- araratchurch
- Apr 4
- 3 min read
40 “The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will exalt Him.”
Exodus 15:2 NKJV
My maternal grandmother‘s name was Addie Mae. She married my grandfather when she was 15, giving birth to my mother at the ripe old age of 16. She came from a Methodist background, but as a teenager, received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
“Little Mama” (as I knew her) had a very powerful experience before she married my grandfather. She “went out” in the spirit and had a vision that lasted a few hours. In it she saw her future life. The even more intriguing part about this is that through the years she would meet people she had first seen in that vision! She loved the Lord and had faith in the power of prayer, particularly when those prayers came from her son-in-law, my father, Harry Mushegan.
Another of the incidents, numbered among a host of wonderful spiritual experiences she had in her life, was that she actually died and went to heaven.
My grandfather was praying over her, asking the Lord to put life back in her body, when suddenly she gasped a breath of life. Upon coming back into her body, she scolded my grandfather saying, “Why did you bring me back? It was so beautiful!” You see, she had—in those moments away from her body—seen sights she had never seen before.
In her latter years one of her favorite songs was, “The Longer I Serve Him” (Bill and Gloria Gaither). Here are the lyrics:
(Verse)
Since I started for the kingdom
Since my life he controls
Since I gave my life to Jesus, The longer I serve him the sweeter He grows.
(Chorus)
The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows
The more that I love Him
More love He bestows
Each day like heaven, my heart overflows
The longer I serve Him the sweeter He grows
(Verse)
Every need He is supplying
Plenteous grace He bestows
Every day my way gets brighter
The longer I serve Him the sweeter He grows
A very touching fact about this song is that it was based on something Bill Gaither’s grandmother said just before she passed away.
Bill was talking to her about her life and her relationship with the Lord and asked her if it had all been worth it. Among her last words, was her answer: “The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows.”
You see, for people like my grandmother and Bill’s grandmother, their relationship with the Lord had been a beautiful lifelong experience of growing in the grace of God.
“You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.”
II Peter 3:17-18 NKJV
Indeed, over the course of coming to better know the Lord, our trust in Him becomes unwavering, as we more and more come to appreciate the fullness of His glory.
Today we find Moses, in his song to the Lord, talking about the fact that the Lord was not only his strength and his song, but had become his salvation. He saw firsthand the miracle power of God working on his behalf and recognized the “becoming” aspect of our relationship with God.
Notice, after making the statement about the Lord becoming his salvation, Moses says that the Lord is his God and the God of his father.
Think of it, as it should be with all of us, as great as this moment with the Lord had been, as great as the Lord had been in the days of his father, Moses’ relationship with the Lord was always getting richer, and, yes, sweeter.
For today let us discover what Moses discovered:
The longer we serve Him, the sweeter He grows.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Apr 3
- 4 min read
“Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them, and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.””
Exodus 15:23-26 NKJV
The healing power of God has always been something I have recognized and sought after as far back as I can remember. Indeed, my very life and intellect is a testimony to the Lord‘s healing power.
I have seen time and again the Lord do miracles of healing—not only in my life—but in the lives of those with whom I have shared paths along the way.
I shared some of these testimonials on Day 17; but they bear repeating today.
When I was a young girl there was a woman in my father’s church who developed end-stage cirrhosis of the liver. She ended up in the hospital where they were trying to keep her comfortable, expecting the worst. The physician attending her said that her liver was blown up and hard as a football. She had been delivered from alcoholism by the Lord but her body still bore the damage of the years of abuse. My father went to the hospital to pray for her and he felt the power of God come into that room.
The next time she was examined, something miraculous had happened. Upon doing further tests to determine what was going on with her, the physician proclaimed that she had experienced a miracle; her liver was now like that of a young girl.
Another case of miraculous healing involved a very dear member of my father’s church who had a distended gallbladder and was in great distress. He was a very large man and the prospects for a successful surgery were not particularly good (this was before gallbladder surgery was performed laparoscopically). My father prayed for him and felt that the Lord healed him. When his surgery began, and they had opened him to the point where they could see into where the gallbladder was, to their astonishment, the gallbladder was gone. The doctor testified that it looked as though a laser had cut the gallbladder out. He showed my father and this man’s wife pictures of the x-ray before surgery showing a gallbladder distended with gallstones even into the duct; the other x-ray showed no gallbladder. Now, for the doubter, I’m sure this story sounds made up. But as God is my witness, this story is true, as is the one above.
Recently, the Lord has brought the topic of His healing power back to me, encouraging me to look further into this topic. He reminded me of this scripture:
“For the law of the Spirit of life [which is] in Christ Jesus [the law of our new being] has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”
Romans 8:2 AMP
In 1908, John G. Lake was ministering to bubonic plague victims in Africa. The physicians who came to help, warned him that he needed to wear protective gear when dealing with the sick people. He refused to do so. When asked why he wouldn’t wear the protective gear, he quoted the above scripture. He then challenged them to take some of the foam from a victim’s lung (which lived a while after the victim was deceased) and let him hold it in his hand while they looked at it under a microscope. He told them that they would find that it would die in his hand. When they did what he said, and observed that what he said would happen, happened, they expressed great astonishment. He answered their astonishment with the statement, “That is the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus.”
Today we find Moses dealing with thirsty multitudes and bitter water. After having followed the Lord’s instructions to throw the tree into the water, the water was made sweet, and the people were able to drink it. Within this context, the Lord made the promise to the people that if they would follow after Him diligently, He would keep them from experiencing the diseases they had seen come upon the Egyptians. The Lord then informs them, “I am the Lord Who heals you.” We find the Lord later repeating this promise to the children of Israel further into their journey:
“So you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you. No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.”
Exodus 23:25-26 NKJV
Make no mistake, the Lord can and does heal. But, that healing comes within the context of faith in the newness of life, coming only through Christ Jesus. Indeed, it is His new life in us that makes our healing possible!
Although I am not against medication and medical intervention, both of which have their place, I will warn that trying to medicate an issue manifesting in the physical body, but originating in one’s spirit, is a fool’s errand.
We must seek the Lord in times of physical distress to receive His instruction in terms of what our course of action should be.
Particularly, we must become aware when the problem manifesting in our body, or emotions, and so on, have their origin in something gone wrong in our spirit. In those cases, the spiritual sickness MUST be dealt with before the physical and/or psychological manifestations can be truly cured.
For today let us discover what Moses discovered:
The Lord is our Healer.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Apr 2
- 4 min read
“Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and spoke, saying: “I will sing to the Lord, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!”
Exodus 15:1 NKJV
I was about 18 months old when I sang my first solo in church. The song was, “Then I met the Master” (Mosie Lister). Here are the lyrics:
(Verse)
Like a babe when it cries for it's mother. Like a child I was helpless, alone. Then I met the Master. Now I am one of His own.
(Chorus)
For all things were changed when He found me. A new day broke through all around me.
For I met the Master.
Now I belong to Him
(Verse)
Like a blind man who walks in the darkness, I had longed, I had searched for the light.
Then I met the Master. Now I walk no more in the night.
I list the lyrics to this song because it describes the awesome miracle of transformation that comes at the revelation of Jesus Christ in the heart of every believer. As well, I list the lyrics because this song is very important to me, having marked the beginning of decades of singing for the Lord.
I sang with my whole family from time to time beginning when I was about 3 or 4 years old. Then, when I was 7 years old, my mother and father started their own church and I became a regular part of a trio with my sister and brother. I have continued to minister to the Lord—and to His people—in song since that time.
I have sung at times when it took every bit of strength I had to get the notes out. I have sung with tears of sorrow running down my cheeks. I have sung within the context of great stress. But through all of this, I have found that the Lord loves it when we sing to Him.
Several years back I was struggling with my voice. In fact, having sung for so long, from such a young age, I had actually nearly blown out my vocal cords.
During this time, as I was singing the part of a song that goes: “May I be a sweet, sweet sound in Your ears,” I spoke from my heart to the Lord, saying, “This could not be a sweet sound in Your ears.”
The Lord immediately responded, “You do not hear what I hear.” I can’t even describe what a wonderful comfort it is to know that the Lord listens to us with ears that hear beyond our weakness and our struggle.
I regret every time that I may have sung from a heart looking away to my own agenda, distracted by my own “drama.”
Our songs to the Lord should have nothing to do with self-pity, or for that matter, self-aggrandizement, but rather pouring from a heart fixed on our faithful Father.
Yes, our songs to the Lord should come from the overflow of a heart so thankful and overwhelmed with the goodness and faithfulness of God, that words alone do not suffice; the words must take flight on the vehicle of singing.
Did you know that we are actually commanded to sing to the Lord? That’s right, it’s not just for worship leaders. As a matter of fact, whereas the word “sing,” in some form or another, is mentioned around 400 times in the Bible, at least 50 of those times are in the form of a command.
Additionally, the longest book in the Bible (Psalms) is a song book!
As well, we are instructed to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, in the New Testament (Ephesians 5:19, Colossians 3:16).
Indeed, Paul and Silas were singing to the Lord when He brought a jailbreak!
“But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.”
Acts 16:25-26 NKJV
Today we find Moses singing a wonderful song about the goodness of God as demonstrated in the Red Sea miracle. As a point of interest, this song of Moses is echoed in the psalms. For example, we find this in Psalms 106:
“The waters covered their enemies; There was not one of them left. Then they believed His words; They sang His praise.”
Psalms 106:11-12 NKJV
In the Book of Revelation we see the song of Moses still being sung at the end of days!
“And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints! Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, For Your judgments have been manifested.””
Revelation 15:2-4 NKJV
Moses was special to the Lord and I believe that his song set the standard for all songs to the Lord going forward.
Now, you may not feel like singing.
You may not think that you’re a very good singer. Indeed, you may not be a good singer. But the Lord—as He expressed to me—hears your heart.
You may feel that you have nothing to sing about. But the miracle of our own life and the mercy of God Who has made a way for us to be saved from destruction, is always a reason to sing.
Make no mistake, your song matters to the Lord.
Again, when we sing to the Lord, He hears more than the vibrations that hit an eardrum; He hears our heart. And—in our songs—we speak directly back to His heart. To use a line from another song: “Now my soul begins to sing out, back to the source from which it came.”
For today let us discover what Moses discovered:
The Lord loves our songs to Him.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!