Time for a new song

Psalm 149-150
It's time to PRAISE the Lord. Sing a new song to the Lord. Does that mean to stop singing old songs...I think not. We still want to remember what the Lord has done in the past, but we also want to praise Him for today. If I'm stuck in the past, how can I expect to experience the present or prepare for the future?

God calls me to Praise Him with freshness. Be glad, rejoice...these are not words of staleness or of the past...but of right now.

God calls me to Praise Him actively. Dancing. Lots of active instruments (not sleepy music) - tambourine, trumpet, harp, strings, pipes, loud cymbals, resounding cymbals...make praise a joyful, uplifting experience. This is whole being praise...mind, body, and spirit!

God calls me to Praise Him wherever I am (sanctuary or His great expanse), for all His great deeds, and according to His greatness. This is a tall order. Not sure I'm up to the task...but it will be great to do the best I can!

Delete, delete, delete, delete, delete

It's amazing how the simple act of hitting the delete button can erase a file. But is it really gone. For the purposes it was created, yes. But what about those that say they can 'get it back'. Well, yes, in many cases they can. If a file was created and shared with others, say via the internet, then copies can be found and brought back. If a file was not shared, but still simply deleted but not replaced, then it can be 'recovered.' If the file was deleted and the location where the file was stored is 'overwritten' or replaced with other information, then the only way it can be brought back is what was 'public' or shared with others.

The question then becomes why was it recovered? If the deletion was accidental, then the creator is usually the one initiating the recovery of the file. To return it for the purposes it was originally created. If it was intentional, then the recovery was probably initiated by someone other than the creator...for other purposes. Maybe for the purposes of persecution/prosecution, humiliation, manipulation, etc.

Today, I was thinking how God's forgiveness is kind of like the delete button. Once He hits the delete button on our sins, they are gone. He no longer remembers them. But that doesn't mean the memory (copies) of our sins are gone from ourselves and others. Kind of like copies of a file shared on the internet there is evidence of it still out there. Also, like the file we delete but do not replace with new information, if we are forgiven our sins but do not turn from them, they return (often stronger and more difficult to turn from).

When we seek forgiveness and turn from our sins, that doesn't mean life is going to be wonderful and we never have to deal with those sins again. It means that our creator has deleted those sins and they are no longer held against us by Him. It no longer serves its original purpose to lead us to death.

But what about me? Have I replaced the sin with God's Word, with activities that are pleasing to Him, that honor and exalt Him? Or have I left it untended and ripe to return? Was my sin something that affected others, that they saw and may attempt to return to me to use it against me?

I have to learn that when God forgives a sin, it's deleted. Now I have to put forth effort to replace that sin with Godly activities. I must quit bringing it back myself...either to renew the sin or to use against myself (failure to accept God's forgiveness). I must realize that there may be consequences of my sin that I have to walk through...but I don't have to accept the condemnation or manipulation of other when they try to bring it back up. Most importantly, I don't have to fall back into the old habit of the sin...it has been deleted. Let it go!

“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.

Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.” (Matthew 12: 43-45)

Prone to wander, Lord I feel it...Prone to leave the one I love.

Deut 32-34

Father, as I read about how Your people turned from You...after You had done so much for them. After You guided them, delivered them, protected them, etc...I realize how easy it is for me too. Lord, the generation that turned their backs on you at Mt Sinai was not a later generation, one that had no personal experience of your greatness. You prepared them to trust You by the miracles You showed them in Egypt. Then as they fled Pharaoh you reiterated Your promises and power to them by fire and smoke, by separating the waters. Yet it was that very generation, the very ones who had experienced You that turned to other gods...ones of their own design, that they created. Not even ones that others lured them away to. All because You were quiet for a season. A season when they were safe and cared for.

I am no better than these, Your chosen children. As the song says, “I’m prone to wander. Prone to leave the God I love.” In my own strength and power, I am nothing...I will leave what I know, who I know loves me, where I know I should be. Lord, I need You to take me and seal me to You. Keep me Lord next to You. Thank You that You have given us the Holy Spirit. That I am not limited by the same frailties of the children of Israel...because I have You in me, with me, protecting me, keeping me. Thank You for keeping me. It is only by Your grace and mercy that I am saved and still seeking to follow You.

You are greater than me. I need not worry. But I do need to respect that it is You and not me. I need to let the Holy Spirit work in me...then He can work through me.

"Here's my heart Lord, take and seal it. Seal it for thy courts above."