Every tribe and tongue and people and nation

I have some dear friends who work very closely with refugees who I feel called to stand with in prayer at this time. Many refugees have already fled places where the political climate turned against them, from countries ravaged by war, famine or persecution. I don't pretend to be an expert on this subject. One friend works as a resettlement specialist with World Relief, and the other with students from other nations. Both are seeing and feeling first hand the distress of people they care about as a result of changes being made by our Government.  While I don't want this blog to be a place of arguing politics I do want it to be a place of prayer.  I have to trust that God hears the sincere cries of all of the people he created no matter their color or language or nation of origin. I hope you will pray that we might all receive deeper revelation of His heart for for the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked and the sick among us.



Note: You will see dividers between sections that look like ******סֶ֫לָה*******

From Strongs: Original Hebrew Word: סֶ֫לָה  Short Definition: selah: to lift up, exalt  

This is a quote from got answers "Selah is also thought to be rendered from two Hebrew words: s_lah, “to praise”; and s_lal, “to lift up.” Another commentator believes it comes from salah, “to pause.”  For me it is placed between things to remind you to pause, lift up, exalt the Lord and calmly consider what the Lord would speak to you. Perhaps, pause and pray. 

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Matthew 25:44-45 (NKJV)

 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?  

Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.

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Today I wanted to find Worship songs from people of other tribes, tongues and nations.  I want to pray for the refugees and the underground church all over the world and those who have not yet come to know the great love of Jesus. There are some documentaries about the underground church at the bottom of this post.

Please pray and allow the Holy Spirit to lead you as you enjoy these Praise and Worship videos that I have collected today.

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This one is so fun! You may recognize this as Undignified by Matt Redman Hindi Translation by Sheldon Bangera & Vijay Belola Copyright © 1995 and in this translation Thankyou Music  

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1 John 4:20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

I found this prayer at
  http://www.crs.org/resource-center/moment-grace-prayer-refugees

"God of our Wandering Ancestors, 

Long have we known That your heart is with the refugee: 

That you were born into time In a family of refugees Fleeing violence in their homeland, 

Who then gathered up their hungry child And fled into alien country. 

Their cry, your cry, resounds through the ages: “Will you let me in?” 

Give us hearts that break open When our brothers and sisters turn to us with that same cry. 

Then surely all these things will follow: Ears will no longer turn deaf to their voices. 

 Eyes will see a moment for grace instead of a threat. 

 Tongues will not be silenced but will instead advocate. 

And hands will reach out— working for peace in their homeland, 

 working for justice in the lands where they seek safe haven. L

ord, protect all refugees in their travels. 

May they find a friend in me 

And so make me worthy Of the refuge I have found in you"

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Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat. ~ Mother Teresa

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"Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Isaiah 55:1

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I love the way this one is translated

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LIVE WORSHIP FROM MAYAYNI REFUGEE CAMP. 

This one starts with reading from the Word and then moves into worship.

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This prayer called A Franciscan Blessing
has really stretched me in recent weeks. 

"May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, 

half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that we may live deep within our hearts.

May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, 

so that we may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, hunger, and war, so that we may reach out our hands to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference 

in this world, so that we can do what others claim cannot be done, 

to bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor."

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English Translated Lyrics to the video above

Chorus : 

Jesus you are The Life.

you are the only Reason of our worship,

you are our God

you are the truth and the way of life.

there is none like you.. 

you are our King(badshah badshah) 

Verse 1 :

you are The Ocean of mercy and king of Glory,

My every breath is longing for you..

we Surrender our body, souls and spirit to you.. 

Verse 2 : 

you are strength for the weak, in our troubles you are our only help,

you Give us peace .. you are our everything... 

We Got salvation through your Holy Blood.. 

Bridge:

the sky and Earth sings your praises and they glorify you. 

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Not to forget Israel: Psalm 122:6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: 

"May those who love you be secure.

Here is the translation to the song that follows. 

"Kadosh Atai (You Are Holy) by Joshua Aaron. I worship before You Lord, I'm down on my knees Giving You all my days, my God and my King I will praise You forever Lord, for You are Adonai You alone Yeshua are the joy of my life Kadosh, kadosh, kadosh Ata Kadosh, kadosh, kadosh Ata"

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This last song is actually the first beautiful song that I discovered on my worship journey today.

 

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I found this on World Reliefs website:

"The world changes. The Church's calling doesn’t. Still we stand.
On Friday, January 27, the new presidential administration announced significant changes to U.S. Immigration policy, including a substantial reduction of refugees allowed to enter the U.S., as well as funding cuts to the Refugee Admissions Program—and to resettlement agencies like World Relief—that compromise our ability to adequately care for refugees and immigrants.
While governmental policy may change, our commitment to standing alongside the persecuted, displaced, and vulnerable remains firm—but we need your help."

Here's a link to their website: https://www.worldrelief.org/welcome?utm_source=welcome&utm_campaign=welcome&utm_medium=adwords

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Rare footage from the underground church in China 

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Saudi Arabia Secret Churches 

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The underground church in Iran

My Shepherd

These services are bits of my own journey. As I awoke and sat in my bed this morning and I began the process of collecting my roaming thoughts. Where does a creative person begin? So many possibilities of where this day might take me. I prayed for a tiny moment in the Spirit in my prayer language and I realize that for me the center the ground zero of my life is worship and prayer. In my large house full of sleeping people that worship must of necessity be a quiet activity.  So I get my laptop and my head phones and I track down the bit of words from the song that is running like a little red thread through my thoughts. "Oh How I love you, How I love you, with You is where I want to be"

" Good Shepherd of my soul take my hand and lead me on." This song that directs my thoughts to think about my Lord as Good Shepherd who loves me, who protects and cares for me. I say often that it is His kindness that leads us to repentance. Yes, You Lord, is where I want to be. Which leads my heart to Audrey Assad's song Good to Me.

The next song is a wild card from along the side of my youtube screen where there are several songs I've not heard before. Which one Lord is the the path for today. I choose this one called Hymn of Love by someone called Yakuro. In it I find all this beautiful photographic imagery and instrumental music. I am reminded that my soul is stirred to worship and to be thankful as I engage more of my senses. I am struck by the wonder of God's creation and the artistry of this particular photographer.

I have been happily discovering the music of Hildigard of Bingin I am captivated by the the beautiful vocal sounds of this group of men. What are they singing? She was a 12th century German Mystic who wrote her visions, music and thoughts in Latin. "O frondens virga, in tua nobilitate stans, sicut aurora procedit. Nunc gaude et laetare et nos debiles dignare a mala consuetudine liberare, atque manum tuam porrige ad erigendum nos."  Someone was kind enough to translate it in the video comments.
"O blooming branch, you stand upright in your nobility, as breaks the dawn on high: Rejoice now and be glad, and deign to free us, frail and weakened, from the wicked habits of our age; stretch forth your hand to lift us up aright."

I think of these words about "O blooming branch" and I am reminded of the story in the Bible in Genesis 30:25-40 about Jacob who took care of sheep. He used branches in the water of the sheep to influence their breeding so as to get all spotted or all streaked or all solid babies. God prospered him even though his father in law changed his wage agreement many times. I look back on my notes from a recent Bible study on that passage. In the notes I had written about Jacobs use of herbs and selective breading. "What the mother eats affects the offspring." That day I had gotten off on a big rabbit trail into what the benefits were of the Poplar branches that Jacob used. It turns out they are purifying and pain reducing. I think how calm and un stressed his sheep must have been and how that must have played into their health and wellness and their breeding ability. I am reminded that to walk in total wellness we must take care of body, soul and spirit. I think about Jacob and how God gave him wisdom to as he tended sheep and how I can trust Him to lead me through my day.  I can trust that God will lead me.  So I was back to the idea of shepherds and searched that particular word and found this lovely David Ruis song.

Then I found this spontaneous worship led by Misty Edwards around Psalm 23rd. In you, Lord, is everything I need. I shall not want. I don't know what the Lord will do with these posts but part of my journey is to create and post them. I know that soon I will need to leave this quiet place and move on with this day.  As I leave here my prayer is that we will be aware of the Good Shepherd as we each walk through this day knowing that we have a Good Shepherd who leads and restores us.

Well of Living Waters

Im re-digging some wells that I have abandoned. In Genesis 26:18 it talks about Isaac re-digging the wells his father had dug. They had been abandoned after the death of Abraham and the Philistines had filled them with dirt. I want to re-claim things that have been abandoned to my own busy life, other projects and perhaps even some things that have been forgotten by others.  One of those wells is this idea of creating online worship services.

Wells are sources of water. It is the need for water that determined where cities were built and where people gathered. It is a daily necessity. In John 4 Jesus talked to the woman at the well and told her he could give her living water. He talked about a day coming when the true worshipers would worship in Spirit and Truth. It would no longer be about the place of worship because each believer would be a temple or a house of God. John 7:38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

 The beauty of these Online worship services is that you can partake in them at any time. If you don't like a song simply move on to the next one. The videos do not play automatically so you will need to click on them to start each one. I like this because worship is a fluid Spirit led thing and you may be deep in it with the Lord and need time before moving on. These are videos that I have found posted on youtube in most cases I am not the copyright holder. Occasionally I do post some of the songs I have written or covers of songs I have recorded. I try to make these services some what thematic so you can choose by topic what will best minister to you on a particular day.

This next song is one I recorded a while ago. In all humility, I don't see myself as a great recording artist. It is a simple recording of just me, my guitar in my living room. It has its own kind of simple raw beauty. It is a reminder to me that God uses what we will surrender to him - He uses us right where we are, in spite of our flaws, failures and imperfections. We are each a work in progress.

Rend Collective's Desert Soul reminds us that we are a desert of dry bones with out the Lord. Thank you that you are the living water and even in the desert we can find those places of Oasis in you.  I am reminded of Hagar who had run away with her young child. When she came to the end of herself. With fears of seeing her child die of thirst she looked up and there was a well. Had it been there all along - probably. Genesis 21:19 says Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.  I pray God will open your eyes so you can see what he has waiting already for you if you would open your eyes. 

Some of the beautiful music from the 12th Century by a Christian Mystic named Hildegard of Bingen. I have been very inspired not only by her enchanting music but also her life. 

She was the daughter of a noble knight and as the tenth child she was given as a tithe to the church at age 8.  She was having prophetic visions at age 3 and folks today think she may have suffered from migraines. She served a nun who became and anchoress who was walled off from the world except for a little window. She spent from age 18 to 43 in that woman's service.  When the anchoress died the other nuns voted Hildegard to be the new mother abbess. She was allowed by the church to write down her visions and share them. She created beautiful art work or supervised its creation of her visions from God. She wrote many book about her visions and was also well versed as a healer in the use of herbs and natural remedies. She kept very good notes of those things she discovered and left a great body of work that still speaks now some 800 plus years in the future. 

Bridge Over Troubled Water is that old Simon and Garfunkel song this time preformed by Audrey Assad. God is on your side - when times get rough. Like a bridge over troubled waters. Jesus provided that bridge to span the gap between fallen humanity and Holy God.  

This is from Julie True Quietness and Trust

We have much to be thankful for. It is well with my soul. Let go my soul and trust in Him. 

More of the beautiful etherial music of Hildegard of Bingen. This one is an hour in length and makes a wonderful background for quiet reflection and prayer. It is all in Latin but her native language was German.  Her life was certainly a deep well of reflection into the deeper things of God. 

Picking things back up a bit with The Well by JJ Heller