Today I woke up with this Christian song singing in my head:
“Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us.
Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us.
That we should be called the sons of God.
That we should be called the sons of God.”
(1 John 3:1a)
This song is often sung in a round which I think makes it even lovelier and more interesting. It’s such a simple song that children can sing it.
I love waking up with hymns and worship songs in my mind. It’s the best and happiest way to open my eyes to a new day where “Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed thy hand hath provided, great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me” (“Great Is Thy Faithfulness” by Thomas O. Chisholm, published in 1923).
A few weeks ago at Impact Academy, my daughter Kristina Hunt, who is teaching the Christian doctrine class, told us to remember that when we open our Bibles we can know that God is present in those pages. I gave this a lot of thought and found it so helpful and exciting at the same time. The Bible is not just a great book written by many people inspired by God down through the ages, but it is God’s book and He is present in those words as we read them. When we open His book, He is there with His promises, His answers to our questions, His guidance for our days, His blessed assurance, His faithfulness, peace and love. In His book is our hope of salvation through Jesus Christ, our Savior.
“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. ”
One of my favorite words in the Bible is “Beloved.” I can rest knowing that I am one of the Beloved and that He is my Beloved. This one word, I have discovered, is a powerful thrust with the sword of the Spirit when the lie about my unworthiness creeps in from the deceitful enemy.
When I wake up in the morning with a Christian song in my mind, I often wonder, “Could it be that I am hearing His voice and that He has put the song in my mind?” The Bible tells me so: The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing (Zephaniah 3:17).
May you wake up tomorrow with His quieting love and realize He is rejoicing over you with singing.
Sarah has been attending COTR since 2018. She plays violin on the worship team at COTR and is a co-leader of a ladies life group that meets Wednesday mornings. She and her husband, Rick (who plays bass guitar on the worship team), are retired. In addition to playing violin, cello, piano and ukulele, Sarah loves to bake sourdough bread, knit, draw family and animal portraits and write funny stories.
We’d love to hear from you. Use the questions below as a way to share your own story and encourage others in the comments.
How has a single Scripture word or phrase ever spoken powerfully into your life? What comes to mind when you think of God “rejoicing over you with singing” as described in Zephaniah 3:17? If you could encourage someone with one worship song or verse to start their day with, what would it be?