It is one of the most popular Christian praise and worship songs of all time in the whole world. For many, it is the one song that defined pastor Darlene Zschech’s place in the world under the eyes of God for it is undeniable that it helped lead people to Him. The song described is none other than Shout to the Lord, released in 1993 by Hillsong as part of their album Simply Worship with words and music done by Darlene Zschech.
It is a very beautiful song that always succeeds in making people realize their true purpose under God which leads them to Him, motivates them to praise and thank Him more and ultimately move on with Christian living. Shout to the Lord is sung by millions of churchgoers every week and is unsurprisingly the favorite of many Christian churches for Sunday worship. Now let’s take a look at the lyrics of this famously powerful Christian song.
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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 hands
Forever I’ll love You
Forever I’ll stand
Nothing compares to
The promise I have in You
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As seen in the above lyrics, Shout to the Lord is not about merely shouting to Him but rather praising Him out loud not for a moment but with a will to keep praising without ever giving up. The lyrics opened with references to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who was sent by God to us here on Earth (refer to John 3: 16) and paid the price for our redemption. Of course, Jesus went on to return back to life and spent some time with His believers before ascending to Heaven with the promise of returning to us.
Back to the song, there are powerful lines such as All of my days, I want to praise in the opening. The next section in the lyrics has Never cease to worship You while the next section has Shout to the Lord, All the earth let us sing as powerful lines.
There is basis for the song within the Holy Bible. Let’s start with this holy scripture.
Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures all generations.
Psalm 100: 1-5 (NKJV)
That holy scripture emphasizes that we the creations of God (certainly not idols) are welcome to enter His presence express ourselves to Him with dynamic praise which includes happiness, singing, thanksgiving, worshiping and honoring Him. Because we are so occupied with daily living, duties and social responsibilities, we Christians sometimes forget to approach the Lord with high energy, deep appreciation and strong confidence.
We are supposed to be strong, happy and excited to praise God always and this is reflected in the line I sing for joy in the song. As Christians who got saved by the Lord, we no longer live in darkness for we are already citizens of His kingdom, the kingdom of light! We are supposed to be lively spiritually and even while living in the flesh.
Here’s the next holy scripture.
Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it! Shout, you lower parts of the earth; Break forth into singing, you mountains. O forest, and every tree in it! For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, And glorified Himself in Israel.
Isaiah 44: 23 (NKJV)
As children of God, we should always acknowledge His works on overcoming evil, saving more unsaved and lost souls. We acknowledge to the Lord not by merely thanking Him but praising Him with happiness, thankfulness and honor. For every victory of the Lord, we have real reasons to celebrate with singing and shouting joy. The song Shout to the Lord reflects that especially with the lyrics Praise to the King, Mountains bow down, And the seas will roar, At the sound of Your Name.
As Christians who are faithful (not religious, not idolatrous and not trapped by relics, traditions and rituals) and peaceful thanks to Jesus’ redemption, we have every reason to be very lively in worshiping the Lord. We should not allow others to silence us from shouting praise and joy to the Lord even though they prefer silence (or that they prefer their tradition of less lively worship not knowing or ignoring what was written in the Holy Bible). This brings me to the next holy scripture.
And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD: “For He is good, For His Mercy endures forever toward Israel.” Then all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, and because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.
Ezra 3: 11 (NKJV)
The great shout in Ezra 3: 11 refers to God’s followers shouting loudly by voice along with the blast of trumpets expressing praise and giving thanks. The shout was also victorious in nature. Now we can proceed to one more holy scripture.
Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.
Psalm 98: 4 (NKJV)
The above scripture’s first lines are very similar to the following lines from Shout to the Lord: Shout to the Lord, All the earth let us sing. Did Darlene Zschech take direct inspiration from Psalm 98: 4 when she composed Shout to the Lord? That I’d like to find out from her someday.
In closing this piece, here are two YouTube videos of Shout to the Lord performed by Darlene Zschech when she was much younger and from several years ago. Remember to always praise, honor and thank the Lord in a very lively manner. Study His Word (the Holy Bible) and pray in tongues to Him always. Be led by the Holy Spirit! Enjoy!
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Christmas is always truly about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the King of Kings. He was born thousands of years ago and His earthly mother Mary served as God’s chosen instrument to conceive and carry Him. As we the faithful already know, Jesus went on to spread God’s message to others, taught many meaningful and holy lessons, provided the best guidance and, ultimately, He suffered and died to redeem humanity entirely. Jesus came back from the dead and made His presence felt to many witnesses before finally ascending to Heaven with a promise that He will return.
As I personally witnessed and experienced in life, the celebration of Christmas, at least here in the Philippines, is not too focused on Jesus Himself. This is because others are distracted by earthly developments, social trends, the Internet, selfishness, materialism, covetousness and other factors.
For one thing, idolatry, which I previously explained is a sin as recorded in the Holy Bible, continues to keep people away from Jesus when celebrating Christmas. There are still a lot of people out there who instantly think of Santa Claus instead of Lord Jesus whenever Christmas is discussed. Look at all those paintings, drawings, decorations, statues and other visual forms of Santa Claus, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, the elves and the like which many believe in. Idolatry’s menace is still present during the Christmas season. Christmas is all about Lord Jesus who is real and alive above us, high up in Heaven. Santa Claus and the related characters are all just pieces of fantasy!
There is also the distraction that comes with financial bonuses, the free meals and drinks served during Christmas parties, the dancing, the music, the gifts (which are often linked with Santa Claus), the Christmas-themed movies, the video games, the out-of-town vacations and the like. All those enjoyable elements should not be viewed as the main purpose of Christmas but rather as blessings from God who is the source of blessings, happiness, prosperity and opportunities. It’s okay to enjoy gifts and riches but always remember the Lord and thank Him for them.
Making the celebration of Christmas meaningless, hollow and complicated is secularism. Already secularism distorted many people’s ways of celebrating the season of Christ by excluding Him, by brainwashing people to express “Xmas” (or “X’mas”) instead of “Christmas”, and by making people focus on gift-giving as the main purpose of the Lord’s season instead of celebrating His birth. Be mindful that secularism, atheism and other forms of resistance or denial towards the Lord lead to unbelief.
And then there is also the presence of religion which really hinders people from being faithful to the Lord by deceiving them into practicing idolatry (true Christianity means worshiping God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit mainly and directly), practicing religious traditions (which take people away from the Holy Bible), being burdened by the many man-made rules of religion, and doing things that involve little or nothing about God’s Word (the Holy Bible) at all! As if these were not bad enough, the so-called leaders of the hierarchy of religion-driven churches wield tremendous power over the people who don’t realize they have been trapped by religion (and were even manipulated to worship those so-called leaders). Lastly, religion also hinders people from easily realizing the truth about celebrating Christmas.
With these things expressed, I would like to help you realize that Christmas is truly all about Lord Jesus, nothing else and nobody else! Please pay close attention to the following scriptures from the Holy Bible.
For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace,
Isaiah 9:6 (NKJV)
Isaiah 9:6 emphasizes peace and Christlikeness. Peace comes from God (read Romans 1: 7) and is evidence of the rule of the Messiah whose character as the Prince of Peace waits to instill the settledness of His own rule in our souls. To be faithful to the Lord requires repentance, submission and becoming born again (refer to Jesus’ own words in John 3: 3) which includes living in holiness with Lord Jesus as the one to follow. Christianity involves faithfulness, absorbing and understanding God’s Word (the Holy Bible is the ultimate authority and nothing else comes close), doing God’s Word (applying it in our lives) and living the Christian way no matter how chaotic our world is and matter how many people will challenge or harm us (all the more reason to remain faithful with the Lord).
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.
2 Corinthians 8:9 (NKJV)
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:8 (NKJV)
2 Corinthians 8:9 emphasizes that the greatest and most inspiring example of generosity is the grace of Lord Jesus. His richness does not refer to material wealth during His time living in the flesh, rather it is recognition of His eternal status as Lord of both Heaven and Earth. Lord Jesus became poor through the total giving of Himself in the incarnation and the Crucifixion (refer to Philippians 2:5-8). That scripture shows how much Jesus would give and how far He went to lift people up. Contrary to the teachings of some practitioners of religion (who were even worshipped by people trapped by religion), the Lord does not want His faithful children to be trapped with poverty while living in the flesh. Continuing further, 2 Corinthians 9: 8 is about God’s ability to meet all the faithful children’s needs (spiritual, financial, and others) and increase their resources so that they can meet their needs. As mentioned earlier, God is the definitive source we the faithful must always look up to and continue to thank and honor Him in return. It is the Lord (not those idols and not people) who rewards the faithful abundantly!
This brings me to the next holy scripture with the words of Lord Jesus Himself. This one is very true and undeniable!
And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.
Revelations 22:12 (NKJV)
I love those words from Lord Jesus who truly loves us. We the faithful each have a personal relationship with God and that relationship is strictly off-limits to everyone else (not even the head of any over-sized religion-driven church has the right to intervene in a Christian’s personal relationship with God). At the same time, God made plans for each and every one of us and that includes assignments or tasks that He will assign to you and me. After doing the assigned tasks we got, the Lord will reward us according to the work we each fulfilled. Don’t expect the exact same reward, expect the proportionate reward and only the Lord knows the values of each task He assigns to us. The Lord knows best! Remember this whenever you think of Christmas – that Jesus was born to not only save us from sin but also to reward each and every faithful Christian who performed the assigned tasks from Him.
But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God–and righteousness and sanctification and redemption–
1 Corinthians 1:30 (NKJV)
1 Corinthians 1:30 is about righteousness, sanctification and redemption. Righteousness is God’s judicial determination to right every wrong and His gift to the guilty which removes all condemnation and puts them in a state of justification (including full acquittal from all charges made against them). Sanctification is about the need for cleansing from pollution and this includes renewal by the power of the Holy Spirit which allows acceptable living before God, and points to our ultimate perfection in His presence. Redemption speaks of freedom and final deliverance from all aspects of sin, including the resurrection of the body.
Are you still a sinner? Do you believe that the real-world justice system has been corrupted and blind to you? Look up to God, Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit instead! It is never too late for sinners to become born again (to be saved), dedicate themselves to the Lord and live not only a new life but a holier life. Never forget that true redemption is from the Lord! Jesus was born into our world as the Redeemer! Jesus defeated Satan and He also saved humanity which suffered a lot since Adam rebelled towards God.
Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go.”
Isaiah 48:17 (NKJV)
Not only is Jesus the Redeemer, He is also God in the flesh! Instead of making our own plans (which lead to selfishness, covetousness and other unholy elements in life) thinking of pulling God to make them come true, we should do instead is submit to the Lord and repent, let the Holy Spirit come into our hearts (this is part of becoming born again) and let the Lord guide us and lead us. We in turn must follow the plan God made for each and every one of us. Those plans were made by Him even before we each got created.
Speaking of plans from Him, we each need the Holy Spirit. Take note of the following scriptures.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go to pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.
Jeremiah 29:11-14 (NKJV)
Verse 11 emphasizes that God indeed punishes His people in order to restore them to a proper relationship with Him. While there is hope for sinners to reform themselves to be good (righteousness and holiness), the sinners who are truly wicked and always deliberately sin for their own agenda (or keep doing the work for Satan) and satisfaction (examples: covetousness, greed, murder, destruction, lying, idolatry) will truly be punished by the Lord (refer to Psalm 94:23, Psalm 83:17, 1 Timothy 6:9, Jude 1:10, Psalm 28:5 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-10). All the more reason to be repent, submit to God and become born again (John 3: 3). Verses 12, 13 and 14 are about seeking the Lord who truly listens and responds (with action) to the prayers of those who are faithful to Him. To realize Jeremiah 29: 11-14 in your life, you need to have the Holy Spirit (receive Jesus in you) and live in holiness. Being born again means leaving your old sinful life behind and live on as a new creation of the Lord. Live in holiness with faith, not religion and not unbelief. Going back to remembering Lord Jesus for Christmas, always also remember His Holiness.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be gloried in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwels with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”
John 14:12-18 (NKJV)
Those words from Lord Jesus are truly powerful and undeniable. Verse 12 refers to His earthly ministry that lasted only a few years. However, after the Resurrection and Pentecost, Jesus’ ministry was and continues to be multiplied through Spirit-empowered believers. We the faithful have work to do that includes preaching the gospel, resulting the blessings of justification, reconciliation, and the gift of the Holy Spirit coming to humankind. These are post-Resurrection manifestations of the reign of Lord Jesus. Verse 13 is about prayer offered in Jesus’ name in accordance with His revealed nature and purpose, complete with the full weight of His authority backing it. Verse 15 and 16 clearly shows that our love for Him should always come with following His commandments, and Jesus will pray to God the Father who will respond by sending another Helper (the Holy Spirit, also referred to in John 14: 26) to us as we, who live here on Earth, wait for His return. Verse 17 is a reminder that there are a whole lot of people who do not believe nor understand the Lord, and therefore they cannot relate with the beliefs of faithful Christians. This is about the many unsaved souls and lost souls who dwell all over the Earth, the many who don’t realize their true purposes under God. Verse 18 is about Jesus referring to His coming and in the Person of the Holy Spirit. For as long as we believe in Jesus, God the Father and the Holy Spirit, we the faithful will not be abandoned.
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
John 14:26 (NKJV)
Those words by Lord Jesus goes back to Verse 16 of John chapter 14 with regards to the Helper from God which is the Holy Spirit. This particular verse goes further explaining that the Holy Spirit will teach the faithful Christian what to say yes to (acceptance) and what to say no to (denial). Instead of relying on our own thinking, we the faithful should allow the Holy Spirit to teach and guide us, and remember to always enforce the boundaries that the Lord gave us. With the Lord as our ultimate teacher and guide, nothing and nobody else comes close! Don’t be misled by the idolaters and other sinners, always follow the Holy Spirit in you! Pray for the unsaved souls and lost souls that they will realize their true purpose under God and willingly decide to return to Him with repentance and submission. The unsaved and the lost don’t realize it yet but they really need the Holy Spirit and God’s Word, and they also need to be born again. Religion, idolatry and unbelief have kept them away from the Lord for so long.
“Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”
Jeremiah 33:3 (NKJV)
Jeremiah 33:3 reminds us that God is open to anyone who seeks Him and His guidance. As such, with all the many activities happening during the Christmas holiday (partying, feasting, shopping spree, out-of-town vacations and the like), we must always make time for the Holy Spirit. This also means making time to pray to the Lord, reading the Holy Bible and continue to implement the many holy lessons into our respective lives. This is about living in holiness in a world that has been screwed up and divided.
In concluding this, I embedded below videos of Christian praise-and-worship songs that strongly emphasize the Lord. They are not exactly Christmas-themed songs but they are still great to worship the Lord with.
I wish you all a Merry Christmas! Remember that no matter what happens around you, always make time for the Holy Spirit. Enjoy the Christmas holidays but never leave and never forget about Lord Jesus. Remember to always praise, honor and thank the Lord forever.
Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Also my fantasy book The World of Havenoris still available in paperback and e-book format. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me as well. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me at HavenorFantasy@twitter.com
God is our creator, our father and our source. The Lord is our provider (Jehova-Jireh) as it was written in Genesis 22: 14 in the Holy Bible: And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”
Truly the Lord is the ultimate source of opportunities, blessings, progress, prosperity and so much more. God makes His way through the world’s economic systems to provide us with the money and other essential resources we need to survive and grow.
Ultimately, in return to receiving provisions from Him, we the creations of God are meant to thank Him in return deeply.
This brings me to a wonderful Christian praise-and-worship song that was played at our church by the very talented band – Thank You, Lord.
Thank You, Lord is a song from the Hillsong Worship album “God Is In The House” which was released way back in 1996. It was written by Dennis Jernigan. Below are the lyrics.
For all that You’ve done, I will thank You
For all the You’re going to do
For all that You’ve promised
And all that You are
Is all that has carried me through
Jesus I thank You
–
And I thank You
Thank You Lord
And I thank You
Thank You Lord
–
Thank You for loving and setting me free
Thank You for giving Your life just for me
How I thank You
Jesus I thank You
Gratefully thank You thank You
It is truly a very beautiful song and a very ideal song to sing when thanking the Lord at church. Beyond the beauty of it, it is important to take note of the key parts of the lyrics.
Here’s a look at the opening section of the lyrics.
For all that You’ve done, I will thank You
For all the You’re going to do
For all that You’ve promised
And all that You are
Is all that has carried me through
Jesus I thank You
That section reminds me of the holy message in Psalm 107: 8-9 (NKJV) which goes as follows:
Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He satisfies the longing soul, And fills the hungry soul with goodness.
In reality, God created us all to worship Him and serve Him while living our personal lives with holiness under Him. He did not create us to be evil. As His creations, we are not meant to be consumed by poverty, darkness and frustration. For as long as we are faithful to the Lord, He will take care of us and provide for our needs in ways that go beyond our understanding while we live in the flesh. God always keeps His promises and we all have to be patient for the promise to be fulfilled because whatever turns out is always worth the wait for it came from Him.
As we are blessed and loved by Him, we should give thanks. Look at this scripture from Psalm 95: 2-3 (NKJV).
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the LORD is the great God, And the King above all gods!
God is great and the ultimate provider, the ultimate father and the ultimate justice! He is always the greatest no matter where you live in and no matter how many deities or idols there are in the culture of the place you live in. If we resort to idolatry worshiping people, the false gods or whatever, life will be hollow, sad and filled with darkness. But with God, we will be blessed and taken cared of by Him for as long as we remain faithful to Him. God is real and He is watching us all. All the more reason for us to thank God, give back to Him and honor Him! The above scripture relates well with the song’s line: For all that You’ve done, I will thank You.
Now let’s take a look at the scripture in 1 Chronicles 16: 34 (NKJV).
Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
God is not only the ultimate provider, He is also very generous and kind to the faithful ones. It is a fact that the Lord rewards the faithful abundantly. The mention of His mercy enduring forever is related to His forgiving of those who repented to Him and submitted themselves to His authority. This alone is another great reason we have to be thankful to Him.
Going back to the song Thank You, Lord, you can clearly see now why it is a great and holy song to perform when thanking God for the love, the care and provisions He blessed us with in return for being faithful to Him.
Of course, while you are free to enjoy His blessings, don’t be too focused on yourself (avoid covetousness, greed, selfishness and the like) and never let your wants dominate you. Being blessed, remind yourself to give something back to Him (note: at least 10% of your income through tithing) and become a blessing to others. Without God, none of the blessings would happen and our existence would have been hollow.
In closing this piece, watch below the official Hillsong YouTube video of their 1996 performance of Thank You, Lord.
Enjoy it and always be faithful and thankful to the Lord!
Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Also my fantasy book The World of Havenoris still available in paperback and e-book format. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me as well. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me at HavenorFantasy@twitter.com
For other Christian Music Appreciation articles related to Hillsong, click the highlighted below.
In my old life, I used to be fond of celebrating Halloween. Having been Born Again, I realized my true purpose in life under God the Father and His Son Jesus. That being said, I realized how wrong it is to celebrate Halloween which is essentially evil and unholy for any Christian (including those who practice idolatry which itself is sinful). Halloween will take Christians away from the Lord and that alone is reason enough to reject it.
Halloween’s origin is Celtic by nature and it is connected with observing the sacrifices to gods under the Druidic culture. There is also Samhain, a dark lord who sends out evil souls to attack humans who try to save themselves by wearing disguises with the images of those very evil souls.
Sounds familiar? It is because there are these modern day Halloween practices that are linked to the evil rites and superstitions of Halloween. In the modern world where Halloween gets celebrated, people (including many children) go out and around their local communities wearing costumes of horror figures like zombies, demons, monsters and pop culture-related villains (examples: Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers). These costumed Halloween participants, looking horrific, would visit any household that offers candy for trick-or-treat. Wearing “non-horror” costumes like superhero attire or fantasy attire (example: dressed like a princess) does NOT reduce the evil that comes with Halloween. There is no such thing as an innocent way of celebrating Halloween.
And then there are those multimedia-related ways of celebrating Halloween like watching horror movies back to back or playing video games that carry strong horror themes. There is also the business aspect of Halloween as food retailers promote the season by linking it with selling candy and chocolate (clearly to take advantage of families or groups that intend to give away the sweets during trick-or-treat Halloween celebrations in the local communities).
Halloween trick-or-treat here in the Philippines even made its way to local government units. In October of 2016 and 2017, the City Government of Parañaque organized trick-or-treat at City Hall which attracted kids wearing costumes (including horror and superhero attire) who visited varied offices that give away candy. During those times, the City Government even organized special events at the nearby city sports complex celebrating Halloween which I find rather disturbing.
In my old life, I enjoyed celebrating Halloween and I used to ignore the claims that it was unholy and evil. While I never went out for trick-or-treat as a kid, I helped out in giving candy to costumed visitors. I also hiked around the local area photographing the Halloween activities flocked by participants, and then uploading those pics online for social media users to view. I also took time celebrating Halloween by watching horror movies.
Looking back, I honestly admit that celebrating Halloween was indeed wrong. Now that I’m a saved soul and a dedicated Christian with a living relationship with the Lord, I declare that Halloween is wrong, unholy and evil. Halloween is a popular tool used by Satan to take people away from God and Jesus. Halloween definitely should be rejected always and we Christians must always be with God. Let me discuss the following points.
“Is it okay for a Christian to celebrate Halloween?”
The answer is a definite NO. Let’s take a look at the Holy Scripture below.
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons.
1 Corinthians 10:21 (NKJV)
And now the Amplified version.
You cannot drink [both] the Lord’s cup and the cup of demons. You cannot share in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons [thereby becoming partners with them].
1 Corinthians 10:21 (AMP)
Very clearly, there is no room to worship both the Lord and evil. If you want to be with the side of God and Jesus, you really need to purify yourself and free yourself from whatever form of evil thrown at you by Satan. Satan is a loser indeed, however he still exists because Adam gave him dominion (read about Adam’s Rebellion) and as long as he exists, he will do anything to take you away from God, to prevent you from worshiping the Lord and will use anything (including religion and idolatry) to prevent you from making progress with the Lord. Halloween is one of Satan’s weapons against Christianity. Halloween is also a long-time tool of the enemy to embrace evil.
If you sinned by celebrating Halloween and committing other sinful acts in your past, you can still be saved (note: you need to be born again to be saved. Heed the words of Jesus in John 3:3) because God is merciful and you need to be willing to repent, submit to Him and dedicate yourself to Him with an established personal relationship with Him.
Be aware that goodness comes from God and evil comes from Satan. It’s as clear as night and day. If you are a saved soul, then it is clear you should stand with God and His Son Jesus. Being dedicated to the Lord will spare you from evil, and that takes willingness and decisiveness from your end.
Learn from this Holy Scripture.
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:1-10 (NKJV)
Each and every one of us was created to be loyal, faithful, loving and dedicated towards our Heavenly Father God and His Son Lord Jesus even as we were granted the freedom to think, act and decide. Even before we were even made, God established a plan for each and every one of us. Worshiping Satan, embracing evil, celebrating Halloween and living a life full sin and wickedness are obviously NOT part of God’s plan for us all.
By realizing the true purpose of your existence under God, you will realize that it is your destiny to be saved and to be faithful (not religious) to the Lord. Satan used a whole lot of tools to prevent God’s creations from being with Him. Satan used not only Halloween but also religion, idolatry, money, power, destruction, secularism, atheism, agnosticism, Marxism, socialism, Communism, Leftism, entertainment and a whole batch of other tools to bring Christians down and make evil stronger.
Going back to Halloween, that celebration of evil includes witchcraft which is an abomination! In our world, it is too easy for people to go out wearing costumes to look like witches and this alone spreads the influence of evil around. There are also filmmakers and other creative people out there who made witchcraft look cool or even a good custom to practice. The 1996 Hollywood movie The Craft is one such example of spreading Satan’s influence to the public and I personally recommend to you readers to avoid watching that movie (note: destroy whatever physical or digital copies you have of it) at all. In addition, I urge you to avoid spending your hard-earned money on such evil, and that means boycotting promotional products of Halloween and anything related to evil. Witchcraft and related stuff like sorcery, necromancy and magic are abominations as written in the Holy Bible. Read the Holy Scripture below.
“When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you.”
Deuteronomy 18:9-12
Those abominations that look good in entertainment media are all made to deceive you and prevent you from achieving progress and purity with the Lord. From time to time, there are media reports about real life people who practice witchcraft, sorcery and other unholy customs that make this world a terrible place under the eyes of God. That is, obviously, very unfortunate because it proves how screwed up our physical world really is.
Even appearances can add to the influence of evil. You think going out in local community Halloween celebrations dressed as a witch, or as a magician or as a sorcerer (or even cosplaying as Marvel’s Doctor Strange) is okay with the Lord for as long as you don’t practice witchcraft and the like? Wrong! Imagery or appearances of evil spread evil and deceives others. Such imagery also will influence people to embrace idolatry which itself is a sin. Already there are many people who not only celebrate Halloween (Satan’s festival) but also idolized evil figures like the Jack-O-lantern, Dracula, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger and more. Idolaters will not inherit the kingdom of God! Very clearly, idolatry is unholy! Learn from the scripture below.
Surely you must know that people who practice evil cannot possess God’s kingdom realm. Stop being deceived! People who continue to engage in sexual immorality, idolatry, adultery, sexual perversion, homosexuality, fraud, greed, drunkenness, verbal abuse, or extortion—these will not inherit God’s kingdom realm.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (TPT)
Rejecting Halloween Effectively
You might be wondering: how are we Christians supposed to reject Halloween and its evil effectively?
First, we must realize our purpose as Christians from the following Holy Scripture.
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in this world.
1 John 4:4 (NKJV)
And the Amplified version…
Little children (believers, dear ones), you are of God and you belong to Him and have [already] overcome them [the agents of the antichrist]; because He who is in you is greater than he (Satan) who is in the world [of sinful mankind].
1 John 4:4 (AMP)
With that Holy Scripture in two versions, it is clear that as children of God, we are victorious for we believe in the victory of Jesus over Satan. With God on our side, nothing is impossible and we have the power to reject fear, reject evil and reject Satan ultimately. It is by faith in the Lord, not religion and not idolatry, that Christians are special and holy. Stronger than Satan too.
With God on our side, Halloween’s global popularity can be wiped away and its influence of evil on others can be removed and be replaced with the goodness and the biblical truth emphasizing the holiness and victory of Jesus.
If you are looking for practical ways to reject Halloween (and Satan), I would suggest the following:
Instead of watching horror movies or anything that carries the influence of evil, go watch YouTube videos of Christian praise-and-worship songs like the following below.
Instead of going out on Halloween trick-or-treat, pray to the Lord in your room with the door shut (refer to Matthew 6:6 in the Holy Bible) and be aware that in this way, the Lord is in a secret place and when He sees in secret, you will be rewarded openly. If your church is open or has a holy activity at the same time as Halloween is being held on October 31, make an effort to go to church with the Lord in mind.
Instead of looking at evil images or reading materials that are related to Halloween, better read the Holy Bible or a Christian book.
Christian books that you must read.
By now, it is clear that as Christians we must always maintain strong faith, trust and dedication to God and His Son Jesus. It also means we must be pure in holiness and there definitely is no room for us to accommodate evil in all its forms. As such, Halloween must be rejected always and its evil presence only means we must persevere more to meet God’s high call. We are all God’s creations and He made plans for each and every one of us even before we were even created. Obviously we were NOT created to worship nor magnify evil at all! We are destined to be saved (be born again) and live in holiness following Jesus. We pray to Him, serve Him, thank Him and dedicate ourselves to Him for the rest of our time.
Let me end this with one more Holy Scripture.
He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.
Colossians 1:13 (NKJV)
Thank you for reading. If you find this Christianity article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Also my fantasy book The World of Havenor is still available in paperback and e-book format. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me as well. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me at HavenorFantasy@twitter.com
Hi everyone! I got something nice to share to you in this latest edition of my Christian Music Appreciation (CMA) series.
Recently while attending Sunday worship service, our church musicians (who are very blessed by God with great talent as each of them is faithful to Him) performed a song that really engaged me and my fellow Christians. That song was The Stand.
Written by Joel Houston and released in March 2006 as part of the United We Stand album of Hillsong United, The Stand is a lively reminder that each of us was created by God. As His creations, we truly have a purpose to honor Him, serve Him, worship Him and keep on being faithful to Him. Along the way, the Lord loves us and He is so generous and merciful to us. Don’t forget how long and how much God has blessed the faithful. God is the source of all prosperity, opportunities and progress!
For your reference, here are the lyrics of The Stand.
The Stand
You stood before creation
Eternity within Your hands
And you spoke all life into motion
My soul now to stand
–
You stood before my failure
And carried the cross for my shame
My sin weighed upon Your shoulders
My soul now to stand
–
So what can I say
And what could I do
But offer this heart O God
Completely to You
–
So I’ll walk upon salvation
Your Spirit alive in me
This life to declare Your promise
My soul now to stand
–
So what can I say
What could I do
But offer this heart O God
Completely to You
–
So what could I say
And what could I do
But offer this heart O God
Completely to You
–
So I’ll stand
With arms high and heart abandoned
In awe of the One who gave it all
So I’ll stand
My soul Lord to You surrendered
All I am is Yours
–
(So I’ll stand
With arms high and heart abandoned
In awe of the One who gave it all
And I’ll stand
My soul Lord to You surrendered
All I am is Yours)
–
So I’ll stand
With arms high and heart abandoned
In awe of the One who gave it all
And I’ll stand
My soul Lord to You surrendered
All I am is Yours (Oh Lord I will stand)
–
So I’ll stand
With arms high and heart abandoned
In awe of the One who gave it all
I’ll stand
My soul Lord to You surrendered
All I am is Yours
–
So I’ll stand
(With arms high and heart abandoned
In awe of the One who gave it all
I’ll stand
My soul Lord to You surrendered
All I am is Yours)
–
So what could I say
And what could I do
But offer this heart O God
Completely to You
Before the song was played during Sunday worship, the Passion Translation of Romans 12: 1 was displayed on screen and emphasized by the lead singer of the service. It read:
Beloved friends, what should be our proper response to God’s marvelous mercies? I encourage you to surrender yourselves to God to be his sacred, living sacrifices. And live in holiness, experiencing all that delights his heart. For this becomes your genuine expression of worship.
This particular holy scripture is related with the lyrics of The Stand. Truly, we should humble ourselves and submit to Him. We who have been saved should not let ourselves be dominated by religion and its idols (note: do not worship people, images, those carved figures and many other elements that keep you away from the Lord) so that our respective personal relationships with Him will not be affected negatively. Each and every one us should be mindful as to why God created us and we really have a purpose to live in holiness under Him.
Those who are unsaved (or even lost as souls) can be saved and the good news is that there is still time for them to willingly decide to be born again. Anyone who has sinned a lot before can still surrender themselves to the Lord directly for His forgiveness and acceptance. Anyone who does not want to remain an unsaved or lost soul anymore can still reach out to Jesus and make the major decision to accept Him as Lord and Savior. Truly to be born again means becoming a new creation of the Lord with a purpose to live in holiness.
If you are already a saved soul living with the Holy Spirit in your heart, try to reach out to the many unsaved souls out there and invite them to your church to the best you can. Saving the unsaved and the lost souls is a goal worth achieving again and again all for the Lord. Those who will be saved will not enter religion (which itself is unnecessary and deceptive) but have a genuine personal relationship with God. There is more to the relationship with the Lord than religion.
Back to the song, there is a clear message about gaining salvation through God who sent us His begotten son Jesus to save us all. We all struggle with sin, temptation, frustration, darkness and challenges before realizing that we were all created by the Lord who had been watching us all the time. These were emphasized in the first three paragraph of the lyrics of The Stand.
You stood before creation
Eternity within Your hands
And you spoke all life into motion
My soul now to stand
–
You stood before my failure
And carried the cross for my shame
My sin weighed upon Your shoulders
My soul now to stand
–
So what can I say
And what could I do
But offer this heart O God
Completely to You
As I mentioned previously, Adam’s rebellion towards God recorded in the Book of Genesis marked the fall of humanity and in the many generations that followed, people struggled and sinned until Jesus came to spread the good news (as well as God’s love), died for everyone’s sins and returned from the dead. Jesus ascended to Heaven with a promise that He will return to us.
Clearly, as creations of God, we are destined to be saved and that can only be realized by believing in the Lord willingly and by practicing faith by the heart (not the mind). As I learned from our pastor, we have free will (which God gave us) and we can decide to authorize Heaven on Earth.
There is still time and hope for any unsaved soul to be born again (refer to Jesus’ words in John 3: 3 and the subsequent verses) to become a child of God, to stand with arms high and heart abandoned in awe of the Lord, and truly be His. Now that you’ve read this, I encourage you to read the Holy Bible and apply what you learned into your life, listen to The Stand and let its holy lyrics flow in you, reach out to the Lord, pray to Him always and follow His plan for you!
In concluding this article, embedded below is a YouTube video of The Stand. Enjoy this and move forward with the Lord! 😊
Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Also my fantasy book The World of Havenoris still available in paperback and e-book format. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me as well. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrascoand follow me at HavenorFantasy@twitter.com
Hello everyone! Welcome back to the latest installment of my Christian Music Appreciation (CMA) series which puts focus on songs that are not only great to listen to but are also holy and worthy of praising the Lord with.
Today, we take a close look at the song The Potter’s Hand which was released in 1998 by Hillsong Worship with words and music by the great Darlene Zschech. This is truly a beautiful song and at the same time, its lyrics are very meaningful and should make you reflect about your purpose and your existence.
Here are the lyrics…
Beautiful Lord, wonderful Savior
I know for sure all of my days are held in Your hand
And crafted into Your perfect plan
You gently called me into Your presence
Guiding me by Your Holy Spirit
Teach me dear Lord, to live all of my life
Through Your eyes
–
And I’m captured by Your Holy calling
Set me apart, I know You’re drawing me to Yourself
Lead me Lord, I pray
–
Take me
Mold me
Use me
Fill me
I give my life to the Potter’s hand
Call me
Guide me
Lead me
Walk beside me
I give my life to the Potter’s hand
–
You gently call me into Your presence
Guiding me by Your Holy Spirit
Teach me dear Lord, to live all of my life
Through Your eyes
So what does the song mean?
In my honest opinion, the clearest meaning behind the song relates to the creation of humanity done long ago by God and the purpose He prepared. In the song’s title, the word potter was used to symbolize the creator. The potter is the one who creates pots using raw materials and special skills (molding, timing, estimating, shaping, etc.). It was God, not some accidental phenomenon of science, who created the human race. As such, we need to go back to the very beginning in the Holy Bible starting with the Book of Genesis.
It was written on Genesis 1: 26-28 (NKJV):
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Take note that on verse 26, God’s words were “Our image” which turned out to be the Holy Trinity as explained in the New Testament. “Our image” most likely refers to such qualities as personality, reason and intellect along with the abilities to hear, see, speak and relate. In short, the human race was created with God’s characteristics and He really had a plan on establish the earth as a world filled with His creations that carry His traits. This truth alone is worth reflecting when we ask ourselves why God created us in the first place.
Part of humanity’s creation was for man to be God’s kingdom agent on earth. Man was meant to rule and subdue the rest of creation, including the aggressive satanic forces. God said, “let them have dominion,” which gave man the authority to execute and maintain His rules on earth. In return, it was expected that man be always obedient to Him for He is, after all, the Creator of everything. Man’s power to reign in life will extend only as far as his faithfulness to God’s law.
God’s creation of man and woman formed the foundation of the house of the Lord. Through them, He intended to manifest His character and authority, express his dominion over the earth, display His indisputable power over the works of darkness, and subdue His archenemy Satan. It was clear all along that God had plans for humanity. Those plans were created before each and every one of us were even born!
From the song was the line I know for sure all of my days are held in Your hand followed immediately by And crafted into Your perfect plan. These two lines strongly reflect what God intended when He created the human race. As such, evil human traits like racism, extremism, discrimination, killing, idolatry, unfaithfulness, destruction, rebellion and abuse are clearly wrong and completely in opposite to God’s plans for humanity.
As recorded in Genesis chapter 3, humanity failed when Eve was tempted by the serpent (the evil one) into eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil which she gave to Adam who ate it. Adam, who was specifically commanded by God to never eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2: 15-17), committed rebellion against Him which led to an enduring series of chaos (wars, genocide, fascism, murder, crime, abusive governments and the like) in our world even until now.
Generations later, God sent to us His Son Jesus. It was Jesus who performed miracles, made people aware of God’s plan and love for them, set examples in accordance to God being a just creator, and ultimately redeemed humanity from Adam’s rebellion (refer to Hebrews 2: 14-15, Romans 8: 38-39, John 11: 25, Romans 6: 3-5, Galatians 3: 13 and Revelation 20: 6).
Clearly God had planned to save the flawed human race with Jesus! His own Son was sent to not only bring hope but also give humans the good news that God cares, loves and is willing to welcome them into His kingdom…and all it took was having faith in the Lord!
Jesus, who died for people’s sins, came back from the dead, made His return felt to several people and eventually rose to Heaven, achieved the most tremendous victory for humanity through redemption. He truly is the Messiah, the Redeemer and the Son of God whom we should all be thankful, faithful and obedient to. Jesus is the one we all should look up to for all time in our lives. Jesus is also God in the flesh which alone makes it important for us to reflect upon our creation. Creation itself is what The Potter’s Hand reflects.
To truly connect with Jesus and accept Him as our Lord and Savior, it is essential to be born again (this includes receiving the Holy Spirit into your heart) and this means breaking ourselves free from the chains of religion (along with its idols, teachings and rules that hinder people from establishing relationships with God) as well as the chains of unbelief. Being religious is NOT the same as being faithful to the Lord. Christianity is not religion but a way of life complete with faithfulness and a living relationship with the Lord. There is more to the personal relationship with God than there is to religion, and this is the truth that religious people don’t realize or have refused to accept as they allowed themselves to be trapped by religion. By becoming born again and receiving His spirit, you will truly become a child of God as well as a saved soul.
Trust me. I know! In my old life, religion ultimately led me to ruin and becoming lost. I was even hostile to Christianity during my lost years. After becoming born again, I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior and then a series of positive changes plus blessings (including love) followed. Thanks to Jesus, my life has moved forward by leaps and bounds! My true purpose in life has been realized and my faith in the Lord will never fade away. I have been saved, reformed and redeemed!
As Lord and Savior, Jesus is the true reformer and redeemer for humanity. Reform to be worthy of becoming part of the Kingdom of God is only possibly by having faith in Jesus. Reform led by Jesus is way beyond what any man could ever achieve. A man living in today’s age of social media and smartphones can arrogantly present himself as a reform-minded savior (or “reformer”, a fake one at that) and attract some fans (some of whom become obsessed by his charm and even commit idolatry) by using technology but ultimately he will NEVER match the impact of Jesus! People who seek salvation don’t need idols, don’t need to worship people and don’t need religion. They need Jesus!
Remember these very powerful words Jesus said in John 3: 3 (NKJV)
“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Going back to The Potter’s Hand, take note of the following lyrics.
You gently called me into Your presence
Guiding me by Your Holy Spirit
Teach me dear Lord, to live all of my life
Through Your eyes
–
And I’m captured by Your Holy calling
Set me apart, I know You’re drawing me to Yourself
Lead me Lord, I pray
As His children, God called us and He has plans for each and every one of us since before the beginning of time. The true purpose of being Christian includes humbling ourselves, submitting ourselves to the Lord, learning and re-learning His lessons with deep dedication (this means intense learning from Him through the Holy Bible), realizing His plan for each of us, repenting our sins directly to Him, being faithful to Him, following His lead and meeting His High Call. The above lyrics symbolized these elements.
Truly God created us all with very solid purposes. By realizing our true purpose as Christians, we acknowledge the Holy Bible (not rituals, not traditions, not idolatry and not religion) is the ultimate authority as it is the true path to Lord, having faith in the Lord is sufficient for salvation, having a personal relationship with God is essential, spreading our Christian faith to help save the many unsaved souls.
All these lessons as confirmed by Holy Bible make The Potter’s Hand truly a very holy and meaningful song. As such, The Potter’s Hand is worthy of praising the Lord with, especially on Sunday worship at church.
Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Also my fantasy book The World of Havenoris still available in paperback and e-book format. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me as well. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me at HavenorFantasy@twitter.com
I love worshiping Lord Jesus and God the Father at church on Sunday worship along with our local community of very faithful and prayerful Christians. As part of our worship, our church’s musicians perform Christian songs using a combination of vocals, drums and electric guitars.
Before, I explained in detail why I love the song Happy Day which sometimes gets played at our church. There are many other Christian songs that can be admired, be enjoyed and be used to worship the Lord. One particular song that caught my attention lately is You Are Holy.
Released in July 1998 as part of the Hillsong Worship album Touching Heaven, Changing Earth, You Are Holy was written by Reuben Morgan and, to this day, many millions of Christians around the world listened to it and praised the Lord with it during Sunday worship. The late-1990s Hillsong Worship performance of it is available in video through YouTube which I recommend you watch and listen. Oh yes, Darlene Zschech‘s leading of the vocals is great.
To understand the essence of the song, posted below are the lyrics for you all.
You are holy, holy Lord there is none, like You You are holy, holy Glory to You my Lord
You are holy, holy Lord there is none, like You You are holy, holy Glory to You my Lord
I sing Your praises forever Deeper in love with You Here in Your courts Where I’m close to Your throne I’ve found where I belong
I sing Your praises forever Deeper in love with You Here in Your courts Where I’m close to Your throne I’ve found where I belong
You are holy, holy Lord there is none, like You You are holy, holy Glory to You my Lord
And I sing Your praises forever Deeper in love with You Here in Your courts Where I’m close to Your throne I’ve found where I belong
The lyrics clearly emphasize holiness, praising the Lord, glorifying Him, loving Him and the faithful Christian’s dedication to Him. Lines like I sing Your praises forever and Lord there is none, like You are understandably powerful. The lines Where I’m close to Your throne, I’ve found where I belongperfectly conclude the song.
The holiness aspect of the song easily reminds me of my relationship with the Lord and my true purpose in life. I should say that as long as we Christians keep being faithful, keep learning from His teachings and achieve whatever tasks the Lord assigned us with, we will ultimately be rewarded by Him accordingly (Revelations 22: 12) and God is always the righteous judge (2 Timothy 4: 7-8, Deuteronomy 32: 1-4) whose decisions are final, just and definitive. As faithful Christians who already accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we all should look forward to judgment because it is our opportunity to be found faithful.
Going back to the song You Are Holy, I love listening to it. Going beyond appreciation for it, the song really helps me praise the Lord in a very personal way. Truly You Are Holy is a holy song! As such, I recommend to you readers to take time out to listen to it from start to finish. You can order the album right here and here. Don’t forget to read the Holy Bible and pray in tongues to the Lord afterwards.
In closing this piece, I must tell you, my readers, to resist and disregard the propaganda being spread online emphasizing that the use of drums and electric guitar for playing music at church on Sundays is inappropriate to the Lord. That is simply false and whoever composed such propaganda are pawns of people who have narrow views about what church and Sunday worship music should be. Do not let those people fool you and instead of wasting time on them, focus on your relationship with the Lord and do not let religion get in the way. Back to music, the use of drums and electric guitars for Sunday worship music at church is actually fine and legitimate, and also useful to help Christians praise the Lord and connect to Him spiritually.Christian rock music is okay and so is having a band at church. Now we can move forward to the Lord!
Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Also my fantasy book The World of Havenoris still available in paperback and e-book format. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me as well. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrascoand follow me at HavenorFantasy@twitter.com
If you want your prayers to be heard clearly by God, then you must do your praying properly. For one thing, you must open your heart to the Lord before you do any praying at all. Also keep in mind that faith in the Lord is done by the heart and not by the brain.
What is the most proper way to pray? The answer is the Model Prayer recorded in the Holy Bible (New King James Version), specifically at Matthew chapter 6, verse 5 to 15.
Recorded in Matthew 6:5-15are the words of Jesus in red:
“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
My explanation: The scripture above points out that as we pray to the Lord, we should not be like the hypocrites who are defined as people doing public displays of praying which is improper. To really pray properly, showing off is a big no-no and praying privately is the way to do it. Each of us have intentions and personal messages to send to the Lord through prayer and to pray while being seen by others is just wrong. This brings me to the next scripture.
“But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
The scripture clearly shows that praying in private (in this case doing it in the privacy of a room with the door shut) is essential. This ensures that you have not only a better environment for praying but also a clearer channel of communication between you and God who is in His secret place. We the believers of the Lord must keep up with the Lord’s requirements for whatever communication we have with Him. As part of your praying method, it is recommended to pray in tongues as it enables your spirit to pray, enables you to speak to God, enables you magnify Him and edify yourself along the way. To understand praying in tongues, I recommend reading Acts chapter 1 to 10.
We move on….
“And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
This one is self-explanatory. Repetitive prayers do not work at all. Just because you repeat words of your prayer does not mean it will boost your prayer’s chances of being heard by God. You only need to pray to the Lord with a clear message that is also straight to the point. You should make yourself transparent to God when communicating with him. That is why before praying to Him, you must write down what you have in mind and make sure you pray to Him with a complete message as possible so that repeating will be unnecessary. We should understand that God prefers us to be clear and go straight to the point with Him. Repeating prayers, at least in my view, is an annoyance. A time waster event.
We move on…
“Therefore do not be like them. For Your Father knows that things you have need of before you ask Him.
The scripture points back at the hypocrites who not only do public displays of their praying but also repeat their prayers. They don’t realize that they have been doing their prayers the improper way. As such, we the believers of God know better and we must take advantage of the knowledge on praying properly and privately to Him. Note that God can see through us and anticipate what we would ask of Him. All the more reason to be clear and go straight to the point when communicating with the Lord.
Now we move on to realize proper praying…
In this manner, therefore, pray:Our Father in heaven,Hallowed by Your name.Your kingdom come.Your will be done.On earth as it is in heaven.Give us this day our daily bread.And forgive us our debts,As we forgive our debtors.And do not lead us into temptation,But deliver us from the evil one.For Yours is the kingdom and thepower and glory forever. Amen.
Never forget to pray with the above holy words spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ. Remember them, reflect upon them and live by them as you practice faith in the Lord.
We move on…
“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.“But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
The above scriptures explain clearly that forgiving others is an essential thing to do in order to be forgiven by the Lord. There is simply no exemption nor exceptions here. Even if you have a mortal enemy or a rival who cannot forgive you, you still must forgive that person because if you don’t then the Lord won’t forgive you.
What you just read were passages from Matthew 6:5-15 emphasizing the Model Prayer. Clearly praying to the Lord requires the proper ways of praying that includes praying to Him privately, being transparent with Him, being ready with our intentions or personal messages to communicate with Him while avoiding repetitions, familiarizing ourselves with the holy words of prayer and learning to forgive others. Also never forget that praying to the Lord has so much to do with your personal relationship with Him.
In addition, posted below is the Model Prayer from the Passion Translation (TPT) of the Holy Bible…
“Whenever you pray, be sincere and not like the pretenders who love the attention they receive while praying before others in the meetings and on street corners. Believe me, they’ve already received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your innermost chamber and be alone with Father God, praying to him in secret. And your Father, who sees all you do, will reward you openly. When you pray, there is no need to repeat empty phrases, praying like the Gentiles do, for they expect God to hear them because of their many words. There is no need to imitate them, since your Father already knows what you need before you ask him. Pray like this: ‘Our Beloved Father, dwelling in the heavenly realms, may the glory of your name be the center on which our lives turn. Manifest your kingdom realm, and cause your every purpose to be fulfilled on earth, just as it is in heaven. We acknowledge you as our Provider of all we need each day. Forgive us the wrongs we have done as we ourselves release forgiveness to those who have wronged us. Rescue us every time we face tribulation and set us free from evil. For you are the King who rules with power and glory forever. Amen.’ “And when you pray, make sure you forgive the faults of others so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you. But if you withhold forgiveness from others, your Father withholds forgiveness from you.”Matthew 6:5-15 (TPT)
Before each of us were even born, God made plans for every one of us. We who believe in the Lord must prove ourselves faithful to Him so that we will know our true purpose from Him, so that we will each receive a task from Him, so that we will prosper and get rewarded by Jesus (Revelations 22:12).
I pray that you, the reader, learned something essential here and will learn how to apply these lessons into your Christian living. Finally, I recommend you read the words Jesus said in John 3:3.
From this point on, I would like to reach out to all the lost and the unsaved people reading this. Did a religious and idolatrous extremist ruin your life? Have you been living in bondage for too long? Did the atheists, the humanists and the secularists fool you and abused you? Were you victimized by crook? Have you been living as a homosexual or as a transgendered person? Are you still addicted to sex, drugs and other inappropriate elements? Did you spend an entire life worshiping statues, statuettes, images, people and relics? Are you a toxic person or one of those modern-day Leftist activists (Black Lives Matter, Democratic Socialists of America, Antifa, the abortionists and others) who got fed up fighting for worthless causes? Did you kill someone and have been living so long with the guilt?
All of the darkness related to what were mentioned above can finally end and you can decide to do it! How? You can save yourselves by submitting yourselves to the Lord Jesus willingly and realize He is the Light! No force and no coercion here. You have time and freedom to decide to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. For those who have decided to get born again now and gain salvation, please read the instructions and follow the prayer that I learned from a pastor.
Are you ready? Firstly, open your heart to the Lord and pray this simple prayer in sincerity from your heart:
Father God,
I thank You. I believe Jesus is Your Son. I believe that He died for me and redeemed me from all of my sins. He took my sins and, Father, thank You for loving me and You demonstrated Your love for me through Your Son Jesus Christ. Forgive me for all of my sins. Jesus, I open my heart to You. I welcome You to enter into my heart. I confess today that You are now my Lord and Savior. Thank You for forgiveness. I receive forgiveness. Thank You for Your blood that cleansed me from all of my sins. I will follow You, Jesus. Thank You for Your plan. I receive the Holy Spirit. And Holy Spirit, help me to follow the will of God in my life in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Congratulations! You are now a child of God! You have received Holy Spirit in your heart! This is easily your greatest decision ever made and also the greatest miracle of your life. Always praise, thank and honor the Lord. No more darkness in your life caused by politics, radicalism, toxicity, rebellion, religion, unbelief, evil, idolatry, traditions and rituals! Leave behind the darkness of your life and don’t look back to it. Remember that idolatry is evil, Purgatory is a lie, penance is a deception and Satan always used religion and unbelief to prevent people from being saved by the Lord. Also, do not ever hail Mary (the mother of Lord Jesus) because all the praise and honor belong to God, Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit only.
With Lord Jesus, you are already moving forward and the best is yet to come! You also have a personal relationship with God, a relationship that is strictly off-limits to others (even to your household members or biological family members).
The Holy Bible is the ultimate authority and nothing else comes close to it for it is the Word of God. Remember always that Lord Jesus did not die on the cross to start religion. He died to redeem us all and showed that we must be led by faith in Him, faith in the Holy Spirit and faith in God the Heavenly Father. He rose from the dead and made His earthly presence felt once more to those who believed in Him. Lord Jesus ascended to Heaven and He promised to return in the future. His return is what we must always remember and keep living with holiness under the watch of God. We can do our part in building up God’s kingdom here on Earth by preaching His Word, blessing the Jewish people and saving the countless lost and unsaved souls around us by leading them to Lord Jesus. Living as a Christian is always about the personal relationship with the Lord, and it is certainly not about religion. Never let the idolaters, the idol makers, the ritual practitioners and other sinister forces fool you into becoming unholy.
Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Sharing this Christian piece means spreading the good news of the Lord to others. It can help you save the unsaved and the lost souls out there.
Author Carlo Carrasco 