Make A Joyful Noise

February 20, 2017 ~ Suzanne Davis Harden

Make A Joyful Noise

In my painting “Make A Joyful Noise” the flute player’s hands are large, and seem clumsy as she plays her instrument.

In God’s word, the Psalmist tells us to make a joyful noise unto the Lord. It does not matter whether we are talented singers or musicians.

He just says, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord…” Psalm 100:1

God loves each of us. He created us to worship Him just as we are with whatever skills and talents we have.

It brings God joy when we accept ourselves for who He created us to be. We honor Him when we don’t compare ourselves with others. We may feel clumsy and awkward, as if we don’t measure up in some way, but God says, “Make a joyful noise!”

Jesus said, “You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.” ~Matthew 5:5 (The Message Bible)

In my painting, the Flute Player is playing her flute anyway, even though she seems unsure, unsteady, with her large awkward hands.

Sometimes God will ask us to do something that we don’t feel we have the right skills for, are incompetent to do, or that we might fail in.

Yet God asks us to trust Him anyway, to walk by faith. “For we walk by faith and not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)

He asks us to believe His word that says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)

He asks us to trust in the power of His grace to help us with every challenge.

Each one of us are very important to God’s plan, though we might not realize our importance to God this side of eternity.

We may feel awkward, unsteady and clumsy like the flute player in my painting. But we must walk by faith, trust God, and obey Him, and do whatever He asks of us anyway.

For in the end, He will make a lovely song out of our joyful noise we have made unto Him whether or not we were competent in the thing He called us to do.

For God does not base His calling on our talents, skills, or appearances. All He asks is a willing, humble and faithful heart.

Jesus said, “You did not choose me. I chose you. And I gave you this work: to go and produce fruit—fruit that will last.” John 15:16

May it be our prayer to have a willing, faithful heart that will humbly obey the Lord, no matter what He asks of us each day.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of my life, and that You created me to be just exactly the way You wanted me, and that when I am myself, I glorify You. Thank You that I bring You great joy when I am satisfied with who You created me to be and believe all the wonderful things that You say about me and not listen to doubts and fears. I love You, Lord! In Jesus name, amen.

“Make A Joyful Noise” Original Fine Art Print Is Available in my Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/listing/257925019/original-art-print-make-a-joyful-noise

“Make A Joyful Noise” © 2015 Suzanne Davis Harden All Rights Reserved. Angelsong ©2017 SD Harden All Rights Reserved. Scripture References: King James Version Bible/The Message Bible: Copyright 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson All Rights Reserved./ New King James Version © 1982 Thomas Nelson All Rights Reserved. / New International Version Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

You Are Treasured

February 14, 2017 ~ Suzanne Davis Harden ~ 2 Comments

You Are Treasured

You are treasured by the One
Who made the moon, and stars, and sun,
Who formed the flowers and the trees
And set the ocean’s boundaries.
He rides the Heavens and He sees
Your heart and knows your every need,
He listens to your every prayer
He listens and He loves and cares.
Though He’s silent and unseen
He’s just as real as what you see;
He’s close enough for you to hear,
He’s ever present, very near.
His love for you is like the sand
And can’t be measured by your hand.
Like sandy grains upon the shore
It’s measureless and grows still more
He’ll love you as His precious child
Eternal ages for all time.
SD Harden (Prayer Poem) © 2017 All Rights Reserved

Happy Valentine’s Day, Dear Friends!
May you know that you are cherished by the God who loves you so much He sent His one and only Son Jesus Christ to die a cruel death on a cross for each of us to atone for our sins. When we invite Jesus into our hearts and ask forgiveness for our sins the Lord washes them all away “as far as the east is from the west.”

And we are justified by faith – or made right with God through faith in Christ. We won’t be perfect or without sin till we get to heaven, but the Lord puts a portion of His very own Spirit within our hearts to help us want to be good, and to make us more and more like Him. We get to know God because His Holy Spirit lives in our hearts. His Holy Spirit dwelling in our heart helps us to not only keep loving God, but to love Him more and more as we pray to Him and study His word and obey Him.

If you want to know God’s love, invite Jesus Christ into your heart. He is only a prayer away. Don’t take my word for it. Just close your eyes and ask Him to come inside your heart right now. He will fill you with love and rivers of peace and hope. He will wash all your sins away. He will fill you with His Spirit and make you His redeemed child forever. He will write your name in His book of Life. When you die, you will be with Jesus in Paradise for all eternity.

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, may You lead souls to Thy Son Jesus Christ who need salvation, who need forgiveness, who need to know that You love them and will never reject or forsake them. May You fill their hearts with Thy holy measureless love for them, rivers of peace and hope, wash all their sins away as far as the east is from the west, and fill them with Thy Holy Spirit. May today they become Your very own precious redeemed children forever, in Jesus holy name, thank You, Lord, we love You, amen.

Scriptures to meditate on:

Jeremiah 31:3 (KJV) The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

John 3:16-17 (ERV) Jesus said, “Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him would not be lost but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world. He did not send him to judge the world guilty, but to save the world through him.”

Romans 5:1-2, 5 (NLT) Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

John 6:29 (NLT) Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”

John 6:37 (NLT) Jesus said, “… those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.”

Psalm 103:11-12 (NLT) For God’s unfailing love toward those who fear Him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.

1 John 1:8-9 (NLT) If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

1 John 2:2 (ERV) Jesus is the way our sins are taken away. And he is the way all people can have their sins taken away too.

Hebrews 11:1-3 (ERV) Faith is what makes real the things we hope for. It is proof of what we cannot see. God was pleased with the people who lived a long time ago because they had faith like this. Faith helps us understand that God created the whole world by his command. This means that the things we see were made by something that cannot be seen.

Romans 10:17 (NASB) So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

Philippians 2:13 (ERV) Yes, it is God who is working in you. He helps you want to do what pleases Him, and He gives you the power to do it.

Romans 10:8-11, 13 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Philippians 1:6 (GW ) I’m convinced that God, who began this good work in you, will carry it through to completion on the day of Christ Jesus.

Angelsong © 2017 SD Harden All Rights Reserved /Prayer Poem “You Are Cherished © 2017 SD Harden All Rights Reserved./ Scripture Painting © 2017 SD Harden All Rights Reserved. /”Jesus Loves You” Photo via Pinterest

Bible Quotations: NLT (New Living Translation) © Copyright 2015 Tyndale House Publishers, Easy To Read Version (ERV) Copyright 2006 Bible League International, New American Standard Bible Translation (NASB) Copyright 1995 The Lockman Foundation, The King James Version Bible, (KJV), God’s Word (GW) ©1995 God’s Word To The Nations

Forget Not

October 7, 2016 ~ Suzanne Davis Harden

FORGET NOT

Psalm 103:2 says “Bless the Lord, oh my soul and forget not all His benefits…”
When I looked up the original word for “forget” in the Strong’s concordance, it means to “mislay, cease to care, cause to forget…”

How often, how easy it is to cease to care, to mislay, to forget, to take for granted even the smallest of God’s blessings.

But the simple fact is, what wonderful blessing we enjoy today we might not have tomorrow. How very important it is to be thankful for what we do have today, right now, this very moment. There is always something to be thankful for!

I suffer from chronic migraines and from day to day I do not know how they will affect me.

As an artist, musician, and writer I have to just trust Jesus that all will be well.

The other day I lost the use of my left hand for about 18 hours.

I never know if I will ever regain what I lose during a severe migraine but when it happens I run to Jesus and thank Him for what I do have and trust Him that I am safe in His hands.

He has never failed me. Thankfully, by the next evening the Lord restored my left hand and I was back to playing my piano as before and doing all the myriad things I daily do with that important hand.

Psalm 103 goes on ” …who forgives all our sins, who heals all our diseases..” I praise and thank the Lord Jesus Christ today who is the forgiver of all my sins and who heals me every day!

We serve an Awesome God!

Prayer
Heavenly Father, may I never forget all the wonderful gifts and blessings You shower down upon me each day. For even my very life is a gift from You. Help me not take for granted even the smallest blessing, a gift that perhaps another never had or no longer enjoys due to illness, age, an accident, or for whatever reason.

Help me realize that all things in this life are temporary, for Thy word declares that this world is passing away. Engrave upon my heart that the one thing we can always count on and forever be thankful for is that You will never pass away, You will abide forever and will never leave or forsake us.

Thank You, Lord, I love You, in Jesus’ name, amen.

A Healing Prayer

September 20, 2016September 20, 2016 ~ Suzanne Davis Harden

A Prayer For All Who Need Healing

Heavenly Father, please bless all those who are suffering and need healing today, whether in their body, mind, or soul.

Thy word promises “God sent His word and healed them and delivered them…”

King David wrote, “O Lord my God, I cried out to You, and You healed me.”

Thank You, Lord, that You love each one of us as if we are the only child You have to love.

You dwell in our heart so You feel our pain.

Thy word says, “You have seen my troubles, and You care about the anguish of my soul.”

Lord, send rivers of peace and hope to all who are chronically ill, suffering pain and are discouraged physically, spiritually, or emotionally.

May You strengthen and encourage each of Thy precious children today.

May they know that though they have endured a long, difficult night of weeping, they will see a bright new morning come soon, with joy from the streams of Heaven that none can take from their hearts.

For Thy word promises, “Though weeping endures for a night, joy comes in the morning.”

May You give them grace to bear what they cannot in their own strength bear.

Thank You, Lord, for all who are praying this prayer today.

May they know how much You love and value them. May they feel You holding them in Your everlasting arms of love and mercy. May they know that suffering and affliction do not mean that You no longer love us. For Thy own Son suffered when He lived on this earth. “He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief,” Thy word says.

Thy word says that we suffer now so that our faith may be refined, but that someday You will wipe all our tears away and we will suffer no more.

Lord, we praise You for Your wonderful promises and for Thy word that says You keep every promise forever. (Psalm 146:6)

Thank You that though we may suffer for a season, You will never leave or forsake us. And there is an end to all our trials. For Thy word promises, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”

Thank You that You are going to deliver Thy suffering children who are asking for healing miracles.

Thank You for hearing and answering this prayer.

I love You.

In Jesus’ mighty name, amen and amen.

Angelsong~ A Healing Prayer 2016 Suzanne Davis Harden/ Scripture Pictures by SD Harden/ Bible Verses: King James Version, New King James Version©, New International Version©, New Living Translation ©