The Great High Priest is My Friend!

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We will be singing songs that encourage us to call out to God from the most inward parts of our beings in order to entrust Him with the battles we are facing! Here is the list of songs for our Church service on February 28th 2021 at Eagleville Bible Church:

The Audio recording of this post.

Battle Belongs

  • Matt 17:20,
  • Ps. 32:10,
  • 2 Chron 20:17,
  • Exodus 14:14,
  • Ps 23:4,
  • 1 Tim 2:8,
  • Ps 28:2,
  • Rom 8:31,

This song starts by saying that there are times in our lives that all we can see are the battles, the mountains ahead of us that seem to be impossibilities to overcome. I know I have experienced that sort of defeatist attitude in my own life, and whenever it comes up I have to remind myself that I believe in the God who turns impossibilities into opportunities to display His power and faithfulness for me!

It all begins with my decision to turn to Him though and seek Him through prayer! In the chorus we sing, “When I fight, I’ll fight on my knees with my hands lifted high…every fear I lay at Your feet {because} the battle belongs to You!”. If we truly want to see God at work in our lives then we must decide to spend much time with Him through prayer. He loves when we call upon Him. Psalm 32:10 reminds us that God’s faithfulness OVERWHELMS those who trust in Him! Do you want to be overwhelmed by God? Call upon Him and surrender your battles over to Him – the Almighty God of the Universe!

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Romans 8:31 (ESV)

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Never Gonna Stop Singing

  • Col 1:13-14,
  • 1 Pet 2:9,
  • Eph 2:5,
  • Rev 5:9,
  • Phil 2:10,
  • Ps 47:6,

This is such a fun song to sing and declare as a praise to the Lord that we will never stop singing of His goodness and mercy over our lives! We acknowledge that we have been delivered out of darkness, set free from the bondage sin had over our lives, called by name, and made alive by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! So with all of that truth, “How could we ever hold it inside, How could we ever stop singing?”.

I really love the bridge of this song and how it reminds me of Philippians 2:10-11, where it states that at the Name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father! I pray that you have done that in your life already, bowed your knee to Him, confessing Him as Lord of your own life! If you have not, please decide right now to call upon that Name that is higher than any other, Jesus Christ, for salvation (Acts 4:12). If you have accepted Christ as your Savior, then please – Never stop Singing to Him and rejoice in the salvation that has been granted to you by grace through faith (Eph 2:8-9)!

“Sing to God! Sing! Sing to our king! Sing! For God is king of the whole earth! Sing a well-written song!”

Psalm 47:6–7 (NET)

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Before the Throne of God Above

  • 1 John 4:16,
  • 1 John 2:1-2,
  • Heb 4:14,
  • Heb 7:25,
  • Gal 5:1,
  • Rev 15:3,
  • 2 Cor 5:21,
  • Col 3:3,

This old hymn is so rich in theological truth and I absolutely have been blessed throughout the years to return to it for great reminders of my need to praise God for all that He has done and is doing in my life!

In Hebrews chapters 4 & 7 we are told that Jesus is our High Priest. As the High Priest, He is our representative to God. He is the One who pleads our case before the Righteous Judge of the universe, and we are reminded of that truth in this song as we sing, “Before the Throne of God I have a perfect plea, A Great High Priest…who ever lives and pleads for me.”!

What a great thought, that we have been given a Defense Lawyer (Jesus) before the Judge (God the Father) in our legal case of breaking the law (sin) and because the Lawyer that is contending on our behalf happens to be the One who took the punishment dealt out to us as the Judge declared us guilty, the Righteous Judge has no other choice but to declare us innocent and free from the punishment deserved for our crime! Our Advocate not only fought for us, but He took on the punishment we were served when we ended up losing the case with the Righteous Judge. See, we ended up losing the case. We were and are guilty of breaking God’s law, that doesn’t change. But, the Innocent took the place of the guilty and on the day of our punishment as we got to the hill where the cross of our punishment was to take place we found another in our place in order to free us from the required punishment we deserved and to give us a new opportunity to live righteously and blamelessly before the Father! Oh, what a Savior!

With that truth ringing in our hearts, how can we not exclaim with all of the brothers and sisters in Christ who have experienced that exchange, “Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Praise the One, the Risen Son of God!”

“(My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.) But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous One, and he himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world.”

1 John 2:1–2 (NET)

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From the Inside Out

  • Ps 54:2,
  • Eph 2:4-5,
  • Rom 5:20,
  • Mark 14:36,
  • 2 Sam 6:21-22,
  • Ps 143:6,

What is inside of you? I know that is a weird question, but the Scriptures talk a lot about our inner person, our hearts, our desires, etc. Have you considered what your passions are, what your heart is, who your inner person is? There is a great way to examine that according to Matthew 15:18 where it states that “the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart..”.

In the Pre-chorus of this song we sing, “In my heart and my soul, Lord I give You control. Consume me from the inside out, Lord.”. Then later in the chorus we sing this lyric, “And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise from the inside out, Lord my soul cries out.”. Is this the regular vernacular of your mouth, to offer up praise often and to cry out to God through prayer? If not, why not?

You see, it is my prayer that we understand the importance of examining ourselves inwardly in order to “produce” anything of any value outwardly! So many times we get caught up in image management and cleaning the outside of the cup (as Jesus says in Matt 23:25-26) when the inside is filthy and not surrendered to the Lordship of Christ. I pray that this song will give us all the courage to examine our hearts and to cry out to God authentically from a heart that is looking to fulfill God’s will above all else.

Ok, one more thing about this song. I want to point out a wonderful lyric in the 2nd verse that says, “The art of losing myself in bringing You praise.” I have been reminded this week of the importance of offering up my sacrifice of praise before God without the fear of people! In 2 Samuel we see David dancing and praising God after bringing back the Ark of the Covenant (which was representative of the presence of God) to Jerusalem. He was dancing freely and wildly even, but he absolutely didn’t care, even though his wife (and probably others) was looking at him in disgust like he had lost his mind (Verse 16 says that she despised him). When she confronted him about his conduct David replied with this awesome declaration that I hope all of us will adopt into our own mantra as we worship (and I’ll leave you with this):

“David replied to Michal, “It was before the Lord! I was celebrating before the Lord, who chose me…I am willing to shame and humiliate myself even more than this!”

2 Samuel 6:21–22 (NET) {Partial}

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Friend of God

  • Ps 8:4, 
  • Jer 29:12,
  • Ps 91:15,
  • Ps 50:15,
  • Ps 139:17-18,
  • John 15:14-15,
  • 1 Cor 2:8,
  • 1 John 3:1,

When was the last time that you considered yourself to be a friend of God? Oh, what a wonderful prospect! The thought that the most holy God of the Universe is my friend, that He actually desires to “hang out” with me, to spend time with me, to pour out His love on me, to think about me! Who can fathom the depths of these things? It brings tears to my eyes to think of such things.

Have you ever been the kid who was picked last all the time, who was outcast, who didn’t have a friend when it seems as though everyone else in the world had someone to call and hang out with? I know that feeling very well, and it comforts me so much to know that with God that is never the actual reality! God desires to be with us! He never leaves us. He is always there for us as a true friend and companion in this life.

“Who am I that You are mindful of me, that You hear me when I call? Is it true that You are thinking of me, that You love me? It’s amazing!” This is the 1st verse we sing together, and I wonder how many of us will actually slow down and contemplate the depth of its meaning? It is amazing to consider that God thinks of us, isn’t it? Psalm 139 tells us that the vast sum of God’s thoughts toward us would equal more than the grains of sand!

You know when you are someones friend when they are thinking of you when you are not around, when they do thoughtful things for you because they know you enjoy them or that you are in need of them, right? Well, God is constantly doing things for us that bless us and help us in this life, even when we are paying Him no mind! That is true friendship.

Also, when we consider the truths of Jesus being our Intercessor (as stated in the song above called, Before the Throne of God) then we will fully understand what Job meant when he said in Job 16:20, “My Intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God;”. Thank You God for being a friend to all who love You and do what You command (John 15:14)!

“Of what importance is the human race, that you should notice them? Of what importance is mankind, that you should pay attention to them,”

Psalm 8:4 (NET)

“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 of them, yet they are more than can be told.”

Psalm 40:5 (ESV)

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Summary Statement

When we realize that the battles we face in this life belong to the Lord and are overcome by crying out to Him from the inside out, then we will come Before the throne of God as His friends trusting in Him to be mindful of us and to answer our call for His deliverance. As we see Him at work in our lives, we will decide to Never stop singing to Him and telling others of His goodness!

God bless you!