Can You Hear Him Singing?
The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
-- Zephaniah 3:17
What does the voice of God sound like? Further more, what does his voice audibly sound like when he sings? He does sing over us and I know for a fact that ministering angels bring those songs to my heart. The words to the songs that he sends are just what we need to affirm our lives and spirits.
I once worked for a counselling organization on the prayer lines. I received phone calls from all kinds of people with all kinds of prayer requests. There were many miracles over the phone because of prayer.
It was also known to be like a "night of fright" on the phones when you worked the night shift. We had witnessed suicides over the phone, received phone calls from people who would "mimic" the voice of Satan and all kinds of other oddities and dilemmas. The night shift really was when the "uglies" came out.
One night as I finished the night shift and crawled into bed, I prayed and asked the Lord to renew my spirit, as well as cleanse and shake off the burdens and troubles from the callers who had called the counselling centre. I asked the Lord to send a ministering angel to me.
As I drifted off, the room was quiet and peaceful. In a light state of conciousness, I began to hear a sweet voice gently singing, ever so softly, as though it were a lullaby. The words were so beautiful and they affirmed the words of the Lord from scripture that I knew. I heard words like "You are the apple of my eye", "I will never leave or forsake you", "I knit you together in your mother's womb". "I knew you before I formed you" "You are precious and perfect in my sight"
This song may have been going for quite a few minutes while I drifted off to sleep. My sub-concious must have tuned in to a window in the spirit realm and then I consciously realized that I heard this voice. Taken off guard, I immediately lifted my head and opened my eyes. At first, I was expecting that perhaps my room mate was singing in the next room, but she had already left for work hours ago. The place was completely empty. It was then that I realized that I was being ministered to by the voice of a real angel, sent by God to answer the prayer that I prayed before I fell asleep.
He sings over you and me. This concept just amazes me! Rejoice that he has a new song for you every day that he wants to birth in your spirit.
Needless to say, I slept exceptionally well that particular time after the night shift.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Yes, another true story!
~ Bare Foot Love ~
The young man cried out, "I don't understand who God is!"
"I don't believe in God the way you do!"
Then a tragedy happens and he finds himself recovering from bruises, a broken nose, and a wounded spirit. The expression on his face is as though he is lost, as he recovers from this brutal beating. Then, two weeks later on a summer afternoon, his brother takes him down town to get a cup of coffee. They pass a homeless man who was wearing no shoes. His feet were blistered from the wear and tear of every step on the hot pavement. He looks at the homeless man and he can't shake the image of his blistered feet from his mind.
He turns to the homeless man and asks him, "What size are your feet?"
The homeless man looks at him and says, "I'm a size 10."
Without hesitation, the young man shakes the sandals off of his feet that he just bought 2 weeks ago and says, "Here! Try these on."
The homeless man approaches and slips them on. The sandals were a fit! The young man walks away barefoot and the homeless man was left with sandals on his feet, and an overwhelming look of relief and gratefulness and on his face.
Later, his brother bought the young man a new pair of shoes, to replace the ones that he had given away.
THIS, is the bottom line of God's character. THIS, is the true unconditional, unbridled love of God IN ACTION. No hesitation. You need it, I have it, and I can spare it, because your need is greater!
Jesus illustrates this story when he talks about the sheep and the goats. The goats withhold from those in need and the sheep really hear the voice of God's love in their heart.
Matthew 25: 31-40
31 “When the Son of
Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne
in heavenly glory.
32 All the nations
will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as
a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 He will put the
sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will
say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your
inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the
world.
35 For I was hungry
and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to
drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,
36 I needed clothes
and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you
came to visit me.’
37“Then the righteous
will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and
give you something to drink?
38When did we see you
a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
39When did we see you
sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40“The King will
reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these
brothers of mine, you did for me.’
Jesus calls the poor, the sick, the imprisoned, the hungry, thirsty and the needy; they are his brothers, because he feels their pain. He feels the pain on the outside that is obvious to see, and the pain hidden away that no one can see. He says they are "the least" because they too often "the forgotten." When the young man gave his shoes to the homeless man, Jesus is saying, "It is as though I am in need. You served and loved me when you gave me your shoes." Contrary to what the young man thinks, in all of his frustration about God, he really does understand who God is. He's just forgotten to recognize the spirit of God within himself, that has been working in him, since he was a little boy.
Lord, bring back the child who understands and recognizes you, and receives you with such simple child-like faith. They give with pure hearts.
To serve with such simple surrender, is perfect love and true worship to God.
“And Then Came Joy”
At first I wonder if she was in denial. Perhaps she's thinking, what will my parents think, what will she do. She must have wondered if Joseph will put her away, divorce her because in Mary's culture an engagement or a betrothal was as though you were already married. She even took refuge and stayed for quite some time with her cousin Elizabeth, who was of course pregnant with John the Baptist.
Her journey was unique and the things that were going through her mind must have been incredible. She was probably thinking to herself that this whole scenario sounds so far-fetched . “They'll never believe me if I tell them that an angel came to me and told me that I am carrying the Son of God.”
Nine months later, can you imagine the joy that Mary felt when she finally saw the face of her Savior in that little baby that she just gave birth too? What joy must have come over her! What excitement and anticipation she must have been feeling about the days ahead, as she pondered how she and Joseph would raise the son of God.
Just like Mary we all have our own journeys, our circumstances to walk through. I'm sure that you have a story and just like me, your journey has not yet come to an end. I'd like to share a little about one part of my journey with you.
I grew up in a Christian home and being involved in the church was encouraged. We were encouraged to always follow Jesus and we knew God's hand in our lives. We are a family that endeavored to have a relationship with God. Unfortunately while I was growing up, my parents marriage was turbulent and chaotic. There were good times and bad times, and the bad times were really bad. Abuse, deception, pornography, and alcohol were prevalent. This was baggage that was carried into my parents marriage and was handed down from generations on one side of the family.
Numbers 14
: (18) The LORD is long-suffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons to the third and fourth generation.
The phrase “by no means clearing the guilty” says that he holds the generations that came before responsible, as well as every generation who follows. Interesting enough, I've heard comments that it takes till the 5th generation before a family is free from the such things just as the scripture says, it would continue for the third and fourth generation.
My husband Scott and I were married in 1987 and I found myself pregnant with our first child in January 1988. I had just had an injury at work to my neck and shoulders as well as discovering I was pregnant and Scott had just lost his job and so we moved from Toronto to my home town, Tillsonburg and stayed with my parents so that we could start fresh and get established.
My pregnancy was difficult and I was still recovering from a neck and lower back injury that took place just before I became pregnant. This coupled with the storm brewing in my parent's marriage as we tried to start a new life together under their roof, I was ear-marked for the onset of Fibromyalgia.
On October 18, 1988, I gave birth to our son Brandon, an 8 pound 4 oz baby boy by C-section. Needless to say, all of this, the pregnancy, my injury, and the chaos in my parents home was likely the trigger of Fibromyalgia that sent me in a tailspin. I also found myself pregnant with our second son when our oldest, Brandon turned a year old.
Years went by as I struggled with good and bad days. I had depression, insomnia, problems with my hips, muscle aches, headaches, and symptoms of postpartum psychosis too. The one thing that kept me focused was my music. Singing for God, singing to God, kept my eyes focused in the right direction. I spent sleepless and late nights with The Lord. During these very intimate times of worship in His presence I would write songs. I struggled for 13 years with Fibromyalgia until it was confirmed and I was in fact diagnosed with it 2001.
The healing began for me when I made a decision to “thrive in God's presence no matter what the circumstance.” I made a conscious decision to know His presence in a real way, in every situation, every emotion, and in everything that I did or said. My whole life would be about having His presence in my life. I believed that if God had called me to music ministry, he would equip me and if that meant setting me free from this debilitating condition, then I believed anything could happen. I made this decision because I had a revelation when I heard a preacher on TV quote a scripture that sparked fire in my soul.
It was Psalm 103:5....
(He) who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
I so longed to know what it felt like to be renewed with the youth of an eagle and be free from all this pain in my physical body, the emotional anguish and depression.
A friend of mine encouraged me to record the songs that I had written while I was struggling with Fibromyalgia. I recorded and completed the recording while I still had the condition. Before I knew it I found myself appearing on National Christian Television here in Canada including 100 Huntley Street and TCT and "Celebrate" in the United States, even before the CD recording was complete. However, in my condition, the CD took a good many years to complete.
The very same year that I was diagnosed with Fribromyalgia in 2001, one of the programs that I appeared on was “Spirit Alive” in Deseronto, a ministry to the Native Indian. I was there overnight and I woke up in pain in the middle of the night. I took the cordless phone and went to the bathroom. I called my husband crying on the phone and I couldn't seem to find any solace for the pain. Little did I know that the pastor and his wife who stayed in the basement apartment of this host home, heard everything through the vent in the bathroom.
They came upstairs and took me to the living room where they talked with me, counseled me, ministered to me and prayed with me. The next day I returned home and thanked God for the opportunity to minister, to be ministered to and the blessing that I had received. I never once even debated if receiving healing was an issue. Healing never even crossed my mind once we had finished praying that night.
It was about 2 weeks later I realized I was getting up out of bed without any pain. I felt rested and ready to start my day. The “brain fog” that comes with Fibromyalgia had been gone for days. Just then my mind went back to the moment when I received prayer in Deseronto with the pastor and his wife. Suddenly, I felt a witness in my spirit. I realized God had subtly and gently moved in my life and healed me. I did my little dance in the bedroom that morning when I realized this and said, “Thank you Lord!” and immediately called my husband to tell him.
I can't describe it. It's an overwhelming feeling. How can I describe what it is like when you know that you have been touched like this by the Almighty and powerful God who reigns over the universe. The freedom from the pain was like a butterfly breaking free from it's cocoon. Just amazing!
I hadn't even given the depression that I felt for years another thought. That moment was joy for me. This moment in my journey was when my joy came back.
No comments:
Post a Comment