What an early treat for Christmas when you go shopping on a mall when suddenly you hear fantastic voices of a group of people singing a Christmas song and watch them do it right before your eyes! Yep, Christmas Carols on the spot! It happens in the Cache Valley Mall in Logan, Utah. The American Festival Chorus surprised busy shoppers with their fantastic voices singing Merrily on High, a classic holiday Christmas song! This performance is now popularly known as Christmas Flash Mob patterned among different surprise performances of groups of people known as “Flash Mobs.”
A wonderful performance and for sure, you don’t want to miss the action. Watch how they do it on this video.
Ding dong merrily on high,
In heav’n the bells are ringing:
Ding dong! verily the sky
Is riv’n with angel singing.
Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis!
The LORD is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD
Forever. (Psalm 23, NKJV)
The Lord is My Shepherd by Nicole C. Mullen in Zimbabwe Live
The Lord is My Shepherd, I shall not want (Psalm 23)
Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart
Psalm 37:4
How do we delight ourselves in the Lord?
Perhaps, this is one of the questions we want to ask about this verse. The late David Wilkerson, one of the well-known preachers that I really admired, has this to say about delighting ourselves in the Lord:
If you’ve fully resigned yourself into God’s hands, then you’re able to endure any and all hardships. Your Father’s desire is for you to be able to go about your daily business without fear or anxiety, totally trusting in his care. And your resignation to him has a very practical effect in your life. The more resigned you are to God’s care and keeping, the more indifferent you’ll be to the conditions around you.
I also found this Bible verses about delighting ourselves in Lord. “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way.” (Psalm 37:23 NKJV) “I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8 NKJV) Desires of Our Heart
My Bible annotation defines this phrase as: “When the righteous have desires that springs from the Lord, The Lord will surely fulfill those desires.” Mathew Henry Bible commentary has this to say: “He has not promised to gratify all the appetites of the body and the humours of the fancy, but to grant all the desires of the heart, all the cravings of the renewed sanctified soul. What is the desire of the heart of a good man? It is this, to know, and love, and live to God, to please him and to be pleased in him.”
I am sharing this devotional from Pastor Colin Smith from his sermon “Rest in God’s Triumph” from the series Keeping Yourself in Spiritual Shape originally preached on June 29, 2003.
“Sin shall no longer be your master.” Romans 6:14
The moment you came to faith in Jesus Christ, God forgave your sins. He freed you from guilt, from condemnation and from hell, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). That is the beginning of your salvation, but it is certainly not the end.
You were sin’s prisoner
Sin is still your enemy. Sin is still powerful. Every believer is engaged in a struggle with sin. But when you are a Christian you are no longer under sin’s power, “Sin shall no longer be your master” (Romans 6:14).
Before you came to Christ, sin was your master. You were like a prisoner of war: “A prisoner of the law of sin” (Romans 7:23). Your hands were tied. You were blindfolded. You were defenseless. You were in no position to fight. You were at the mercy of the enemy who had you in his power.
Now you can fight!
But now in Christ, you are no longer sin’s prisoner. God has put you in a position to fight back against sin, and that fight is a real battle. Your battle with sin is no longer one-sided, it has become like a boxing match.
Sin has been beating you up for a long time. But God takes off the blind fold and He frees your hands. God brings you out of the cell, and into a gymnasium where there is a boxing ring.
You climb in through the ropes, and you’re seated in one corner of the ring. In the other corner is the guard who used to beat you in the cell. Just the sight of him brings back feelings of helplessness and the fear of imminent defeat.
When the bell rings he comes out to hit you again, but now you are in an entirely different position. Your hands are free and your eyes are open. There is all the difference in the world. Before he could strike you at will, and there was absolutely nothing you could do about it. Now you can land one on him.
The knockout punch!
Now try and imagine yourself in the ring with him. You have been in a grueling contest for ten rounds. You have landed some good blows, but your opponent just won’t go down. He just keeps coming back!
That’s a great picture of the battle against temptation. The longer the fight goes on, the more you long to see your opponent hit the canvas. One day he will.
When Jesus Christ comes again in glory, your enemy, sin, will be down and out. He will never again rise to do battle with you. Your fight will be over. You will receive the crown of victory.
God is our Savior. He saves us not only from sin’s penalty, but also from its power, and one day he will save us from its presence.
Tags:
Devotional, Colin smith, Freedom in Christ, Sin, overcoming sin, sin battles, fighting sin
Wow, this is a very inspiring song from the very inspiring man himself, Nick Vujicic. Something more is written by Tyrone Wells, produced by John Phelps, video directed by Matt Koppin, and produced by Attitude Is Altitude. This video is about the life testimony of Nick Vujicic.
Nicholas James Vujicic (born on 4 December 1982) is a preacher and motivational speaker – born with Tetra-amelia syndrome, a rare disorder characterized by the absence of all four limbs. He struggled as a child, eventually came to terms with his disability and started his own non-profit organizationLife Without Limbs – at age seventeen. Vujicic presents motivational speeches worldwide, on life with a disability, hope, and finding meaning in life. (wikipedia)
“BE HOPE is a call to action! Step out and reach out to people around you. Through action, art, and expression, we have the power to provide hope. BE HOPE for someone else and give your life purpose in the process. Life has a series of victories and pitfalls, but within our own stories, and through our personal testimonies, we can build connections with others, by being a friend in hope.” – Vision of the Something More Campaign
