When I first fell about three weeks ago, my whole body was screaming with the worst pain I’d ever felt. I wanted more than anything to die. Throughout my agony in the hospital I cried and prayed for Jesus to please come take me Home and rescue me from this ordeal. Having already fallen flat on my face from a dead faint onto a hardwood floor back in November and miraculously only suffering painful bruising, a black eye, and bloody nose, then losing Mama and my precious sister Nancy, enduring vicious migraines every day, and fierce tension knots, I felt like this new affliction was the last straw. No way did I want to face this new trial.
~~Unlike King David, the man after God’s own heart, who, when God put through a dark trial, he faithfully prayed,
“Your favor, O Lord, made me as secure as a mountain.Then You turned away from me, and I was shattered.I cried out to You, O Lord. I begged the Lord for mercy, saying, “What will You gain if I die, if I sink into the grave? Can my dust praise You? Can it tell of Your faithfulness? Hear me, Lord, and have mercy on me. Help me, O Lord.””
Psalms 30:7-10 NLT
No, I was not good like David, for the very last thing I thought of was praising the Lord in my pain, alas. I screamed in bitter agony.
The Bible says that the dead praise not the living God, however He seeks a people who will praise and glorify Him despite their trials.
“The dead cannot sing praises to the Lord, for they have gone into the silence of the grave. But we can praise the Lord both now and forever! Praise the Lord!” Psalms
115:17-18 NLT
I learned that if I truly love the Lord I would endure despite the pain and continue to trust Him believing He will come through in the end. By His Almighty grace, I have determined to seek for ways that I can praise Him during this trial.
For His Word tells us that God’s mercies are new every morning, great is His faithfulness. Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning.
One thing I will praise the Lord for is giving me such a wonderful husband. Ever since I fractured my humerus I’ve had to rely on Mark for assistance in doing everything ~~even doing my hair. Mark finds this task quite difficult and I must admit he has a gift for making really bad hairstyles. They are so awful that they are hilarious and make me laugh. I wish I had been documenting these crazy styles. Even JJ, our Yorkie, noticed him fixing my hair one day. Her little black eyes seemed to pop as she suddenly halted and hopped fast backwards out of the room, We both wish we could’ve documented her reaction on video.
Well, the night he made my hair look like I was wearing an ice bag, I could not stop laughing. I then said, “Honey, can’t you just manage a simple braid?”
I texted a friend about the issue. She told me that her daughter was really gifted at braiding hair and had her own website dedicated to braiding, and she gave me the URL.
I told Mark and sent him to the website. “Here is your chance, honey. Study her techniques and you will soon be braiding my hair!”
I was hopeful as I saw him intently studying two of the braiding videos. But when I noticed how complicated the braids were my heart sank.
Sure enough he soon gave up overwhelmed. Closing his laptop he looked at me and said, “You have two chances for me to ever braid your hair~ fat chance and no chance!”
I pouted. Why could he not have just chosen a video on how to do a simple braid?
Well, the next day the home health care nurse who comes to help me wash my hair and bathe said that she used to run her own hair braiding business on the side till she had her baby!
Would I like for her to braid my hair? She gave me two long beautiful French braids on either side of my head!
Here was my loving God giving me a chance to replace Mark’s fat chance and no chance!
How I praise Him for showing me His love and mercy in that special way!
And that wasn’t the end of the story either.
The next morning my Occupational Therapist came and wanted to braid my hair. She did a beautiful job. Once again, God demonstrated His love and mercy sending two people to braid my hair!
The dead praise not the living God but I will praise Him for these special ways He blessed me.
And the praising for His amazing blessings does not end there.
We went to the orthopedic doctor for a check up and while she did not see a great deal of improvement in the fracture as it was huge; she said it was going to take time and to be patient; after testing me she said I had no nerve damage!
This was very encouraging to me! She said with this kind of injury they sometimes see nerve damage in the hand so it was very good that I had none.
Glory to our wonderful God!
And today after Mark had graced me with another awful hairstyle last night that was truly hilarious, I went into the bathroom and prayed to be able to braid my own hair.
And God be praised~ He really helped me do it ~despite my broken arm!
God helped me braid my own hair despite my broken arm! Praise our awesome Lord Jesus Christ!
Fat chance and no chance are God’s chances in the eternal realms of the Almighty.
“Lord, You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give You thanks forever!”
“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on
WHATEVER THINGS ARE IS TRUE (focus on what is true about ourselves & other people & our circumstances, & about God)
See Philippians 4: 8
What is HONORABLE, (Look For What is honorable in ourselves & other people & our circumstances & in God)
*See Philippians 4: 8
Fix your thoughts on what is RIGHT, (Seek for what is right about ourselves & other people & our circumstances & in God)
*See Philippians 4: 8
Fix Your Thoughts on What is PURE, (in ourselves & other people & our circumstances & in God)
See Philippians 4: 8
Seek For things that are LOVELY, (in ourselves & other people & our circumstances & in God)
See Philippians 4: 8
Think about things that are ADMIRABLE. (in ourselves & other people & our circumstances & in God)
See Philippians 4: 8
Seek For whatever is EXCELLENT (in ourselves & other people & our circumstances & in God)
*See Philippians 4: 8
Focus on those things that are WORTHY OF PRAISE ” (in ourselves & other people & our circumstances & in God) ~ Philippians 4:8 NLT
*See Philippians 4: 8
God is looking for the good in His redeemed children, not for faults, not for things to condemn.
Christ came not to condemn, but to save us. (*See John 3:17)
What is true about God?
God is love
1 John 4:8
“Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds; Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, Your justice like the ocean depths.You care for people and animals alike, O Lord.”
Psalms 36:5-6 NLT
“The Lord forgives all my sins, and heals all my diseases, He redeems me from death, and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!
Psalm 103:3-5 NLT
The Lord gives righteousness and justice to all who are treated unfairly. The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
Psalm 103:6,8 NLT
God will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all our sins. He does not deal harshly with us as we deserve.
Psalm 103:9-10 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.
Psalm 103:11-12
The Lord is like a father to His children, tender and compassionate to those who fear Him. For He knows how weak we are; He remembers we are only dust.”
Psalms 103:13-14 NLT
For the needy shall not alway be forgotten, The expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.”
Psalm 9:18 KJV
What is true about God’s redeemed children?
For one thing, we are a new creature in Christ, old things are passed away. God has done a new thing in us, we are reborn in Christ and He has given to us His own righteousness.
“When anyone belongs to Christ, they become a new person. Their old way of life has gone. Their new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:17
Christ never did any wrong thing, but God punished Him as if He had. He died as punishment for our sins. As a result, we become right with God when we belong to Christ. We become right, because He is right.” 2Corinthians 5:21 Easy English Bible
“Nobody can say that God’s people are guilty. God himself has accepted us as right with him. So nobody can say that God should still punish us. Nobody can say that, because Christ Jesus himself died on our behalf.
And God raised Christ up so that He became alive again after His death. Now Christ is sitting at God’s right side in heaven. He himself is praying to God on our behalf.
Christ will always continue to love us.Nothing can stop that! We may have troubles.
Things may make us sad or afraid.People may do bad things to us.
We may have no food or no clothes. There may be great danger.
People may even try to kill us.
But none of these things can stop Christ from loving us.
As it says in the Bible: ‘Because we are your people, God, people try to kill us all the time. They think that we are like sheep, and we are ready to be killed.’
Because God loves us, none of these troubles can ever beat us.
He makes us win against them. I am sure of this.
Nothing can stop God from loving us.
Death cannot do that. Life cannot do that.
Angels cannot do that, nor can demons do that.
Nothing that happens to us now, or that will happen in a future time can do that.
No powerful spirits can do that.
Nothing that is high above the world can do that,
nor anything that is deep down below the ground.
Nothing else in the whole universe can stop God from loving us.
Because of our Lord Christ Jesus, we know how much God loves us.”
Romans 8:33-39 Easy English Bible
Heavenly Father,
Teach us to learn about and then to focus on whatsoever things are true about You, and ourselves, those things in us that are positive, and virtuous, pure and lovely, worthy of praise and of good report; help us not to look for faults or things to condemn ourselves for and feel guilty over; for You forgive our sins and give us the righteousness of Thy Son Jesus Christ, You love us very much, and look for the good in us. Thank You for being so kind to us to save us from our sins through Thy Son Jesus Christ, in Jesus name, amen.
“Lord Help Me Endure To The End” is a prayer song inspired by a scripture verse that Jesus spoke to His disciples when He was talking to them about prophetic events of the dark last days.
Jesus said, “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
Matthew 24:13 KJV
What does the word Jesus used for endure mean?
ὑπομένω hupomenō~~Thayer Definition:
1) to remain, 1a) to tarry behind, 2) to remain, i.e. abide, not recede or flee,
2a) to persevere under misfortunes and trials to hold fast to one’s faith in Christ
2b) to endure, bear bravely and calmly: ill treatments
This verse with its word meaning has spoken volumes to me as I have studied and meditated over them.
I’m so thankful the Lord gave me this prayer song to encourage me to meditate on this verse as I seek Him in prayer and in His Word, especially now.
No stranger to affliction being a sufferer of chronic daily migraines and fibromyalgia, I was painting to distract myself from pain early one morning last month.
Mark reminded me of an appointment I had to get ready for so I got in a rush to print my painting and get ready for the day.
Alas, as I rounded the corner of my bed I tripped and fell backwards landing on my left side and crashed onto the hardwood floor.
Horrified, I saw my left arm detached from my body. In excruciating pain, I thought my hip and neck were broken, as they were hurting as much as my arm and shoulder, also I could not move. Talk about screaming. My beloved Mark was by my side in a second.
I had to be taken to the hospital where they did imaging. Not only did I have bruises all over the left part of my body, but the X-Rays and scans revealed that I’d severely fractured my left humerus. Thank the Lord I had broken nothing else. I returned home with my left arm in a heavy splint and sling. It was so heavy in fact, I could barely walk. The pain was unbearable. I learned how disabled one is made by such a severe injury.
At first I just felt manacled by that awful splint and was sent into panic mode in certain positions. I was in more pain than I’d ever been in my life and I begged God to take me to Heaven. He kept saying nope. Not only did I find the pain beyond my endurance, I couldn’t tolerate being so helpless and dependent on others for assistance in EVERYTHING.
The Lord said, “ENDURE.”
Hadn’t I suffered enough, I asked.
The Lord was not going to let me off the hook.
He reminded me of the prayer song He had given me, “Lord Help Me Endure To The End.”
He reminded me of the other prayer song with lyrics He had given me on my most recent release Paths of Faith, “I Will Lay Down My Life.”
Migraines flared up the agony in my fractured arm even more. The wretched splint caused huge tormenting tension knots in my back and neck. I could not get comfortable nor sleep in my bed but had to sleep in Mark’s recliner.
Despite my misery, the Lord showered me with rivers of His measureless mercy. He sent wonderful home healthcare people to assist me. They always ended up telling me about folks who were far worse off than I was and this would somehow comfort me because I not only then felt I was not alone in my pain, it motivated me to pray for people who suffered as I did.
Prayer was the only way I could lay my life down in love for others because of my disability, while others were laying their lives down in love for me. The Lord always sent me people with the most cheerful attitudes. They somehow could make me laugh despite my intense pain.
Our son flew home from LA to help my husband with my care.
Our daughter being tied up with myriad issues in Tucson did many wonderful things for us that we needed assistance with by ordering things we required and had them sent to us.
We were surrounded by love. God showed His mercy and faithfulness in so many ways that helped me to hang on when I thought I could not endure another moment of pain. Many from our church sent beautiful cards and prayers while our friend Sharon came and stayed with me twice so Mark could run some necessary errands.
Our Pastor came over and anointed me with oil and prayed for my healing. All of these beautiful expressions of God’s love comforted me, reminding me that our Heavenly Father still loved me despite my suffering.
One night after I finally fell asleep exhausted from the pain, I dreamed that the Lord Jesus Christ came down from Heaven and into my living room. He stood by the recliner where I lay sleeping and He checked on my arm as if He were a doctor checking on my progress. I dreamed this two nights in a row. I woke up very comforted both times, assured of His love for me.
But on days when the hours stretched by and my pain level stayed at a ten I became depressed and wept, praying for God’s mercy and repenting for everything I could think of that might have upset the Lord. For when we go through serial trials we can’t help but look up and ask the Lord, “What did I do wrong?”
Whenever I ask the Lord questions like that He refers me to His Word. From the Epistle of James: “My Christian friends, remember to be happy, even when many kinds of trouble happen to you. Troubles can help you. God wants to see if you really trust Him. Your faith in God will become stronger as a result of these troubles. So you should continue to trust God all the time. Then you will become stronger as a Christian. You will become completely how you should be. You will not need anything more.” James 1:2-4 (*Easy English Bible)
The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to comfort me and assure me that God is using my trials to enlarge my faith.
“We thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, because He is so good to us. As our Father, He is very kind to us. He is our God who comforts us in every way. Whenever we have trouble, He comforts us. Because of that, we ourselves can comfort other people. When they have any kind of trouble, we can comfort them, in the same way that God has comforted us. Christ himself received much pain, and God comforted Him. As Christ’s servants, we also receive the same kind of pain. But, God also comforts us very much, because we belong to Christ.”2 Corinthians 1:3-5 *(Easy English Bible)
Peter the Apostle wrote that we should expect to have suffering and trials as Christians.
“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” 1 Peter 4:12-13 KJV
Peter asserted that suffering and pain motivate the Christian to do God’s will instead of their own will, even as Christ did His Father’s will on earth.
“Christ had trouble and pain while He lived in His human body. So you should prepare yourselves to have trouble and pain too. Think about it in the same way that Christ did. If someone has trouble and pain in his body, he stops doing wrong things. As a result, that person will want to do what God wants him to do. In his life in this world, he will not want to do the bad things that people think are good.” 1 Peter 4:1-2 (*Easy English Bible)
“That is why we never give up.
Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!
So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen.
For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” ~ 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NLT (*New Living Translation)
Scripture Quotations from the King James Version Bible Translation, the Easy English Bible, The New Living Bible Translation, All of which are copyrighted by their various publishers.
*Created through the Indwelling Risen Lord Jesus Christ, Inspired by His Holy Spirit, To The Glory of God The Father, In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Album Notes: Paths of Faith Christian Prayersongs Inspired by the Holy Spirit
It is with a humble, grateful heart that I announce the publication of my 29th musical album to God’s precious children, inspired by His Holy Spirit, who enabled me to create it through the risen Lord Jesus Christ within me, to the glory of our Heavenly Father, in Jesus’ name.
Paths of Faith is an appropriate title for this album of prayersongs, the first vocal album the Lord has inspired me to release since Paths of Mercy in 2019, just before the Coronavirus Pandemic broke out in December of that year.
In 2009 the Lord gave me the gift to sing and create instrumental music. He had to ask me three times if I would sing for Him so reluctant was I to be a musician for His glory. I had been a visual artist all my life and art was my passion. I had always prayed to be an excellent artist, illustrator, and children’s book writer for His glory. When He asked me to sing for Him, He said that He needed my voice of all things!~I felt I needed to remind Him that my little boy had howled when I’d sung Him “Jesus Loves Me” once. Undaunted, the Lord would not give up. He wanted me to surrender my will and to walk a new path with Him by faith. I loved the Lord so much. He had given up everything for me when He suffered and died on the cross to redeem our souls. How could I not now give up everything for Him? Though it felt like dying, I said I would sing and make music for Him. I hardly knew what I was getting myself in for, but trusted that my Lord Jesus Christ would never do anything to hurt me. At first I felt like I was being thrown to the lions. Having been a professional in one career, now He was plunging me on a path where I would be like a baby learning to crawl, following Him, whom I could only see and hear by faith. What is faith? The Bible tells us “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen…Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear… But without faith it is impossible to please (God): for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:1-3,6 – KJV
I knew nothing at all about the music industry but trusted God to guide me every step of the way. He instructed me to do everything the opposite of the way the world does things. Which made no sense. All He would say was, “Trust Me, My child.” After all, it was His music. I had not up and made myself a musician~ the Lord had. He knew what His plans for it were. I learned that the Lord wanted to communicate to His children through His music. I should have known that from the beginning. Duh. The songs were inspired by His word through His Holy Spirit. They were motivated by prayer and worship from abiding in my Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus had said, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.” John 15:4-5 – KJV
The Lord told me that the songs were to be “Musical Conversations” with His children. If they would take the song titles and go into their prayer closets with their bibles and look up the reference that the title referred to in their bibles and meditate on the verses or bible story and study the word of God and pray to Him and abide in Him alone, that He would speak to them what He wanted to say to them. The important thing was that His children should get back to their prayer closets and abide in Christ and return to studying His word, allowing HIM to teach them through His Holy Spirit. The Lord was seeking a personal relationship with His children. He said they were distracted by many things and had lost sight of Him. They had gone after the world. In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus said, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Matthew 6:24 – KJV (Mammon means money or the world or anything that makes the soul’s heart beat faster than Jesus or God~ mammon therefore is another word for an idol.) Anything that takes the Christian’s attention away from the Lord Jesus Christ can become an idol whether it be a relationship, a hobby, social media, a ministry, an organization, politics, any pursuit whatsoever that seems right but misses the mark ever so slightly. In fact another translation for the word “sin” is to “miss the mark.” “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:1-2 – KJV
The Path of Faith is one in which we keep our eyes on our Master who is the Author and Perfecter of our Faith, who is the Lord Jesus Christ and we surrender our wills and lay our lives down for Him.
Christians must not keep our eyes on this world. No matter what is going on. Paul lived under the malevolent emperor Nero of Rome of whom it was believed that he torched the city to justify building a more magnificent one. Because of the intense criticism he received, he devised a plan where he blamed the followers of Christ for the crime. In A.D. 64 brutal persecution erupted there against the Christians. Tacitus (c. A.D. 60-120) a Roman Historian, wrote in his Annals (XV.44). “…Besides being put to death they were made to serve as objects of amusement; they were clothed in the hides of beasts and torn to death by dogs; others were crucified, others set on fire to serve to illuminate the night when daylight failed. Nero had thrown open his grounds for the display, and was putting on a show in the circus, where he mingled with the people in the dress of charioteer or drove about in his chariot. All this gave rise to a feeling of pity, even towards men whose guilt merited the most exemplary punishment; for it was felt that they were being destroyed not for the public good but to gratify the cruelty of an individual.” ~quoted from http://christiancourier.com
Despite this horror, what does Paul say when he mentions the government? He wrote: “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:1-4 – KJV
Peter wrote, “Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.” 1 Peter 4:16-19 – KJV
Both Peter and Paul mentioned in their epistles that our true Kingdom is not of this world. It would have been truly foolish and dangerous for them to go about writing “our true Emperor and King ~the Only Lord and God Jesus Christ to whom we alone pay honor and allegiance….and we don’t obey any laws but His…” Instead, they wrote as the Holy Spirit led them. They must stay alive and preach the Gospel which was their true mission therefore they must be peacemakers so they could carry out the Lord’s work, keeping Christ’s command to walk in love. James the Apostles wrote: 17 “But the wisdom that comes from God is like this: “First, it is pure. It is also peaceful, gentle, and easy to please. This wisdom is always ready to help people who have trouble and to do good for others.“ ERV James 3:17
Jesus told Pilate when asked if He was a king, “Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight…” John 18:36 The apostles did not go looking for a fight. Paul wrote, “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” 2 Timothy 2:4 – KJV
Their true commitment was to their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ whom they loved with all their heart, soul and mind and strength. If a worldly law conflicted with God’s Holy Law, of course they must obey God. For example, in the Old Testament when the Pharaoh commanded all the baby boys to be drowned Moses’s parents did not comply with his edict but obeyed the Lord to save their child. For the Lord Almighty is our true King and His commandments must prevail and this is what the word of God teaches. The apostles imply this even when they don’t come right out and say it for the danger it might have presented. They walked a Path of Faith ~ surely Peter had trod this Path with Christ on the Sea of Galilee when he’d briefly walked on its waters with the Lord before taking his eyes off his Master, then sank beneath the waves. The Lord had quickly rescued his Apostle when Peter cried out, “Lord, save me!” The Prayersong on my album “Thy Voice Comes Over The Waters” was inspired by this Bible story and it deals with trying to recognize Christ in the gray areas of His word. Peter wrote, “Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and exiles to abstain from sinful desires that wage war against the soul. (*Sinful desires are any desires opposed to God’s will~not exhibiting the love of Christ is disobeying Christ’s will for Christ said, “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35 – CSB)
Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that when they slander you as evildoers, they will observe your good works and will glorify God on the day He visits. Submit to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the emperor as the supreme authority or to governors as those sent out by Him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good. For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. Submit as free people, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as God’s slaves. Honor everyone. Love the brothers and sisters. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” 1 Peter 2:11-17 – CSB
Paul wrote: “Let everyone submit to the governing authorities, since there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are instituted by God. So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God’s command, and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves…” Hebrews 13:1-3
Eventually because the early Christians trusted Christ and walked according to the word of God and the path of faith, they obeyed both Christ and His word to submit to human authority for the sake of the Lord, by the third century under the Emperor Constantine the Great, Christianity became the dominant religion of the Roman Empire.
Christians had but to obey Christ their true King for this to happen. They had to always be abiding in Christ to know and understand His will. Paul wrote, “Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” Ephesians 5:17 – KJV
Jesus said, “But when you pray, you should go into your room and close the door. Then pray to your Father. He is there in that private place. He can see what is done in private, and he will reward you.”
Abiding in Christ is getting alone with our risen Lord and Savior by faith and reading His word and allowing the Holy Spirit to teach us apart from the distractions of social media, friends, or work, or anything else. It is a very private, sacred holy affair between you and the Lord and the only way we can will grow closer to the Lord. Jesus said, “ I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.”
Christ may lead us down a thorny path. No one can or should judge any child of God for the Path that Christ leads them to follow. Never judge a child of God by their afflictions.
“Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.” ~James 4:11 – KJV
Who are we to condemn the child whom Christ suffered, bled, and died to redeem? My prayersong “Father, Forgive Me” deals with how our sin hurts others and Christ ultimately.
The Path of Faith may lead to persecution or martyrdom. Paul wrote, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” 2 Timothy 3:12 – KJV Jesus said, “And whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Anyone who finds his life will lose it, and anyone who loses his life because of Me will find it.” Matthew 10:38-39 -CSB
The Path of Faith is the path that leads with Christ to the cross. It is a path of suffering. But if we go to the cross with Christ we will also rise with Him in His resurrection! For we are being conformed to His image on this journey. “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:18 – KJV
Along this path we must learn to let go of our own will and say to our Heavenly Father along with Christ, “Father, not My will, but Thy will.” We must pray, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” But those who will not love as Christ loved us, who will only read Christ’s words and filter out the parts they do not agree with, do not truly love Christ for Christ said,
“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. The one who doesn’t love Me will not keep My words. The word that you hear is not Mine but is from the Father who sent Me.” John 14:23-24 – CSB
The word parse means to break down, analyze, or scrutinize and is the opposite of accepting by faith as a little child. One cannot parse a cup of water Christ gives them to drink. We either drink it in front of Him or pour it on the ground and say “No thank You, Lord, I don’t trust it.”
Christ and His Holy Spirit are the Living Water of Life. We receive the Lord by faith. We receive His words by faith. If we fight and rebel and scrutinize, analyze complain, revile and scorn, we don’t love the Lord or keep or believe His word.
Paul wrote that Christ was the Rock in the wilderness, where Moses got the water for the Israelites and they grumbled and grieved God over their unbelief. “Now I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless God was not pleased with most of them, since they were struck down in the wilderness. 1 Corinthians 10:1-5 – CSB
“Today If You Hear God’s Voice” Vocal Prayersong is a song the Lord gave me on my new album to witness to that Bible story. Listen to the song or to a clip. Then go into your prayer closet with your bible and look up and read the story in the scriptures it refers to. Pray and ask the Lord to help you hear His voice and to walk His path of faith.
There are many prayersongs on this album that refer to bible stories and concepts. Please use the songs to let God speak to your hearts through His Holy Word, and abide in the Lord Jesus Christ, our True Vine. He is speaking through His word, through His Holy Spirit in these songs He inspired from His Word. May He help us turn our attention towards Him and away from all that distracts us in this world. “Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, so that you won’t grow weary and give up. In struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. Hebrews 12:1-4 – CSB
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for this new album of beautiful prayer songs inspired from Thy word. Thank You for encouraging me to walk Thy path of faith with You even though its been so difficult, for You have been with me all the way and so faithful even as You promised. Please encourage Thy children to walk with You down the path of faith and to trust You in the way You are asking them to and never to doubt that You keep every promise forever. Help each one to hear Thy voice speaking to them in their hearts today and through Thy holy word and may You guide them with Thy wisdom and discernment, and fill them with Thy holy love and mercy and grace, In Jesus’ name, amen. Thank You, Lord, we love You.
More Encouraging Scriptures
Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, “Vengeance belongs to Me; I will repay,” says the Lord. But If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head.
Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good. Romans 12:16-21 – CSB
Let everyone submit to the governing authorities, since there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are instituted by God. So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God’s command, and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves.
For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Do what is good, and you will have its approval. For it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it does not carry the sword for no reason. For it is God’s servant, an avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong. Therefore, you must submit, not only because of wrath but also because of your conscience. And for this reason you pay taxes, since the authorities are God’s servants, continually attending to these tasks. Pay your obligations to everyone: taxes to those you owe taxes, tolls to those you owe tolls, respect to those you owe respect, and honor to those you owe honor.
Do not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, for the one who lovesanother has fulfilled the law.
The commandments, Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not covet; and any other commandment, are summed up by this commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor.
Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law. Romans 13:1-10 – CSB
Peaceangel Song 
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