Your Lips Are Praising Me, but Why is Your Heart Way Over There?

"I'm double-majoring in piano performance, so I've got access to the good pianos," the lively freshman smiled as she unlocked the door to one of the practice rooms at WMU. I thanked her profusely and stepped inside, feeling like a starstruck fan meeting her favorite heartthrob.

Me and a Steinway all alone together? You've got to be kidding me, I thought as I set down my things and sat at the bench. I was spending two days as a substitute accompanist for voice students at Western Michigan University, and I decided to muster up the courage to ask one of the students to let me into a practice room, feeling like I was committing some sort of heinous crime.

Steinways cost upwards of $44,000, (those are the cheap ones,) and this beauty was no exception. It's very rare that I get to enjoy some quality time alone with one, and I suddenly wondered how to spend it.

I had everything in my bag- Mozart, Handel, Debussy, and even some of my favorite Broadway tunes. Setting it all aside, I decided to play the song that Jesus had given me one day months earlier to play to Him. At first I worried that the students in the surrounding rooms might hear me, but as the presence of God filled the room, I didn't care anymore. We were sharing a half hour of sheer bliss together, the deep, rich tones of the studio grand filling the tiny room.

The next day, I practiced with yet another student, this time in one of the smaller vocal rooms. I stayed after he left, thinking about how ironic it was that now I was sitting at an out-of-tune little upright, the sounds it made slightly resembling dying animals. But as I began to play to Jesus once more, I didn't even notice the sounds it made. And that was when I realized, the piano itself didn't matter at all. When it came to Jesus, an old giveaway didn't sound any better than a $44,000 grand. It was my heart that mattered to Him.

"The Lord says: 'These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.'" Isaiah 29:13

We have a picture in our heads of what worship is supposed to look like and sound like and be like, but is that picture really accurate when we compare it with what God has in mind? Since He doesn't look at the outward appearance, do you think that our nice instruments, our sleek hairstyle, our crisp clothes and our sparkly jewelry really bring glory to His name the way that a focused heart does? The more I think about it, the more I realize that He never intended for us to put on a show.

All He wants is our heart, no matter what it takes to get it into His hands.  

Lord of Harvest

COME, YE THANKFUL PEOPLE, COME
Come we thankful people, come,
Rise the song of harvest home;
All is safely gathered in,
Ere the winter storms begin;
God, our Maker, doth provide
For our wants to be supplied;
Come to God's own temple come,
Raise the song from harvest home.

All the world is God's own field,
Fruite unto his praise to yield;
Wheat tares together sown,
Unto joy or sorrow grown;
First the blade , and then the ear,
Then the full corn shall appear;
Lord of harvest, grant that we
Wholesome grain pure may be.

For the Lord our God shall come ,
And shall take his harvest home;
From his field shall in the that day
All offenses purge away,
Give his angels charge at last
In the fire the tares to cast,
But the fruitful ears to store
In his garner evermore.

Even so, Lord, quickly come
To thy final harvest home;
Gather thou thy people in,
free from sorrow, free from sin;
There forever purified,
In thy presence to abide;
Come with all thine angels come,
Raise thy glorious harvest home, Amen.
-Henry Alford

Photography and Trees have Some Things in Common

While I do love taking pictures, I don't know much about photography. Okay, I know next to nothing. Basically, I know how to push the buttons, I know that changing the settings from "snow" to "party" hardly make any difference, how to load photos and change the focus. It's a pleasure to look at things in a different way, and try to capture them. But when it all boils down, I'm the point and shoot type!

One thing I do know, however, is that light is a key component to any photograph. Light, my friends, is the answer to your photography woes. (You do have them, of course?) It is light that makes us stop and look at a photo. It is light that makes it clear and interesting. It is light, that will make a photograph stand out from all your other dark pictures.

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about light. Horatius Bonar, a Scottish minister, said this of light:

"Let us shine. Stars indeed, not suns; but still stars, not candles or meteors. Let us shine! Giving perhaps a slender light, but that light certain and pure; enough to say to men, 'It is night', lest they mistake. Out light should be enough to guide the seeking or the erring in the true direction, though it is not enough to illuminate the world. The sun alone can do that. It is the sun that shows us the landscape, the stars show but themselves. Let us show ourselves beyond mistake. The day when all things shall be seen in full warm light is the day of the great sun-rising."

A few weeks ago I was going on a walk, and I was pondering the fact that Christians are a lot like trees. Really! Think of the deep roots we are to have, the fruit we are to bear, and our arms that are to be raised to our King. And as I thought about this, I happened to look up at a strip of trees, and behind them was a gorgeous, breath-taking sunset.

Had the leaves still been on the trees, you would have only been able to see a little glimmer of that beautiful sunset. But no, the leaves were gone. And behind them was a glorious sunset.

Friends in Christ, it is vital the our roots be deep, our faith strong, our arms raised to Jesus, and that we are bearing the fruit of Christ. But what is most important, above all else, is that Christ is simply radiating through us in a mighty way.

You see, photography and we "Christian trees" have some things in common--it's all about light!

"Sunday" Selections from Our Bookshelf

While having a devotional is certainly not a vital part of our walk with Christ, if I were to recommend one to read, I would definitely point you to this one: They Walked with God by Moody Publishers.

This book, with an excerpt for every day of the year, is filled with truth, written by mighty Christians in our past. D.L. Moody, F.B. Meyer, R.A. Torrey, and Andrew Murray are a few of the writers.

They Walked with God has been a Christ-appointed find in many ways. I found it in a pile of free books at my church--hidden by out-of-date, dog-eared, paperbacks--once popular in the 70's.

Not only was this book found in an unlikely place, it seems to know just what I am thinking. Time after time, something will be on my mind, and God will give me the perfect message from this book that goes exactly with what I was thinking about! Besides the Bible, reading about the Christians of our past is a great source of insight and strength.

Morning Dates with the King of Kings

(Just a side note: I'm penning this post for my own sake just as much as anyone else's- I desparately need the advice myself!)

When I first fell in love with Jesus, I knew that spending time with Him was more important than just about anything else. Being a homeschooled sophomore in high school, I had a steady, easy schedule, yet it felt like a chore to wake up a little earlier in the morning just for some intimate time alone with my Savior. I stuck with it, though, and soon it was an unbreakable habit- or so I thought.

My schedule has been anything but regular of late- to bed at 2 AM, up at 7 AM, to bed at 12 AM, up at 8 AM, to bed at 3 AM up at 9 AM- and it's been anything but simple. Some weeks I have ten piano students, take three children home from school three times, play at two assisted living facilities, volunteer at church and lead a Bible study with Lindsey- it's wonderful, but it's not exactly easy. And, all too often, I begin to lean upon myself instead of the grace of God.

We all know what happens when we try to lean upon ourselves: we come crashing down in a heap.

The first thing that I've compromised with this new, confusing lifestyle is my alone time with Jesus. Some mornings I press the snooze button one too many times and lose my Bible-reading time. Others I accidentally sleep in and don't start off the day with any intimacy with Him at all. It's on those days that I begin to lose my focus altogether. When a day doesn't start with focus on Jesus, it's hard to gain back that focus later on.

I've heard it explained this way: you wouldn't miss a date. You wouldn't sleep in and miss that special time with a special someone. How much more does the precious Prince of our souls deserve our devotion? If we begin to think of our mornings as His and not our own, perhaps the our entire days will become His, too. He certainly does beautiful things when we hand Him our every rag.

Thursday's Thoughts from Heroes of the Faith

"Safe in the arms of Jesus, safe on His gentle breast;
There by His love o'ershaded, sweetly my soul shall rest." -Blind Hymnist Fanny Crosby

Oh, to Be Used for His Glory...

She walked up to me, so much stronger and brighter than everyone else in the room. Demensia had set in at a younger age, causing her life to be cut so much shorter than it ever should have been.

"I have to tell you," she said, holding my arms with her warm hands, "my grandfather's name was Daniel, and Danny Boy was his very favorite song. Every time I hear it I just cry and cry, but it really starts a healing process for me. Thank you for singing it today."

I didn't mention to Janet that she told me the same thing last month.

Last month, however, I had been completely oblivious to her story and how much she loved Danny Boy. I was just sitting at the piano bench when Jesus whispered, "Play that one." It went against my plan, but I did it anyway. And when she came up to me and revealed how much the song meant to her, I silently praised God for using little old me and an ancient Irish melody to bring healing to one of His precious children.

This month I had remembered Janet, and had grabbed my celtic songbook before rushing out of the door. I had been sick with a cold and could barely squeak out the high notes, but it didn't matter to her. All she needed was to hear that song, and all I needed to do was let Him use me to bless her.

It doesn't take anything more than surrender to His perfect guidance.

Let us strive to be used!

"...Because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace." Luke 1:78-79

Saturday's Selections from Our Bookshelf: No Compromise

"You've got to read this book!" my mom encouraged me. "It's really life-changing." I shrugged, silently arguing that I'd read a lot of "life-changing" books, and my life was still the same every time. I always closed the book with a happy sigh, thinking, "That's just great! What a nice story. I'd like to live that way." Somehow, nothing ever changes.

Keith Green's story is different from everyone elses. He was only a Christian for a couple of years before he and two of his precious children were killed in an airplane crash on his own property. But in that span of time, lasting less than a decade, he impacted millions and millions of people for Christ. Not only were they affected, but their lives were drastically changed.

What made Keith different from every other Christian is that he lived radically for Christ. Before he was a Christian, he lived radically for drugs and everything that every other hippie loved, so he thought that it was only natural to transfer that passion from idiotic practices to living for the King of kings. And what a transfer! In one situation, he and a van full of his Christian friends picked up two unmarried hitchhikers, prayed for their healing, got them married and converted all in one day!

After Keith became famous because of his gift for music, he didn't let any of it go to his head. Instead, he gave every tiny ounce of glory to his Creator, thus leading everyone, from his die hard fans to those who saw him on the street, to the light that He displayed so brightly.

Keith's wife Melody write his biography, No Compromise, just years after his death. However, his story continued to have such an impact on people all over the world that she wrote a revised and expanded edition fifteen years later, and this is what found its way into my hands as I sat in bed and read until 2:30 AM the other night, tears streaming down my face.

If we only realized how incredible our Lord Jesus is, we might begin to live for Him the way Keith Green did.

Thursday's Thoughts from Heroes of the Faith

"Blessed are the single-hearted, for they shall enjoy much peace. If you refuse to be hurried and pressed, if you stay your soul on God, nothing can keep you from that clearness of spirit which is life and peace. In that stillness you will know what His will is." -Amy Carmichael

Contentment

Lately, Jesus has been asking me to be content. Not so much in material things (although we should be content with what we have, too), but being content in situations of life right now.

Unfortunately, I can't say that I've earned an "A+" on this assignment. It seems I've caught myself complaining a few too many times. I regret that.

But when I take a walk in the vineyards, when I watch the golden sun rise each morning, when I sit a in a quiet corner and knit, when I am filled with His precious presence, I realize how content I am, just to be peaceful.

Everyone around us seems to have the urge to just keep moving, moving, and never stop to rest in our Lord's arms. I am not sure why this is. When I am alone with Jesus and a cup of tea, when I am playing games with my family on the living room floor, when I am with a friend, when I am worshipping His name, it is then that I am content.

I urge you to "steal away" with your King. To find contentment with Him. Find a quiet corner. Explore His creation, look at the world through His eyes.

Let's learn the sercrets of contentment!

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. Philippians 4:11

Shoeboxes: A Story of Answered Prayer

      Lindsey and I aren't strangers to asking God for big things- and we're not strangers to being amazed by how He answers us, either. Still, occasionally, we take the wrong turn and start asking Him things because we want to have impressive testimonies. And this is what happened to me during our Operation Christmas Child project.
      We felt His call earlier this year to pray for 100 shoeboxes to send off for the Operation Christmas Child program that goes through Samaritan's Purse. Each box is filled with supplies- toys, hygiene items, candy and school supplies- for children in need all around the world who don't know of the love of Christ. Last year we prayed for 45 boxes and He supplied us with 46- how's that for beyond what we could ask or think?
      Still, there's a big difference between 45 and 100 boxes, namely the amount of supplies that we needed and the shipping money for all of them, which totalled $700, but also the boxes themselves and wrapping paper. We were starting from scratch, and the task was enormously daunting- but not for Him.
      There are 101 shoeboxes sitting in my dining room right now.
      Not until we had counted and recounted and recounted did we actually believe it, but He did the exact same thing that He did for us last year, just on a bigger scale.

"...Ye have not, because ye ask not." James 4:2 

Thursday's Thoughts From Heroes of the Faith

Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God's wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.-Jeremiah Burroughs

A Date with Jesus

      "Did you know that every few seconds I do something just for you?" He whispered in my ear.

      "That's silly. Of course You don't! I would praise You for all of those things, and I'm definitely not praising You every couple of seconds," I muttered back.

      "Are you sure about that?" He smiled.

      Suddenly, my eyes were opened. I watched as a stream flowed by, it's glassy waters reflecting the blue sky overhead. A little squirrel scurried across the landscape as leaves fell one by one. The sound of the river flowing under a bridge was enough to lull a baby to sleep, and even the school marching band across the street made me tap my toes.

      First, the Savior of the world had invited me on a date. Then He sat me down on a park bench on a little island and whispered treasures of wisdom in my ear.

      Now this. All I could do was sit there in awe of Him.

     "Thank You, Jesus," I whispered back.