Blessed Assurance (performed by The Isaacs *acapella*) ----> a link to the song...words originally by Fanny J. Crosby and music by Phoebe P. Knapp (1873)
Blessed Assurance....when I think of this song I picture my traditional baptist church and the senior choir singing. Most of my life I never knew what this song meant but I knew I liked it. My favorite part was the chorus when it gets particularly high and I belt aloud in my most proper soprano head voice..."THIS IS MY STOOOOOORY, THIS IS MY SONG, PRAISING MY SAAAVIOR ALL THE DAY LONG. THIS IS MY STOOOOORY THIS IS MY SONG, PRAISING MY SAVIOR, ALL THE DAY LONG." Funny as a child you learn a song in church and you sing it because you heard it in church but you never REALLY have a keen understanding of what's being said...well, actually, some adults do too ;-) It wasn't until my choir sung this song earlier this month that curiousity hit. What does this pretty song mean? That's when I began my research.....
My first question began with the title of the song. After several hours of internet research and a whole lotta Bible page turning, I had nothing but a comparison between INsurance and ASsurance which says the term insurance refers to providing cover for an event that might happen while assurance is the provision of cover for an event that is certain to happen. AFLAC (with the duck) offers assurance coverage.
That was a little help. Ok Jennifer, let's get a little more detailed...so I went to the lyrics:
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine,
O what a foretaste...FORETASTE?! What's a foretaste???? According to the dictionary, a foretaste is something like preview. A lil sample, ya know? Moving on...
Of glory divine,
Heir of salvation,
Purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit,
Washed in His blood
After examining the first verse, I still had nothing. It was late, so I went to sleep. I didn't come back to the research for a couple days but the chorus that I love so much rang out through my head all week. THEN it hit me...
This song is a personal testimony. The author says "Jesus is mine..." Blessed assurance is presented as the gift of the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ. The gift of assurance is a certainty that concerns your relationship with God. Hebrews 10:22 says "let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith..." In other words, there is blessed assurance in knowing that Jesus is ours and we are His. Now that's something AFLAC can't offer! :-) Amen.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Praise Him In Advance (1)
Praise Him In Advance- Marvin Sapp <---- a link to hear a preview of this song!!!
I chose 'Praise Him In Advance' because this songs speaks volumes about faith. It also demonstrates God's greatness and mercy. To give God praise prior to a blessing says that you have total faith that He WILL make a way. The song even says "But I KNEW God would take them away."
Although I love sooo many aspects of this song there is one line in particular that was interesting to me. Marvin Sapp sings: "God came and spoke these words to me, praise will confuse the enemy." For some reason the notion of praise CONFUSING the enemy was amazing to me. You're telling me...if I thank God and praise Him for His wonderous works it will confuse the adversity?!?!?! This is when I grabbed my Bible and begin to research....afterall, I can't just take Marvin's word for it :-)
II Chronicles 20 tells the story of Jehoshaphat...this is my VERY short version of the story:
The Moabites and Ammonites came to basically bully King Jehoshaphat and his people. The Moabites and Ammonites were a pretty fearsome group so Jehoshaphat and his people were a little worried. Jehoshaphat spoke to the Lord and was basically like "...now you would not let Israel invade men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir but here they come trying to harm us. Are you going to let them? We don't stand a chance against them and we're fresh outta ideas so we are looking to you." Meanwhile everyone else is standing before the Lord like..."now what???"
During this time the Spirit of the Lord comes upon Jahazial and he gives this motivational speech to not only his people but also to King Jehoshaphat. His speech is memorable because it is the basis of another song I love. Jahazial basically says "look yall, chill out, this battle is not ours, its the Lord's." Jehoshaphat and his poeple just begin praising the Lord (in advance) from night until they left for battle that morning. Long story short, by the time Jehoshaphat's army reached the desert the Lord has set up an ambush and defeated the men of Moab, Ammon and Mount Seir. The Bible said the men of Moab and Ammon rose up against Mount Seir, defeated them and then turned on each other!!!!! SOUNDS LIKE CONFUSION TO ME!!!!
The men of Judah praised the Lord in advance and by the time they faced danger he had already saved them....This story makes worrying and stressing seem silly. We should find comfort in knowing that we are being taken care of by the Almighty. The people of Judah praised the Lord and "cofused the enemy."
Praise helps us to focus on God and realize our need for Him, and thus turn the battle over to Him. When we do this, God will then bring victory. Amen.
I chose 'Praise Him In Advance' because this songs speaks volumes about faith. It also demonstrates God's greatness and mercy. To give God praise prior to a blessing says that you have total faith that He WILL make a way. The song even says "But I KNEW God would take them away."
Although I love sooo many aspects of this song there is one line in particular that was interesting to me. Marvin Sapp sings: "God came and spoke these words to me, praise will confuse the enemy." For some reason the notion of praise CONFUSING the enemy was amazing to me. You're telling me...if I thank God and praise Him for His wonderous works it will confuse the adversity?!?!?! This is when I grabbed my Bible and begin to research....afterall, I can't just take Marvin's word for it :-)
II Chronicles 20 tells the story of Jehoshaphat...this is my VERY short version of the story:
The Moabites and Ammonites came to basically bully King Jehoshaphat and his people. The Moabites and Ammonites were a pretty fearsome group so Jehoshaphat and his people were a little worried. Jehoshaphat spoke to the Lord and was basically like "...now you would not let Israel invade men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir but here they come trying to harm us. Are you going to let them? We don't stand a chance against them and we're fresh outta ideas so we are looking to you." Meanwhile everyone else is standing before the Lord like..."now what???"
During this time the Spirit of the Lord comes upon Jahazial and he gives this motivational speech to not only his people but also to King Jehoshaphat. His speech is memorable because it is the basis of another song I love. Jahazial basically says "look yall, chill out, this battle is not ours, its the Lord's." Jehoshaphat and his poeple just begin praising the Lord (in advance) from night until they left for battle that morning. Long story short, by the time Jehoshaphat's army reached the desert the Lord has set up an ambush and defeated the men of Moab, Ammon and Mount Seir. The Bible said the men of Moab and Ammon rose up against Mount Seir, defeated them and then turned on each other!!!!! SOUNDS LIKE CONFUSION TO ME!!!!
The men of Judah praised the Lord in advance and by the time they faced danger he had already saved them....This story makes worrying and stressing seem silly. We should find comfort in knowing that we are being taken care of by the Almighty. The people of Judah praised the Lord and "cofused the enemy."
Praise helps us to focus on God and realize our need for Him, and thus turn the battle over to Him. When we do this, God will then bring victory. Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
