Greetings to you in the wonderful, beautiful, and powerful name of Jesus Christ – THE Risen Saviour! Well…it seems like the bright sunshine has decided to take a day-off. However, this is still the day that the Lord has made…and we will rejoice and be glad in it! I trust that you had a good weekend and Monday – enjoying God’s blessings and interacting with the people He sent your way. I pray that you are keeping safe and healthy. Today I will be praying for you, asking Father to be the lifter of your head and the restorer of peace to your soul.
As some of you know I have warm relationship to music and songs, especially those with good words…words that teach, encourage, challenge, and inspire. Yes, I like to get hold of new songs – and there are quite a few out there. However, I do like the old hymns and gospel songs that have carried solid teaching over the years…and I appreciate it, usually, when a song gets revisited with a new arrangement.
This morning as I was doing morning devotions and considering the tsunami of changes that are happening within the church. God decided in the midst of this to send me a sentence or two to guide my thoughts…and they led me to the song – I Surrender All…all to Jesus, I surrender-all to him I freely give – Judson Van de Venter. In the context of the changes that are happening within the church there is a lot of “surrendering” needed.
Now the sentences that I read were…Surrender is not the same as defeat; it means relinquishment of the familiar ways. If I was going to be bale to enter a new phase of my life, I had to let go not only of unhealthy patterns, but also of the old, familiar things that wee good…Even the good can sometimes be an enemy of the best — James Goll. If the church, including ours, is to move forward there needs to be some “surrender” of the way things used to be that were just okay and even some things that were comfortable and predictable.
Even as I write this, God reminded me of an old hymn…Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee-Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee-Ponder anew-What the Almighty can do-He who with love doth befriend thee – Joachim Neander. Simply said…pay attention to what God has already done to get you where you are, but don’t get stuck there – ponder abew because He has not stopped being the Creator and Divine Innovator.
Just a little something to think about … have a blessed day!