O Happy Day

            From time to time I find gospel and listen to it – my “happy” music.  My husband says that Bluegrass makes him happy.  I think my “happy music” is definitely gospel.  We are not talking Bill Gaither either.

            I have been pondering all things joy lately and the refrain from “O Happy Day” has been running through my head.  So, I searched and found my “happy” music again.  And yes, “O Happy Day” it was!

            Why are so many Christians reserved in their praising God?  I believe it is fear and unbelief.  Fear that, well, maybe God is not going to be there for me when I need Him or maybe He is going to cause more pain in my life.  So, I am entering these waters very cautiously, there might be sharks… Unbelief, in the way we are unwilling to wait and trust Him. But, my brothers and sisters, every day should be a “happy” day for us!  We can be honest with our pain and sorrow, and with our thankfulness and joy as well.

  But… whatever would they think of me?  Who? God?  Isn’t it Him that we are praising and thanking?  Will you be looking around to see what others are doing or how they are reacting when we are surrounding the throne in Heaven and falling at the feet of our Savior?  Do we not know where we are headed? 

            One of my favorite “worshippers” cannot keep a beat nor can she play an instrument very well.  She has epilepsy and she fights this condition every day, sometimes every hour.  She has restrictions on her life many of us would not be able to handle.  But… she praises God from her heart.  I think she could “get down” in a cardboard box while tapping a plastic spoon.  She has taught me a lot.  Like Paul says,”For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Galatians 1:10

            Edward Hawkins, the arranger of the popular “O Happy Day” says, “The Bible says, ‘Be anxious for nothing,’ but because we are human we make mistakes and God knows. He’s aware of all that we are going to do and what we are not going to do.  Sometimes He allows us to go through some things even though we might make the wrong decision and it might take years to straighten out.  But God knows and He will stick with us throughout it all.  Even through the bad times, He’ll stick with us.” 

            This song, “O Happy Day” was taken from an old Baptist hymn written by Phillip Doddridge, who died in 1751.  He was not supposed to live.  He was the 19^th of 20 children that his mother Monica birthed.  Phillip was the first that lived past birth.  Phillip was orphaned at a young age and was frail throughout his life.  He had no money and no family, only God and prayer.   This is the hymn that he penned that inspired Edward Hawkins:

O Happy Day

O happy day, that fixed my choice
On Thee, my Savior and my God!
Well may this glowing heart rejoice,
And tell its raptures all abroad.

Refrain:
Happy day, happy day, when
Jesus washed my sins away!
He taught me how to watch and pray,
and live rejoicing every day
Happy day, happy day, when
Jesus washed my sins away.

O happy bond, that seals my vows
To Him Who merits all my love!
Let cheerful anthems fill His house,
While to that sacred shrine I move.

'Tis done: the great transaction's done!
I am the Lord's and He is mine;
He drew me, and I followed on;
Charmed to confess the voice divine.

Now rest, my long divided heart,
Fixed on this blissful center, rest.
Here have I found a nobler part;
Here heavenly pleasures fill my breast.

High heaven, that heard the solemn vow,
That vow renewed shall daily hear,
Till in life's latest hour I bow
And bless in death a bond so dear.

                I will leave you with a gospel song that always makes my heart rejoice.  And Kristen, make sure you save me a spot next to you at the throne room one day.  I want to see you praising your God with perfect vision, no more tremors or seizures, and impeccable rhythm.  So, come and go with me…

                                                                                          ~Your Fellow Sojourner

Come and Go With Me to My Father's House

Ode To Joy

           It has been compounding, this feeling of loss.  Things seem to be spinning around me, sometimes beyond my control.  I keep pressing through, hoping, praying for things to get better.  If only…  But the “if onlys” never come. The feelings of loss and lack of joy get stronger.

            I have found myself reading the Scriptures, searching for that one verse, that one passage that will restore my lost footing.  How long oh Lord?  How long? 

            I came to the conclusion that I have been fighting to “keep my joy”.  Ha!  How arrogant of me!  Keeping one’s “joy” is futile – “it” will be lost.  But Joy can never leave… He may stay  “hidden”, so that the seeking makes the finding even more potent.  So much more the joy when one finds the true Joy-giver. 

            So, today, in my prayers, and in an honest look at myself, I prayed.  “Lord, I am losing my footing.  Help me find that foothold so that I do not slip.  Show me what I need to believe so that I do not fall.” 
            I knew this was about joy.  Not a whole lot to be joyful about lately.  Oh yes, I have much to be thankful for, but the joy that just wells up inside of you – I could not find it.  And I would not manufacture it.

            So, as I sat at the dinner table this evening, my husband played the familiar strains of Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony.  I smiled to myself because I recognized it.  It is one of my favorites.  And it always causes me to be in awe as I listen to this masterpiece of music written by a completely deaf man.  How? 

            Then, I remembered, this symphony is also called the “Ode to Joy”.  Joy!  There it was!  If God, the Creator of the universe, can give deaf Beethoven the gift to write this music and express pure and utter joy, He can do many more joyous things in and through me!  The hand hold was found.  God, the Joy-giver of Beethoven, was speaking to me through the language of joy – music and song.  Then, I remembered the words.  The words have changed somewhat over time.  We are all familiar with the hymn that was written almost 100 years after Beethoven’s symphony was completed, “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee”.  But, I will end with part of the poem that Beethoven used for his choral symphony, “Ode To Joy”.

Even the worm can feel contentment,
And the cherub stands before God!

Gladly, like the heavenly bodies
Which He set on their courses
Through the splendor of the firmament;
Thus, brothers, you should run your race,
As a hero going to conquest.

You millions, I embrace you.
This kiss is for all the world!

Brothers, above the starry canopy
There must dwell a loving Father.

Do you fall in worship, you millions?
World, do you know your creator?

Seek him in the heavens;
Above the stars must He dwell.

                                                                                                  ~Your Fellow Sojourner
The part we are all familiar with ... its ok, you can jump for joy.

Listen to this finale and close your eyes!

Hope Killers

Hope killers.  They are deadly.  The Enemy of our souls knows this.  We fight them every day. These killers of our hope can take on many different forms. Some of them may look like this: 

The news you want to hear that never comes…  the same mundane 24 hours over and over again…  the person you admire and look up to lets you down again… the word that is never kept or that is forgotten…  when God does not seem to be speaking… loneliness.

                There was a time in my life when I was extremely anemic.  I had lost over 30% of my blood volume due to complications from a miscarriage.  I downed iron pills like I have been eating cough drops lately.  There seemed to be no end to the weariness in both body and soul.  Day after day was the same.  But God…

                I love that phrase, “but God.”  It makes me think of terrifying rescues, a husband loving a wife even unto death, a mother giving herself for her child without a moment’s hesitation.  “But God”, is the ultimate hope restorer.  No matter what, when God breaks through and reaches in, time stands still and all other forces are thwarted.

                You see, God waits until all else has failed.  When we have put all of our hope in the proverbial “egg basket” of other idols, He waits.  He waits until the eggs have all broken or have failed to hatch.  When everything else turns up empty, he comes and breathes hope back into our souls with a word or a reminder or a look or a hug.  He knows what we need.  Him+nothing = all that I need. 

                All else had turned up empty for me.  The doctor’s predictions had not panned out.   The bleeding continued… for too long.  But God had been waiting.  He waited until I could take it no longer, until I cried out to Him and said, “Make this stop!”   And, He did.  The next day, it all stopped.  God had moved.  He keeps hope alive.  Oh, and by the way, He never fails.                                    ~Your Fellow Sojourner

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

Refrain: 
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

I Am a Cheerleader

            I am a cheerleader.  No, I have never even entertained the idea of donning a short skirt or flinging pom-poms around while wearing a plastic smile.  But, I do jump up and down and hoot and holler when I see Grace in people.  When I sense grace, I cannot sit still nor can I remain silent.  I want to shout about this grace, saving grace from the roof tops. 

            The most amazing grace moments have got to be births.  Not many things are as glorious to me as attending a live birth.  I have been on both sides of the birthing process: the one giving birth and the observer. 

            You know you have been honored when a woman invites you to be a part of the birth of her child.  It is a sacred and solemn moment.  It is the witnessing of a miracle ~ new life coming into the world.  Usually people have to hold me back from exploding with excitement when a new born is on the way.  Just ask my sisters.  I have been shushed. 

            There are always terrifying moments when a woman is giving birth.  There are things beyond one’s control.  It is a balancing act of life and death.  There have been times when all I can speak is a desperate prayer.  Imploring the Giver of Life.  Give life… breathe life… keep death at bay. 

            By the grace of God, I have been present at spiritual rebirth as well.  I have seen the blackness of Hell looming over a soul and I have seen the power of God pull one from death into life.  All the while, I am cheering.  I am shouting for joy when I see God beat back hell and death.  I am on my knees crying out to Jesus when I see the shroud of death blind a soul from the Truth. 

            Recently, I have been attending a new reborn one.  I also see the evidence of rebirth coming in many more.  It makes me want to shout – jump – be in awe – stand back and see the salvation of the Lord. 

            Birthing is a roller coaster of emotions and is always messy.  Life can only come this way.  The temptation to let someone else attend a birth is strong – someone else more qualified, more experienced – a professional.  But sometimes… people are born in cars or in the grass or on the floor.  Not in a hospital bed surrounded by professionals.  Sometimes… you find yourself being a midwife, prepared or not.

            There was a time when I wanted to be a midwife.  For a time that dream had died.  But, I think God had a different kind of midwifing in mind…

            [15] Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, [16] “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” [17] But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. [18] So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” [19] The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” [20] So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. [21] And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. (Exodus 1:15-21 ESV)

                                                                                                ~  Your Fellow Sojourner

Good Luck With That One

            Something has been bothering me.  A radio announcer was telling his audience that he had decided that instead of New Year’s resolutions, he was looking for New Year’s revelation.  He shared what his revelation was.   He was seeing areas of selfishness in his life that he needed to correct.  He then told us that he was going to work very hard on those areas of selfishness.  He challenged all of us to look for something comparable in our lives that needed improvement or help.  Then, we, like him, should go about working on that area with great determination. 

                I was a little bit excited when I heard his initial admonition to look for some revelation instead of coming up with some kind of resolution.  I am afraid he missed his own point.  And as I drove further down the road, I found myself thinking, “Good luck with that one, buddy.” 

                I was waiting for his revelation about who God is and who he is in Christ.  But, his “revelation” was about where he needed to exert his own effort to “clean up his act”.  He will fail.  But, God knows this already.  In this man’s failure, may find that “revelation” he was looking for.  I hope that he does. 

          So, I will take up the radio announcer’s challenge and meditate on some of what God has been revealing to me about Himself.  He is God and I am not.  He is the Creator of the Universe and the One who hung upon a tree for me – even knowing all of my future sin.  He is the One who causes me to stand and to change and to be remade.  Jesus is the answer for any change in my life, not my own “righteous deeds” that are like a “polluted garment”. (Isaiah 64:6)   I know that apart from Jesus, I can do nothing. (John 15)  So, keep me from trying, Lord.  What I need is not a “what” but a “Him”.  I do not need anything new or more of anything else.  All I need is Jesus.  He is enough.  

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that left Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom