DOES GOD ACTUALLY THINK ABOUT ME?

On a sunny Friday afternoon in 2003 I discovered something that has radically altered my view of God as my Father. At Luke 10, Jesus appointed seventy two disciples to go ahead of Him into every city where He planned to minister. He gave them power to battle with Satan wherever they went and instructed them about what to do and say as they went from city to city. When they returned they were excitedly sharing with Him what they experienced, "Lord even the demons are subject to us in your name!" But Jesus told them, "Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." Luke 10:20
That statement really created an earthquake in my spirit. I have come to think of it in a more personal way, that God carries my picture in His wallet, He knows who I am. Someone had to write my name in heaven, maybe an angel, maybe the Holy Spirit, I don't know who, but it thrills my entire being to realize Jahweh knows my name. HALLELUJAH!
David wrote, "You have multiplied O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell them, yet they are more than can be told." Psalm 40:5
What an indescribable joy and absolute privilege to serve a God whose thoughts about me and actions for me are more than can be told. Just the thought that God has written my name before Him is almost more than my spirit can handle. There is more to praise God for than I will ever be able to understand much less tell to others, but like David, I will keep trying. HALLELUJAH!

THE ALL-SEEING EYE

I grew up going to a small country church where one of my uncles lead the worship. Uncle Redic Pace was a gentle, kind man whose blacksmith shop I loved to hang around in and watch him create all kinds of neat things out of steel and iron. Quite often however, during Sunday worship he lead the song, 'THERE'S AN ALL SEEING EYE WATCHING YOU'. That song, coupled with the steady diet of 'hellfire & brimstone' preaching we heard over and over, caused me to develop a near frantic phobia about being thrown into hell with the devil. I had some very realistic nightmares about such a tragic end for my life and I could never figure out why God didn't like me. As an adult I slowly outgrew the nightmares but the tortured image of being in hell were never erased completely, which isn't a bad thing if we learn to see the whole picture of God's grace, love and forgiveness.
These words of David encourage my spirit: "From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from His dwelling place He watches all who live on earth - He who forms the hearts of all, who considers all they do." Psalm 33:13-15 NIV
God is a vigilant Father who is involved in the lives of His children, He pays close attention. BUT, to correct NOT to condemn. This was never really taught to me as a young kid or even a teenager. Finally, I matured enough mentally and spiritually to read God's word as a son would read the words as coming from a loving father. Here is what I discovered after being in full time ministry for nearly a decade: "Behold the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His steadfast love, that He may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine." Psalm 33:18-19 ESV So it's true, there is an all-seeing eye watching me but His purpose isn't to condemn my soul to hell, it is to save me. That was a revelation to me as a young father and husband who had wrestled with much that I preached and didn't really believe.
I praise my Father every day for sending His Son to take away my fear and replace it with His love. Over and over David refers to God's love as "His steadfast love". Today I can truly say I am comforted and totally at peace knowing that my Father has His eye on me all the time. I finally learned that I can lift up my soul to Him in the absolute confidence that, like me, He is a Father really cares about His kids. I think that calls for a HOLY HALLELUJAH!

CLINGING TO GOD

David wrote: "You have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me." Psalm 63:7-8 ESV
I have found faith to be a truly amazing gift. Along with hope and love, faith only grows stronger with age and experience because it is timeless, limitless, universally possible at all times for all people of faith. Even in the most fear inducing times, people of faith rise above the threat of the moment and cling to God because they always know He will hold on to them no matter what.
David learned how faith is the 24/7/365 sustainer of all that is good about life in
God's house. As people of faith we always reach a point where we look up because no matter how hard Satan tries to discourage us we always know his limitations have been forever exposed by Jesus our Lord, Savior and High Priest.
Paul said the three things that remain are faith, hope and love. (1 Cor 13:13) Because of what remains, people of faith always know how every up and down of life will finally turn out, so its all good. We always know to cling to God because He too clings to us. I really like that word cling. It feels truly heavenly to have my Father cling to me and hold me in his right hand. HALLELUJAH!

SO WHAT IS THIS HALLELUJAH CHORUS?

For several months I have read a bunch of blogs, some a little more regularly than others, because I had decided I wanted to jump into this conversation community. So, I have looked at all kinds of options re design, content, posting frequency, etc. But the thing I had the most conflict over was what to call my blog. I knew exactly what I want to say and will get to that as I progress on this new journey, but what to name this newborn was important because that name will serve as its identity, at least for now.
At the beginning of this year I had decided that 2010 will be my year of HALLELUJAH! I am currently keeping a daily journal of my wanderings through the Psalms of David and he is challenging me to see more "hallelujah" than "uh oh!" in my relationship with God. I desperately want to get to know God the way David knew Him and am learning to worship God every day, which is sort of a new concept of worship for me. I end every journal entry with a HALLELUJAH! to my Father for who He is and what He does. The HALLELUJAH CHORUS is my way of reaching out to anyone else who wants to join me on this new journey to a special place with God.
I expect to write a short word of daily praise to Yahweh and include a bit of encouragement to my fellow travelers. If I get too wordy or preachy, please let me know because sometimes I think I am still writing a book.
You're welcome to come along and share your thoughts as we go, just please lets keep it real.