VIDEO Count Your Blessings – Chelmsford Citadel Songsters

Oct 2, 2012

No copyright intended – may this music glorify Gods name. Lyrics and links below.

This is Chelmsford Citadels Salvation Army Songsters performing “Count Your Blessings”. This recording is taken from their album “Amazing Grace and Other Favourite Hymns” which features Chelmsford Songsters. It is hoped that this recording will prove attractive, not only to Salvationists, but also to the broader audience of hymn lovers around the world. The fact that all the arrangements include the original well-known tunes should ensure that nobody is disappointed! The image is the most current image of the Songster Brigade taken in 2010.

Lyrics:
When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

Chorus:
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God has done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.

Chorus:
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God has done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done

Piano Instrumental (Piano Duet)

So, amid the conflict whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

Chorus:
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God has done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done

Chelmsford Songsters Website: http://www.chelmsfordsongsters.org.uk/
Chelmsford Salvation Army Website: http://www.chelmsfordcitadelsa.org/

The Teaching of Disillusionment

Jesus did not commit Himself to them . . . , for He knew what was in man —John 2:24-25

Disillusionment means having no more misconceptions, false impressions, and false judgments in life; it means being free from these deceptions. However, though no longer deceived, our experience of disillusionment may actually leave us cynical and overly critical in our judgment of others. But the disillusionment that comes from God brings us to the point where we see people as they really are, yet without any cynicism or any stinging and bitter criticism. Many of the things in life that inflict the greatest injury, grief, or pain, stem from the fact that we suffer from illusions. We are not true to one another as facts, seeing each other as we really are; we are only true to our misconceived ideas of one another. According to our thinking, everything is either delightful and good, or it is evil, malicious, and cowardly.

Refusing to be disillusioned is the cause of much of the suffering of human life. And this is how that suffering happens— if we love someone, but do not love God, we demand total perfection and righteousness from that person, and when we do not get it we become cruel and vindictive; yet we are demanding of a human being something which he or she cannot possibly give. There is only one Being who can completely satisfy to the absolute depth of the hurting human heart, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord is so obviously uncompromising with regard to every human relationship because He knows that every relationship that is not based on faithfulness to Himself will end in disaster. Our Lord trusted no one, and never placed His faith in people, yet He was never suspicious or bitter. Our Lord’s confidence in God, and in what God’s grace could do for anyone, was so perfect that He never despaired, never giving up hope for any person. If our trust is placed in human beings, we will end up despairing of everyone.

Preparing Hearts Through Fasting

Matthew 13:1-23

In the parable of the sower, Jesus teaches that it takes good soil to produce a plentiful harvest. He warns against planting seed on the rocky places and also speaks about dangerous thorns that choke the plants. He directly applies the parable to our spiritual lives, explaining that the seed is God’s Truth; it’s only in the soil of a devoted and steadfast heart that the Word is received and spiritual fruitfulness is produced. In fact, He says soil that’s prepared to receive what is planted can produce a crop 30, 60, or 100 times what is sown.

Many people testify that God has used biblical fasting to position their hearts to receive His truth. It has made them ready for the planting of the Word, and through that, to receive greater insight and direction, and to develop a deeper faith (Rom. 10:17). During the hours of fasting, they set themselves apart from earthly concerns and spent their time concentrating on heavenly matters. It was then that God revealed the stumps, rocks, and thick roots that entangled their hearts and prevented spiritual growth. Through His Spirit, He also provided the courage to confess and the strength to obey.

What is the condition of your heart soil? How much “groundwork” needs to be done so that you can receive a major planting of the Word? God desires to clear out the rocks and weeds in our lives and break up any hard soil; biblical fasting prepares us for such tilling. God is calling His people to consecrate themselves to Him. Won’t you come before Him to be made ready?

Sound Doctrine

“Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 1:13)

When Paul wrote to his two young disciples, Timothy and Titus, he stressed again and again the vital importance of maintaining sound doctrine in their churches.

“If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome [same word as ‘sound’] words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness” (1 Timothy 6:3; see also 1:10). “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:3). “That he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers” (Titus 1:9). “But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1; also 2:8).

If the great apostle was so concerned that his pastoral disciples guard the doctrinal integrity of their first-century churches, he would surely be even more exercised today. These are times when false doctrines are rampant, and when sound (that is “healthy” or “whole”) doctrines are often the object of compromise and distortion, or (even more commonly) simply ignored, even in evangelical churches.

Paul’s command was to “hold fast the form” of sound words. Not only the so-called “spirit” of the words in Scripture, but the words themselves.

Such strict guarding of doctrine is vital for the spiritual health of the churches. Furthermore, such doctrinal integrity does not lead to cold orthodoxy, as some would allege, but is centered in the “faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.” It is “the doctrine which is according to godliness.” It is doctrine which is not only sound in the faith, but also “in charity, in patience” (Titus 2:2).

After all, it is the doctrine of Christ Himself, who is not only “the truth,” but also “the way” and “the life” (John 14:6). HMM

He has delivered us from the power of darkness

Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son.—Colossians 1:13.

IT is right that we should have an aim of our own, determined by our individuality and our surroundings; but this may readily degenerate into exclusive narrowness, unless it has for a background the great thought that there is a Kingdom of God within us, around us, and above us, in which we, with all our powers and aims, are called to be conscious workers. Toward the forwarding of this silent, ever-advancing Kingdom, our little work, whatever it be, if good and true, may contribute something. And this thought lends to any calling, however lowly, a consecration which is wanting even to the loftiest self-chosen ideals. But even if our aim should be frustrated and our work come to naught, yet the failure of our most cherished plans may be more than compensated. In the thought that we are members of this Kingdom, already begun, here and now, yet reaching forward through all time, we shall have a reserve of consolation better than any which success without this could give. JOHN CAMPBELL SHARP.

Nicodemus … he that came to Jesus by night

Nicodemus … he that came to Jesus by night. John 7:50

Peter followed him afar off. —Among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. — The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.

Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. — A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench. — Faith as a grain of mustard seed.

God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. — Little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. —Whosoever … shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 26:58. John 12:42,43. Proverbs 29:25. John 6:37. Isaiah 42:3. Matthew 17:20. 2 Timothy 1:7,8. 1 John 2:28. Matthew 10:32.

Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God

Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Colossians 3:1

Get wisdom, get understanding. — The wisdom that is from above. — The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me. — We are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.

Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. — God … hath quickened us together with Christ, … and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

They that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. — Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness.

Proverbs 4:5. James 3:17. Job 28:14. Romans 6:4,5. Hebrews 12:1. Ephesians 2:4-6. Hebrews 11:14. Zephaniah 2:3.

VIDEO Our God is Greater

Mar 10, 2010

Our God is Greater – Chris Tomlin

Harold Mars III wrote via Google+
Re-Centering on a Sunday Night

The one and only Living God is deserving of my worship … He is more than I am and more than I think. He is greater, stronger and higher than any other. In my embracing of that unique awesomeness, I can have confidence that He is for me … what or whom can really stand against me?

“To worship God is to awaken our consciences to His holiness [His absolute purity and otherness], to feed our minds with His truth, to open our hearts to His love, and to devote our wills to His plans and purposes.”
– Charles Stanley

“I’m not like you, Mack … I am God, I am who I am … Mackenzie, I am what some would say ‘holy, and wholly other than you.’ The problem is that many folks try to grasp some sense of who I am by taking the best version of themselves, projecting that to the nth degree, factoring in all the goodness they can perceive, which often isn’t much, and then call that God. And while it may seem like a noble effort, the truth is that it falls pitifully short of who I really am. I’m not merely the best version of you that you can think of, I am far more than that, above and beyond all that you can ask or think.” – from +Wm Paul Young ‘s “The Shack”

“I don’t think the way you think. The way you work isn’t the way I work.” GOD’s Decree. For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think.”
– from Isaiah’s love letter to his countrymen (55:8, MSG)

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them … What can we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can every be against us?”
– from the apostle Paul’s love letter to the Romans (8:28,31 MSG)

Do You See Jesus in Your Clouds?

Behold, He is coming with clouds . . . —Revelation 1:7

In the Bible clouds are always associated with God. Clouds are the sorrows, sufferings, or providential circumstances, within or without our personal lives, which actually seem to contradict the sovereignty of God. Yet it is through these very clouds that the Spirit of God is teaching us how to walk by faith. If there were never any clouds in our lives, we would have no faith. “The clouds are the dust of His feet” (Nahum 1:3). They are a sign that God is there. What a revelation it is to know that sorrow, bereavement, and suffering are actually the clouds that come along with God! God cannot come near us without clouds— He does not come in clear-shining brightness.

It is not true to say that God wants to teach us something in our trials. Through every cloud He brings our way, He wants us to unlearn something. His purpose in using the cloud is to simplify our beliefs until our relationship with Him is exactly like that of a child— a relationship simply between God and our own souls, and where other people are but shadows. Until other people become shadows to us, clouds and darkness will be ours every once in a while. Is our relationship with God becoming more simple than it has ever been?

There is a connection between the strange providential circumstances allowed by God and what we know of Him, and we have to learn to interpret the mysteries of life in the light of our knowledge of God. Until we can come face to face with the deepest, darkest fact of life without damaging our view of God’s character, we do not yet know Him.

“. . . they were fearful as they entered the cloud” (Luke 9:34). Is there anyone except Jesus in your cloud? If so, it will only get darker until you get to the place where there is “no one anymore, but only Jesus . . .” (Mark 9:8 ; also see Mark 2:7).

by Oswald Chambers

Biblical Fasting

Psalm 42:1-2

“Dear?” The only response this elicits is a distracted “Hmm,” accompanied by the rustle of a newspaper. “Could I talk to you?” Again a reply of “Hmmm,” followed by silence. Then footsteps are heard walking away. Have you ever experienced something similar?

We’ve all been guilty of inattention to those we love. So much clamors for our attention that we at times dodge effort instead of investing in a relationship. Unfortunately, we can do the same thing with God. But we don’t want that, do we?

Biblical fasting is one way to help us regain focus concerning our relationship with the Lord and what matters to Him. Fasting readies us to concentrate on our Father. It is an opportunity to set aside other things in order to seek His face and hear His voice. It is a time of preparation that leads us to fix our attention on God’s purposes and will for us.

Many of us have not tried fasting because it seems too foreign. We don’t know how to begin or when to find the time. But if we see it for what it is—a faith experience that sharpens our spiritual vision, intensifies our desire for God, and leads us to better understand His direction—then we will want to try it for ourselves.

Have you been crying out to the Father for more of Him? Do you need to know God’s will for a particular area of your life? Biblical fasting is a spiritual discipline that will bring you to the place where your hearing is sharper, your mind is clearer, and your eyes are more firmly fixed on the Lord and His plans. Why not discover this for yourself?