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Are You Preparing for Your Perpetual Praise?

Then I Shall Bow

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
  And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
  And then proclaim: “My God, how great Thou art!”

How Great Thou Art
By: Carl Gustaf Boberg (1859-1940)

Listen to this trumpet version as you read.  Subscribers and Free Members please be sure to experience the worship-cultivating podcast below.

We close out this final stanza with some thoughtful reflection on our response at Christ’s return.  Philippians 2:10-11 tells us that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, but what great joy is ours to choose to worship Him now.  Even still, take some time today to ponder what those moments will be like, and how you will respond. Let’s think about this.

I Shall Bow

Having acknowledged Christ’s return, the text now turns to our response.  This is a Biblical pattern, in that God always initiates and gives us the opportunity to respond.  Whether in creation, redemption, or now here in the consummation, God does something to which we react.  I like to define worship as sincere responses to God’s self-revelations.

There are two very distinct responses portrayed.  The physical and spiritual.  We will deal with the physical first, as the text does, though I would contend it tends to be the latter of the two and an outward expression of an inward reality.

The worshipper takes a posture to demonstrate they are aligning themselves under the greatness of God.  Have you ever bowed down in the presence of God?  Maybe it was in a service, or maybe you were alone with Him and you simply decided to take a knee to demonstrate your surrender to His authority.   If you have never done that, why not?  Let’s change that right now.  Kneel down before the One who is coming back one day.

Jesus, I kneel before you as an outward expression of the inward reality that I desire to submit my will and my way to you today, as surely as I will on that coming day.  I want this to be true in every way, every day, so even when I am standing up and walking around my heart sustains a humble adoration.  Help me please.

Humble Adoration

In Humble Adoration

The physical is but a representation of what has transpired in the spiritual.  This posture, one of deep love and respect, begins in the heart, which Scripture teaches is the seat of our intellect, emotions and will.  Scriptures like this one.

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, Hebrews 12:28 ESV

When Christ returns He will establish that unshakable kingdom, and though we are grateful now, our current gratitude indubitably pales in comparison to our future gratitude.  Likewise our current worship pales in comparison to our future worship, when we will be in the very presence of our Lord.

We will not feign humble adoration, but enter into it fully.  Our reverence and awe will consume us, burning away all of our former lessor pursuits and revealing hearts ablaze for His glory.  What a day that will be!  We rehearse for it every time we worship, but our performance of it then will be truly inspired!!

Ask Jesus to help you prepare for those moments of humble adoration by empowering you to humble yourself now.   Ask Him to give you a heart to worship Him, one filled with gratitude for all He has done, and the inheritance that affords.  Adore Him right now.

How Great Thou Art

And Then Proclaim

Then.  The End of Time.  The beginning of eternity.

Revelation paints an incredible picture of what that end of days worship will be like.  Angels and elders, saints and living creatures, fully engaged in declaring with due emphasis the greatness of our God.  We will think more about His greatness next week, so I want to focus here on our part of the proclaiming that will take place.

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness. Psalm 29:2 ESV

Though the Psalmists would have had the structure of the Tabernacle or the glory of the Temple to inspire their praise in their day those were mere shadows of what will inform our praise on that Day.  Still they instruct us as to what we should do, attribute the glory that is due the name of God, and render Him the honor that is due no other.  And render we shall.  We will be overwhelmed by the spender of His holiness.

That was and will be then, but this is now.  I hope you are not waiting until then to fully engage in the proclamation of His greatness.  Sure, you will be more equipped and more inspired to offer it then, but don’t let your current capacity hinder you.  He is just as great today as He will be then.  Determine to proclaim here and now, “How great You are!”

What tools are at your disposal?  Maybe you want to just shout it out, or sing it loud.  Maybe you want to grab a guitar or sit at a piano.  Maybe you want to write a poem or a note.  Maybe you want to sit in silence or call someone.  Use whatever you have right now to rehearse for that final, eternal performance!

Jesus, thank You for the promise of Your return.  I long for that Day and the praise I will offer You then.  As I wait for it, help me to prepare by offering You praise every day in every way and to put Your greatness on display! In Jesus’ name.   Amen.

Worshipful Thinking!

Are these thoughts helping you to develop greater spiritual awareness?  Sign-up in the form to the right above to get updates of new tools to help you be Resonant.

Below is content always available to Subscribers, and sometimes to Free Members.  Want to learn more about accessing all the additional material in the Subscriber Content Library, click here.  Or check out some other samples at our Free Member Content Library.  We have lots of tools and lots of options designed to help you be Resonant!  Check them out today!!

Subscribers and Free Members enjoy this podcast!  Everyone else the transcript below! It features meditative music and moments to contemplate the Scriptures shared.

Podcast 10.4 Transcript

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.

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,

1 Thessalonians 4:16 ESV

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

The day is coming when Christ returns.  Can you imagine it? The trumpet resounds and the Lord descends with archangel announcing it all.  Are you longing for it? Ask God to stir your heart to long for it even as you echo the prayer, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus!”

  And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.

1 Thessalonians 4:17 ESV

Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

What a comfort that when this happens we have a place.  Our Lord will call us to join Him in the air. Are you ready to fly?  I can hardly fathom how overwhelming this will be. He returns and then calls us to HImself, where we will spend eternity.  Thank Him for giving us this hope.

Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,

Hebrews 12:28 ESV

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,

Bowing in humble adoration, with reverence and awe, we will express our gratitude to Christ for the inheritance that is ours.  A kingdom that cannot be shaken. Unlike the kingdoms of this world, this one is eternal, and we get to live in it. Worship Him now, and forever!  

  And then proclaim: “My God, how great Thou art!”

Psalm 29:2 ESV

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.

Oh how we will praise Him on that day!  It will be worship in His glorious holy presence.  As we look forward to and long for those moments of praise, determine to praise Him even while you wait.  He is just as worthy now so instruct your soul to sing of His greatness today.

Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has surfaced in your heart, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then we will sing once more.

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
  And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
  And then proclaim: “My God, how great Thou art!”

Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond.  Until next time, be Resonant.

Image Attributions
Then I Shall Bow – https://www.istockphoto.com/photos/seeking-god?sort=best&mediatype=photography&phrase=seeking%20god
Humble Adoration – https://stream.org/power-seeking-gods-face/
How Great Thou Art – https://mylordmyfriend.com/2013/03/20/the-throne-room-of-god/

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Why Didn’t I Think of That?

And When I Think

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
  Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
  He bled and died to take away my sin.

How Great Thou Art
By: Carl Gustaf Boberg (1859-1940)

Listen to this interesting violin arrangement as you read.  And EVERYONE please be sure to experience the worship-cultivating podcast below.

We continue our gaze at the cross where God put His greatness on display through the willing sacrifice of His Son. We saved the first half of the stanza for today because it expressly talks about thinking about the cross.  We want to help you love God with all your mind.  That’s part of why Resonant 7 exists.  May God enable you to ponder His cross in a way that inspires your praise today.  Let’s think about this.

When I Think

We are thinking about the cross.  Now let us be careful not to make the cross itself the object of our worship.  For it but is a symbol of God’s love for us and must not become the focal point of our adoration.  That place belongs to Jesus alone, because of what He did for us.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16 ESV 

But we should think about this.  This is such a foundational truth that we can be guilty of taking it for granted.  Instead we should reflect on Jesus’ work routinely and let it shape and reshape our love and our life.

Maybe you have a cross somewhere nearby, or an image saved on your phone that is meaningful to you.  Do not worship it, but look at it and allow God to fill your heart with gratitude for what Jesus did for you on the cross.  Take a few moments now and do that.  You can use the image below if you do not have another one handy.

Sent Him to Die

God, His Son Not Sparing

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Romans 8:32 ESV 

I am a father of four boys.  It is hard for me to imagine sending my son to pay the penalty of someone else’s wrong.  Even if that person was remarkable and their life was otherwise an incredible influence on others it just seems like there is no way I would do that.  Let alone if the person was a trouble maker, liar, thief, rebellious, foul, wretched and mean.  But that is exactly what our Father did.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:6-8

Think of that moment in history when Jesus climbed that hill to Calvary carrying His cross.  In that moment you and I were still sinners.  We had not sinned yet, but we were doomed to do so as children of Adam.  Even still the Father did not spare Jesus the pain of the cross, but sent Him there to die for us.

Though He was God, Jesus was also man.  He endured the cross, scorning it’s shame, but it was still agonizing.  He was not spared that misery.  Think on that for a moment, and then thank Him for His obedience and sacrifice.

Almost Unfathomable

Scarce Can Take It In

I know it is true because I have felt the effects of it in my own life, and seen it in the lives of others.  I have witnessed transformation of countenance and character.  I have watched as sorrow over sin was turned into joy for justification.  I have beheld miraculous healing and been overwhelmed by grace.

Still, I scarce can it in.

I can barely fathom the greatness of grace displayed in Jesus and His cross.  Barely, but I do believe.  And even that gift is but another expression of His greatness, to bridge the chasm that my waywardness and yours had created, and reinforced.

We really should think about this more often.

So how about you?   Can you “take it in”?  Is it easy?  If so, maybe you need to step back a bit and look at the cross again.  The humility to say “I can barely wrap my mind around this” is an experience of grace in and of itself.  Ask the Holy Spirit to take you to the brink and your understanding and reveal anew the marvel of the cross which puts God’s greatness on display.

Spirit, thank You for enabling me to take in the wonder of the cross.  Without such capacity, I would never have yielded my life to Jesus, for I would not have understood my need of Him without it.  Keep that wonder fresh through the seasons, and start by making it fresh today. In Jesus’ name.   Amen.

Marvelous Thinking!

Are these thoughts helping you to develop greater spiritual awareness?  Sign-up in the form to the right above to get updates of new tools to help you be Resonant.

Below is content always available to Subscribers, sometimes to Free Members, but today to everyone.  Want to learn more about accessing all the additional material in the Subscriber Content Library, click here.  Or check out some other samples at our Free Member Content Library.  We have lots of tools and lots of options designed to help you be Resonant!  Check them out today!!

Everyone enjoy this podcast and everyone the transcript below! It features meditative music and moments to contemplate the Scriptures shared.

Podcast 10.3 Transcript

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.

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;

John 3:16 ESV 

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

And here is maybe the most well-known, often-quoted single verse in all of Scripture.  But I wonder how many really know this truth well among the many that hear it. If you do, give Him praise because knowing this, and believing it, changes everything. 

  Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;

Romans 8:32 ESV 

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

The Father gave up His only Son for all of us.  That fact alone is difficult to grasp. When coupled with the truth of this verse which speaks of what Christ has then graciously made available, it truly defies imagination.  Give thanks to our Father for His gracious gifts to you.

That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,

Hebrews 12:2 ESV

Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus became the founder and perfecter of our faith when He endured the cross, despising the shame, but gladly bearing our burden of sin.  Look nowhere else but to Jesus! The One who became our sacrifice and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.  

  He bled and died to take away my sin.

1 Peter 2:24 ESV

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed

Jesus bore our sins for a purpose. So that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.  We have been healed by His wounds. Are you making the most of this new opportunity to live rightly, or are you still injuring yourself with sin?  Ask the Holy Spirit to help you die to sin and live to God.

Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has surfaced in your heart, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then we will sing once more.

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
  Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
  He bled and died to take away my sin.

Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond.  Until next time, be Resonant.

Image Attributions
And When I Think – https://pixabay.com/photos/woman-mood-cross-windows-reflect-1245788/
Sent Him to Die – https://pixabay.com/photos/jesus-cross-faith-crucifixion-3476251/
Scarce Can Take It In – https://pixabay.com/photos/thinking-thinking-work-man-face-272677/

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Grandeur in Brooks and Breezes

Lofty Mountain Granduer

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
   And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
   And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

How Great Thou Art
By: Carl Gustaf Boberg (1859-1940)

Listen to this interesting violin arrangement as you read.  And Subscribers and Free Members be sure to experience the worship-cultivating podcast below.

The greatness of God is always on display around us, but we seldom take the time to appreciate it.  I pray today’s blog helps you create a few minutes to cultivate a greater awareness of the greatness of our God.  That’s why Resonant 7 exists.  May He give your the perspective you need to see, hear and feel His power on display all around you today.  Let’s think about this.

When I Look Down

I had the opportunity to drive to the top of Pike’s Peak with my oldest son two years ago.  Some of those switchbacks would put the fear of God in just about any honest soul.  As we stood out near the edge at a couple of the stops on the way down it was truly breath-taking.  My heart filled with praise.  Lofty mountain grandeur indeed.  It was a sight to behold!

For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought, who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth— the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!  Amos 4:13 ESV 

One of my favorite words is perspective.  Years ago as I prepared to head off to seminary a dear friend took me up a mountain to the foot of a large cross outside of Uniontown, Pennsylvania in the Allegheny Mountains.  He encouraged me to look over at the town, miles and miles away.  He then challenged me with the thought of how small a problem can become with different perspective.  You see, as you walk the streets of town a problem can seem enormous, but when you get a few thousand feet above it suddenly it becomes smaller.

The One who made the mountains also made me.  He knows what I am made of, and is familiar with my limitations.  If I am willing to get His perspective on anything it can inform my response.

What do you need a different perspective on today?  What situation right now has you overwhelmed by it’s magnitude? Are you willing to see it in light of the greatness of God?  Maybe getting a few thousand feet above it will change how you see it.  Take a moment to do that right now.

See the Brook

What Do You See?

So the mountaintop perspective can be very helpful.  But you can not live there.  It is too sparse.  You need to come down from it’s lofty grandeur and live in the place where your life flows freely.

You need to get down where you can see the brook in the valley.  Appreciate its refreshing nature.  Be calmed by the tranquil trickling of its water.  Find restoration in its life-giving flow.

What restores you?  I am referring particularly to your soul.  When your soul is weary and parched, what brings you refreshment?

  He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
  He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.  Psalm 23:2-3 ESV

I find restoration in being alone.  Part of it is the quiet.   Another is the solitude.  I think more clearly, and ultimately find myself, in my deepest places, more in tune with God there.  I see Him in other ways, places and times, but none quite like those quiet ones.

There are many paths to this place of rest renewal.  Do you know yours?  If not, ask God to help you identify your streams of living water.  If so, have you been there lately? Get there today even if only for a short time.

Feel the Gentle Breeze

Feel the Breeze

There are a couple that really stand out to me.  Those sweltering days when there is no air moving and suddenly to of nowhere comes the relief of a little moving air.  Then there are those days when winter is still holding on but you hear a rustling of the wind and as it engulfed you the warmth and scent of spring seem to overwhelm you.

When have you noticed that gentle breeze?

The imagery of the wind here reminds me of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3 that ‘The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from or where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”  The gentle breeze of the breath of God, the Holy Spirit.

I heard this illustration years ago.  You can not see the wind, but you see the effects of it.  You see the leaves swaying and the tress bending.  The same is true of the Spirit.  You see the impact He has, but can not trace His form.

And you can feel Him.  You may not be able to explain it with words, or even teach someone else how to identify it, but when the Holy Spirit is moving in your life, like the wind through the trees, you can not deny it.

Ask the Holy Spirit to blow through your life today.  When you do, be ready.  As you see the evidence of His moving, first identify it, then join Him in it.  Our Great God wants to put His glory on display in your life today.  Open your life to see and feel it.

Father, thank You putting Your greatness on display in creation, and in my life.  Help me to hear, see and feel your activity all around me.  Forgive me for the times I have been inattentive to Your creativity and activity.  In Jesus’ name.   Amen.

Sensitive Thinking!

Are these thoughts helping you to develop greater spiritual awareness?  Sign-up in the form to the right above to get updates of new tools to help you be Resonant.

Below is content always available to Subscribers, sometimes to Free Members, but occasionally to everyone.  Want to learn more about accessing all the additional material in the Subscriber Content Library, click here.  Or check out some other samples at our Free Member Content Library.  We have lots of tools and lots of options designed to help you be Resonant!  Check them out today!!

Subscribers and Free Members enjoy this podcast and everyone the transcript below! It features meditative music and moments to contemplate the Scriptures shared.

Podcast 10.2 Transcript

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.

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,

Psalm 96:12 Living Bible (TLB)

Praise him for the growing fields, for they display his greatness. Let the trees of the forest rustle with praise.

I love the way this is paraphrased.  Fields displaying His greatness, trees rustling with praise.  Creation declaring His worthiness. When did you last just wander along in God’s handiwork? Recall it and make it a point to do so again soon.

    And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.

Psalm 104:12 ESV 

Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they sing among the branches.

When was the last time you got quiet enough to just listen?  Chances are when you did you could probably hear the singing of some birds, and maybe some insects too.  What an ordinary reminder of the extraordinary creativity of our God.  Ask Him to help you learn to listen.

When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur

Amos 4:13 ESV 

For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought, who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth— the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!

Few things in creation make me feel so small as the majestic mountains.  How kind of God to form some clay into them, other clay into us, while all of it displays His greatness.  Tell Him, “Thank You for making mountains and me!”  

  And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Psalm 23:2-3 ESV

  He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
  He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

The power in the previous line and the gentleness in this one juxtaposes two of God’s greatest qualities.  Creator God made it all. Shepherd God cares for it all. One and the same God, for you. Praise Him for the restorative properties of still waters and gentle breezes.

Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has surfaced in your heart, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then we will sing once more.

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
   And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
   And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond.  Until next time, be Resonant.

Image Attributions
Lofty Mountain Granduer – https://pixabay.com/photos/adventure-altitude-backpack-climb-1850912/
Hear the Brook – https://pixabay.com/photos/stream-river-water-brook-nature-541707/
Feel the Breeze – https://pixabay.com/photos/grass-white-breeze-field-spring-520912/

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Can You Feel the Power?

The Stars

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
   Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
   Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

How Great Thou Art
By: Carl Gustaf Boberg (1859-1940)

Listen to this awesome electric guitar version as you read.  And be sure to experience the worship-cultivating podcast below.

The glory of God is ever on display around us, but often we simply fail to take the time to acknowledge it.  I pray today’s blog helps you carve our a few minutes to cultivate a greater awareness of the greatness of our God.  That’s why Resonant 7 exists.  May He give your the perspective you need to see, hear and feel His power on display all around you today.  Let’s think about this.

Seeing the Stars

Just seeing the stars is not enough.  Many look into the night sky and quickly realize just how small they are.  But fewer see beyond their stature and gaze into the grandeur of our God.

He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. Psalm 147:4-5 ESV

The Psalmist saw the stars, and in them something more.  One paraphrase of Psalm 8 says, “When I gaze in to the night skies and see the work of your fingers, the moon and stars suspended in space, o what is man that your are mindful of Him?”  Our smallness makes sense against the backdrop of God and His glory, but making sense is not enough.

We must choose to respond to this greatness revealed.  

I want to point you to someone who has done that for some time, and in some very creative ways.  Louie Giglio has long been a proponent of calling people to respond to God’s greatness.  As  significant person in the Passion movement, he has influenced many people to offer their worship to the One who is worthy.  In the clip below, he describes some the response of the stars and other parts of creation which not only display God’s glory, but respond to it in their own ways.

This clip is 9 minutes long and climaxes in a crafted response of worship that is truly unique.  You may not have time to view it all right now, but I would encourage you to carve out 9 minutes today to have your awareness of God’s greatness stirred in an unusual way.

How Great is Our God

You see, we not only see God’s power displayed, we hear it as well.  We will consider some other aspects of that in the next stanza, but for now let’s consider for a bit the sound, and the feel, of thunder.

Rolling Thunder

Feel the Thunder

Again to the Psalmist.

The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook. Psalm 77:18 ESV

Thunder is a remarkable demonstration of the power of our God which we can feel. It flows from the lightning which we can see.  According to the Library of Congress, “Thunder is caused by the rapid expansion of the air surrounding the path of a lightning bolt.”  Another interesting article explaining this with a few pictures can be found here, courtesy of the National Weather Service.

Think for a moment of a memory of some powerful storm.  Maybe you have seen up close the damage that a bolt of lightning can do.  You have probably at one time or another not only heard thunder, but felt it.  

In the face of that demonstration of power, do you recall our you felt.  Was it awe?  Terror?  Ambivalence?  Did you notice in the Scripture the natural response of the earth?  It trembled and shook.  If the earth trembles and shakes at something, we should probably take notice and either be cautious, or worship, or both.  It really is not enough to simply hear and feel the thunder, we should respond to it for what it is.

Ask Him to fill you with a reverence similar to that which the earth demonstrates.  The earth has no choice.  You do.  Choose to worship the greatness of our God.

 

Everywhere You Look

The Universe

Stars and thunder…just a couple examples of different things in our universe which display the power of God.  Frankly, everywhere you look His glory is revealed.  If you have read this far it is likely because you know it is only by His grace that you can see, hear and feel any of this for what it truly is.

Think about that.

There are millions, even billions of people walking around unaware that everywhere they look God is revealing Himself.  Through a trillion stars in the sky, and then some, and countless storms raging, but many fail to comprehend the One behind it all.

First, give God praise for helping you see His power, and giving you the grace to respond.  Second, ask Him to help you assist others to develop ears to hear and eyes to see the greatness of our God.

 

Jesus, thank You for revealing Your power to me and helping me respond to me.  I am in awe of You.  May I live a life of awesome wonder, always considering all that You have made, but never keeping it to myself.  In Jesus’ name.   Amen.

Awe-ful Thinking!

Are these thoughts helping you to develop greater spiritual awareness?  Sign-up in the form to the right above to get updates of new tools to help you be Resonant.

Below is content always available to Subscribers, sometimes to Free Members, but today to everyone.  Want to learn more about accessing all the additional material in the Subscriber Content Library, click here.  Or check out some other samples at our Free Member Content Library.  We have lots of tools and lots of options designed to help you be Resonant!  Check them out today!!

Enjoy this podcast and the transcript below! It features meditative music and moments to contemplate the Scriptures shared.

Podcast 10.1 Transcript

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.

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,

Exodus 15:11 ESV

“Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?

I like rhetorical questions.  You know, those ones where everyone knows the answer.  Only, not everyone knows the answer here. Who is like our Lord? No one. If you know that answer, thank Him, and let that privilege fill you with wonder. 

   Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;

Nehemiah 9:6 ESV

“You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.

That is a pretty comprehensive description of what He has made.  In short, everything. Our time here does not permit us to consider it all, but simply ponder this.  He made it and preserves it and invites you to join worship.

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Psalm 77:18 ESV 

The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook.

Thunder is a remarkable demonstration of the power of our God which we can feel, flowing from the lightning which we can see.  Ask Him to fill you with a reverence similar to that which the earth models.

   Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Psalm 147:4-5 ESV

He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.

The stars in every universe numbered and named.  Order beyond comprehension. Power unfathomable. Greatness unsearchable.  Give glory to our great God for the way He reveals Himself in His creation!

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.

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
   Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
   Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond.  Until next time, be Resonant.

Image Attributions
The Stars – https://pixabay.com/photos/universe-galaxy-space-atmosphere-2250310/
Rolling Thunder – https://giphy.com/gifs/storm-timelapse-qRY3cPYRkyQh2
The Universe – https://pixabay.com/illustrations/universe-sky-star-space-cosmos-2742113/

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A Promise Which Prompts Our Praise

I’ll Sing

In mansions of glory and endless delight,
  I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow,
  If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

My Jesus, I Love Thee
By: William Ralph Featherston (1848–1875)

Listen to this simple piano arrangement as you read.  Members, be sure to experience the worship-cultivating podcast below.

As we close out our look into how we love Jesus in different moments we consider the ones that will go on forever.  It is the last great “ever”, and like every now before it, this one will also be filled with our response of love to Jesus.  Tuesday we considered the place this will happen, (read that here) and today we consider the promise.  Let’s think about that.

I’ll Sing

In the previous stanza we committed to speak our love to Jesus as we came to and beyond the end of our life.  We find ourselves in this stanza breathing in the celestial air of our forever home and exhaling not in a speech but a song.  We will sing.  Oh, how we will sing!

When we finally find ourselves walking the hallways of those eternal mansions, realizing the fullness of our inheritance come to pass, we will sing as never before.  I have often remarked at how different our lung capacity will be in our glorified bodies, not to mention the fact that our musculature will be able to control that breath with much more efficiency.  All that joined with overwhelming desire to glorify our Lord which will consume our entire being will bring us to an utterance of praise beyond imaging.

If you have been on this journey with us for long, you know that our desire here at Resonant 7 is to remove the hindrances in our lives to our reverberating with God’s praise.  When we get to heaven every single thing that inhibited our praise in any way in this life will be gone.  We will unhindered be!

I am sure you are looking forward to that day, but I want to encourage you to consider what those first moments of praise will be like.  Imagine that scene as you are confronted with the awe-evoking presence of Jesus, when you can finally take a breath and then begin offering your adoration.  Ask the Spirit to help you render that in your mind.

Glittering Crown

Glittering Crown

As if the place and the presence of Jesus were not enough to stimulate your worship, imagine this.  Jesus walks over to you with a crown in His nail-pierced hands, a crown which has been prepared for you, not because you earned it but because you are a child of God through faith in Jesus.  As He draws near He lifts it up to gently place it on your head.

Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.  2 Timothy 4:8 ESV

If you were not singing before, you must be by then.  But not only you.  Your voice echoes with all who have longed for His appearing.

Before we move on I want you to wrap your mind around one more reality.  Two stanzas before another brow is mentioned.  In that second stanza as we considered the sacrifice of our Lord, we declared our love for Him which was prompted by wearing a different crown on His brow, a crown of thorns.  Juxtapose that against the image created in this last stanza at you are left with a startling truth: you will wear a glittering crown because Jesus wore a thorny one.

Are you longing for His appearing?  That is the criteria mentioned in Timothy to be able to be awarded that crown.  Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal how strong your longing is, then ask Him to make it even stronger.

If ever…it’s now!

My Jesus

From the first moments of our walk with Jesus, and then over time as we understood better what that even meant, we love Him.  We have already committed to speak in the previous stanza and then sing in this final one.  For me this alludes to a natural crescendo that is occurring as this hymn progresses.  I think it beautifully portrays what happens in the life of the believer.

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 1 Peter 1:8 ESV

In those earliest moments, we are overwhelmed with love for Jesus, our Savior.  As we grow in that love, it matures through a deeper sense of His sacrifice.  This prompts us to commit to love Him while living, and even while dying which requires an even greater level of maturity.  Finally we come to a place of rest in the fact that our best love will likely be offered beyond this life.

Even as you long to offer your highest praise in that Day, commit to loving Jesus in every “now” until that one comes.  Across more than four stanzas, but whatever days remain ask the Spirit to help you declare with your lips and your life more and more each day, “If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus ’tis now!”

Jesus, I love You.  Even as I long to see You face-to-face, help me to believe in You and rejoice with a joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.  Even though I may fail to truly express it, since it is inexpressible, help me to try. In Jesus’ name.   Amen.

Joyful Thinking!

Are these thoughts helping you to develop greater spiritual awareness?  Sign-up in the form to the right above to get updates of new tools to help you be Resonant.

Below is content always available to Subscribers, sometimes to Free Members, but today to everyone.  Want to learn more about accessing all the additional material in the Subscriber Content Library, click here.  Or check out some other samples at our Free Member Content Library.  We have lots of tools and lots of options designed to help you be Resonant!  Check them out today!!

Members and Subscribers enjoy this podcast! It features meditative music and moments to contemplate the Scriptures shared.  Everyone else the transcript below.

Podcast 9.4 Transcript

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.

In mansions of glory and endless delight,

John 14:2 ESV

In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?

Jesus is indeed preparing a place for us, a place of endless delight.  We often get caught up on the many roomed mansions, but simply being in His presence eternally will create a rest unlike we can even fathom now.  Take a moment and imagine what endless delight feels like.

  I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;

Revelation 21:23 ESV

And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

He will be our light, and we will adore Him forever.  Does that mean that all that we will do is sing praises?  I don’t think so. We will have the light of His presence to praise Him, but it will also give us the illumination and inspiration to engage in every pursuit with an undivided purpose, to adore Him.  Think about that.

I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow,

2 Timothy 4:8 ESV

Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

As I ever adore Jesus, no doubt some of that will be singing His praise.  No doubt some of our songs will be thanksgiving for placing a crown of righteousness on our brows, and that is only part of the award He has in store for us on that Day.  Give Him praise.

  If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

1 Peter 1:8 ESV

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,

We have not seen Him, yet we love Him.  Imagine how our love will expand when we finally lay our eyes on Jesus.  We will have loved Him in many different moments for many different reasons but surely we will love Him in those moments with an inexpressible and glorious joy.  Commit to do so now.  

Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has come to your mind, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then I will read our text once more.

In mansions of glory and endless delight,
  I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow,
  If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

Take the mindfulness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond.  Until next time, be Resonant.

Image Attributions
I’ll Sing – https://pixabay.com/illustrations/women-face-reflecting-elegance-1003240/
Glittering Crown – https://pixabay.com/photos/crown-gold-royal-luxury-golden-2661334/
My Jesus – https://pixabay.com/photos/faith-love-hope-fog-forest-clouds-4045660/

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