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[grantmewisdom]

The Joy of the Lord.

As some of you may know, Holy is the Lord is my all time favorite praise song. It starts with “We stand and lift up our hands, for the joy of the Lord is our strength.” The joy of the Lord is our strength. It’s actually from Nehemiah 8:10, but what does that really mean? How does joy convert into something that gives us strength?

And so I googled the title of this post to find Bible verses that had to do with joy. And the reason I picked joy was because as lead worshipers, we need the joy of the Lord. I was inspired to write about this because of a Jesus Culture song, Alive in You. I think it’s a song that is really full of joy. Even without watching the video, you can tell in the way that everyone is playing their music, the way they are singing, they have the joy of the Lord. *A side note, I think we are definitely capable of playing like this and is how I imagine our acoustic sessions could/should be.

Ok, so without scripture, this is all just conjecture. So, the verses I found most appealing to me was 1 Peter 1:3-9. It reads:

“A Living Hope

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that does not fade away, kept in heaven for you, 5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now, if for a little while, you have had to suffer various trials, 7 in order that the genuineness of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tried by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom, having not seen, you love; and in whom, though you do not see Him now, you believe and you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, 9 receiving as the result of your faith the salvation of your souls.”

This is the Modern English translation and hopefully it is a little easier to understand. There’s a lot of stuff in these six verses and I really enjoyed them because there’s just so much truth in them. Verse 6 talks about suffering through various trials, and we all suffer. Some more than others, but somehow God is supposed to give us strength, right? Hopefully as Christians, we all know that He physically suffered and died for us, which I think is horrible, but not the worst thing that could happen to Him. GASP! So let me explain. Yes, death is one of the worst things in our lives, and surely back then, death was the worst. But I think in the world we live in, death has kind of lost its place in worse case scenarios. I’m sure we can all think of things that we would rather die than do. But for a god, there’s nothing worse right? A god should be eternal. In fact, a lot of folklore in Asia says gods tend to disappear or turn into demons when they are no longer worshipped. As the gods receive less and less worship, they have to feed on something else like pain, suffering, etc. and turn into demons. I also think sometimes we forget that Jesus actually died and he was dead... for like three days. It wasn’t like he was just immune to death and just had to wait it out like Wolverine. I think this article says it best:

“Jesus' death was a literal event, not some temporary state of unconsciousness. Hence, in His resurrection, Christ did indeed conquer death—both in its spiritual and physical forms.”

I think when Jesus rose again from the dead God was overjoyed. His precious son had conquered death, HE had conquered death and we worship Him because He has conquered death, given us everlasting life by giving our souls salvation. The joy of the Lord is our strength. You know what gives God joy? Simply - us. He loves seeing His children worshipping Him. This in turn gives us strength and we use that strength to lead others into worship, this in turn pleases God, which gives them strength. And when the congregation is strengthened, the pastors and leaders are built up and full of joy and so in turn we sing His praise and it happens all over again. Beautiful right? :)

___

If you have found this helpful, please consider donating your time to the Grant wants to hang out and write songs with the praise team organization.

[iwanttobethemoon-blog]

We all want someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.

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[rambavanari]

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[iwanttobethemoon-blog]

So my church started at their new venue today, meaning we have a lot more freedom, too. Today's service excited me so much for what God is doing - today they were beginning to introduce the idea of a time for Holy Spirit to do what he wants, and they also officially introduced our first female leader. Have you ever been so excited about what God is doing but unable to understand or see exactly where it's going to be able to explain it... because that is it!!!!

[iwanttobethemoon-blog]

My church is moving!

Today we got told that on May 12th we will be moving to a new building. God has been telling the leaders that we will move for a while, and at the same time the rent we are paying on the cinema has increased by 50% and they've put a penalty pay for if we run late. The new venue, Bourne Hall (even though it's a bit further away) is being over accommodating and offering us half the money we pay at the moment for use of the whole building for the whole day, meaning we could have the kids work etc all in the same building and have no rush to get out. They've also been making renovations ready for us to come, even though nobody asked them to! Exciting and weird time. We have been in the cinema for 4 years and the one issue for me is work - my hours mean that I probably won't get to go to church as much (because the distance means I can no longer just come out of church and go to work, I wouldn't make it). So please pray for that - it's our church coffee shop so I'm hoping they will consider that. At the same time out Pastor pointed out that change is good so that we don't get settled into our ways and forget where and not listen to where God wants to take us. Awesome :)

[iwanttobethemoon-blog]

Church was amazing this morning

First of all, Keith (one of our senior leaders) died this week. So much was said about how he wasn't scared of death, he just rested in what he knew to be true.

A church worshiping together in grief is one of the most beautiful things I have ever experienced. I was nearly in tears, but I held back. When we sang this song, everyone was singing it for them. Amazing. So beautiful.

Also, God's timing is perfect. Keith died this week, and we had our first 24-hour constant prayer room for our church, too. We couldn't have planned that - but God did. The timing was perfect.

[iwanttobethemoon-blog]

Off to church this morning!

Please God, use the service today to speak to us. Help us to listen to what you are saying, and know that you are always there. God do not allow us to box you in, but help us to let you move freely and listen to you. In the name of Jesus, amen.

[iwanttobethemoon-blog]

This week. Wow.

As well as everything God has revealed this week, our youth leader told us today that he's leaving in Summer to plant a church. God gave him that word at 17 but only now has told him to move on to do it. He doesn't want to leave. Obviously he wants to follow God's plan and is excited but he is such a huge influence in loads of our lives so it's hard to move on. As Mel takes over we begin what I believe is a new chapter. I always think that if you're comfortable you need to listen to what God wants you to step out in. Change is good. God has prepared the way. I just pray that Lord God you will prepare the hearts of the boys especially in youth that Andy had begun to help on their journey to you. Thankyou that you have enabled him to plant those seeds, and help Mel to water them. And please encourage Andy in that even though he won't see the growth, he will know it happens. Please Lord help Andy be strong and trust 100% in you and the promise you have given him. Continuously fill him with your Spirit in that it may automatically overflow. Lord also allow us to embrace Andy leaving. Help us to enter that new chapter and step up to advance your mighty Kingdom. Although we will miss him, help us remember those things he has said to us, even later on in our lives when we need them most Lord. Help us to understand and fully 100% back him and support him in this new chapter in his journey. It is difficult to understand a vision and passion someone has when you don't share it because God has not revealed it personally to you. Thankyou that my own personal journey is helping me understand that. Thankyou Lord that you provided us with Andy at the time our church needed him most. Thankyou that you are now beginning to fulfil your purpose for Andy but that you allowed him to be with us when we needed him. Help us to grow in the next few months before he leaves and step up and listen to you. Help Andy be that city on a hill that cannot be hidden. We are proud of him Lord and send him out with support. How much more are you proud of him and upholding him and guiding him Lord, thankyou so much for the blessing that Andy has been to us over the past few years. Thankyou Lord that you reign over ALL things. God is moving guys. Amen.

[iwanttobethemoon-blog]

It's life-changing to be in a church, to be in a place where everybody is there for the same reason, and that's because they love God, and we've acknowledged the fact that he loves us, which is even better. Because a lot of people think that they're unlovable, but you're not. God loves you so much he's got a picture of you in his wallet, someone said to me, and that speaks volumes.

Richard Waller

[iwanttobethemoon-blog]

Church was amazing yesterday

God is doing so much in the church at the moment and you can see huge changes in some people :) could really feel the Holy Spirit yesterday :)