OUR HEARTS OF PRAISE GET GOD’S ATTENTION!

Posted on April 9, 2021 by randscallawayffm

How beautiful it is to sing with others in harmony along with gifted musicians in praise to the God of all!  The more we sing praises, the more we want to sing!  When our motivations to praise God come from grateful hearts with minds focused on God in worship, God turns His head to listen!  Imagine it!  We have the attention of our God Most High, The One and Only God when we praise from a pure heart!  Hallelujah, indeed!

As the Psalmist sings, “It’s a good thing to sing praise to our God; praise is beautiful, praise is fitting.”  But friends, it is so much more than a song.  What happens when the music fades in worship?  I think of a powerful song for the soul written by Matt Redman, “The Heart of Worship” which is playing in the background of my mind as I read this psalm of praise and thanksgiving.  We also praise God with our very lives while we hum His tunes of Truth and behave in His Ways daily.  This is heart of worship.  Praises are not for us, never for the created, but for the Creator!  It is for you, dear Jesus, who made it possible to come to God with our praise!  Now, let us sing and live a new song!

When the music fades
All is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring
Something that’s of worth
That will bless Your heart
I’ll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You’re looking into my heart

I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about You,
It’s all about You, Jesus
I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it
When it’s all about You,
It’s all about You, Jesus

King of endless worth
No one could express
How much You deserve
Though I’m weak and poor
All I have is Yours
Every single breath
I’ll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself


Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear                                                                                   You’re looking into my heart

I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about You,
It’s all about You, Jesus
I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it
And it’s all about You,
It’s all about You, Jesus

I’m coming back to the heart of worship,
And it’s all about You,
It’s all about You, Jesus
I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it
And it’s all about You,
It’s all about You, Jesus

The Back Story of this psalm…

When Nehemiah and his people finished rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, restoring the gates, and resettling the people, they called a great assembly for celebration and dedication, and it is likely that this psalm was written for that occasion (vv. 2, 12-14; Neh. 12:27-43). The verb “gather together” in verse 2 is used in Ezekiel 39:28 for the return of the captives to Judah, and the word outcasts in verse 2 is used for these exiles (Neh. 1:9). One of the unique characteristics of this psalm is the large number of present participles in it–“building, healing, binding, counting, lifting up,” and so on–all of which speak of the constant and dynamic working of the Lord for His people. The psalm presents three reasons why the people should praise the Lord;

–Praise God for Our Rebirth and Restoration!

–Praise God for Renewal and Refreshment of the Land!

–Praise God for He does what He says He will do!

Now, let’s praise God with all that is in us!

Worship and Wisdom, Psalms and Proverbs

Psalm 147, The Message

Hallelujah!
It’s a good thing to sing praise to our God;
    praise is beautiful, praise is fitting.

2-6 God’s the one who rebuilds Jerusalem,
    who regathers Israel’s scattered exiles.
He heals the heartbroken
    and bandages their wounds.
He counts the stars
    and assigns each a name.
Our Lord is great, with limitless strength;
    we’ll never comprehend what he knows and does.
God puts the fallen on their feet again
    and pushes the wicked into the ditch.

7-11 Sing to God a thanksgiving hymn,
    play music on your instruments to God,
Who fills the sky with clouds,
    preparing rain for the earth,
Then turning the mountains green with grass,
    feeding both cattle and crows.
He’s not impressed with horsepower;
    the size of our muscles means little to him.
Those who fear God get God’s attention;
    they can depend on his strength.

12-18 Jerusalem, worship God!
    Zion, praise your God!
He made your city secure,
    he blessed your children among you.
He keeps the peace at your borders,
    he puts the best bread on your tables.
He launches his promises earthward—
    how swift and sure they come!
He spreads snow like a white fleece,
    he scatters frost like ashes,
He broadcasts hail like birdseed—
    who can survive his winter?
Then he gives the command and it all melts;
    he breathes on winter—suddenly it’s spring!

19-20 He speaks the same way to Jacob,
    speaks words that work to Israel.
He never did this to the other nations;
    they never heard such commands.
Hallelujah!

TRUTH: “Those who fear God get God’s attention; they can depend on his strength.”

Proverb 2:8, The Message

WISDOM: “He keeps his eye on all who live honestly, and pays special attention to his loyally committed ones.”

Abba, Father in Heaven,

Great are you, Lord!  I will sing a song to you with thanksgiving in my heart for all you have done, are doing and will do in my life.  Continue to guide, correct my course, lead and counsel me with your Holy Spirit.  I am yours.  I am listening while singing praise to you with my very life.

In Jesus Name, Amen.  I believe.

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OH, MY SOUL!

Posted on April 8, 2021 by randscallawayffm

Playing in the background of my mind while I read Psalm 146, a “song” of pure praise by a soul who loves God with all that is in him, is a hymn written in 1873 called “It is Well With My Soul”.  I ask myself, no matter what is happening around us, do we really believe that what we believe about God is really real?  IS it well with our soul? 

THE BACK STORY…Horatio Spafford, composer of It is Well with My Soul

This hymn was written after traumatic events in Spafford’s life. The first two were the death of his four-year-old son and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which ruined him financially (he had been a successful lawyer and had invested significantly in property in the area of Chicago that was extensively damaged by the great fire). 

His business interests were further hit by the economic downturn of 1873, at which time he had planned to travel to England with his family on the SS Ville du Havre, to help with D. L. Moody’s upcoming evangelistic campaigns. In a late change of plan, he sent the family ahead while he was delayed on business concerning zoning problems following the Great Chicago Fire.

While crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the ship sank rapidly after a collision with a sea vessel, the Loch Earn, and all four of Spafford’s daughters died. His wife Anna survived and sent him the now famous telegram, “Saved alone …”. Shortly afterwards, as Spafford traveled to meet his grieving wife, he was inspired to write these words as his ship passed near where his daughters had died. Bliss called his tune Ville du Havre, from the name of the stricken vessel.

Here are the ORIGINAL lyrics…

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to know
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain
It is well, (it is well),
With my soul, (with my soul)
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

But Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
A song in the night, oh my soul!

To Spafford, no matter what happened in his life, God was in charge.  And because he believed God is Sovereign and in charge, like the Psalmist sings, it is well with his soul.

Worship and Wisdom, Psalms and Proverbs

Psalm 146, The Message

1-2 Hallelujah!
    O my soul, praise God!
All my life long I’ll praise God,
    singing songs to my God as long as I live.

3-9 Don’t put your life in the hands of experts
    who know nothing of life, of salvation life.
Mere humans don’t have what it takes;
    when they die, their projects die with them.
Instead, get help from the God of Jacob,
    put your hope in God and know real blessing!
God made sky and soil,
    sea and all the fish in it.
He always does what he says—
    he defends the wronged,
    he feeds the hungry.
God frees prisoners—
    he gives sight to the blind,
    he lifts up the fallen.
God loves good people, protects strangers,
    takes the side of orphans and widows,
    but makes short work of the wicked.

10 God’s in charge—always.
    Zion’s God is God for good!
    Hallelujah!

TRUTH:  The God of Zion is our God!  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16. 

Believe in Jesus, repent of sin and be saved by grace by a God who loved you first!

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” –Jesus

NOW, because we really believe, raise a hallelujah to the One and Only who loves us most, provides for us best, protects us from evil and delivers us from thinking what about what is not true.  Stick to Truth.

Proverb 3:1-6, The Message

1-2 Good friend, don’t forget all I’ve taught you;
    take to heart my commands.
They’ll help you live a long, long time,
    a long life lived full and well.

3-4 Don’t lose your grip on Love and Loyalty.
    Tie them around your neck; carve their initials on your heart.
Earn a reputation for living well
    in God’s eyes and the eyes of the people.

5-12 Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
    don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
    he’s the one who will keep you on track.

WISDOM:  Trust God

Abba, Father in Heaven,

Because of you all is well with my soul.  You saved me, restored my hope in you, picked me up when I was down and set me on level ground.  You allow me to hear your voice and give me strength and wisdom to obey.  When I’m distracted by the world, you pull back into your arms, set me right and then send me out again to tell the world of your love, mercy and saving grace.  You are God!  Through Jesus, Your Son, we are allowed to come right up to you with our love, petitions, wonderings, and praise.  Oh Lord, because of you I am whole and complete.  I trust all of me to all of You.

In Jesus Name, Amen

“Hallelujah!  O my soul, praise God!
All my life long I’ll praise God, singing songs to my God as long as I live.”

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GOD IS…

Posted on April 7, 2021 by randscallawayffm

If you ever forget who God is or what the character of God is like, then read this Psalm.  Seriously, post it where it can readily be seen so on the bad or confused days, days when you feel unloved, your mind will be immediately changed.  Your heart and soul will be filled with praise for our God who is everything to us and for us.  I am lifted in my thinking each time I read each line of this “song” of praise to God Almighty!

DID YOU KNOW…This is the only psalm called “A psalm of praise.” David mentions several attributes of God, among them His greatness (v. 3), His grace, goodness, and compassion (vv. 8-9), His glory and might (v. 11), His righteousness and kindness (v. 17), and His providential care (v. 20).

Who could not praise a God with these wonderful characteristics? But along with telling us why we should praise the Lord, David tells us when we should praise Him.  ALL THE TIME!!

Worship and Wisdom, Psalms and Proverbs

Psalm 145, The Message


I lift you high in praise, my God, O my King!
    and I’ll bless your name into eternity.

2 I’ll bless you every day,
    and keep it up from now to eternity.

3 God is magnificent; he can never be praised enough.
    There are no boundaries to his greatness.

4 Generation after generation stands in awe of your work;
    each one tells stories of your mighty acts.

5 Your beauty and splendor have everyone talking;
    I compose songs on your wonders.

6 Your marvelous doings are headline news;
    I could write a book full of the details of your greatness.

7 The fame of your goodness spreads across the country;
    your righteousness is on everyone’s lips.

8 God is all mercy and grace—
    not quick to anger, is rich in love.

9 God is good to one and all;
    everything he does is soaked through with grace.

10-11 Creation and creatures applaud you, God;
    your holy people bless you.

They talk about the glories of your rule,
    they exclaim over your splendor,

12 Letting the world know of your power for good,
    the lavish splendor of your kingdom.

13 Your kingdom is a kingdom eternal;
    you never get voted out of office.

God always does what he says,
    and is gracious in everything he does.

14 God gives a hand to those down on their luck,
    gives a fresh start to those ready to quit.

15 All eyes are on you, expectant;
    you give them their meals on time.

16 Generous to a fault,
    you lavish your favor on all creatures.

17 Everything God does is right—
    the trademark on all his works is love.

18 God’s there, listening for all who pray,
    for all who pray and mean it.

19 He does what’s best for those who fear him—
    hears them call out, and saves them.

20 God sticks by all who love him,
    but it’s all over for those who don’t.

21 My mouth is filled with God’s praise.
    Let everything living bless him,
    bless his holy name from now to eternity!

TRUTH: “Everything God does is right—the trademark on all his works is love.”  God is everything to all who believe and praise His Name.  Trust in God and He will never fail us.

Proverb 3:5-6, The Message

WISDOM: “Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own.  Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.”

Abba, Father in Heaven,

Hallowed be Your Name. Great are You, Lord.  You are the air I breathe, the wisdom for each step I take, the voice that leads me to all that is good.  You are the Counselor when I am confused by life.  You are Comforter when I am sad over loss.  You are the Healer when I am brokenhearted or sick in all kinds of ways.  You are the One and Only I run to when I am afraid and fearful of the unknown.  You are the One who loves me best and who teaches me how to love.  May Your Kingdom come and reign in me and your glory be seen all around me.  May Your Will be done in and through me, in all the details of my life on earth, as it is in heaven.  Give us this day your Word for today so that we will follow you expectantly.  Forgive us our sins as we forgive each other.  Lead us not into temptations but DELIVER us from the Enemy and his schemes to bring us down and distract us from your purpose.  Nothing is too hard for you—absolutely nothing.  So, to YOU be ALL glory, honor and praise today and forevermore.

In Jesus Name, Amen.  I believe. 

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SOMETIMES I WONDER…

Posted on April 6, 2021 by randscallawayffm

Like the Psalmist, I sometimes ask God, “Why DO you care for us so much?”  So many people are wandering around without you and don’t’ even care to know you but you know them by name and long for a relationship with all you have created.  Why do you care so much?

When we lead ourselves into trouble because we missed your cue to turn the other way, you care enough to bring us back to safety.  You come to our rescue!  Why do you care so much?

When the enemy challenges us in life with surprise attacks, it doesn’t surprise you.  You are there to fight that battle when we call on your name.  You not only fight the battle for us and win the war, you win and welcome us back as prodigals, turning the ugliness of the battle into something beautiful in our growing, more Godly character for going through it!  Yes, why do you care so much for us? 

It’s your love, your relentless, unchanging, unconditional love, isn’t it?

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16, NIV

There is no one in this world that you do not love!  When people malign your character, don’t trust your wisdom and turn away from you altogether, you still care about them.  Your love is truly amazing!

Worship and Wisdom, Psalms and Proverbs

Psalm 144, The Message


1-2 Blessed be God, my mountain,
    who trains me to fight fair and well.
He’s the bedrock on which I stand,
    the castle in which I live,
    my rescuing knight,
The high crag where I run for dear life,
    while he lays my enemies low.

3-4 I wonder why you care, God—
    why do you bother with us at all?
All we are is a puff of air;
    we’re like shadows in a campfire.

5-8 Step down out of heaven, God;
    ignite volcanoes in the hearts of the mountains.
Hurl your lightnings in every direction;
    shoot your arrows this way and that.
Reach all the way from sky to sea:
    pull me out of the ocean of hate,
    out of the grip of those barbarians
Who lie through their teeth,
    who shake your hand
    then knife you in the back.

9-10 O God, let me sing a new song to you,
    let me play it on a twelve-string guitar—
A song to the God who saved the king,
    the God who rescued David, his servant.

11 Rescue me from the enemy sword,
    release me from the grip of those barbarians
Who lie through their teeth,
    who shake your hand
    then knife you in the back.

12-14 Make our sons in their prime
    like sturdy oak trees,
Our daughters as shapely and bright
    as fields of wildflowers.
Fill our barns with great harvest,
    fill our fields with huge flocks;
Protect us from invasion and exile—
    eliminate the crime in our streets.

15 How blessed the people who have all this!
How blessed the people who have God for God!

TRUTH:  We are blessed when we believe in God as really real and live for God in intimate relationship with God.  We are blessed when we allow God to grow His character in us.  We are blessed when we worship God alone, depend on Him for help in trouble and trust God in good times and bad.  HE is God and we are not.  There is NO ONE like our God!

Proverb 18:10, The Message

WISDOM: “God’s name is a place of protection—good people can run there and be safe.”

Abba, Father in Heaven,

Thank you for your love, care, protection, provision but most of all for saving my soul for eternity.  I believe You and what you say.  I run to You first for I have learned that you already know what I need at the time I need it most.  You protect me daily from things I never knew was happening until it was over and I was safe.  You provide before I know that provision with match a need.  You guide us along the path when all our focus is on you.  Yes, you care and I wonder no more.  You know me by name, know me from the inside out because you created me.  Thank you for loving me and all others the way you do.  You are amazing!  Your love and care are amazing.  Continue to guide, lead, correct, forgive me as I walk with you.  All of me is yours, Lord.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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HEAR ME, ANSWER ME

Posted on April 5, 2021 by randscallawayffm

Playing the background of my favorite Psalm is “I Am a Servant”, sung by Nancy Honeytree back in the 80’s.  This song caught me and spoke to me in a crossroads moment of my life.  No matter where you are, what you are doing as a vocation in life, no matter who you are or where you’ve been, if we love God with all our hearts, minds and souls, we are servants of Him. 

We want to serve because He loved and served us.  He sent His Son, Jesus to teach us how to serve and not be served, how to not demand first place at the table of life, how to love God first then love others like He loved us, laying down His life for ours.  Yes, we are loving servants of the Almighty God who Protects, Provides, Rescues, Delivers us from evil, and Saves us as His own for eternity.  God hears us and answers us with His best work in us.

I am a servant, I am listening for my name
I sit here waiting, I’ve been looking at the game
That I’ve been playing,
And I’ve been staying much the same
When you are lonely, you’re the only one to blame

I am a servant, I am waiting for the call
I’ve been unfaithful, so I sit here in the hall
How can you use me when I’ve never given all
How can you choose me when you know I’d quickly fall

So, you feed my soul and you make me grow
And you let me know you love me
And I’m worthless now, but I’ve made a vow
I will humbly bow before thee
O please use me, I am lonely

I am a servant getting ready for my part
There’s been a change, a rearrangement in my heart
At last I’m learning, there’s no returning once I start
To live is a privilege, to love is such an art
But I need your help to start
O please purify my heart, I am your servant…

Worship and Wisdom, Psalms and Proverbs

Psalm 143, The Message

A psalm of David.

1 Lord, hear my prayer,
    listen to my cry for mercy;
in your faithfulness and righteousness
    come to my relief.
2 Do not bring your servant into judgment,
    for no one living is righteous before you.
3 The enemy pursues me,
    he crushes me to the ground;
he makes me dwell in the darkness
    like those long dead.
4 So my spirit grows faint within me;
    my heart within me is dismayed.
5 I remember the days of long ago;
    I meditate on all your works
    and consider what your hands have done.
6 I spread out my hands to you;
    I thirst for you like a parched land.

7 Answer me quickly, Lord;
    my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me
    or I will be like those who go down to the pit.
8 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
    for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
    for to you I entrust my life.
9 Rescue me from my enemies, Lord,
    for I hide myself in you.
10 Teach me to do your will,
    for you are my God;
may your good Spirit
    lead me on level ground.

11 For your name’s sake, Lord, preserve my life;
    in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble.
12 In your unfailing love, silence my enemies;
    destroy all my foes,
    for I am your servant.

TRUTH:  Meditating on verses 7-12, we learn exactly what God does for His loving servants.  God answers, rescues, reminds us of His unfailing love, shows us which way to go, teaches us along the journey and keep us on level ground thinking.  He delivers us from the real enemy because God cherishes us as His own. 

Yes, I am your servant, Lord. I have called out to you and you heard me.

Proverb 1:33, NIV

WISDOM: “…whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.”

Abba, Father in Heaven,

Thank you for all you have done in us and for us, teaching the right path to go with wisdom to do life skillfully as your servants.  Thank you, Jesus, for be our living example on earth of servanthood.  Thank you for saving my soul, rescuing me, delivering me from evil’s hold.  Thank you for showing me the right path on my journey each day.  Continue to teach me for I am Your servant.

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MY ONLY HOPE!

Posted on April 3, 2021 by randscallawayffm

“Mama said there’d be days like this, there’d be days like this mama said…” I sing this song in my head when I am up against a wall, wondering which way to turn.  The words make me smile because my mama DID always say that when I was disappointed by life, confused and perplexed by others’ decisions that affected me, or generally grumbling about my own bad decisions.  Mama said. 

Mama received this wisdom from knowing and following Jesus Christ who said to his beloved, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  There is much more to Jesus words that we believers realize when we are troubled or in trouble. 

Jesus is our only hope to overcome all that the evil one, the “prince of darkness”, can throw at us in this temporary world.  Jesus has overcome, battled and won the war with our determined enemy!  Not only that, Jesus is making a forever home for all who believe and follow Him.  Jesus died for our sins, rose again to defeat the enemy called death and lives to plead our case before the God of all, Our Father in Heaven, the Creator of all of us.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) Jesus is Life eternal.  Jesus is all we need to live forever!  Jesus is our hope!  Jesus has indeed overcome so we are more than just conquerors of a single battle, as Paul excitedly explains,

“If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 8:31-39, NIV

Jesus Our One and Only Hope!  That’s why we cry out to God, loudly at times like the Psalmist.  We know Who loves and cares for us.  We know the One who is our Hope forever!

“I cry out, God, call out: ‘You’re my last chance, my only hope for life!’, sings the Psalmist knowing the God will answer.  The resurrecting power that brought Jesus back to life is the Hope that lives in us.  Pause to think about that power.  Take all the time you need, then sing this newer song with me…(Resurrecting, Elevation)

The head that once was crowned with thorns
Is crowned with glory now
The Savior knelt to wash our feet
Now at His feet we bow

The One who wore our sin and shame
Now robed in majesty
The radiance of perfect love
Now shines for all to see

Your name, Your name
Is victory
All praise, will rise
To Christ, our king

The fear that held us now gives way
To Him who is our peace
His final breath upon the cross
Is now alive in me

Your name, Your name
Is victory
All praise, will rise
To Christ, our king

By Your spirit I will rise
From the ashes of defeat
The resurrected King, is resurrecting me
In Your name I come alive
To declare Your victory
The resurrected King, is resurrecting me
By Your spirit I will rise
From the ashes of defeat
The resurrected King, is resurrecting me
In Your name I come alive
To declare Your victory (c’mon!)
The resurrected King, is resurrecting me
By Your spirit I will rise
From the ashes of defeat
The resurrected King, is resurrecting me
In Your name I come alive
To declare Your victory
The resurrected king, is resurrecting me

He’s resurrecting me
Our God is good, oh

The tomb where soldiers watched in vain
Was borrowed for three days
His body there would not remain
Our God has robbed the grave
Our God has robbed the grave (yes He has, yes He has)

Your name, Your name
Is victory
All praise, will rise
To Christ our king

By Your spirit I will rise
From the ashes of defeat
The resurrected King, is resurrecting me
In Your name I come alive
To declare Your victory
The resurrected King, is resurrecting me
By Your spirit I will rise
From the ashes of defeat
The resurrected King, is resurrecting me
In Your name I come alive
To declare Your victory
The resurrected King, is resurrecting me
By Your spirit I will rise
From the ashes of defeat
The resurrected King, is resurrecting me
In Your name I come alive
To declare Your victory
The resurrected king, is resurrecting me
The resurrected king, is resurrecting me…

Jesus, Our Living Hope!

Worship and Wisdom, Psalms and Proverbs

Psalm 142, The Message


1-2 I cry out loudly to God,
    loudly I plead with God for mercy.
I spill out all my complaints before him,
    and spell out my troubles in detail:

3-7 “As I sink in despair, my spirit ebbing away,
    you know how I’m feeling,
Know the danger I’m in,
    the traps hidden in my path.
Look right, look left—
    there’s not a soul who cares what happens!

I’m up against the wall, with no exit—
    it’s just me, all alone.
I cry out, God, call out:
    ‘You’re my last chance, my only hope for life!’
Oh listen, please listen;
    I’ve never been this low.
Rescue me from those who are hunting me down;
    I’m no match for them.
Get me out of this dungeon
    so I can thank you in public.
Your people will form a circle around me
    and you’ll bring me showers of blessing!”

TRUTH:  I cry out, God, call out: ‘You’re my last chance, my only hope for life!’  The battle against evil in this life belongs to our Lord.

Proverb 13:12, NIV

WISDOM: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”

Abba, Father in Heaven,

Lord, I maintain my hope in You and I hold onto the assurance that what I am praying for is already accomplished in the name of Jesus. Your Word promises “no good thing does He withhold from those that walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11). I wait upon You for Your definition of the “good thing” You will not withhold from me. As David prayed in Psalm 18:1: “I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”  From the ashes of defeat, your resurrecting power has resurrected me!  Jesus, You are my hope!  Thank you!

In Jesus Name, Amen.  I believe.

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DELIVER US FROM EVIL

Posted on April 2, 2021 by randscallawayffm

Jesus prayed often as he walked on earth, so often in fact, it was as natural as breathing in life-giving oxygen for his human body.  His prayers were constant, consistent dialogues with His Father, God, who was a part of Him, while on earth.  Yes, they communed as One because they were One.  Jesus, God in the flesh, came down to seek and to save the lost, (you and I), but He also demonstrated how to talk with God, as His Father in Heaven, along with how to listen to God and obey Him without question or doubt.

Jesus often would tell those around him, “I only do and say what the Father tells me.”  Oh, if that were possible with us—to ONLY do and say what God tells us.  We would avoid a lot more trouble if we listened and obeyed our Father like Jesus, right?  Jesus, who was without sin, is the One and Only who can deliver us from all evil and evil’s schemes to destroy us from the inside out.  Jesus died and rose again, defeating death, and is now our advocate in heaven as we pray to God.  Because of Jesus, we can come right into the throne room of God, in Jesus Name, and communicate with Him in relationship with Him!  THIS is amazing grace!

The Psalmist is crying out to God, “Come close, come quickly!”  It is our cry today as we journey briefly in a world that distracts and draws us to come close to evil and be consumed by it.  The Psalmist prayer is calling out for help;

“Guard my mouth…”

“Don’t let me dream of evil…”

“Don’t let me thoughtlessly fall for evil…”

“Don’t let me be lured by sweet talk…”

“May the Just One set me straight…” 

“May the Kind One correct me…”

The Just and Kind One is Jesus, although this was written centuries before Jesus came down to earth to show us how to avoid all evil.  Jesus shows us how.  By praying, asking God, Our Father in Heave to “deliver us from evil”, power beyond ourselves is given by God to destroy our enemy.  “The battle is the Lord’s’, says David.  We must remember the battle is won ultimately by our Lord.  Jesus, the One and Only, who knew no sin, died and rose again so that we could come to Father and ask what Jesus asked while on earth—”Deliver us from evil.”  Amazing.

Jesus is coming back to claim His own someday soon.  We don’t know when but we do know we need to be ready.  Our prayer is, “Yes, Lord, deliver us from all evil.  Help us to grow and mature with your holy character leading every action we take.  Show us your will and tell us what you want and we will think, say and do it.”  To be like Jesus is to talk and listen to God and then do what He says. Daily, He will deliver us from evil.  His power is unmatched with evil’s very limited power.  He wins every time.  All because of Jesus, we win.  That’s way Jesus is called “Our Deliverer”.  Yes!

Worship and Wisdom, Psalms and Proverbs

Psalm 141, The Message


1-2 God, come close. Come quickly!
    Open your ears—it’s my voice you’re hearing!
Treat my prayer as sweet incense rising;
    my raised hands are my evening prayers.

3-7 Post a guard at my mouth, God,
    set a watch at the door of my lips.
Don’t let me so much as dream of evil
    or thoughtlessly fall into bad company.
And these people who only do wrong—
    don’t let them lure me with their sweet talk!
May the Just One set me straight,
    may the Kind One correct me,
Don’t let sin anoint my head.
    I’m praying hard against their evil ways!
Oh, let their leaders be pushed off a high rock cliff;
    make them face the music.
Like a rock pulverized by a maul,
    let their bones be scattered at the gates of hell.

8-10 But God, dear Lord,
    I only have eyes for you.
Since I’ve run for dear life to you,
    take good care of me.
Protect me from their evil scheming,
    from all their demonic subterfuge.
Let the wicked fall flat on their faces,
    while I walk off without a scratch.

TRUTH:  God will take care of us, protect us from evil scheming, and ultimately deliver us from evil.

Proverb 10:7-12, NCV

Good people will be remembered as a blessing, but evil people will soon be forgotten. The wise do what they are told, but a talkative fool will be ruined. The honest person will live in safety, but the dishonest will be caught. A wink may get you into trouble, and foolish talk will lead to your ruin. The words of a good person give life, like a fountain of water, but the words of the wicked contain nothing but violence. Hatred stirs up trouble, but love forgives all wrongs.

WISDOM:  Pray for wisdom to hear God and do what He says.  Love like God.

Abba, Father in Heaven,

Hallowed be Your Name.  May Your Kingdom come and reign in me and all around me!  May YOUR will be done in every detail of our lives here on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day all you know we will need to think, say and do what you want.  And forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.  Lead us, not into temptations, but DELIVER us from all evil and evil’s schemes to draw us away from you.  Draw us close.  Come close to us so we hear the faintest whisper of your voice in our ears.  For you have ALL power, to you be ALL glory, honor, awe and praise.  You are God and we are not.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for life eternal with you.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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THE DAYS OF HOLY WEEK

Posted on April 1, 2021 by randscallawayffm

As pastoral leaders, student workers, worship leaders, musicians and volunteer leaders, we readily understand the battles with evil, working his hardest to thwart our efforts in preparation just before and during Holy Week.  “The devil is in the details” is not just a saying.  It’s true.  Know God.  Know His Message.  Know Yourself.  Know the Enemy.

Why?  Satan, fallen angel and enemy of Jesus, hates new believers falling before the Lord of lords and King of kings giving their complete allegiance to Jesus.  He thinks he has unbelievers and the undecided so he will do everything in his limited power to keep them.  He hates mature believers on their knees, crying out in the Name of Jesus for lost souls to be saved by God’s grace and mercy.  The Enemy hates our tenacity of faith and determination to hear God’s voice above his loud voice of lies and confusion.  Understand that Evil has one purpose—our destruction and death forever.  Yes, our death is the goal.  But Jesus came and defeated death forever.  Jesus is Life who gives Life eternal.  The evil one hates that. 

I think these thoughts as we meditate on this Holy Week and remember all that Jesus did for us.  Our Psalmist today is singing a lament about how evil is getting the best of him.  He sings knowing God will indeed redeem and restore him from evil.  He outlines what evil does to God (as if God didn’t know) just to realize himself how evil can get to us if we let him.

“God, get me out of here, away from evil!” is a prayer I have often prayed during Holy Week as a pastoral leader.  I’m pretty sure Jesus prayed that same prayer the days before He took all our sin on his shoulders to save the world who would believe in Him so they would not perish in death but have eternal life with Him.  Wow.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16

“God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  Romans 5:8

Jesus is the Victor over the Enemy called Death!  “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.” 

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” 

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  Ephesians 2:1-10, NIV

Believers, we are dead to sin and now alive in Christ!  Forever!  Can I get an amen?!

The end of the Psalmist’s lament praises God because of the power of His Presence with us, protecting and delivering us from Evil.  This is our blessed assurance.  THIS is the reason we celebrate Resurrection Sunday—Jesus is alive and coming back for His own.  Jesus is the victor over the enemy!  The enemy is called death.  Our war with the “devil in the details” is only momentary.  God steps in and delivers us from the battle.  Every. Time.  His will.  His way.  His Time.  Pray in Jesus Name and His will be done.

Worship and Wisdom, Psalms and Proverbs

Psalm 140, The Message

1-5 God, get me out of here, away from this evil;
    protect me from these vicious people.
All they do is think up new ways to be bad;
    they spend their days plotting war games.
They practice the sharp rhetoric of hate and hurt,
    speak venomous words that maim and kill.
God, keep me out of the clutch of these wicked ones,
    protect me from these vicious people;
All boast and swagger, they plot ways to trip me up,
    determined to bring me down.
These crooks invent traps to catch me
    and do their best to incriminate me.

6-8 I prayed, “God, you’re my God!
    Listen, God! Mercy!
God, my Lord, Strong Savior,
    protect me when the fighting breaks out!
Don’t let the wicked have their way, God,
    don’t give them an inch!”

9-11 These troublemakers all around me—
    let them drown in their own verbal poison.
Let God pile hellfire on them,
    let him bury them alive in crevasses!
These loudmouths—
    don’t let them be taken seriously;
These savages—
    let the Devil hunt them down!

12-13 I know that you, God, are on the side of victims,
    that you care for the rights of the poor.
And I know that the righteous personally thank you,
    that good people are secure in your presence.

TRUTH:  I know that you, God, are on our side against the enemy.  We are secure in Your Holy Presence.

Proverb 27:19-20, The Message

Just as water mirrors your face,
    so your face mirrors your heart.

20 Hell has a voracious appetite,
    and lust just never quits.

WISDOM:  Keep your heart pure.  Avoid the Enemy at all cost.

Abba, Father in Heaven,

You are the Victor over our Enemy every time.  You will deliver us from evil so we pray as you taught us.  Hallowed is Your Name.  May Your Kingdom come.  May Your Will be done on earth, in all the details of our lives, as it is done in heave.  Give us this day victory over evil’s schemes.  Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.  Lead us not into temptations but DELIVER us from all evil.  For YOU have ALL power.  To YOU be all glory, honor and praise!

In Jesus Name, Amen

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KNOWN

Posted on March 31, 2021 by randscallawayffm

To be known and acknowledged gives strength and energy to a tired soul.  To be loved unconditionally and deeply brings life abundant to our being.  To be cherished so greatly as a special creation of God is outstanding and too much for our small minds to think or imagine at times.  God is in heaven.  God is here.  God knows every person born along with how many hairs are on each head.  God knows our thoughts.  Yes, God knows us better than we know ourselves—and still He loves us so much he sent his son to die in our place for our sins.  God knows what we will say before it comes to our minds.  God saw us in the womb of our moms.  God knows my name.  God knows your name.

We were on Jesus’ mind as He took all sin on his shoulders, held himself to a cross of shame in front of the world and paid the penalty for all sins. Yes, I am known by God who knew I would need a Savior.  I am known by God, Our Father in Heaven, who knew I would need an advocate to the Father.  I am known by Jesus who is God in flesh who came down from heaven to stand in my place for my sin.  I am known.  You are known.

No one knows and loves you more than God, Jesus and His Holy Spirit. 

Be still and know Him.  Hear Him.  Trust Him.

Worship and Wisdom, Psalms and Proverbs

Psalm 139, The Message  (Personal Favorite)


1-6 God, investigate my life;
    get all the facts firsthand.
I’m an open book to you;
    even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking.
You know when I leave and when I get back;
    I’m never out of your sight.
You know everything I’m going to say
    before I start the first sentence.
I look behind me and you’re there,
    then up ahead and you’re there, too—
    your reassuring presence, coming and going.
This is too much, too wonderful—
    I can’t take it all in!

7-12 Is there any place I can go to avoid your Spirit?
    to be out of your sight?
If I climb to the sky, you’re there!
    If I go underground, you’re there!
If I flew on morning’s wings
    to the far western horizon,
You’d find me in a minute—
    you’re already there waiting!
Then I said to myself, “Oh, he even sees me in the dark!
    At night I’m immersed in the light!”
It’s a fact: darkness isn’t dark to you;
    night and day, darkness and light, they’re all the same to you.

13-16 Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
    you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
    Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
    I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
    you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
    how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
    all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
    before I’d even lived one day.

17-22 Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful!
    God, I’ll never comprehend them!
I couldn’t even begin to count them—
    any more than I could count the sand of the sea.
Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you!
    And please, God, do away with wickedness for good!
And you murderers—out of here!—
    all the men and women who belittle you, God,
    infatuated with cheap god-imitations.
See how I hate those who hate you, God,
    see how I loathe all this godless arrogance;
I hate it with pure, unadulterated hatred.
    Your enemies are my enemies!

23-24 Investigate my life, O God,
    find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me,
    get a clear picture of what I’m about;
See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—
    then guide me on the road to eternal life.

TRUTH:  God, our Father, the creator of our lives, who IS Life, loves us, knows us and loves us greater still.  God is all knowing.  He knows us by name.  He longs for us to love Him back.  He wants to guide us to His best for us.  Be still (let go of all else in this world, including self), and know Him.  He died to have a close, personal intimate relationship with us. 

And He’s coming back for his own someday.  Know and be known.

Proverb 8:17, The Message

WISDOM: “I love those who love me; those who look for me find me.” 

Seek the God who knows us well and loves us unconditionally.

Abba, Father in Heaven,

Thank you for knowing me and wanting to be with me everywhere I go!  Thank you for knowing me so well that you know what I need.  Thank for protecting me and providing for me before I know I need it.  Thank you for wanting a close relationship with me that sustains me, keeps me calm in the storms of life, and gives life and energy to my being.  Thank you for loving me the way you do even while knowing me and my messes.  Thank you for guiding me to your best with mercy and grace coming along beside me.  Thank you for saving my soul and making me whole.  Thank you for the honor to be known by You.

In Jesus Name, Amen.  I believe.

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THANK YOU!

Posted on March 30, 2021 by randscallawayffm

How does it feel when you invest a great deal of time in helping someone rise from the ashes of life and find new hope in Jesus?  Pretty amazing, right?  What if this person you helped finds hope in Jesus never said thank you?  Granted, what we do we do for Jesus, in Jesus Name, but isn’t it icing on the cake when people kindly and gratefully say thank you?  Jesus thinks so.

Do you say thank you in kindness when someone helps or serves you in any way?  Probably, you do, if you are a server.  I have been observing that people who have the least and have been through the worst in life are the ones most thankful and willing to serve gratefully when asked.  Humility breeds gratitude.  Serving produces gratefulness.

Ten lepers came to Jesus for healing.  He healed all ten.  Nine ran home to their families who had to shun them so they wouldn’t get the dreaded disease themselves.  Only one turned from running home to run to Jesus, fall down and thank Him for his healing which changed his life forever.  (See Luke 17:11-19) “Jesus asked, ‘Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”  Jesus might be wondering why we haven’t said thank you lately for each day that we get to live life on this earth as changed souls because of his salvation. 

Stronger faith is built by a grateful heart.  How grateful are we?  How thankful for our own changed lives to the One and Only who saved us for eternity?  Maybe it is time to turn around from all that distracts us and run to Jesus right now and say thank you.  Thank you for saving my soul and making me whole.  Thank you for protecting me when the enemy tries to draw me from you.  Thank you for listening to my cries for help.  Thank you for providing for my daily needs.  Thank you for your love, mercy and grace.

Yes, Everything in me says, “Thank you, Jesus” today!

Worship and Wisdom, Psalms and Proverbs

Psalm 138, The Message

1-3 Thank you! Everything in me says “Thank you!”
    Angels listen as I sing my thanks.
I kneel in worship facing your holy temple
    and say it again: “Thank you!”
Thank you for your love,
    thank you for your faithfulness;
Most holy is your name,
    most holy is your Word.
The moment I called out, you stepped in;
    you made my life large with strength.

4-6 When they hear what you have to say, God,
    all earth’s kings will say “Thank you.”
They’ll sing of what you’ve done:
    “How great the glory of God!”
And here’s why: God, high above, sees far below;
    no matter the distance, he knows everything about us.

7-8 When I walk into the thick of trouble,
    keep me alive in the angry turmoil.
With one hand
    strike my foes,
With your other hand
    save me.
Finish what you started in me, God.
    Your love is eternal—don’t quit on me now.

TRUTH:  God never gives up on us who believe on Him and trust in Jesus who saved us.  He WILL finish what He started in us on the day of our salvation.

Sing with the Psalmist and me, “One Thing Remains”

Higher than the mountains that I face
Stronger than the power of the grave
Constant through the trial and the change
One thing remains, yes, one thing remains

Your love never fails
It never gives up
It never runs out on me

Because on and on, and on, and on it goes
Before it overwhelms and satisfies my soul
And I never, ever, have to be afraid
One thing remains, yes, one thing remains
Sing it, your love

Your love never fails
It never gives up
It never runs out on me

In death, in life
I’m confident and covered by
The power of your great love
My debt is paid
There’s nothing that can separate
My heart from your great love
Sing it, your love

Your love never fails
It never gives up
It never runs out on me

Never runs out on me
Your love never fails
It never gives up
Never runs out on me

Your love never fails
It never gives up
Never runs out on me, oh
Yes, your love
Your love, your love, your love…
Yes, your love
Yes, your love

Never fails
It never fails
It never fails
Never fails…

Proverb 10:12, The Message

“Hatred starts fights, but love pulls a quilt over the bickering.”

WISDOM:  Be thankful, loving and kind as our Father in heaven is to us.  Love God.  Love Others.  His love never quits and never gives up on us.  Love like that.

Abba Father,

Thank you for all you have done for me and my family over the years of our lives.  Thank you for how you at work in our lives now!  Thank you for what you will do to constantly grow and mature us in your love.  Thank you for saving my soul.  Thank you for healing my brokenness.  Thank you for teaching me daily.  Thank you for life.  Just thank you!

In Jesus Name, Amen

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