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Do you ever think about what else is happening when you are praising God?
I thought about that the other day, how every part of creation praises the Lord, the mountains proclaim his greatness
how we join with ALL of creation, heavens, angels, earth...everything when we praise HIM...the I AM!
Click here to sing praise with all of creation
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth" Genesis 1:1
CHORUS
Oh God, may I join with the heavens
singing praises to your name
Oh Lord, I want to sing with the angels
singing, "Worthy is the Lamb"
Hallelujah, to the I AM
Holy, Holy, Holy, to the Lamb
Oh God, may I join with creation
proclaiming great is your name
Oh Lord, let us sing together
all heaven and earth bless your name
Hallelujah to the I AM
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lamb
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lamb
Your name is greater than any word in any language
Your name is more than any word than we could ever say
Elohi, My Lord, you're everything and more than we could say
CHORUS
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On my way home from taking Carrie to preschool I was praising my God. Watching the rain come down, it was beautiful.
Words such as amazing, incredible, great, beautiful came out of my mouth.
Then I thought, these words aren't good enough. They will work, because those are the words we know, but when trying to describe God and who He is, He IS.
God describes God. It sounds weird, doesn't it? God, MY God, his name means all of those things and so many more!
His name is more beautiful, more powerful, more awesome, more....MORE than anything we could come up with.
So perhaps that is one of the reasons why when Moses asks God what he should call him, God responds in this way:
Exodus 3:13-14
Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"
God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.'"'
Enough said. I AM. The God of your fathers. Need no more explanation.
So God, you are GOD, and I will praise you! |
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The second time we see the word "love" in Holy Scripture is in Genesis 22:2
Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love and go to the Region of Moria. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."
Why would God even need to say futher "your only son?" To further emphasize that God knew exactly what He was asking Abraham to do. Sacrifice his son. Kill his son. His only son.
This was no ordinary little boy! (Not that any of us are just ordinary to God!)
But God tells Abraham (then Abram) time and time again that he will have offspring.
In chapter 12 of Genesis, God tells Abraham (then Abram) "To your offspring I will give this land." And so many offpsring that if dust could be counted, then his offspring could be counted.
And again and again God reminds Abram of the promised offspring.
And Abraham was 100 years old was Isaac was born.
Abraham knew the promise of, and He knew God was the ultimate Promise Keeper. So when God asks Abraham to kill his own son, do we see Abraham questioning God? No we do not. He got as far as to raise the knife to slay his son, his only son.
Did Abraham love this boy? Oh absolutely. Did he love God more? Yes.
Does God love us? Yes
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
He sent his one and only Son. One and only.
Only One. |
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You know that song that goes, "Jesus, I adore you?"
Well, yesterday I sang it in a different way, as if Jesus was talking to me, and it seemed so tender:
"Mindy, I adore you
and I laid my life down for you
How I love you"
Goodness, how tender and precious that moment was to me.
Try it singing it the way Jesus is speaking to you, it's beautiful.
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We are getting ready to either purchase or make a dollhouse for Carrie. Because she plays a little more rough than other girls, I saw a need for the Loving Family set by Fisher Price.
They have plastic durable furniture and anything that is hard to break is good for Carrie.
Fisher Price stopped making Loving Family grandfather dolls! I had to purchase one off of Ebay. They have a grandmother, but no grandfather. How sad that the role of grandfather seems so unimportant, so little in value that it's so stinken hard to find a grandfather doll.
Why is he left out?
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Carrie will be 4 on September 27th. I think the last 6 months and especially the last couple months I have witnessed significant growth.
I am trying to remember Walter and his growth.
It hasn't been that long since Walter turned 4, two years, actually.
I can't remember as much as I probably should- the changes that happened with him during that growth period. Perhaps it was just as noticeable and significant.
Carrie has improved her speech. We have been working on using her mouth and articulating so that her speech is clear. She picked up on it and has run with it. She is communicating better and better. She has learned how to sound out letters and form simple words. Her motor skills are improving to where she cuts and colors fairly well.
Three seemed like a "big girl" but holy cow, this turning 4 thing is amazing! When did my little girl grow up?
Granted, I still pick up after her probably more than I should, she is still a fast mover and can sometimes be a wrecking ball or a bull in a china shop, leaving a trail of where she has been. But that part will be refined I think with the next couple years as she matures even more.
But again, this approaching birthday seems like a big one to me. Where did my little girl go?
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A few years ago, I went to a women's rest retreat. I went in ready to "listen and fix" and I went out ready to "listen and be loved."
God wanted to love on me.
So I was led to the scriptures, and I started to do a study on the word "love"
The first time the word "love" appears in the Bible is actually in Genesis 20:13.
And when God had me wander from my father's household, I said to her, 'This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, "He is my brother."'"
Abraham and his wife Sarah were in Gerar. Abraham, had repeated this scenario once before in chapter 12 (verses 10-20) in Egypt with Pharaoh.
Sarah was beautiful. Abraham was afraid the rulers of that area would see her beauty and kill him in order to obtain possession of her. So, here we see Abraham, fearing for his life, ask Sarah to tell half of the truth here. He instructs her to say that she is his sister.
She was his sister, same dad, different mom. It was very common back then to marry half sisters. But that was only half the truth. The other half was that she was his wife. That's a very important other half of the truth that was left out.
This had happened once before, and the Pharaoh had taken her, yet not violated her (just yet.) So Sarah knew what might happen when the question arose.
And she obeys, again, in chapter 20, out of selfless love to her husband. And the king of Gerar, Abimelech took her.
God intervened and came to Abimelech in a dream and told him he took a married women. So this verse is part of Abraham's response to Abimelech's question of why he did this:
"Abraham replied, "I said to myself, 'There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.' Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife. And when God had me wander from my father's household, I said to her, 'This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, "He is my brother."'"
And, oh, by the way, this is the first time we see the word, "prophet" as well.
God says to Abimelech in verse 7, "Now return the man's wife, for his is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all yours will die."
Now, we can look at this the glass half empty- "she lied"
or we can look at it half full: she submitted, she obeyed, well knowing it may result in her being taken by the king
Where is God's glory revealed here? I think it is revealed in her obediance to her husband, in God's rescue and in God's continuning to honor and lift Abraham up, even when perhaps they didn't go about it in God's way.
And let us not lose sight of who Abraham was, the Father of all Nations. God chose this man to be a part of the eternal plan, even full knowing the faults and failures such as failing to trust God with his life. God walked with Abraham. WALKED, in the presence of, discussed his plans with him!
Chapter 18 verses 16-33
Kind of reassuring, isn't it? Even if we miss the mark, which we will so many many times, God still has us in His hands and will continue to use us. Not because He needs to, but because He wants to. He wants to give us that experience.
All I can say is, whew! Thank you for grace and mercy! And thank you that my life is not written out with all my faults and failures displayed for generations after to read!
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