Lift Up Your hands

 

 

Psalm 134 

Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord

who minister by night in the house of the Lord.

Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord.

May the Lord bless you from Zion,

He who is the Maker of heaven and earth.

(NIV 2011) 

 

I don't know about you but sometimes I don't quite feel like praising God but as soon as I do my whole demeanour changes. The grumpy or sad Jo changes into a more upbeat, calm, and happy Jo. Singing does something to lift your soul and worship does something even more. There is a clear difference between just singing and worshipping. Worshipping is a heart thing. It's not about singing the right notes, although it sounds better if we do. It's about giving of ourselves to God. 

 

The picture is of my cat Buddy, one of my favourate photos of him when he was a kitten at full stretch playing with a garden cane which I had hold of the other end. It, likes singing, and worshipping makes me joyful. We can never get enough joy can we? Sometimes life gets in the way and makes us grumpy, or sad, or whatever and actually it is OK to come to God in those moods. If we can't be honest with our Heavenly Father then who can we be honest to? Even in our grieving, or our anger, bring it all to God. 

 

It's really hot in the UK and we aren't equipped for it like many of our European neighbours and other countries. Also unlike other countries its also very humid. I like the hot weather but not the humidity. I much prefer the summer to other months but the extremes of heat are a bit much for me. Whatever the weather and however we are feeling God deserves or praise. But maybe on Sunday morning as we lift our hands in worship together in our churches we need a little bit more of this!

 

 

Move aside, nothing to see here...

 I had a mooooving encounter with a cow yesterday. I'm not sure if it was mooooving on up or mooooving me out the way? It was a mooooving encounter neither-the-less. I wonder if I need to move out the way? Do you ever stop to think about the fact that we can block the way of others fulfilling their God given calling? Sometimes we hold on to jobs or roles that are no longer ours to do. Is God calling to you move out the way for someone else to take up the reigns? Are we moving on up or are we stuck in the same rut? 

I miss the Gloucestershire cows I would see every day but that's a small price to pay for being exactly where God wants me to be. How about you? Are you where God wants you to be, physically and spiritually speaking? 

It is finished!

 

 

Today, God has been talking to me about finishing. 2025 is now finished. I have closed some doors that definately needed closing last year. Unhealthy relationships, and roads that were going nowhere. Today God said to me, 'It is finished!' I am not finished but the merry-go-round and the Exodus journey of going round and round in circles is. I have a number of journals that I write in from time to time that I use for different reflections. In two of them I wrote 'It is finished.' For me there is a definate moving out of one season and into a new and exciting one that has been bubbling inside of me for so long. I have a new found freedom which excits me. 

 

Earlier in the year  I moved from Gloucestershire to Yorkshire, 'God's own country.' The process hasn't been easy. (My heart has been for Gloucestershire and to see revival there.) Hubby fell from the attic, the removal company were atrocious and took three times as long as they should, and treasured possesions were broken in the move that left me tearful and upset. 

I felt God say to me, 'Don't look back' and so I have continued to look forward with excitement of knowing that God is on this roller coaster of a journey with me. When things get difficult it is easy to give in and throw in the towel - but life is never easy and some things are worth fighting for. It is through the hard times and those difficult moments that we learn. It's then when we draw on God and our relationship with him. Going through the fire is never easy and yet we come out the other side stronger and ready for the final polish. I will forever be greatful to those people who believed in me and walked with me through those hard times in my life, they know who they are. 

Today I have been catching up with some emails and reading though some prophetic words. The following scriptures from Craig at Daily Prophetic.com served as a confirmation and reminder to me today. Isaiah 3:21 and Isaiah 43:19 have been unerlined in my Bible as being significant to me for a number of years, especially of late. Deuteronomy 1:6 however, is new calling for me. I've already said goodbye to the mountain but there is a finality to it. A line in the sand was drawn at the end of last year for me but it's now not only time to draw that line and trundle down the mountain if you haven't already done so. It's now time to advanced. 

What was weighing you down - know that 'it is finished' but you are not. (Thanks Craig.) It is time to advance. 

Things are hotting up in this country spiritually. It is time to decide who's side we are on. There is no time for complacency. It is a all hands on deck season. A time to get ready. I beleve revival is coming to this country but I also see war looming. I have seen this for some time, many have laughed at me for it but that's up to them. Whatever our destiny. Whatever God calls us to do. Whatever we choose to do is up to us. We can follow him or deny him. Work with him or stay asleep and cosy in our warm beds, but there will be an awakening for sure. I pray that you choose the right path. 

 

Deuteronomy 1: 6

The Lord our God said to us at Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Break camp and advance...

Isaiah 3-: 21

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’

Isaiah 43: 19

See, I am doing a new thing! 

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? 

I am making a way in the wilderness 

and streams in the wasteland.
​​

 

Lent 2015: things that make me laugh

I love to laugh but some days it's hard.  We all have days like that I'm sure. I guess that's what makes us human.  Tears and laughter sit side by side in this emotional roller coaster of life. Send in the clowns please. May the rain turn to sunshine. For all of you feeling sad may God send a rainbow, a promise of his favour. May we laugh together again soon.

In The Quietness Of The Night

In the quietness of the night 

I hear your voice 

An echo of the past

Or the whisper of the future?

A call through the ages

To stand tall 

To fight 

To hold the front line

To aim for the foe

Not relinquish the ground

That is hallowed and ploughed

Bring in the harvest

Bring in the wheat

Bring in the new life

Don’t except the defeat. 

Music and Soul

 Sometimes I go to write something and verse seems to just roll out of me. I love to sing and play a few chords on my guitar. Music without passion is just empty words. The same can be true for our worship, unless we into the song and think about the words then we are just making a noise before God and not really worshipping him at all. 

 

I wrote this whilst thinking of a favour musician, Alfie Boe who always sings with such passion and connects so well to the song. Of course whilst I was writing it I was also thinking about faith, that's just who I am. So what is teh story inside of you and who would God ask you to share it with?

  

Music is just music
Without a soul inside.
Every note a resonance 
In time and melody.

Sing it clear 
Sing it loud 
Sing your song 
All night long 

Words don’t mean anything
Without a story told
Every moment captured 
Or lost forever more. 

Passion is the answer
To capturing the heart
Stories without music 
Lie empty, joy unheard 

So what is your story?
The heart beat inside you
Sing out your symphony 
The joy and the pain 

(copyright Revdjo 1/9/25)