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In the Extremes, and the In-betweens

 

Every Hour

I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide, or life is vain.

I Need Thee Every Hour
By: Annie S. Hawks, 1836-1911 (1872)

Listen to this beautiful piano version as you read, or watch the video then read.  Subscribers and Free Members make certain to enjoy the video log below.

So here we are again, declaring our need of God.  It is a good habit to develop and over these six weeks we are working on it.  We want to make awareness of our need of God familiar as a well-worn path. We need Him at the extremes of life, and at every moment in between.  Let’s tune our hearts.

Every Hour

When we begin to sing the words we know just how true they are.  But between those moments it is easy to forget just how much we need God.  We get moving along from one thing to the next and sometimes many hours have passed since we last realized let alone practiced how much we need God.

How do you practice your need of God?

I walked through a scenario earlier today when I knew I needed God.  It was a little out of my comfort zone and a bit stressful so as I stood there waiting for it to materialize, I lifted a simple prayer to God.  “I need you God.  Please help me in this moment to speak words that help others realize their need for You.”

It is simple to do, yet often we forget to practice it.  Doing so with regularity reframes every moment, let alone every hour.  But every hour is a great start.

And we have absolute access so we can approach boldly.  We can cry out to Him at any time and all the time.  Mercy and grace, who does not need more of those in their life, right?

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  Hebrews 4:16 ESV

Need some help preparing for that time of need? Developing this habit.  Set and alarm on your phone for one hour from now, or on the next hour.  When it goes off click “repeat” and offer a simple prayer like this.  “I need You Lord.  Help me fix my eyes on You and trust You in everything for this next hour.”  That should get you started developing the habit of acknowledging your need of God in the ordinary moments of life.

This is an important habit to develop because it will prepare you to live the extraordinary moments better.  Otherwise the moments of joy or pain may otherwise cause you to either doubt your need of God, or deny He cares.  You want to avoid both at all costs.  Coming to Him regularly will help.

Pain

Joy or Pain

The latter is easier.  When we experience pain, our immediate desire is for relief.  Whether it is emotional, physical, mental or spiritual, we want to be delivered from it.

The pain should remind us how much we need God, even more than deliverance.  Sometimes, maybe even often, God chooses to deliver us through things than from them.  The ability to persevere is a gift that serves us well in a myriad of circumstances but is not often at the top of our things to ask for in prayer.  James 1:2-4 teaches the value of trials but living through such circumstances is still very difficult.

Are you facing some pain right now?  Have you been praying about it?  If so, has it been for it to come to an end, or for it to produce something in you?  Don’t misunderstand.  It is ok to pray for pain to pass, Jesus taught us that in Matthew 26:39.  But in the same passage He also taught us to accept God’s will to unfold if it does not.

If you are facing some pain right now, you need God.  Cry out to Him.  He has a purpose for it and He loves you.  Sorrow may last for the night but joy comes in the morning. (Psalms 30:5)

Joy

But even more challenging is maintaining your awareness of your need of God in the moments of joy.

Pain prompts us to cry our for relief.  Joy dulls our sense of need because it is itself so satisfying.

Pain pushes us to something better.  Joy masquerades as “something better”.

Pain makes us feel small.  Joy makes us feel great.

I wish I could take you back to your last moment of pure joy.  Was your first thought, “This is awesome”  or “God You’re awesome”?  Huge difference.

Joy may be otherwise defined as delight.  It is the emotion evoked by well-being, success or good fortune.  Joy is a truly wonderful thing, as long as we always remember the source of it all.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17 ESV

When we keep that perspective, we remember the source is better than the gift itself.  That guards us from the temptation to think we have somehow earned it or deserve it.  When we receive everything as from His gracious hand, we are far less likely to lose sight of Him, and our need of Him.
If you are walking in joy right now, you need God.  Give praise to Him.  He has a purpose for this and He loves you.  
Allow every circumstance to point you back to God and deepen you relationship with Him.  You need Him very hour.  Do not miss an opportunity to practice that.

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.  Romans 12:12 ESV 

Jesus, I need You every hour.   I need you when pain is overwhelming.  I need you when joy is welling up.  I need you for every moment and every emotion in between those two extremes.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

Constant Tuning!

Keep coming back and we will work help you remove the things that may hinder your longing for His return by cultivating an awareness of God’s presence.   We will help you tune your heart to live out your worship by providing resources like this to help you acknowledge the greatness of God as you become more Resonant, 7 days a week.

Like what you finding here?  Fill out the form to the right to get an email with each fresh post and updates of new tools to help you be Resonant.

Please comment below and share if you have found this helpful in your journey of being more resonant.

Below is content always available to Subscribers, often to Free Members, and sometimes everyone.  Want to learn more about accessing all the additional material in the Subscriber Content Library, click here, or the Free Member Content Library with some examples of the complete Subscribers content, click here.

Subscribers and Free Members enjoy this video and transcript! Everyone else the transcript below.

Video 11.3 Transcript

Welcome to Tuesday Tunings at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s tune our hearts.

I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide, or life is vain.

A week has passed since we last declared our need of God together, but I hope it has not been more than an hour since you last found some ways of expressing that.  Three weeks in and three weeks to go through this hymn, ask God again to help you develop this good habit.

So we have come to yet more experiences when our need of Jesus is very revealed, whether we are experiencing joy or pain.  Crying our In pain is simpler because we long for relief. But we must learn to confess our need in joy as well, to protect ourselves from conceit.  Help us Lord.

We ask God to come and dwell with us.  It reflects Jesus teaching about abiding which promises we will bear fruit.  We stay connected to Him and we are fruitful. The alternative is pitiful. Ask Jesus to teach you how to practice this.

Without God life tends toward vanity, fruitlessness, and fleeting satisfaction.  Solomon in Ecclesiastes 12 instructs us to “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.”  Ask God for the awareness of Him which protects our lives and fills them with purpose.  

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.

Sing

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
Every Hour – https://pixabay.com/photos/old-man-old-person-person-2803645/
Joy – https://pixabay.com/photos/joy-success-freedom-happy-victory-4293825/
Pain – https://pixabay.com/photos/tears-crying-tear-pain-injustice-4551435/

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How To Get God to Stay Nearby?

I Need Thee

I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their pow’r when Thou art nigh.

I Need Thee Every Hour
By: Annie S. Hawks, 1836-1911 (1872)

Listen to this beautiful piano version as you read, or watch the video then read.  

We are going to declare again and again over these weeks how much we need God.  We are doing this for our benefit, for the sooner this settles in the better off we will be, for the more enabled we will find ourselves to overcome the power of temptation. Let’s tune our hearts.

Help

The image that comes to mind for me is a little child trying to muster up the courage to do something.  They want to do it, and do it by themselves, but they feel much better about trying when mom or dad are nearby.  Like climbing the ladder to the sliding board.

They want to do it, but with the moral support drawn from the nearness of a parent, just in case something goes wrong.  There is a little danger, but it is mitigated by the power of the parent.  The parent gives courage to the child simply by being near. This is a very powerful, positive perspective.

As we get a little older, we still find comfort in the nearness of authority.  There is simply something reassuring about the access to someone with the power to help should the need arise.  When we know we have the ear of one who can change a scenario it changes everything.  The Psalmist put that feeling like this.

Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Psalm 86:1 ESV

But it is not only the access that reassure us.  It is the certainty of an answer.  And we need that answer when we acknowledge we are poor and needy.

I Need Thy Ear

When I embarked on this journey of Resonant 7 several years ago I had a friend who offered me some good counsel.  He told be to ask for help when I needed it.  Then he said, “You need to act like a poor man and not be ashamed to ask for help when there is something you need that you can not accomplish without help.”

That counsel has served me well on this journey but has also challenged me in other areas as well.  Admitting we are poor and needy, especially to one that can help is a humbling and rewarding experience, but not one most of us look forward to.  You see it is one thing to be heard.  It is quite another to be helped.  Ask God to help you call out to Him for help when you need it.

Jesus, help me to be willing to ask for Your help when I need it.  And I need it every hour, so I can be certain to have many opportunities to practice it.  Thank You Lord in advance for each one.

Nearby

If are going to ask someone for help it is useful to get near them.  There are times when we know we need God’s help but He seems distant.  It makes me think of the old adage, “If God seems distant, realize He is not the one who moved.”  We must address this drift.

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:8 ESV

This Scripture makes very clear the cause fo the drift.  Sin.  For me it is the temptation to think I am self-sufficient.  Though I know this is not true, I often act in a way that is quite contrary to that.

Stay Thou Nearby

Staying near to God, and drawing near when we have drifted away, is a crucial part of acknowledging our need of Him.  Our double mindedness is the issue.  We waver between wanting to please God and please ourselves. We need to ask for His forgiveness for the times we have lived for us, and then sin we have gotten into as we drifted away, and for His help to live for Him.

One of the main points of Resonant 7 is to help people cultivate an awareness of God’s presence.  When we are mindful He is near, it has a very profound effect on our ability to live for Him. That ability keeps us out of trouble by ensuring we are engaged in His will and ways.

Ask God to help you cultivate a continual awareness of His presence.  Ask Him to help you stay nearby, as opposed to wandering off and getting in all sorts of trouble.  Jesus is always near.  We simply need greater awareness of Him.

Jesus, Your presence makes the difference in every circumstance.   Help me to be quick to confess my need of You, and to live in Your presence.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

Continual Tuning!

Keep coming back and we will work help you remove the things that may hinder your longing for His return by cultivating an awareness of God’s presence.   We will help you tune your heart to live out your worship by providing resources like this to help you acknowledge the greatness of God as you become more Resonant, 7 days a week.

Like what you finding here?  Fill out the form to the right to get an email with each fresh post and updates of new tools to help you be Resonant.

Please comment below and share if you have found this helpful in your journey of being more resonant.

Below is content always available to Subscribers, often 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 the Free Member Content Library with some examples of the complete Subscribers content, click here.

Everyone enjoy this video and transcript!

 

Video 11.2 Transcript

Welcome to Tuesday Tunings at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s tune our hearts.

I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their pow’r when Thou art nigh.

Here we are again.  Another week, another stanza, and another 168 hours of experiencing our need of Jesus.  Maybe you became aware of your need as He seemed distant at some point. Truth is He is always closer than even your breath.  Tell Him you need Him.

If He seems distant, as the old adage says, remember it is Jesus who moved.  The point is, we often lack awareness of how near He is because we have learned to be comfortable being unaware of His presence.  Ask Him to heighten your awareness of His presence.

We all have temptations.  The important thing to remember is that temptations do not need to have us.  They seem so powerful when we try to overcome them on our own. That apparent power is diminished as our sense of the Lord’s presence is increased.

We cultivate our awareness of His presence when we confess our need of Him.  That awareness is the best weapon again temptations and the weaknesses of our lessor selves.  Ask the Lord to help you cultivate your spiritual sensitivity every hour.   

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.

Sing

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
I Need Thee – https://pixabay.com/photos/hands-hand-fold-woman-finger-work-2274255/
Every Hour – https://pixabay.com/photos/clock-alarm-clock-watch-time-old-1274699/
Most gracious Lord – https://pixabay.com/illustrations/painting-artwork-art-russian-art-1023419/

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Do You Know How Much You Need God?

I Need Thee

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.

I Need Thee Every Hour
By: Annie S. Hawks, 1836-1911 (1872)

Listen to this beautiful piano version as you read, or watch the video then read.  

We begin a six week journey of exploring and expressing our constant need of God.  This must be a concept we become very comfortable practicing, for doing so takes us to a much deeper intimacy with God.  I pray you develop the habit of routinely telling our Lord how much you need Him during this journey.  Let’s tune our hearts.

I Need You

It is not easy to admit we need anything, until of course we are at the end of ourselves.  This reality alienates us from God, and others, in direct correlation with how self-sufficient we pretend to be.  And it can be a very subtle sufficiency, cloaked in the guise of not wanting to be a burden to others, or asking God for help, but let’s call it what it really is, sin.

As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God! Psalm 40:17 ESV

When we need deliverance from situations too big for us and help with circumstances too great, we have no trouble crying out for quick relief.  That’s good, but there is another kind of need with which we use reacquaint ourselves.  It is the continual awareness of our need for God, particularly in the mundane, that takes our relationship with Him to that deeper level.

In that moment we first realized we needed a Savior and that Jesus was willing to be ours, we easily declared, “I need You!”  Do you remember that moment?  “The hour (you) first believed” in God’s amazing grace?  It is just as amazing every other hour after that, and you certainly continue to need it, but something happens to all of us.

Over time we slowly become callous to our need of God all the time.

Can you recall the last ordinary moment you told Him you needed Him?  That might be a little tricky because ordinary moments are simply not very, well, extraordinary, so they are easy to forget.  Even still, is it a habit of yours to confess your need of God?

Tell Him right now.  God, I need You.  In this hour, I need You.  

Every Hour

Every Hour

Our need for God never changes, but our awareness of it does.

I am not even going to try to convince you of this one.  You are poor and needy, just embrace it, and the incredible truth that Jesus wants to help you.  You are on His mind.  Now, to develop your ability to keep yours on Him.

So what are you going to do about that?  May I make a suggestion.

Begin to develop this habit with one of these simple reminders today.

  1. Every time you pass through a doorway tell Him you need Him.  It is a good reminder that as you transition from one place to the next you need to confess your need of Him.
  2. Set an alarm for an hour from now.  When it goes off simply tell Him you need Him, and you are open to His care.  Then restart the alarm for an hour again, and repeat.

These are simple things but they can help cultivate an awareness of your need for God’s presence.

Which one will you do today?  Commit to one right now before this concept slips away, and with it several more hours when you could have been confessing your need for God.

Most Gracious Lord

Most Gracious Lord

What perspective of Jesus comes to mind in those moments when you are telling Him you need Him?

Consider this verse.

…the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.  Isaiah 30:18 ESV 

That first phrase really struck me.  Jesus is waiting to be gracious to you.  I think that means He is longing to do it, more than looking for the right circumstance.

Join that concept of longing with this image and I think that makes sense.  Jesus wants to be gracious to You, and actually is being gracious always, but we are unaware so His grace is effectively lost on us.  How sad that is, and how sad that must make Him.

I believe it makes Him sad for two reasons.

  1. He wants to be gracious to us because He loves us.  When we are unaware of it, I believes is saddens Him.
  2. He is exalted when He shows mercy to us, and since He is more aware than we are of just how worthy He is to be exalted, not doing so saddens Him.

Easy fix.  Make Jesus glad today and engage in exalting Him by telling Him how much you need Him.  Nothing makes Him happier.

You may just be surprised to learn that nothing will make you happier than that either.

Tell Him how much you need His grace.  Thank Him for it and receive it in this hour.  Then repeat it again in 60 minutes or less. 

Jesus, I need You continually, and I want to remember that at least hourly.  Help me to practice that today, and find myself reveling in the wonder of Your grace to me in my need. In Jesus name.  Amen.

Needful Tuning!

Keep coming back and we will work help you remove the things that may hinder your longing for His return by cultivating an awareness of God’s presence.   We will help you tune your heart to live out your worship by providing resources like this to help you acknowledge the greatness of God as you become more Resonant, 7 days a week.

Like what you finding here?  Fill out the form to the right to get an email with each fresh post and updates of new tools to help you be Resonant.

Please comment below and share if you have found this helpful in your journey of being more resonant.

Below is content always available to Subscribers, often to Free Members, but sometimes to everyone.  Want to learn more about accessing all the additional material in the Subscriber Content Library, click here, or the Free Member Content Library with some examples of the complete Subscribers content, click here.

Subscribers and members enjoy this video and transcript! Everyone else just transcript below!

Video 11.1 Transcript

Welcome to Tuesday Tunings at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s tune our hearts.

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.

This is a beautiful place to begin, admitting to God you need Him.  Of course, that was easy to confess as you began the journey with Jesus, but often our self-sufficiency kicks in.  Tell Jesus you need Him in this hour. Then embrace of life of repeating that hourly.

The grace of our Lord makes it easy to admit our need.  But we often feel guilty about a thought, or word, or deed and let that keep us from coming.  Begin to develop the discipline of coming often to God, by asking Him right now to help you receive His grace.

Our gracious and gentle Shepherd said in John 10:27, “My sheep hear my voice.  I know them, and they follow me.” We must learn to tune our ears to hear His voice, and then follow wherever He leads.  Ask the Holy Spirit to tune you heart to identify Jesus’ tender voice.

We must learn to follow because doing so leads us to inner peace, even in the hours when things are not peaceful externally.  Have you experienced the peace of Jesus? Either way, ask Him right now to help you listen and learn the way.

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.

Sing

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
I Need Thee – https://pixabay.com/photos/hands-hand-fold-woman-finger-work-2274255/
Every Hour – https://pixabay.com/photos/clock-alarm-clock-watch-time-old-1274699/
Most gracious Lord – https://pixabay.com/illustrations/painting-artwork-art-russian-art-1023419/

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How to Help Your Soul Sing

Then Sings My Soul

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,
  How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,
  How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

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

Listen to this orchestral version as you read.  Please check out the video log below which will guide you through a worshipful reflection of this stanza, often only available to Subscribers and Free Members.

This week we close our consideration of this beloved hymn by looking into the refrain that comes as a response to each of the stanzas we have meticulously meandered through over the last four weeks.  Check out all those blogs and their media content in the Blogs tab at the top.  Take a few minutes today to ready your soul for your song of praise to our Savior and God.  Let’s tune our hearts.

Then Sings My Soul

We have all had them.  Those moments when God revealed Himself and we are left with a soul full of praise.  Sometimes it is in creation, other times in the beauty of daily living.  He certainly showed His greatness on the cross, and will when He returns.  Our souls sing in those moments, and sometimes our voices do as well. The Psalmist said it like this.

Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty…Psalm 104:1 ESV

The clear instruction in Scripture is for us to direct our souls to bless the Lord because He is great!  The soul can bless the Lord with or without the voice.  I am a singer so many times as I was praising my soul has become overwhelmed with a sense of God’s greatness, but an even more normal and regular occurrence is my soul responding to God’s greatness which leads to a song.  My soul leads the way, and my song becomes just one expression, albeit a very valuable and Biblical one.

No Microphone Necessary

You see, our praise more often does not need a microphone because our voice is not even involved.  We are called to live lives that declare the greatness of God, with or without a microphone.  I have had the opportunity to stand at a microphone in a studio an offer my praise to God.  It is thrilling and exciting, but mostly because I have had something great to sing about, my Savior God.

Far more often, there has been no microphone and no studio.  No one standing around to hear and no device to capture the sound.  And it didn’t matter because there was no sound to capture.  I simply poured out my praise from my soul to the heart of God.

Can you manufacture those moments?  I don’t believe so.  I do believe you can prepare for them, even though sometimes God just shows up and leaves your jaw-dropped on the ground.

We prepare by removing the hindrances which might impair our ability to observe His greatness, and cultivating the heart that easily acknowledge it.  But it is not a two-step process as much as an on-going discipline.

So I wonder what hindrances might need removing today?  Maybe you see them as distractions, but beware they may be hindrances masquerading as such.  If you are good in that area, what are you actively doing to cultivate a greatness-declaring soul?  Spend a few moments ask the Holy Spirit to disciple you in your praise-making.

How Great Thou Art

My Savior God to Thee

But sometimes you do need a microphone, and a guitar too!  You find yourself moments after the latest “then” and you MUST offer your praise to God.  Maybe you felt it in your soul, saw it with your eyes, heard it with your ears, etc., and you simply have to respond. 

…you are great, O Lord God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.  2 Samuel 7:22 ESV

I think of this as the spontaneous praise of a heart that has been made aware of Who God is.  You can not cultivate this.  It just happens.  But it is more conducive in the heart that is free from hindrances.

How many people look at the grand vista of a sunset and either lack the capacity or are hindered to acknowledge the Maker of it?  How many feel the kindness of another and fail to see the One who is the Source of it?  How many wake to a new day and can not appreciate the new mercies it holds, each gifts from the Creator of them all?

We are all guilty of allowing these moments to slip by without entering into a rightful and appropriate “then”.  There are a cacophony of noises and distractions that fill our hearts with other responses.  Keep finding moments like this in your day to recalibrate.  We are here to help anytime.

I pray you will have many more “then” moments like the ones this great hymn deliniates.  I hope we can help you routinely remove hindrances to such expressions and be a source of encouragement as you cultivate a heart that anticipates them.  Ask Jesus to surprise you today with some revelation of His greatness.  Then sing from your soul.

Jesus, my soul sings of your greatness.  Help me remove the hindrances and distractions that might dampen my praise and cultivate the environments and perspectives that will allow it to resonate.    Then sings my soul.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

Great-ful Tuning!

Keep coming back and we will work help you remove the things that may hinder your longing for His return by cultivating an awareness of God’s presence.   We will help you tune your heart to live out your worship by providing resources like this to help you acknowledge the greatness of God as you become more Resonant, 7 days a week.

Like what you finding here?  Fill out the form to the right to get an email with each fresh post and updates of new tools to help you be Resonant.

Please comment below and share if you have found this helpful in your journey of being more resonant.

Below is content always available to Subscribers, often to Free Members, but here to everyone.  Want to learn more about accessing all the additional material in the Subscriber Content Library, click here, or the Free Member Content Library with some examples of the complete Subscribers content, click here.

Everyone enjoy this video and transcript below!

Video 10.5 Transcript

Welcome to Tuesday Tunings at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s tune our hearts.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
  How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
  How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

In every one of those moments described in every preceding stanza, and so many more, my soul will sing to Him of His greatness.  When I consider His work in creation, my soul sings His greatness. Think on that work and give Him praise.

When I consider how He reveals Himself to me in the simple daily things and the significant momentous times my soul sings.  As I journey through the varying experiences of life, the highs and lows, and realize He presence ever with me, I am determined to give Him glory.  Will you?

As I reflect on His laying down His life to pay for my sins, I am overwhelmed with gratitude and worship.  Though I move along from His cross taking up my own, I want to routinely come back to the foot of it and give Him praise.  Look up, visualize His cross and thank Him for it.

All other moments of praise point to the last, eternal ones when finally in His glorious, heavenly presence we will offer Him praise as never before possible.  Ask Jesus to stir a longing for those moments, even as you make the most of every one of these.

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.

Sing

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 Sings My Soul – https://pixabay.com/photos/worship-singing-inspiration-church-4088561/
No Microphone Necessary – https://pixabay.com/photos/music-studio-music-studio-sound-1290097/
How Great Thou Art – https://pixabay.com/illustrations/sunset-web-banner-music-guitar-1012477/

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Going Home, But What Does That Mean?

When Christ Shall Come

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.  Please check out the video log below which will guide you through a worshipful reflection of this stanza, often only available to Subscribers and Free Members.

If His work in creation and His re-creation of life on the cross were not enough to convince one of His greatness, our author turns the consummation of the ages in Christ’s return to make His final appeal.  Are you ready for it?  Take a few minutes today to prepare yourself for eternity, ushered in by the second coming of Jesus.  Tune your heart to be ready to join the song of praise that will ring across all time and space.

When Christ Shall Come

We are His people between His advent’s.  He came once.  He will come again.  And when He does He will take us to be with Him forever, never to be separated again.  That after all is the definition of heaven, eternal bliss in the very presence of our Lord.

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. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 ESV

There is an interesting trinity here.

  1. A Cry of Command
  2. The Voice of An Archangel
  3. The Sound of the Trumpet

The latter two are more straightforward.  An archangel will lift a voice to declare His return.  The angel is not named but what a privilege that will be.  Angel voices are often compared to trumpets in the Scripture.  I believe this is because there are so powerful and unearthly, that the writers struggle to adequately describe them.  This will be a heavenly trumpet blast announcing Christ’s return.  Again every trumpeter of faith would love to have the privilege to sound that call.

This leaves “a cry of command”. I think it may be tied to the last part of the verse.  Maybe it is Jesus’ call for the dead in Christ to rise, similar to the authority He demonstrated with Lazarus.  After all, the old quip was that if Jesus had not said, “Lazarus, come out” that all the faithful who died in faith would have been resurrected then and there.

No matter how you look at it He is coming back.  The writer says “When”, not”If”.  Our confidence declares He is coming back.

Are you convinced He is coming back?  Do you live like you are convinced, or is it just an idea?  Take a few moments and ponder if you are truly ready to hear the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet blast.  Ask Jesus to help you prepare for His cry of command.

Shout of Acclamation

With Shout of Acclamation

I think this is a great reference to the voice of the archangel.  Actually I was fascinated as I was searching the Scriptures at how well these first two lines parallel these two verses from I Thessalonians 4.  He is coming back, announced by the archangel voice, and we will be with Him forever.  What joy!

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.  1 Thessalonians 4:17 ESV

Acclamation is an unusual word.  Here it means loud and enthusiastic approval, welcoming and honoring Jesus.  You probably knew that.  What you may not have know, and I will be honest I did not, was that it can also mean “an overwhelming affirmative vote by cheers, shouts, or applause rather than by ballot.”

What struck me about that was the fact that there was no ballot.  Though I understand that means that the approval is so significant a counting of ballots is unnecessary, I first read it to mean simply that there was no ballot.  This made sense because it is not as if earth get a vote.  While we long for His return since it will be such a wonderful day for people of faith, it will be a dreadful day for the faithless.

All the same, they do not get a vote.

We have the incredible privilege of being among those who will be joining that acclamation, but not because of anything we have done.  It is a gift of grace.  Thank Jesus that you can look forward to His return because it will be a joyful occasion for you.

Take Me Home

Take Me Home

I think believers often imagine that when we get to our eternal home, heaven, we will sit around on clouds singing and and playing harps forever.  That is actually not a very Biblical view.  Though the Thessalonian passage says we will be caught up in the clouds and meet Him in the air, it does not say we will stay there.

It is clear in revelation there will be a wedding celebration, with feasting.  We know that God will create a new heaven and new earth.  I would contend why would we need a new earth if we are going to reside in heaven alone?

Do you see my point?

When Jesus takes us “home” I imagine there will be earthly qualities to that place, albeit perfect.  That is why I chose the image which portrays heaven and earth because both will be a part of that existence.  I have my own little, personal take that.

What Joy

I am from West Virginia and we have a song that expresses what it feels like to have been away from home and be returning.  If you are not familiar with it, it is called Take Me Home, Country Roads, by John Denver.  Of course my capacity to understand heaven is limited by my experience of “Almost Heaven, West Virginia”, but it is also informed by it.

What I mean by that is as much as God will create a new earth, I believe the best of this one will be somehow present there.  Or to say it another way, the very best of this life is a shadow of what it to come.  You can not completely describe something if you have only seen its shadow, but you have some idea at the very least.

I am not encouraging you to fashion heaven entirely in your own mind, but use your sanctified imagination and let the Spirit lead you.  I believe that is part of the joy that will fill our hearts, the fulfillment of our deepest longings, in terms of the place of our home, not to mention the company we will keep, which is ultimately what make it heaven in the first place.

Your sin has been taken away, but do you chase after it sometimes?  You can die to sin and live righteousness, but you will need the help of the Holy Spirit to do so consistently.  Ask Him for that help right now.

Jesus, thank You the promise that You will one day return and take us to be with You.  Help me to long for that coming today.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

Joyful Tuning!

Keep coming back and we will work help you remove the things that may hinder your longing for His return by cultivating an awareness of God’s presence.   We will help you tune your heart to live out your worship by providing resources like this to help you acknowledge the greatness of God as you become more Resonant, 7 days a week.

 

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Everyone enjoy this video and transcript below!

Video 10.3 Transcript

Welcome to Tuesday Tunings at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s tune our hearts.

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!”

He is coming back.  Just as certainly as He came as the babe in the manger, He will come back as the Lord of all.  And it will not only be angels expressing loud and enthusiastic approval, but all of creation. Will you tune your heart today in preparation for that day?

He is coming back, not to make His home in us, but to take us to our eternal home with Him.  The joy that will fill our hearts that day as we realize in full the hope we have today is impossible to imagine.  Ask Jesus to help you long for that day.

I like to imagine what that will be like when I am finally in the presence of my Savior and my God, including what my response will be.  Bowing in humble adoration seems like an appropriate one. Humble yourself before Him today, so you are ready for that one.

But I will not only bow, I will also declare “My God how great You are!” amid many other expressions of praise and worship.  I am so thankful I can practice for those moments by choosing to worship now. Are you regularly practicing your praise?

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.

Sing

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
When Christ Shall Come – https://stephensizer.com/2016/01/speeding-christs-return/
With Shout of Acclamation – https://escapetoreality.org/2016/11/24/when-is-the-second-coming/
Take My Home – https://pixabay.com/photos/cliff-adventure-above-hiking-1822484/
What Joy Shall FIll My Heart – https://pixabay.com/photos/country-road-forest-road-country-1149667/

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