Author: Amy

My seven-year-old asked me recently, “If you’re in Heaven, can you fall off and go into the normal world again?” I had a good chuckle and then explained to her the difference between the spiritual and material realms.

Having lost people dear to me, sometimes I wish they could fall into my “normal world” again just long enough for me to ask them about their peaceful life in Heaven. This world often leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, and I yearn to be where sin and sorrow no longer have their say. And yet, I know there is something precious about this life. Every breath is a gift to me. I experience countless moments living in this “normal world”—holding my daughter’s hand, feeling a cool breeze in the heat of summer, singing praises to Christ with His people—all of it has worth, even suffering the loss of those I held dear. None of it is in vain. My Heavenly Father has a purpose in everything, and His Son is holding all things together.

He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together (Colossians 1:17).

The bottom line is, I want to glorify Him in every moment. And someday, when I see His face and finally know that peace I’m longing for, I’ll also realize that all of this was worth it.

“Weak is the effort of my heart,
And cold my warmest thought;
But when I see Thee as Thou art
I’ll praise Thee as I ought.”
Lyrics by John Newton

If we could give all of ourselves to Christ and hold nothing back from Him, what would that truly look like? Oh, to be entirely yielded to the Savior . . .

Mary D. James puts it best in these lyrics:
All for Jesus, all for Jesus!
All my being’s ransomed powers:
All my thoughts and words and doings,
All my days and all my hours.
Let my hands perform His bidding,
Let my feet run in His ways;
Let my eyes see Jesus only,
Let my lips speak forth His praise.

And perhaps the most poignant line of this beautiful hymn:
Since my eyes were fixed on Jesus, I’ve lost sight of all beside

When I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me? (Psalm 56:3-4)

Scripture says it all. We try to add to it with our emotions, but the Spirit reminds us of timeless truths that often speak our hearts back to our Father. What can flesh do to us? Nothing. In God alone we trust. And in that trust, there is no fear.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever (Psalm 23).

The song “My Heart Ever Faithful” from J. S. Bach’s Cantata No. 68 has been special to me for many years. In college, I sang it at a joint senior recital with Patrick the same night we announced our engagement. These lyrics represented a beautiful promise set in motion as we began our lives together.

My heart ever faithful, Sing praises, be joyful, Thy Jesus is near;
Away with complaining, Faith ever maintaining, My Jesus is here;
My heart ever faithful, Sing praises, be joyful, Thy Jesus is here!

Once in a while, a vocal student of mine will work on this selection. Still today, these lyrics speak so simply and clearly to me. Nothing life throws at me can undo me if I will keep these truths in the forefront of my heart and mind. Be faithful! Sing His praises! He is near!

My life is most secure when I am centered on my Lord and resting in His exaltation. Everything about the Christian’s life falls into place when we are trusting in Him and His sovereign rule as King over our lives. Even when we are persecuted, suffering, or hurting, because of His steadfast love and faithfulness—and the fact that He is God—we can rest and even experience peace in dark difficult times.

In Psalm 46:10, the Lord states, “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

We can be still because our God is exalted. He is Lord over all things. We proclaim Him as exalted, but we must also live as if this truth is more important than anything else. As we strive to do this, we can look to the One who shows us how to think and move and act from day to day.

The Father was ultimately exalted through the obedience of His Son. Having defeated sin, death, and unbelief, Jesus Christ is reigning at His Father’s right hand in the most exalted authoritative position. He is sovereign in rule and perfect in power. Jesus is King. And He is who He is whether we believe or not, whether we acknowledge Him or not, whether we devote ourselves to Him or not. Christ is highly exalted and this fact depends not upon us.

Jesus is more than a friend, He is Savior.
He is more than an icon, He is Creator.
He is more than a name, He is The Name.
He is more than a prince, He is Prince of Peace.
He is more than a king, He is King of Kings.
He is more than a lord, He is Lord of Lords.
He is exalted.

Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power (Psalm 21:13).

May I choose to sing out of place of rest and security, for He who keeps me is more than able to do so.

I believe that just as we are born with a sin nature, we are born with a musical nature.

Music resonates within us as if coming out of our very souls. It is found in all parts of society in every culture around the globe. There is not one group of people anywhere on the planet that is void of music. It is an absolute commonality to man.

Some people love to sing. Some, like me, seem to come out of the womb with a song in their heart that just won’t quit. It’s hard for me to go a single day without singing. That’s why I take losing my voice so personally! Everyone thinks I’m a germaphobe, and I am, but only because of that reason. I simply must sing, and not just because it’s my living. It is so much a part of what I do that most of the time I am unaware I am singing.

Others whistle. My grandfather was always whistling and his tone even had a vibrato! Some people are rhythmic and can’t keep from tapping everywhere and on everything. Others participate musically by listening and simply enjoying what they hear.

I don’t know of anyone who has ever said, “I don’t like music.” Of course, everyone has preferences (and usually strong ones) when it comes to style and genres and what is acceptable to their personal tastes. But are all musical beings by nature. God created us to be so.

In Psalm 33:1-3 we are commanded to sing in our worship of the Lord. In this passage, “sing for joy” is better translated as “rejoice.”

Sing for joy (Rejoice) in the Lord, O you righteous ones;
Praise is becoming to the upright.

Theses verses tell us what to do: rejoice! The verses that follow tell us how to rejoice.

Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;
Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings.
Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.

Tim Keller says, “Praise is ‘fitting. It fits God because he is worthy and fits us because we were created for it. Thus, generous and happy people are prone to praise while others are prone to complain. Praise is ‘inner health made audible.’ But we were created not for praise in general but to worship something supremely, to have our thoughts and hearts captivated. We need to draw our hearts from fixation on other things and become enraptured with the beauty of the Lord. One of the main ways to do this is to use skillful music in our worship and private devotion.”

Skillful or not, let us be found singing to our Savior. He has crafted us as musical beings. He will receive whatever we offer from grateful hearts.

The baby Jesus was laid in a manger, which is a place where animals feed. The French verb “to eat” is “manger.” This is a word said often in our house! The animals in that stable understood the trough was the location for their nourishment. Mankind was also given the Bread of Life that night in Bethlehem, the “City of Bread.”

We eat symbolically of Christ’s body as we remember how He suffered for us. He came that He might do so. And we, broken in our sinfulness, eat and are restored to a right relationship with a holy God.

This is no small thing.

A shining star
A simple stable
A laboring young girl
A manger filled with the Bread of Life

This Bread fills us.
This Bread saves us.

For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
but the Lord will take me in (Psalm 27:10).

This verse describes what so many endure on earth: the loss of precious relationships. To be rejected by those closest to us, those who ought to love us most, such as a father or a mother, is the worst kind of relational pain. These rejections are the hardest to recover from, and they can be life-altering.

David is saying, “Even though the dearest ones to my heart forsake me, Lord, You will not!” Anyone dealing with this kind of pain can find healing and comfort in this passage.

Teach me your way, O Lord,
and lead me on a level path
because of my enemies (Psalm 27:11).

David pleas with God to keep his feet from straying because of those who taunt him. When the people we have placed our trust in fail us, we then remember where our confidence truly lies. David understands he can turn to the one consistent source of truth and safety in his life, His heavenly Father.

I heard someone say, “Everyone on earth has trouble with at least one of these three things: relationships, health, or finances.” This is probably true. Many people deal with more than one of these or even all three.

Our fallen world presents us with enemies on every side, whether it’s these difficulties of the earthbound life, or, the literal attacks of our spiritual enemies. Psalm 27 teaches us that we can trust God in the difficult, painful circumstances. When we learn to do that, we will then trust Him in all things.

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)

When we use hand sanitizer we suddenly feel clean, don’t we? It’s my favorite placebo! In 2 Samuel 6, Uzzah reaches out to catch the ark from tumbling and the Lord strikes him dead. His mistake was in assuming his hands were cleaner than the dirt.

The Lord is holy. He is to be revered as such. We, however, are soaked in our sin nature. We must know the true condition of our hands.

In Psalm 24, David writes,
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.

While God is holy and exalted, we are sinful in our valley of humanness. To ascend a hill takes effort. Putting our sin to death is not an easy climb. It can be a painful journey. But as we repent and reject our idols, Christ cleanses us. He lifts us up. He makes this ascent not seem like a climb at all! He has already accomplished the gruesome work of putting our sin to death.

The notion of having clean hands represents what we do externally, as well as internally. Clean hands are those that have acted innocently toward others. Clean can be translated innocent. The deeds of our hands will be holy on the outside if the meditations of our hearts are clean on the inside. Thanks be to the blood of Christ that washes us like no sanitizer can. He cleanses us internally.

Synonyms of clean are immaculate, pristine, unsoiled, spotless, and spick-and-span. Antonyms of clean are dirty, illegal, foul, stained, and soiled. Do you find it interesting that we are all of these things simultaneously? We fit on both lists! We are both naughty and nice! We are filthy because of our sin nature, yet spotless because Christ Jesus is our righteousness. He is the ultimate Sanitizer.

For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified (Hebrews 10:14).