Welcome back to Worship Wednesday! If this is your first time joining us: I am so glad that you are here! Make yourself at home!
This is the place we come to hit the pause button in the middle of the week to worship our incredible Savior and share what He’s teaching us.
Knees to the Earth | Watermark
This song by Nathan and Christy Nockles has always been so dear to me. I found myself singing it this week as I have been cleaning, changing diapers, cooking, bathing babies, etc. (Mr. Ayden, my 2 year old, even tries to sing along…so adorable!) I started thinking about the lyrics and what this song has meant to me over the past several years, as I transitioned from living at home with my parents to college life to married life, and to motherhood. It has been and still is my heart’s cry.
And it’s my heart’s cry for this blog too. More than anything, when people spend any amount of time on this little slice of internet, I want them to leave knowing it’s all about Jesus.
I am studying the book of James with some lovely ladies over the next few weeks. This week, I was reading James 1:19, “My dearly beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.” Woosh! I have trouble with all of these, but probably, most often, I find it difficult to remember to be slow. to. speak.
I was struck by this quote from USA Today, referring to how incredibly and constantly connected we are electronically: “Often, we’re effectively disconnecting from those in the same room.” Man, how true is that for me so often? How sad. Beth Moore writes in her study on the book of James, “Face-to-face repartee is slipping through our fingers lightening-fast, so the only way we’re apt to develop the art of listening is to become rabidly intentional.”
So, Lord, I pray that you would make me intentional to see and listen to the people around me, right in front of my face, even. And to you. Especially to you. I don’t want to miss one, single thing you have for me. And when I do speak, let me consider the weight of my words, and let them make much of you. Be blessed. Be loved. Be lifted high. Be treasured here. Be glorified. My life is yours. Here I am.
My friend, Tiffany, and I would be so honored to have you link up and share your own Worship Wednesday post with all of us. Grab a button for your blog from the sidebar and share what He’s been teaching you and how you are worshiping right where you are today. If you don’t blog, feel free to leave a comment on the post. I can’t wait to read what you have written!
Happy, happy 4th everyone!! I hope you all are enjoying the holiday and celebrating the Lord’s blessing of freedom. It’s Worship Wednesday here for us. I hope that you will join me and Tiffany today as we stop what we are doing to just sit at the feet of our Savior and worship. He is so, so good. And so, so worthy.
After a week that has left me drained on all levels, I am especially thankful for His abundant grace. I am resting and abiding in Him.
I absolutely love and look forward to this little link up every week. Not just because it gives me the opportunity to refocus and worship, but because I get such an incredible blessing by reading and worshiping along with you as well.
So, grab a button to put on your blog and post a song, Scripture, or anything that is leading your heart into worship today!
I have been struck with the simple, yet profound, words of this song today. Â This week has been a sort of roller coaster. There has been all range of emotions, unexpected traveling, less sleep than I am used to, running here and there without a minute to myself…and I am left feeling spent. So, I bring it all to the cross. To the place where it is all made right. He is exalted…to the highest place. I bring myself to Him, with all of my mess in surrender, awe, and worship.
Deuteronomy 7:9, “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.”
This Scripture speaks the truth of our Lord’s character that never changes and that is ever present with us. This is who He is. This is the one we worship.
So, what are you bringing to Him today? Where does the middle of this week find you? Let’s leave it at the cross and allow Him to speak His truth and breathe His life right smack in the middle of whatever we are walking through. He is worthy of our praise no matter the season where we find ourselves.
I started hosting this weekly worship post at the invitation of the lovely, Mrs. Pate. Please grab a button and link up with us today.
Write a post with a Scripture, song, picture, poem, etc. that leads your heart to worship and then enter your website url below. If you aren’t a blogger, but you’d like to join in, just click the post-it note at the top of the post. You can leave a comment, or share what’s on your heart with the rest of us! We are so happy to have you here.
I couldn’t think of anything more appropriate to post this week than this song! I have been playing it all week. As you probably know, my grandfather passed away this week. His funeral service will be tomorrow afternoon, which also happens to be my grandmother’s birthday and my wedding anniversary.
I hope this song will encourage your heart and fill you with joy for the hope of Heaven and for the inheritance that awaits us as believers. I pray that you will hit the pause button on your busy Wednesday to shift your focus from the temporal to the eternal – to what really matters! Jesus lives!
Why don’t you grab a button and link up with me & Mrs. Pate?!
Write a post with a Scripture, song, picture, poem, etc. that leads your heart to worship and then enter your website url below. If you aren’t a blogger, but you’d like to join in, just click the post-it note at the top of the post. You can leave a comment, or share what’s on your heart with the rest of us!
Welcome to the third installment of Worship Wednesday! I’m hosting this weekly blog post with the lovely, Mrs. Tiffany Pate! Check out her site to see what she is posting today too.
I am praying that the Lord will use this word to remind you of His beauty in every circumstance, as He has reminded me this week! I was reading Spurgeon’s, Morning & Evening, and was struck by these words. (As a side note, if you are looking for something amazing to read on a daily basis that will keep you in the Word, I highly recommend this work. You can get it anywhere, but if you use the YouVersion Bible app on your Android or iPhone, you can get it as one of the reading plans.)
from Morning & Evening (C. H. Spurgeon), Evening – Day 143
Song of Solomon 1:16, “Behold, thou art fair, my Beloved.”
“In the manger and in eternity, on the cross and on his throne, in the garden and in his kingdom, among thieves or in the midst of cherubim, he is everywhere ‘altogether lovely.’ Examine carefully every little act of his life, and every trait of his character, and he is as lovely in the minute as in the majestic. Judge him as you will, you cannot censure; weigh him as you please, and he will not be found wanting. Eternity shall not discover the shadow of a spot in our Beloved, but rather, as ages revolve, his hidden glories shall shine forth with yet more inconceivable splendour, and his unutterable loveliness shall more and more ravish all celestial minds.”
He is absolutely, everywhere, altogether lovely. In every season. In every moment. His beauty shines forth even in our ugliest of times.
Why don’t you grab a button and link up with me & Mrs. Pate?!
Write a post with a Scripture, song, picture, poem, etc. that leads your heart to worship and then enter your website url below. If you aren’t a blogger, but you’d like to join in, just click the post-it note at the top of the post. You can leave a comment, or share what’s on your heart with the rest of us!
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness. [Psalm 29:2]
Welcome to the second installment of Worship Wednesday! I hope that you will take a few minutes out of your day to worship with me & Tiffany. Also, don’t forget to link up your very own Worship Wednesday post with us below!
I’ve been meditating on this Psalm this week, and I remembered a song we sung frequently in chapels when I was a student at CIU. I am so thankful that when I was dead in my sin, He found me and redeemed my soul!
Listen, girls, His pursuit of our souls is relentless! His love for us is perfect and complete. So thankful to rest in this truth today.
Psalm 103:1-5
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;
3 Who pardons all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases;
4 Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
5 Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagles.
Last Thursday night, I attended a writer’s group for the first time. I had a blast and I am really excited about learning how to make this blog space better so I can serve Him with more focus and be an encouragement for those who read. Out of this group, I have decided to co-host a weekly blog post with Mrs. Pate Writes called Worship Wednesday! It has already been such a blessing for me and I know it will be for you too!
Here’s the idea: By Wednesday, we are all in the throes of our week. No matter what our weeks look like, whether we are staying at home with children, working in an office, leading a ministry, retired — wherever the Lord has us planted in this season, there is always the temptation to lock our focus in on our task, our title, or our role. But, we have to step back and realize the big picture. That this season — this work — is not the whole point. The whole point is loving Him and loving other people well. Loving them like Jesus. So…practically, in the moment, what does that look like? Well, for me, it looks a whole lot like hitting the pause button to take a few minutes alone with Him. Worship. Aligning my heart with His and worshiping ONLY Him.
So, that’s what you can find me doing here every Wednesday. Hitting the pause button and entering into a time focused for worship. I pray that the Lord will use it to bless your soul and help you hit the pause button too. Please, also, grab the button below and link up with us here and at Mrs. Pate Writes! It won’t always be music or a video — just a prompt to usher my heart and yours into worship as a reminder to keep Him our constant focus. I cannot wait to see how He uses this to change our hearts and encourage one another to be about what matters most!
This week, I have been so incredibly blessed by this song! This month, specifically, He has opened our family’s eyes to the fiery passion of His love in the everyday moments. It is relentless. His love is life. It distinguishes fear. It brings freedom and courage. It gives rest and peace. Thank you, Jesus, for the cross. We belong to you.
It’s funny how music influences you so deeply. And it’s funny how you sometimes feel more alive in a certain place, or doing a certain thing. But that’s just the beauty, mastery, and intricacy of our incomprehensible Creator.
Listening to this song tonight, with everyone else in the house asleep in their beds, stirred up so much of this in me. I thought about what it may have really looked like for Mary and her betrothed that night. Not like the picture that is often painted for us this time of year.
I can imagine how exhausting and difficult the journey was for her. Imagine traveling on the back of an animal 40 weeks pregnant! That alone was probably enough to induce her labor. The place was crowded with people. There was nowhere for them to stay. Finally they find shelter in a barn. Her labor growing ever more intense. Far from a glamorous scenario, it was absolutely comfortless. Dirty, smelly, harsh, cold, and the constant temptation to be very scared. She was with the man she would marry, yet they had not been intimate. And they were about to become VERY intimate! Sweating, screaming…finally, the Savior of the world has arrived. First cries, wrapped snug, and laid in a feeding trough – as clean as they could get it. There was nowhere else for him to go. They made their home in the barn. Mary recovering; a new family formed. Perhaps surprised by the visiting shepherds who came as fast as they could, explaining what had been revealed to them in their fields.
And the Scripture says that Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.
Oh, how full her heart must have been. A million emotions, a million questions, yet no record of a complaint. Instead, we get the impression of a thankful heart, knowing that she is in the middle of something way bigger than she could fathom.
I could learn a few things from her.
The glory of those hours is overwhelming. Oh, how perfectly he came. It gives such incredible perspective to me. In the celebration of Christmas it is easy to become more engrossed in the celebrating than the celebrated. Oh, may it never be! Comfort, security, beautiful homes, and time with family are such wonderful gifts. But, He is what is needed. He is our salvation.
This makes me think of the journey our family is on right now. I have a million emotions, and a million questions. But we are asking His Spirit to find us faithful. He has called us out and marked us with the message of His glory and we will proclaim it loud and clear wherever He leads us. Maybe to Mongolia, maybe to to a cold, tiny apartment, without the comforts we have here. Maybe not the cleanest of places or the nicest smelling. But one where He has come.
He has come!
Praise you, O Lord! You have come and you have made your dwelling among us.
And you are coming.
Come, Lord, Jesus! Come and do not tarry. Find us faithful. Our lives are yours. I don’t need the answers to my million questions. I know you are here and that what you are doing is way bigger than what I can see. Your plan is perfect. My soul finds rest in you. My heart is full. These lessons pondered and treasured in my heart.
So, I have always liked the song, “Lead Me†by Sanctus Real, but last night I watched the story behind the song. I was so encouraged and moved by what the author did to reclaim his family for the Lord’s glory. Our marriages and our families are worth fighting for. They come first – over the job, the ministry, or whatever else is competing for our attention.
Fear is so crippling. There is no freedom in fear. It is no accident that the most frequent command in Scripture is DO NOT BE AFRAID. So, why do we so often choose fear over courage and trust? Can you actually imagine living your life without even a hint of fear? Is that even possible? Well, if the Holy Spirit is in us and if He really has given us all we need for life and godliness, then I think it’s possible.
1 John 4:18 says that perfect love casts out all fear. Courage comes from the Latin word meaning “heart.” Courage comes from a heart convinced that it is loved.
It all comes back to asking, “Do I really trust God? Do I believe Him?”
My God will take care of me no matter what! Resting in this is incredibly freeing. We don’t like to think about things that scare us. What is the scariest thing that could happen to me? Often, we just trust that whatever we fear most will never happen to us. There is no victory in thinking this way because the enemy will keep threatening us with these things. This is a warped, conditional faith.
We have to trust God. I will never find myself in a fearful situation where God will not offer courage. We CAN be brave.
