November 9 - Do you love the Lord?

Do you love the Lord, love the Lord?  Yes!  We love the Lord!
Do you love the Lord, love the Lord?  Yes!  We love the Lord!

My friends, Jen and Andrea brought that back from their trip to Africa where they spent time working with scores of kids in the Music for Life camps; singing, dancing and loving the Lord.  What an incredible sight to see ... young faces all around excited to share their love for the Lord!

When I was much younger, much less cynical and much less worried about the impression I was making on people, I covered everything that I owned with messages of how much I loved the Lord.  My notebooks, my bookcovers, my walls at home, pins on my jackets ... everything I owned told the world that I loved the Lord.  I wasn't afraid to live every moment of my life with that as my banner.

As I've grown older, I'm not quite as apt to cover my stuff with stickers or draw all over the things I have.  I don't put wild posters up on my walls.  I'm so much more sedate (no chuckling) and I take other people's feelings into consideration ... I don't want to hit their head against the wall every time they come into contact with me so that they KNOW I love the Lord.

Some days I wish I was more like my young high school self, so excited about loving the Lord that I put those words everywhere.  He loves to have us love Him out loud.

Do you love the Lord, love the Lord?  Yes!  We love the Lord!
Do you love the Lord, love the Lord?  Yes!  We love the Lord!

 October 29, 2009 - Psalm 116:1-19

Do you love the Lord? Do you say it often to Him? One of the things I could always count on with my Dad was that he told me he loved me. At the end of a phone call, before we parted, sometimes for no reason at all, when he was thinking about me. He said the words. We know how important it is to say those words to our family and friends, but do we know how important it is to the Lord! When we praise the Lord, we talk about worshipping Him and how He is worthy. But, do we every just say, "I love you, Lord" because we are thinking about Him?

He does do all these things that the Psalmist speaks of in the first couple of verses. He hears our voice and our cry for mercy. He turns his ear to us.

In Psalm 116:3, the Psalmist tells us that he was near death and this brought him to the point of calling on the Lord to be rescued. The Lord responded and the Psalmist says, "Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you." (Psalm 116:7)

We are so fortunate to be called children of God. Anxiety and worry tend to overwhelm us and we forget who - we forget whose we are. Be at rest, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.

In Psalm 116:12, he asks "How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me?" Now, that's a great question. There is no possible way to repay the Lord for the blessings He has given us, is there?

Obedience, a continued relationship with the Lord, a thank offering, praise in the presence of others. The Lord wants nothing more than for the whole earth to know Him and to be in relationship with Him. Our public praise of His glorious work in our lives - lives lived out in full obedience to Him will draw people into His presence more than any preaching ever will.

He wants us to love Him. Praise the Lord!