It's Not What You Say, It's How You Say It

You've heard those words before, haven't you? Someone takes offense at something you said, and you get that deer in headlights look, and say, "WHAT?" You hear, "It's not so much what you said, as how you said it. Oops!

Or...have you ever had an email argument? Oh, boy! Things just don't come out the way you mean on the inbox page, do they?  Lacking voice inflections and facial expressions can sure leave a whole lot to the imagination of your reader. 

I might be stretching this, but I believe the same thing happened to me in Scripture today. Right in the middle of a familiar verse, the Holy Spirit drew my attention to an old note on the opposite page, and gave me a whole new perspective, not only on the verse, but on my very own life.

If you've been around the Bible Block for very long, I'm sure you know this Script too.

"Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun."

(Psalm 37: 5-6) 

My eyes glanced over to the opposite page and I don't know when I wrote this, but I was reminded, in my own handwriting, of the literal translation of this verse. Watch this.

"Roll your way onto Jehovah and trust upon Him, and He works."

If you're a thees and thou's fan,  it reads like this:

                     "Roll on Jehovah thy way, And trust upon Him, and He worketh." 

                                                      (Young's Literal Translation)

Read one of those verses out loud. I'll wait.

Got it? Cast your care. Roll your way. Rollin' rollin' rollin'.... Trust Him. He works, right?

Now. Change your voice inflection to this:

"Roll YOUR way onto Jehovah and trust upon Him, and HE works."

I wish I could show you this in person, but I'm trusting you'll get it by the big, bold, caps. 

"Roll YOUR way onto Jehovah and trust upon Him, and HE works."

Oh, man, that changes the whole thing, doesn't it? 

Roll YOUR way onto Him.

Roll your way of thinking.

Roll your plans.

Roll your words.

Roll your scheming.

Roll the way you think it should be accomplished.

Roll your timetable.

Roll your agenda.

Roll your worry.

Roll your care.

Roll your fretting.

Roll your hair. (sorry, couldn't resist)

He works.

His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.

He has good plans for you.

His word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.

His ways are not our ways.

With Him a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

He commands us not to worry.

He tells us to cast our care.

He says that we should never fret.

He knows how many hairs...

The living Holy Spirit of Christ made it so much not about what He had to say this morning, but exactly about HOW He said it to me. It was just too blasted good not to share with you!!

Whew! I feel freer already!! How about you?

  

When Worship Hurts

It was a particularly long worship song. My favorite worship song actually. With my arms lifted high in the air, my kitchen sink became an altar.

My arms began to ache. You know, right in those deltoids and biceps. I was tempted to put them down, but I needed to press through the pain, and worship.

Sometimes worship hurts.

Sometimes the absolute last thing we want to do is worship. Yes, this morning I lifted my arms in praise. Just in case you think that I wake up every morning with a song in my heart, I can assure you that many mornings, a predisposal to worship is the last thing on my mind. Like this morning.

Satan has a way of lurking in the corner of the bedroom, crouching, ready to pounce the minute the eyelids open. What happened yesterday, or last week, or what came in the mail, or what didn't, the report, the pain, the offense, is the first thing that pops into the mind awake. That's when

Worship becomes a choice.

Worship becomes a battlefield.  

"As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning." (Exodus 17: 11) God inhabits the praises of His people, (Psalm 22:3) so His presence is in the praise. If He is in the praise, "enemies turn back; they stumble and perish before [Him]. (Psalm 9:3) He has ordained praise "to silence the foe and the avenger" (Psalm 8:2) Praise is a weapon.


It commands the foe to shut. his. mouth.   

Like muscles flexed in exercise, pain always precedes the desired results. As it is in the natural, so it is in the supernatural. Sometimes worship hurts. The arms lifted. The heart aching. The tears streaming.  The I don't feel like it. 

Worship anyway. 

Because when worship hurts, even a sink full of soapy water can become an altar.