REPLAYED
Welcome to Thursday Thoughts at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s think about this.
All creation, join in praising
And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, Revelation 5:13 ESV
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
We read these words from John in his heavenly vision. It will happen. All the creatures praising. And we also read in other passages where the creation itself is ever declaring His handiwork. Are you being intentional about playing your part?
God, the Father, Spirit, Son,
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 ESV
Here in this oft quoted Christmas prophecy, we see different representations of our Triune God, Son, Counselor (Spirit), and Everlasting Father. God is Father, Spirit, Son and we are invited to come and worship Him. Extend the invitation to join us to everyone with ears to hear.
Evermore your voices raising
Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Hebrews 13:15 ESV
There will be no end to the praise we offer around His glorious throne, but we must rehearse our eternal occupation here and now. We should always be lifting our voices to acknowledge His name. Use your lips to give Him glory today, then never stop!
To th’eternal Three in One.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Matthew 28:19 ESV
And herein lies the purpose of our vocal praise, translating into our living the message which declares the worth of our eternal God. We will praise Him around the throne, but we must do so now in a way that allows others to see Him. Are you engaged in such winsome praise?
Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has come to your mind, or listen to what He is saying to you, then I will read our text once more.
All creation, join in praising
God, the Father, Spirit, Son,
Evermore your voices raising
To th’eternal Three in One.
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King.
Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond. Until next time, be Resonant.
The post Learning to Use Your Lips and Life, REPLAYED appeared first on Resonant 7.
Image Attributions
Voices Raising – https://pixabay.com/vectors/megaphone-shouting-voice-loud-man-150254/
Come and Worship – https://pixabay.com/illustrations/pray-devotions-apologize-religion-2672660/
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