Gift of "Every Praise" to Our Father God

How about sending the gift of "Every Praise" up to our heavenly Father for Father's Day and every day!

For Christ's Sake

When we selfishly set out to live life any way we choose, this life will eventually be lost in hell for eternity; however, when we sacrifice our life to live for Christ, we have found our life for eternity in heaven.  "He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it" (Matthew 10:39).  Here are the words to a hymn called "Only One Life" from The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration to help you contemplate living your life for Jesus:

Only one life to offer
Jesus, my Lord and King;
Only one tongue to praise Thee
And of Thy mercy sing (forever);
Only one heart's devotion
Savior, O may it be
Consecrated alone to Thy matchless glory,
Yielded fully to Thee.

Only this hour is mine, Lord
May it be used for Thee;
May ev'ry passing moment
Count for eternity (my Savior);
Souls all about are dying,
Dying in sin and shame;
Help me bring them the message of
Calv'ry's redemption
In Thy glorious name.

Only one life to offer
Take it, dear Lord, I pray;
Nothing from Thee withholding,
Thy will I now obey (my Jesus);
Thou who has freely given
Thine all in all for me,
Claim this life for Thine own to be used, my
Savior, Ev'ry moment for Thee.

Showing Mercy to Jesus

To show mercy to Jesus, we must sacrifice our life daily to Him.  We are shown in Romans 12:1 that our reasonable service is our living sacrifice.  Remember how Jesus was among man to do the will of God.  We are to change our selfish worldly way of thinking to Jesus' way of thinking and do the will of God also (Romans 12:2).  "Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken" is a hymn that shows a life sacrificed to follow Jesus.  How does our mercy that God delights in compare to the mercy that Jesus showed to all of us by dying on the cross?  Jesus has given us so much more and requires so little!  Amen!

Amy Grant Shows a Good Eye for Mercy in Her New Album

Our merciful God and His Son, merciful words, merciful acts, merciful moments and merciful places--all appear in Amy Grant's new album called "How Mercy Looks From Here."  Expressed throughout this album is what Jesus meant when He said, "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice[.]..." in Matthew 9:13.  Jesus will have mercy for us as He wills for us to have mercy toward Him and others instead of animal or material sacrifices of old.

Listen to the song called "Here" for a vivid description of our omnipresent God.  In the song "Faith", we find that God requires us to believe in Jesus by faith.

Shared mercy is shown to one another in "Not Giving Up":

Oh, not so long ago you pulled me through
So, I'm not giving up, not giving up on you...

Amy Grant's son showed respect in burying his deceased friend in the song "Shovel in Hand."

The title of the album, "How Mercy Looks from Here", is also shared with a song on the album.  The song has such touching lyrics of a ninety-one year old survivor.  The final chorus is the ultimate on mercy:

When you face your greatest fear
Losing all that you hold near
Open up your eyes my dear, my dear
That's when boundless grace appears
Unseen angels hover near
Saints are singing loud and clear
Oh, how mercy looks from here
Oh, how mercy looks from here

What do you thing about the following description of Paradise in "Deep As It Is Wide?":

There's a place at the edge of the sky
Where there's a love deep as it is wide
The weak are strong, the hungry are all fed
And there's a breeze from the angels
flying over head

Here is the chorus:

Every breath taking me closer
Every step leading to paradise
They say the faithful get to go there
I believe there's a love
Deep as it is wide

Finally, the last song on the album is called "Threaten Me With Heaven." Oh, to be threatened with the likes of the "Paradise" described in "Deep As It Is Wide" in your final days, huh?:

What's the worst thing that could happen
If they say my time is through
Would it take away the love
Or the years I've shared with you
What's the worst thing that could happen
What's the worst that they could do
Threaten me with heaven
If they want to...
Threaten me with heaven
That's all they can do
Threaten me with heaven
Threaten me with heaven
I'll be waiting on you

A number of people helped with the writing of the songs.  As noted on the CD sleeve, the "...songwriters have been listed in the order in which they came to the song."

Words and Songs for Spiritual Warfare!

Perhaps you are having Spiritual warfare.  "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil" (Ephesians 6:11).  Here are several songs to fill you with the Spirit of God to help you with your battle.

God's Love and Mercy

Have you ever had one of those weeks where you turned from the Lord? If so, once you have realized your wrong, the way to correct it is to immediately turn back to the Lord and makes things right.  As the verse and refrain goes in the hymn 'Jesus Loves Even Me':

Tho' I forget Him and wander away,
Still He doth love me wherever I stray;
Back to His dear loving arms would I flee,
When I remember that Jesus loves me.

Refrain
I am so glad that Jesus loves me,
Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me:
I am so glad that Jesus loves me,
Jesus loves even me.

In Luke 18:13, the tax collector prayed the words--'God be merciful to me a sinner.'  He was justified for humbling himself to the Lord.  You can sincerely pray these words as well and God will show his mercy to you also.  Amen! 

Share Your Song about God's Mercy

Have you ever noticed in Psalms 136 that the words 'His mercy endureth forever' occurs in each verse? Through this repetition, the point of the infinitude of God's mercy is clearly made.  Everyone can make his/her own song about God's mercy to continue God's infinite mercy in song! Amen!  If any of you would like to share your song with me I'd love to hear it!  For now, I'm going to leave you to ponder your life song about God's mercy.  If the Lord wills, I shall share more about mercy next week.  God Bless.