Be Still and Know that I Am God

Psalm 37:3-9

Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this:

He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. 

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways,

when they carry out their wicked schemes. 

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.

For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.

“Be still.”

When I first hear this phrase, I think of it in very literal terms. Stop what you’re doing, Camille. Slow down. 

Breathe.

And I think there’s a very important lesson in that for me. I’m usually on the go, go, GO and find it hard to stop and listen to what the Lord has to teach me. I know that I will learn so much when I stop to really read and apply the lessons from His Word. I know that my heart is always full after spending time in prayer, praising and thanking God for His work in my life. It’s just hard to slow down and drink in those moments.

I learned this week that the original Hebrew command translated “be still” comes from the word “rapha” which means to “cease” “let go” or “surrender.”

I was thinking about this Tuesday night - election night - as all of America was on edge awaiting word of the election results. No matter which candidate had your vote, the evening was filled with stress, anxiety, and fear.

I had the TV on and my computer open. I went back and forth from watching the polls close, to watching my friends comment on Facebook – friends from both sides of the political spectrum! And I noticed something interesting in myself. When I read commentary on the candidates, the state of our country, and the issues we face in the future, I felt the physical effects of stress. My muscles tightened and my stomach hurt. But when I read a scripture verse posted instead of a political rant, my entire body relaxed as I realized WHO was in control. Worldly concerns brought fear; spiritual reassurance brought focus.

Some of the verses that brought clarity and assurance were:

Psalm 13:5-6

But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.

Romans 8:28

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

What fear is gripping your heart today? He wants us, instructs us to be still…rapha…let go so that we can KNOW our Almighty God and see clearly His work in our lives.

Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 

though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. 

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.

God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.

Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. 

The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. 

Come and see the works of the Lord, the desolations he has brought on the earth.

He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear,

he burns the shields with fire. 

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Beyond the Veil

Consider God's holiness, goodness, glory, and light. Contrast that with the darkness, evil, and ugliness of sin. The two cannot coexist. 

The day that sin entered the world, a barrier was formed cutting off the beautiful relationship between God and his beloved. A veil that could only be approached with a blood sacrifice. I was reminded this week that Adam and Eve were given garments made of animal skin to wear after that first sin made them aware of their guilt. These animal skins were the very first of many, many blood sacrifices that would need to be made to cover the shame of sin. 

Until the final sacrifice. 

Christ’s excruciating death provided the final solution to this barrier. Our loving Father reached out to his sinful children to offer us a way to commune with Him once again.

Hebrews 10:11-14 

Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. 

One awful, ultimate, complete, beautiful sacrifice.

One merciful path back to a holy relationship with our loving Father.

Instead of offering a temporary sacrifice through a high priest, we can now humbly go beyond the veil and, as Hebrews 4:16 says, “…approach the throne of grace with confidence...”

Hebrews 10:19-23 

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

Our God is Great

Genesis 1

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so.10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

27 So God created mankind in his own image,

in the image of God he created them;

male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

(New International Version)

Because of Who You Are

Jeremiah 10:6

No one is like you, Lord; 

you are great, and your name is mighty in power.

I have been challenged through this song to consider the focus of my worship and praise. Is it more focused on what God has done for me or on who God is?

I was looking up the lyrics to this song and discovered more than one song with the same title! One worship chorus by the same name was written by worship leader Martha Munizzi. I read a little about her journey in writing the lyrics (which are very similar to those we will be singing this week).

As Munizzi tried to finish the song she realized she had some work to do. “I realized that I had to go deeper,” she says. “[The song says] ‘Because of who you are,’ but… who are you? I really wanted to make that as plain as I could.”

Munizzi went straight to the Bible, studying the names of God, and scouring scripture for clues about His identity and character.

After she finished writing the song, but before introducing it to the congregation, she tried it out on her church choir.

“The first couple of times the choir sang it through,” she says, “They hadn’t learned it yet, so it wasn’t really getting into their spirits. But by the end of the rehearsal it was such a worshipful atmosphere we knew we had something special. It was such a revelation to people of who God is. Sometimes we sing about Him. But when you sing to Him about who He is, there’s such power in that.”

The attributes of God. The more we understand these attributes, the more we are in awe of the God we serve.

So let’s practice! I’d love to hear some of the attributes of God that come to your minds. I’ll start with ETERNAL. 

(Choir shared) FAITHFUL, PROVIDER, OMNIPOTENT, UNCHANGING, LOVING, I AM, and many, many more.  (My pencil couldn't keep up with all I was hearing!)

Spend time daily studying God’s attributes and then pray them, speak them, SING them to our awesome God. A resource that you might enjoy is the book “Praying the Attributes of God” by Rosemary Jensen, which looks at 31 attributes – perfect for a month-long study!

A Sandi Patti song from about 20 years ago says this:

Oh Lord I stand amazed at the wonder of your deeds 

and yet a greater wonder brings me to my knees

Lord I praise you, Because of who you are; 

Not just for all the mighty things that you have done

Lord I worship you, because of who you are; 

You're all the reason that I need to voice my praise

Because of who you are

1 Chronicles 29:10-11 

David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, 

“Praise be to you, Lord, 

the God of our father Israel, 

from everlasting to everlasting.

Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,

for everything in heaven and earth is yours.

Yours, Lord, is the kingdom."

For the complete article about Martha Munizzi, click here.

O Worship the King / You Are Good

At rehearsal on Wednesday, I shared a post from Randy Alcorn's blog.  You can read it here:

Trusting in God's Unfailing Love

To read his original post regarding his daughter's tumor discovery, click here.

To read the update to that post, click here. 

And this is a video that Randy made prior to receiving the news:

Does God really work all things for the good of those who love him? from Randy Alcorn on Vimeo.

All of Randy's recent posts connect so closely with what we will be singing this week.  May you find encouragement in the words of this father who is clinging to the goodness of God during this time of fear and uncertainty.

Amazing Grace

2 Timothy 1:9-10 

He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 

A few weeks ago, we lost a great leader – a champion of the faith - Charles W. Colson. I wanted to read part of an obituary written by Tom Gilson, a strategist and writer on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ.

Charles "Chuck" Colson has gone home to be with the Lord. The Prison Fellowship ministry family invites you to join in celebrating his life.
Someone once asked me, "Don't you know he's a convicted felon?" The question made me laugh. Yes, I knew that. I was a senior in high school when Watergate happened. We watched the proceedings on TV in my Government class. I read his autobiography, Born Again, not long after it was released, and I heard him speak about it at the Governor's Prayer Breakfast in Lansing, Michigan in 1976.

Chuck Colson himself never lost sight of the fact that he was a convicted felon. He also never lost sight of God's gracious forgiveness through Jesus Christ. He founded Prison Fellowship Ministries, and led it to become a powerful force for spiritual, educational, and social change in prisons throughout American and around the world. But that is not the ministry or the realm in which I came to know and appreciate him. Rather it was in his leadership in Christian worldview thinking.

Along the way to prison, Chuck Colson discovered how desperately he needed the grace and life of Jesus Christ. I've never been behind bars except to visit, but my need is no less. Neither is yours. Chuck's purpose in all his ministry was to lift up the powerful and saving name and life and ethics and truths and glory of Jesus Christ. Now he is raised up with Christ. *

In the midst of the Watergate scandal and proceedings, Chuck Colson read a passage from the book “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis. His life was forever changed. This heavy-drinking, chain-smoking, hard-nosed politician known as Nixon’s “hatchet man” became a humble servant of God who, against the advice of his lawyer, chose to plead guilty to the charges brought against him. He spent 7 months in jail, which ultimately led to his future ministry as a world-changer.

Shortly after his death a few weeks ago, I watched a video that was made to honor his life and ministry. In that video, he is quoted as saying:

It’s hard for me to get through ‘Amazing Grace’ without shedding a tear or two, and especially in a prison because it’s the prisoner’s national anthem. And I’ve never been in a prison and sung that and haven’t seen eyes glistening in the light. It’s so meaningful. I once was lost. They’re lost in that prison. And now I’m found. We were holding hands singing that and all I could think of was what God has done and how great it is that He has given us the privilege of the 35 years of singing that song inside prisons all over the world. And all I could think of was all of the places I’ve been and all of the prisoners I’ve seen and all of the people without hope. And you can join hands - it was one, it was solidarity. We were one with them and they were one with us and we all knew it in that room. And my mind just kept flashing over the sovereignty of God because I didn’t do this, I never strategized this. It wasn’t part of my game plan when I got out of prison. I might do it for awhile to help the inmates but I wasn’t going to spend my life doing this. And yet God ordered my steps every moment - day by day. 

God’s grace has changed our lives in dramatic ways. How are you now living your life to change the world for Christ?

Titus 3:3-7 

At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

*To read the entire obituary written by Tom Gilson, click here.

Sing and Be Not Silent

Psalm 30:4-5

Sing the praises of the Lord, 

you his faithful people; 

praise his holy name. 

For his anger lasts only a moment, 

but his favor lasts a lifetime; 

weeping may stay for the night, 

but rejoicing comes in the morning. 

Every person in this choir has been given a gift. Specifically, every person in this choir has been given a voice to sing. What would you do if that gift was suddenly taken away from you?

A friend from college, a fellow music major, spent 2 weeks one September in total silence. It all started with a strenuous prior school year of singing (5 hours of choir rehearsals, a 2 hour concert every week, in addition to voice lessons and practice), combined with a heavy class load, followed by a summer tour with nightly concerts, and it finally culminated with a burst blood vessel in her left vocal chord. Days that should have been spent in the practice rooms, rehearsing for a senior recital, were instead spent walking around with a white board and a marker. No singing. No speaking. No assurance that her voice would ever return to where it had been before.

After her time of complete vocal rest was over, she began to slowly work with her voice teacher to strengthen her singing voice, but that entire fall, and on into winter, she struggled with the ups and downs of good and bad days. In December, her doctor asked her what she wanted to do after college and she told him that she wanted to be a Kindergarten teacher. He told her that he thought that she would recover enough to use her voice some, but not as a career - probably not even as a Kindergarten teacher.

What might have devastated some was a challenge to this young college student. She had faith that God could heal her, but she also told the Lord that if she never sang again, she would still serve Him. During this time, she was greatly encouraged by the testimony of Duane Miller, a pastor who lost his voice to a virus but was miraculously healed in the middle of a sermon, which happened to be recorded.

When it became clear that she would not be vocally ready for a spring senior recital, she postponed it until the fall. She was able to walk at graduation ceremonies with the intent of finishing her recital and one remaining class post-graduation. And then that summer, while playing piano for a summer group overseas, she learned of the sudden death of her voice teacher. The devastating news was crushing.

But, out of this horrific tragedy came something unexpected – another voice teacher was recommended by three different people, and this new teacher brought new techniques, new hope, and ultimately a new voice.

A voice that had to go back to the very beginning, learning basic breathing and other vocal techniques. A voice that got stronger each day and was able to wow those who came to hear her beautiful recital a year and a half after her injury (and then another recital two years after that as she completed her Master’s degree in voice). A voice that we get to hear week after week in our Soprano section – the voice of Rebecca Genzink.

As she was preparing for that senior recital, she told her teacher that she was scared that people would listen and say, “Oh that poor girl. She’s compensating just fine, but imagine what she would sound like if she had never hurt her voice.” Her wise teacher responded by saying, “People will not know. And one day YOU will not know.”

Rebecca says that because of her injury, she is now vocally stronger. Because of her injury she is able to work in a special way with students who are also experiencing vocal hardships. Because of her injury, she teaches in the voice department at Azusa Pacific University and vocally leads our choir here at Pomona First Baptist. (And she could even teach Kindergarten if she wanted to!)

Rebecca told me this week, “When people pay me a compliment about my singing, I've often said, ‘The Lord gave me my gift twice.’ I think that my experience has made me twice as grateful for the opportunity to "Sing to the Lord, and be not silent." To me, instead of hearing that sentence as a command, I hear it as an opportunity, and one that I do not take for granted.”

So what are you doing with the gift God has given you? What an opportunity we have, what a JOY to come into this room on Wednesday night, and to stand in the loft each Sunday morning and share this beautiful gift for the glory of God.

Psalm 30:11-12

You turned my wailing into dancing; 

you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, 

that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent. 

Lord my God, I will praise you forever.