“A Cheerful Heart Is Good Medicine!”

As I prepare for our worship services each week, I filter through many psalms, hymns and spiritual songs and try to put together the ones from each category that I believe will best lead us to the place that the Lord wants to take us on any given week. One of the criticisms of modern or contemporary (music of the day) specifically “praises choruses” is that many of them are repetitive. I heard someone once call them 7-11 songs - seven words sung eleven times! Admittedly, many of them are repetitive. The reason for this may be that most take their scriptural basis for the psalms. For instance, have you ever read Psalm 136? God wanted the first singers of this song to get the point—that “His love endures forever!” So much so that He repeated it 26 times in a row!

I’ve had many conversations with people about the strength and need for repetition and how our Lord used it throughout scripture, and have read much about it. I want to share with you one of the funniest illustrations I have ever seen regarding the subject. Enjoy.

An old farmer went to the city one weekend and attended the

big city church. He came home and his wife asked him how

it was. “Well,” said the farmer, “It was good, They did

something different, however. They sang praise choruses

instead of hymns.” “Praise choruses,” said his wife, “What

are those?” “Oh, they’re okay. They’re sort of like hymns,

only different,” said the farmer. “Well, what’s the

difference? “ asked the wife. The farmer said, “Well, it’s like

this: If I were to say to you, ‘Martha, the cows are in the corn,’

well, that would be a hymn. If, on the other hand, I were to say

to you, “Martha, Martha, Martha, Oh, Martha, MARTHA,

MARTHA, the cows, the big cows, the brown cows, the

black cows, the white cows, the black and white cows, the COWS,

COWS, COWS, are in the corn, are in the corn, are in the corn,

are in the CORN, CORN, CORN,” then if I were to repeat the whole thing two or three times, well, that would be a praise chorus!”

Go ahead and laugh. “A cheerful heart is good medicine!” Today, whether we say or sing, “God is good!” or God is good, He is good, He is so good, God is so, so, so, so, so, so good!”, our Lord is blessed as He hears His children singing His praise. In these day of uncertainty, keep repeating the truths of God’s word over and over again, your heart will gain from the repetition. “Sing them over again to me...wonderful words of life.” MJ

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay
to show that this all-surpassing power

is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side,

but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted,

but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”

(2 Corinthians 4:7-9)

The longer I live, the more I come to understand that freedom and suffering usually go hand in hand. Take for instance, the freedom that we will celebrate tomorrow. Independence Day, 2011. The 4th of July! We celebrate our country’s freedoms, but one cannot truly appreciate the value of the freedoms we have without understanding that suffering was involved in gaining that freedom for us.

I’m coming to understand that suffering will always be a part of our earthly existence. Suffering comes from several sources: we may suffer as a result of our own sin, or of others sin, or, the most difficult to accept, our suffering may come from the hand of the Lord. Whatever the source, we are sure that Scripture teaches us that suffering is a part of God’s plan to mold us and shape us into all that He is creating us to be. It is a tool to cause us to hold loosely to the things of this earth and to help us yearn for Him and for “Home”!

When you boil it down, every great thing was born out of someone else’s suffering. How so? Well, for example, in order to perform the first heart transplant someone had to die! Braille was created for and is a help to the blind today because someone lost their sight. We would never be able to receive eternal life were it not for the suffering of our Savior.

May we never forget that freedom is really not free, it comes with a cost. So, my friend, as we celebrate the freedoms that we enjoy in this great country, let’s take a moment and celebrate the lives of those who fought and in some cases gave their lives gaining, protecting and defending our freedoms as Americans. And more than anything let this be another reminder of the freedom that God offers us in Christ, who gave the ultimate sacrifice to attain our freedom. And as we praise him let’s lift our voices with the “Song of the soul set free!!” Oh, the great joy of being free, as an American and much more than that, a Christian. To God be the glory. Happy Independence Day!

Pastor MJ

Hard Pressed on Every Side

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed,

but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned;

struck down, but not destroyed.

We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus,

so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

2 Corinthians 4:8-10 (NIV)

Have you ever woken up in the morning and before you even roll out of bed felt like your day was already a wreck? Like you’ve already been defeated even before you’ve put your feet on the floor? Have you ever been in a relationship and no matter how much you want things to work out, just a thought of the person or the situation that you are in gives you a heavy sense of defeat, one that keeps you from ever trying to approach that person ever again? Have you been out of work for such a long time, been through so many interviews and faced so many rejections that just the thought of sending out one more resume’ crushes your spirit?

My friend, today Father woke you up one more time for you to know that you are not defeated, that you are not ultimately a failure. That doesn’t mean that you’ve never lost, or that you’ve never failed, but it does mean that it’s not over and that today is a new day, a day for you to, in the midst of your circumstances realize that reality goes beyond what you can see and that as you begin to look at things from His perspective that it puts a new light on everything that you’re going through.

Scripture is a great example of seeing things from God’s perspective. We have the privilege of reading things after the fact, when in reality that is how God saw them all the time. God is not confined to time and space so everything is here and now in His eyes. Abraham could have felt defeated as he raised the knife, but God saw the ram. Job could have felt defeated as he scraped the boils off, but God saw the double portion of blessing in chapter 42. Mary could have felt defeated and crushed at the foot of the cross but God was already at the resurrection. Daniel could have felt defeated as the lions approached, but God was already telling the lions that a better meal was coming a bit later.

Whatever your present circumstances, my friend, whatever situation you find yourself in, the Holy Spirit wants to remind you as He did as He opened eyes of Elisha’s servant in 2 Kings 6:16-18, to remember that "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."

Let’s praise Him together today and thank Him that He has already won for us and if God is for us, who or what can be against us? (Romans 8:31)

Seeing from God’s Perspective

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed,

but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down,

 but not destroyed. We always carry around in our

body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also

revealed in our body. 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 (NIV)

Have you ever woken up in the morning and before you even roll out of bed felt like your day was already a wreck? Like you’ve already been defeated even before you’ve put your feet on the floor? Have you ever been in a relationship and no matter how much you want things to work out, just a thought of the person or the situation that you are in gives you a heavy sense of defeat, one that keeps you from ever trying to approach that person ever again? Have you been out of work for such a long time, been through so many interviews and faced so many rejections that just the thought of sending out one more resume’ crushes your spirit?

My friend, today Father woke you up one more time for you to know that you are not defeated, that you are not ultimately a failure. That doesn’t mean that you’ve never lost, or that you’ve never failed, but it does mean that it’s not over and that today is a new day, a day for you to, in the midst of your circumstances realize that reality goes beyond what you can see and that as you begin to look at things from His perspective that it puts a new light on everything that you’re going through.

Scripture is a great example of seeing things from God’s perspective. We have the privilege of reading things after the fact, when in reality that is how God saw them all the time. God is not confined to time and space so everything is here and now in His eyes. Abraham could have felt defeated as he raised the knife, but God saw the ram. Job could have felt defeated as he scraped the boils off, but God saw the double portion of blessing in chapter 42. Mary could have felt defeated and crushed at the foot of the cross but God was already at the resurrection. Daniel could have felt defeated as the lions approached, but God was already telling the lions that a better meal was coming a bit later.

Whatever your present circumstances, my friend, whatever situation you find yourself in, the Holy Spirit wants to remind you as He did as He opened eyes of Elisha’s servant in 2 Kings 6:16-18, to remember that "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."

Let’s praise Him together today and thank Him that He has already won for us and if God is for us, who or what can be against us? (Romans 8:31)

Unity is Essential

Unity is essential for any long-lasting success in all venues of life. And it is viewed in Scripture without option. As our Lord said, in Luke 11:17, “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.”


However, I believe that we have adopted, in much of the American church, a philosophy of the world that says, “unity at any cost”. When unity becomes our goal, compromise is on the horizon. This is because when we purpose to be united in and of ourselves, we often must lay aside who we are, our hopes and dreams, and sometimes our convictions, because those to whom we wish to be united with may have a different set of their own.

Our view of becoming united must begin, not with unity, but with Jesus. We must all purpose in our hearts to have Jesus Christ and the knowledge of and obedience to Him as our foundation. When this happens, He can take a group of people, totally different, with differing viewpoints, likes and dislikes, similar and opposite tastes, and make them unified, becoming one. This can only happen through Jesus.

Just look through Scripture. Was everyone that worked together in the Bible united on the “hows”? No, but the beauty of it is that when they were committed to the WHO, Jesus Christ, the result was always unity. Not sameness, but unity.

Look how the Word describes it. “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves” (but it doesn’t stop there-the key to unity comes)….”as you follow Christ Jesus”, (and still the goal is not unity in and of itself. It is…) “so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (And what does true unity look like”) “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” (Romans 15:5-7 additions mine).

Unity

“In a mighty auditorium are four men. They really desire to come together, but neither will come to another’s corner. In the center of the room is a beautiful fountain. Finally someone proposes that they all meet at the fountain. They start for the common center. They come on – forty – fifty – one hundred feet. The nearer they come to the fountain, the nearer they come to each other, each making concessions of location and space. At last they reach their destination, and clasp hands around the sparkling waters of the fountain. Jesus Christ, the great fountain of life, liberty and love is set up in the center of the world. The nearer God’s children come to Christ, the nearer they will come to each other. Let us help hasten the day when we can all clasp hands and sing, “Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love.” Let the Christian world strike hands in the spirit of those of old who said, “We are brethren” “– Hall

"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
(John 17:20-21 NIV)