Lift Every Voice and Sing – A Bit of History

A Prayer from a Christian in America
By POP Lay Chaplain Greg Shaw

Heavenly Father,
I cry out to you with a heavy heart and wounded spirit.
I am living in grim days that just seem to get worse with each sunrise.
Evil is loose in the City of God and it seems as though The Enemy will finally be triumphant.
I need you to give me strength and guidance.
Strength to have faith that all things, no matter how dire, work together for the good of Your will.
Guidance to be part of the working out of Your will among us, in my society.
Give me the strength to be a conduit of healing and reconciliation in my corner of this fallen world.
Guide me with your Word to light my path and take me to where I can best labor in these vineyards for you.
Let your spirit come and give me the strength to be the hands that hold those whom need to be held.
When I cast judgment upon those that I believe have drifted from your flock, please give me the guidance to remember the sorrow and love that flowed down onto my Lord and Savior’s hands, forever pierced for my redemption.
Hands that the Lamb shows The Accuser, when I so often fail to live by that which I espouse.
Hear my prayer that this nation will be worthy of the grace that you have shed on it.
That we may act upon mercy, search for justice and find peace.
In the name of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ,
Amen.

MORNING GLORY!

Eastertide is full of Wonder which was preempted by Jesus’ trial, suffering and crucifixion – His glory is seen in all of His words throughout His journey to His Glorious Resurrection and after. Search for Jesus’ words in His entire journey. Listen for how His Holy Spirit resonates specific words of Jesus within your soul – use them!

Following is an offering written by Reverend Dr. Dave Peterson that beautifully explains why we want to “Use our Easter Words!” Get ready to be inspired!

Use Your Easter Words
By Dave Peterson

The average person’s vocabulary consists of 60,000 words, but we hardly use most of them. David Brooks claims that just 4,000 of those words make up 98% of our speech. Slice it a little more thinly and you discover that 60% of our speech comes from just 100 words.

Maybe the reason we use so few words is that we think so few new thoughts. The National Science Foundation reports that we think somewhere between 12,000 and 60,000 thoughts a day. And get this, 98% are the same thoughts we thought yesterday. And believe-it-or-not, 80% of those thoughts are negative.

We worry, jump to conclusions, read people’s minds, predict outcomes, over-generalize,
minimize, maximize, blame, judge, shame, regret, and on-and-on and over-and-over.

These past few weeks have been so emotionally exhausting. Dire warnings. Grim statistics. Dark forecasts. Isolation. And these past 6 days of Holy Week have carried on the dark theme. Disappointment. Betrayal. Torture. Death.

But wait, today is Easter!! It’s time to go into your mental library, get down on your knees with a flashlight, and search out the bottom-shelf-Easter-words that suffer from so much neglect. Dust them off and declare them as life’s greatest reality. Even sing them, at the very least in your imagination.

Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia!
Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia!
Who did once, upon the cross, Alleluia!
Suffer to redeem our loss, Alleluia!

Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia!
Unto Christ, our heavenly King, Alleluia!
Who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia!
Sinners to redeem and save, Alleluia!

But the pain which He endured, Alleluia!
Our salvation hath procured, Alleluia!
Now above the sky He’s king, Alleluia!
Where the angels ever sing, Alleluia!

Sing we to our God above, Alleluia!
Praise eternal as His love, Alleluia!
Praise Him, all you heavenly host, Alleluia!
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Alleluia!

Teaching a child to speak is hard. A child will often retreat to grunts and tears rather than find the right words. In those moments, the wise parent knows that it’s best to say, “Use your words.”

You’ve got 60,000 words at your disposal. You create a world with the words you choose. Train yourself in every thought and every conversation, to use Easter Words!

Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed!

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal … And now faith, hope, love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13)

O Lord most high, author of all alleluias, teach us to use the language of Easter and to speak the resurrection words of faith, hope and love. Amen

Go into God’s world in peace
Expect always the unexpected
Anticipate Miracles
Knowing that with God, all things are possible
May the Lord bless you and keep you
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you
May the Lord lift up the light of His countenance upon you
and give you His peace

Happy Easter,
Dave

If honest, we only hope the fruit of our labor will show, brilliantly, or matter greatly.

Jesus’ love included having a Crown of Thorns placed upon His Precious Head, the thorns imbedding into His brow.  Is this the fruit of His labor He wanted to show, to show brilliantly and matter greatly?

Yes.

As God, He could have halted all of the crucifixion process.

He washed the disciples’ feet, even His accuser, He washed his feet, also.

Enough is enough he cried, like I.

But as God, He must display that suffering is part of the brilliance of the Greatest Story.   The beautiful red flowers above, sit atop of stems encased with thorns on every side.

We don’t like dealing with the thorns, we want the lovely red color to show to our neighbors.  We rush to Easter.  We are Peter, cutting off the soldier’s ear – ‘don’t hurt my Jesus’ and then we deny our association with Him when the pressure increases, the powerful demand our allegiance.

We asked if we could go with him and He said, not now,

but you will follow me…must we wear a crown of thorns?

Fame is what many desire.  Me?  The “fame” of Jesus, drawing people to His Heart, to His Father’s Heart?  The journey to Jerusalem includes the suffering, most especially if our desire is for earthly fame.  “I AM” He reminded us and we waivered in belief.  Making bricks out of mud and straw and yet, grace showed us His glorious parting of the Red Sea.

What, my friends, are the bricks you are making that you don’t feel you should “slave” over?  What suffering have you been offered that will allow you to know Jesus deeper and deeper as He parts the Red Sea for you moment by moment?

“No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing;

but I have called you friends,

for all things that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”  John 15:15

Receive Good Friday,

receive and hold His Crown of Thorns

as His brilliant show of blood shed for the world He came to save.

Here is a magnificent rendition of Via Dolorosa shared by Sandra, a POP Chaplain in Brazil.

Via Dolorosa

May we silence ourselves in these days; embracing our suffering as a gift to lay at His Feet.

Then, together, we may rush to His empty tomb and rejoice in His brilliant Resurrection!

Halleluiah and Amen!

Now, most of our world has been asked to utilize our home settings to do work and school, also worship and prayer and community meetings. If you have not already had seasons like this – the time is now for the various people that live in our home.

What can we do?  Looking at history offers an answer…

In the Book of Isaiah we see God’s steadfast love recommending and declaring what home will be for His people. Three key adjectives are used: peaceful, secure and quiet.

My people will abide in a peaceful habitation,

in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. Isaiah 32:18

This literal description is hopeful and helpful when we wonder, “Where is God in all of this suffering from the COVID19?

In these days, just like in the days of the Prophet Isaiah, we too may see God caring for His people who are undeservedly suffering. We are reminded in whom we may find “HOME;” in Yahweh, our ever-present God who reigns.

As we learn or relearn the loveliness of our dwelling place called, home — embracing this metaphysically, we remember it is Our Most High God whom we turn for peace, security and quiet within the depth of our souls as everything around us is changing. We want so much to be of help to those suffering. Restoring us, He will gather His precious ones in His Arms, whether Chinese, Italian, American, Korean or Brazilian; all over the world, we cry together for Our God to carry us through, together. Kindness will rise, sacrifice will be glorious; a position to witness.

But to this person I pay attention, to the weak and broken-spirited, to the person who trembles at my word. Isaiah 66:1

Thank You, Holy One, for Your saving mercy. Thank You for tenderly loving Your people and drawing us together in song as we lean on You in our weakness. Your strength and steadfast love will overcome. Thank You for showing us how to be a compassionate community believing and trembling in love for You. Hear the weak, O Lord, and give us a new understanding of “home,” — Your heavenly realm in the midst of the coronavirus.

We will rest in You, our secure dwelling place. In Jesus Name, we pray. Amen.