Wednesday Wanderings is a time we set aside to wander in the Presence of Jesus and ponder His truths. When you are ready, prepare your mind, body, and soul to have a transformational encounter with Jesus.
Watch the Wednesday Wanderings Welcome for this week.
Now that we have cleared our minds of the clutter, we can wander on the journey with our Holy Jesus.
PREPARATION: In our last Wandering with Dr. Sherri, we considered the Old Rugged Cross and the the meaning of being True to the Cross. This week we begin our journey through another hymn Crown Him with Many Crowns and another set of powerful truths. When you are ready, you may begin the dialogue with Jesus and state: “Jesus, I invite you to help me to leisurely wander into your Presence. Prepare my heart to receive, and illuminate my spiritual senses to encounter you.”
PROMISE: Revelation 6:2 ESV And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.
As we prepare to look into the words of this great hymn, we set the context by considering the words of Scripture that describe this One who is worthy to be crowned. Even as we do, invite the Holy Spirit to come and reveal Him to you for we simply lack the capacity to fathom the riches and wonder of all that He is. Look at this image and read those words again as you prepare to instruct your soul to crown Jesus with many crowns today.
PSALM: Crown Him with Many Crowns was written by 1852 by Matthew Bridges.
Crown Him with many crowns,
The Lamb upon His throne;
Hark! How the heav’nly anthem drowns
All music but its own!
Awake, my soul and sing
Of Him Who died for thee,
And hail Him as thy matchless King
Through all eternity.
Matthews Bridges, author of Crown Him with Many Crowns having listened for the heavenly anthems heralding the honors of Christ endeavored to awaken his soul to join in the eternal refrain. Jesus is indeed worthy of of the crowns and the praise we could ever bring, but there is another reason we should offer it to Him. It changes us. Giving praise to our matchless King reorients our life to Him, His ways, and His purposes, as it revolutionizes our perspective on the every aspect of our lives, including even the pandemic we find ourselves in today.
PARABLE: Why should I awaken my soul to sing? As a worship leader I have often looked out at a group of people and spotted those who were reluctant or struggling to sing. I realized that part of my responsibility to them and our Lord was to help them sing, and to do so without admonishing or exhorting them in a heavy-handed, guilt inducing way. Instead, I always tried to offer encouragement to the weary traveler and modeled hearty singing as I offered my own worship to Jesus.
Often I would think of the singing instructions that John Wesley wrote to encourage those who were finding his teachings to stir their souls. His brother Charles wrote some great hymns to give them fresh expressions of the ancient faith they were experiencing. We even examined one of his best known following last Easter here at Resonant 7, Christ the Lord is Risen Today. Here is the first of those blogs.
Though I appreciate all of John’s words in his Directions for Singing which you can find here, This is probably my favorite, at least today.
IV. Sing lustily and with good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, than when you sung the songs of Satan.
So does that describe your singing? I certainly want it to describe mine! Why? Because Jesus is worthy of that praise, and offering it changes me and my perspective. When was the last time you sang lustily and with good courage? Maybe cooped up at home makes it harder for you, but I want to encourage you, put on a song and join in today, and certainly Sunday as we celebrate the resurrection.
PONDER and WANDER: If you choose, Ponder the questions: Might there be another aspect of lifting my soul to sing I am truly missing these days?
I would say yes. We are missing the communal aspect of our singing. It is something we do together infrequently in society outside of church and the Star-Spangled Banner, but it was encouraging to see Italians singing from their apartments a few weeks ago. Singing is a powerful medium for our souls, but singing together is even more so.
You probably already now that is true but check out this short video for some of the why…
Soul care training exercise: We find safety and comfort when we sing together. We need singing together now more than ever, but we are isolated. I think those first church services when we can come back together are going to be filled with some incredible singing by God’s people.
If you choose, complete this week’s soul training exercise and consider taking time to be transparent with Christ.
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Singing Together When you are ready, clear your mind and focus on being authentic with Christ.
- Next, allow the Holy Spirit to stir your soul to give Him praise for He is worthy. Pray something like “Help me find my voice in this time of isolation Lord. Help me discover new ways to lift my soul to praise Your name.”
- Then, begin to pray with the confidence of Christ. Acknowledge the longing, even God develops it in You, to offer your courageous praise among His gathered people. Say, “Give me a newfound courage to offer praise to You when I can be among Your people again.”
- Lastly, ask for patience. Say, “Even as I long for that to come when I can offer praise to You with Your people, give me the patience to wait for it and until then welcome Your work in me.”
PRAYER: Father, thank You for giving me a reason to sing. Help me find my voice in these quiet days, and anticipate offering my praise with your people once again. May I develop in this unusual season and even greater courage and desire to sing lustily for the glory of Your name, and may it continue to transform me from the inside out. In Jesus worthy name I pray. Amen.
PRAISE: Now that you have emptied your mind of the clutter and wandered with Jesus, take a closing moment to thank our loving God for the many crowns that Jesus is worthy to wear. Let the work of your wandering fill you with the love of Christ.
Then take the mindfulness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes of wandering into the next ones and beyond.
Until next time, be Resonant.
The post Why Should We Sing Heartily? appeared first on Resonant 7.
Image attributions:
Conquering King – https://henrytrocino.wordpress.com/2018/02/04/jesus-is-called-faithful-and-true/
Singing – https://pixabay.com/vectors/singing-kids-child-group-children-304617/
Singing Together – https://pixabay.com/vectors/singing-kids-child-group-children-304617/
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