from the heart

Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Psalm 96:1

Music is something that has been a part of every society for all of history of mankind on this planet. Songs have been made and sung for thousands of years and continue to this day. There are songs that are about nearly every topic imaginable to a person. Thousands of different radio stations, and now online, play songs for people to sing along with. They capture the heart of people and say what people are thinking in new and different ways.

The psalmist encourages all the people of the earth to sing to the Lord a new song.

The world knows how to sing what is on their heart and mind and without shame or fear. Often the songs that are sung are about their heart’s feelings or desires, whether good or bad, right or wrong. Many of them are about sinful desires being played out in one’s life.

People love to sing along with songs that someone else wrote, because most people do not feel that they can personally sing, nor come up with their own words. However, a song is just words of the heart put to music or sung without music. All a person needs to do is sing what is on one’s heart.

Believers need to sing to God a new song. This new song is one of which is on their heart, based upon what God has done and is doing in their lives. Everyday God is doing something new in the life of the believer. This gives the believer a new song to sing about to God, giving Him praise for who He is and what He has done. It can show the joy and gratefulness in the heart of the believer.

You probably have a genre of music that you like to listen to and many of those songs you can sing along with, knowing all the words. They express what you feel. Even though you may not be a singer, nor a song writer, you do have a song you can sing to God. Take a moment to think about what God has done and is doing in your life and around you. Sing about those things. Give God praise through songs from your heart, bringing Him joy and honor.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will sing to God what is in your heart; that you will not be ashamed to sing before God a new song; and that the world will hear your song to and about God.

Picture by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash

Lady with thumbs up

You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed–God is our witness. 1 Thessalonians 2:5

The world likes to use flattery or masks when they are speaking to someone else. It is commonly seen in the workplace that a worker talks very highly of his boss in the boss’s presence, but cuts him down in private talks. In the presence of the boss it appears as though he loves his boss, but in reality does not like him at all.

Children are known for using flattery with their parents to get something that they want. A child will come up to this father or mother telling them how much he loves them (when normally he never says that he loves them) and offers to do some extra chore. A wise parent will realize that the child is desiring something of them. The child put on a mask of feigned love and used flattery to attempt to get something.

Believers in the church will often use the same type of speaking with God and others. Churches speak only good sounding messages, rather than the whole truth of God. They speak only what the people want to hear. People claim to love God, yet refuse to give up sin or do what He asks of them. They worship God, just to get something from Him, not out of true love.

Flattery is used for selfish reasons to get what one wants from someone else. Paul stated that they did not use any of that when speaking to the people. Believers are supposed to speak true from the heart, not from the surface. They are not to act like they care or don’t need anything, when they don’t care and want something from the other person.

The words of a person are powerful, so they must come from the heart. They should not be used for selfish gain, but to build others up and draw them closer to God.

Take a look at how you speak to others. What is the purpose of your words when talking to someone or to God? Are they only for selfish gain or to build God’s kingdom?

Strive to speak like Jesus did. He never used any flattery or put on a mask feigning love when He spoke to the people. His words were true from the heart. Are yours?

I pray today that God will reveal your heart’s motives; that God will give you the words to speak; that your words will be like the words of God; and that God will reveal any greed in your heart to remove it.