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Good wonderful December 1st afternoon (or whatever your time zone says the time is)!
This song! Wow. Just so, so good!
I have SO many friends being pressed right now. I have many dear friends struggling. Some friends are battling sickness/disease. Some are battling marriage/children issues. Whatever the "battle" you find yourself in right now, just know GOD IS NEAR and He is FOR YOU! He is WITH us! In this season of Advent remember - EMMANUEL, God WITH us! HALLELUJAH!!!
If you find yourself in the "wine press" right now, this song will remind you what it really going on and what it really is all about. See, in the life of the Christian there is our part and then there is God's part. Our part is to surrender and this opens the way for Him to do His part, and He will do His part — to bring about the good fruit in us! He is pressing His church (the bride, us!) to find Him in this season, to yield to HIS ways, to let Him "drive", if you will.
One way I do this (yield) is to quiet myself (sometimes I am right in the middle of life - like at Starbucks, or at a swim meet, or driving... you know - doing life) or maybe I have time to just be home and sit. Either way, I start (I put on my headphones if in public place or I get in my office), and I turn on the music, melting into a chair and then cranking up the sound. (Not too loud but loud enough that it is the ONLY thing I hear.) I get still. I close my eyes (unless driving) and I listen. I let the words wash over me. Sometimes I raise my voice and I declare the words with the singer by singing along. Sometimes, with considerable volume (shouting) I declare the words over me — building me up in my most holy faith. And yet other times, I just weep and let the words permeate into me. I yield to His way. I let God cleanse me, purify me, fill me, saturate me, ENCOUNTER ME. I give permission to Him and HE begins to work Himself into those places of doubt and unbelief in my mind that I don't even realize have crept into my thinking. I decrease and He suddenly increases as changes me.
With all the busyness of this season, take time to rest and maybe even sit and listen. Be quiet before the Lord and just let Him love you. Be still and KNOW that He is God.
So, this song ministered to me recently and I think it will bless you ALL too — in all that you find yourself “pressed” about. Such a good reminder! Such a powerful declaration! HE LOVES YOU!!! HE IS FOR YOU! HE IS WITH YOU! HE WANTS TO REDEEM ALL THAT IS BROKEN. Did I say — He loves you!
Surrender ALL that concerns you to Him! He wants to handle what you can’t. He WILL make you into all that you need to be. He will finish what He has started. (He started you by knitting you together in your mother's womb.) Our perfection NEVER will compare to His perfection. He wants to make ALL THINGS new — redemption!
So, stop and cue up this song. Sit back and crank it up…then just let God pour over you, onto you and INTO you…. Let Him detox you. "Tis the season — Emmanuel, God WITH us!
