Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.
Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,
always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.
Paul tells us about his secret weapon against the enemy.
He discusses it in detail as it pertains to his ministry:
Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk
like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently,
been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.
Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus
one.
Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three
times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea,
I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger
from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen,
in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country,
in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers.
I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep;
I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have
been cold and naked.
Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my
concern for all the churches.
Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin,
and I do not inwardly burn?
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my
weakness.
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised
forever, knows that I am not lying.
In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of
the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me.
But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and
slipped through his hands.
In spite of his circumstances, Paul chose his attitude.
That was caused him to chose his secret weapon. No one could change
his attitude, and no circumstance caused him to waiver. If satan
couldn't change his attitude, he could not stop him!
Our circumstances, I dare say, are rarely as intense and frightening
as his. Yet, how often we let them dictate our attitude as well as
our behavior. Our beliefs and feelings become discolored by them.
Our walk with the Lord so easily becomes detoured by them.
And it is all a matter of our attitude!
And what weapons do we chose to use in war with the enemy?
Our attitude affects the type we chose also. Anger will
cause us to chose violence or meanness. Fear will cause us to retreat
or become dishonest. We may even chose weapons we know God would
never has us use- and justify them to ourselves.
So, just what are the weapons Paul chose? And are they
valuable for us today? Well, looking at the fact that he wrote more
books of the New testament than anyone else - and he didn't even walk the
earth with Jesus as the disciples did, gives us a clue! I think it
is pretty evident that he chose the winning weapons! How many of us are
even close to the walk he had with the Lord? How many of us
have impacted the world - or even our neighborhood - as he did? I'm
pretty interested in his weapons. How about you?
Eph 5 :19 gives us his list:
Worship.
Words of praise and thanksgiving. This kept his attitude
right. He could praise God in the midst of difficulties. He
could repeat the Psalms of praise. It's pretty hard to have a pity
party when you are praising the Lord! And it's even harder for satan to
sneak in with his "low self esteem" tricks when you are using God's word
to praise Him!
Hymns
These are "songs of praise," or "songs of thanksgiving."
Think about it, if you are singing a song of praise to God,
where can satan get at you? If you are so focused on the Father,
does satan seem so powerful? Is he so appealing? I man, really
- if you are looking at the Father, how could you even see satan?
And if you are thanking the Father for what He has done, remembering
what He has brought you and others through, does anything in the future
look that awful? Are you really going to face something that is bigger
than the Red Sea? Are you facing death on a cross for what everyone
else has done? Of course not, so what in the world are we doing by
letting ourselves be filled with fear and dread?
Instead, we can be praising and thanking God in song.
Spiritual Songs
These are spontaneous songs, born out of a heart overflowing
with love. This is a love song between you and God. He alone
hears it, and there is no sweeter sound to Him than the songs His children
sing to Him. It doesn't matter if you can carry a tune, or even use
good grammar. Your words don't have to rhyme. Your beat doesn't have
to be good. Whatever you heart is singing is greater than what even
the angels sing.
A singing heart is a new level of intimacy.
Now wait...follow where Paul goes from here in this passage?
What does he tell us next about his weapons?
Okay, maybe he got lost in his train of thought, because he
starts talking about marriage!!!!!
He says, "wives submit to your husbands." Now wait
a second! What happened to the worship and hymns and spiritual songs??
Is Paul through with that subject? Has he left us hanging?
That's not like him, so we need to follow his train of thought.
He tells wives to operate on a level of faith. Wives are
to submit to their husbands (not men in general!) "as unto the Lord."
They are to praise their husbands. And if need be, praise them into
the man they know God wants them to be. They are to lift them up
, not tear them down. Women have years to chose the one man they
are to be in subjection to. And if they make a bad choice, God doesn't
change the plan. He will protect and He will guide. But the
subjection to that one man is very important to Him. (Don't get me
wrong if you think I'm saying that includes abuse.)
The point is, women are to operate in the area of faith in this
relationship - faith in their Father.
If you think women get a bad deal here, think again! They
are told only to submit. Look at what the man is told to do: "love
your wives as Christ loved the church." Now wait- Christ died for
the church! That's right. And men are to die to themselves,
and love their wives above themselves. Submission looks pretty easy
compared to that! Men are to nurture and cherish their wives - to
give value to them.
Where is Paul going with all of this????
This is a profound mystery--but I am talking about Christ
and the church.
Eph 5:32
What he is saying, is that we are to play the role
of Christ and His church in our marriage. Women- play the role of
the church, and men- play the role of Christ. If others could look
at our marriages and see what that relationship is, how powerful it would
be!
Sexual intimacy in marriage does 3 things:
reduces stress
relieves anxiety
relaxes physically.
Intimacy in worship does three things:
reduces stress
relieves anxiety
relaxes spiritually.
WOW! What a concept!
Intimate worship is powerful!
There is power in praise!
To talk to Him, face to face, one on one
is that kind of relationship.
We attract Him to us when we praise Him, for He "inhabits the
praise of His people" Can you fathom that? When you praise
Him, he comes to you, and inhabits you. His power overwhelms you
and overflows from you.
Okay then, I don't know how you feel about that, but I am excited.
I don't think I can ever just stand and sing a song to Him ever again.
I want to dance and raise my hands and leap for joy!!! Can't
you see Paul doing that? Power that makes you praise in the midst
of horrible trouble is not power that is wimpy and hiding in a corner.
I encourage you to open up and praise Him for all you are worth!
Let His Spirit teach you how and free you to be intimate with the father
who loves you so much!
Psalm 100
A psalm. For giving thanks. Shout for joy to the LORD, all the
earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful
songs.
Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are
his ; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness
continues through all generations.
The content of this page is material from a sermon years ago. It touched me deeply.
I also want to thank Kerry, my soul buddy, who has been my inspiration for finishing this page.
And, Sandie, thanks for sitting through the work with me. Most of all, though, I thank my Heavenly Father for all He has done and is going to do for me. His love is beyond my comprehension.
Please email me with comments or suggestions.
I so want others to experience the Power in Praise!
