For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.
Hebrews 6:10, ESV
Loving others is loving God. It is a huge part of how get to hear “Well done, My good and faithful servant.”
To close out the year (the last three months), I will revive Weekend Words & Sunday Stanzas to go through some of my favorite songs. Specifically, I want to cover the songs that have had a major impact on my life, and more specifically on my spiritual life.
So, how about we begin at the beginning?
A New Shout to the Lord
One song that has perennially been there for me is from the very beginning: meaning, from the day I first bent my knee to my Lord as Savior. It has played (not by my doing) for every major life event, as well (Deciding to go to college, starting a ministry, moving to Arizona, finding my wife, changing churches, accepting ministry positions). But it started with playing as I first went to the altar to pray, on January 9, 2000.
So, why not share the version that started it all:
Shout to the Lord – Darlene Zschech
And for good measure, one of my favorite renditions:
Shout the Lord – The Insyderz
Lyrics
My Jesus, my Saviour
Lord there is none like You
All of my days I want to praise
The wonders of Your mighty love
My comfort, my shelter
Tower of refuge and strength
Let every breath, all that I am
Never cease to worship You
Shout to the Lord all the Earth, let us sing
Power and majesty, praise to the King
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar
At the sound of Your name
I sing for joy at the work of Your hand
Forever I’ll love You, forever I’ll stand
Nothing compares to the promise I have
In You
My Jesus, my Saviour
Lord there is none like You
All of my days I want to praise
The wonders of Your mighty love
You’re my comfort
(My comfort)
And my shelter
(My shelter)
You’re my tower of refuge and strength
Let every breath, all that I am
Never cease to worship You
Shout to the Lord all the Earth, let us sing
Power and majesty, praise to the King
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar
At the sound of Your name
I sing for joy at the work of Your hand
Forever I’ll love You, forever I’ll stand
Nothing compares to the promise I have
In You
A few quick thoughts:
When we seek God, we will be filled with wonder. It becomes impossible to not be fascinated by all that He as done and can do, most importantly that He is powerful enough to create literally everything and then redeem His creation from the Fall we created through sin.
And at the end of history, mountains will bow down and the seas will roar as they are consumed by fire as He ushers in the new heavens and Earth.
So, He deserves all our praise. May we shout it loud!
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
1 John 1:7, ESV
Salvation is a moment. Both 2000 years ago and the moment you believe.
However, we walk out our salvation for the rest of life, as we follow the Light of Christ and let Him continue to cleanse us.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1 Peter 1:3, ESV
The Father is most glorified when we are led by the Holy Spirit to believe in the resurrected Son, and then when we take part in sharing this news with others!
Do we truly love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths? Maybe I can help with the mind part, at least! This is Daniel M. Klem, apparent poet, reluctant yet passionate Disciple (Peter?), and foolish man attempting to understand theology!