Acts 20:35 – “I have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

The whole concept of luck feeds a humanistic mindset.  What is humanism?  Very simply, humanism is the belief that we are self-sufficient without God.  Humanism is also all about lifting some people higher than others.  Luck feeds the mindset that some of us are just more worthy than others.

This is not true. Romans 3:23 – “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Isaiah 53:6 – “All we like sheep have gone astray…”

Horoscopes, astrology, gambling, fate, “the universe”…all of these take away from the existence of divine God.  Luck eliminates God out of the picture.  These things are one example of why we need to be careful of how the world influences us. Luck is one of those things that is such an accepted part of our culture and of our vernacular, that even Christians throw the concept of luck around like it is no big deal.

Luck is about how we are benefited, for our own personal gain.  Blessed is a word that keeps our gain in perspective – we are blessed to bless others.  Being lucky cultivates a posture of pride; being blessed cultivates a posture of praise.  Instead of “look what I got” with luck, we desire “look at my God” with blessings.

We may be tempted to give in to those thoughts of – “well, I’m just not as lucky as they are.  I don’t have the blessings they do, so I can’t really do much for others.”  When our lifestyle is in the proper mindset, however, it is interesting how God decides to bless us: Luke 6:38 – “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”  God gives us a one-word command here, and then in a very descriptive manner explains how He will take care of us through other people!  People who embrace that they are blessed have no trouble believing that it is more blessed to give than to receive.  People who know they are blessed love to give to others, because they know that God has their back!

When we feel that we aren’t blessed, perhaps we should look at:

• how we are living our life – Micah 6:8 – “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”
• how we are viewing our life – James 4:14-15 – “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.”
• how we are stewarding our life – Psalm 90:12 – “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”

Some major influences on our thinking of whether we are lucky or blessed:

• our music “poor you”, “you don’t deserve this”, “it wasn’t meant to be this way”
• our entertainment “thank your lucky stars”, “one of the lucky ones”
• our friends “you deserve this”, “you totally need that”

If you prefer luck – “playing with fate” – over blessings, it is time to examine your heart! James 4:3, 4 – “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”  Remembering that we are blessed, rather than lucky, keeps us dependent upon God and His way of doing things.

God is not out to ruin your life or to make you miserable.  Proverbs 10:22 – “The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.”  God desires to give good things to His children.  His promises are abundant and available for us to claim.  When we spend our lives doing for others instead of making sure we are taken care of, He has a way of keeping our needs met above and beyond what we could imagine.

What does the song say? Let it help you remember that you are incredibly blessed!

“Count Your Blessings”

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?

Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?

Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly

And you will be singing as the days go by

Count your blessings, name them one by one

Count your blessings, see what God has done

Count your blessings, name them one by one

Count your many blessings, see what God has done

The “cancel culture” has been a hot button topic since the pandemic began. It is an unfortunate mentality that most of us recoil at, scoff at, and shake our heads at.  However, I’ve realized that many of us practice “cancel culture”, too…we just spiritualize it – to our shame.

We unfriend someone who calls us out on social media without thinking twice about it.

We speak up loudly on our Facebook about something we are passionate about – because we know what people need to hear on the matter, after all.

We avoid getting close to that person at church who requires more friendship than a passing “hi” in the hallway.

We boycott a business because of some public statement they apparently made – I mean, it was on Twitter, so it must be true.

We stop talking to a brother or sister in Christ who hurts us – because, “I just can’t.”

We teach our children that putting toxic people out of our life is ok because “you don’t need that kind of negativity in your life.  Do what is good for you.”

Friends – I don’t think Jesus lived like this at all.  When I look at His years on earth, He was seen in the middle of endless scenarios, and they all involved people.  We are messy, friends.  Jesus chooses to love messy people.

…do I choose to love messy people?

Remember that love does not equate to condoning. Jesus never condoned wrong doing.  He did call it out on many occasions.  Yet, we have to remember that He is God.  And, He gave us instructions for times to call out wrong doing in the New Testament.  I would venture to say that a lot of what we do is not what God had in mind when He said to speak “the truth in love”.

The pandemic and all that has come with it has caused me to think a lot about my own Christianity.  Do I reflect Jesus in the way I speak to others, in the way I treat others, in the way I love others?  Is my testimony for Him tainted by loftiness and pride?  I’ve truly besought Him to show me every place I need to humble myself – there are many, many opportunities to learn humility in my own life.  May I sum up today’s thoughts with God’s own Words:

“A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in til afterwards.” Proverbs 29:11

One of the things I’ve been working on since the pandemic hit is reading any parenting books we have on hand.  My husband loves books, so we have a fair share of books I’ve never read before.  While reading one of them, I was struck in a new way with the gravity of this verse from Proverbs: “My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eye observe my ways.” (Proverbs 23:26).

I thought about how I may or may not be living this out in my own life as a mother.  Do I want my children’s eyes to observe my ways?  Am I subconsciously putting everything BUT myself in front of my children’s eyes?  “Observe my ways…” – can I say that with confidence to my children, confidence that they will see a good example in me?

God isn’t just talking about TV, though that is an easy thing to relate to in our world.  This verse is communicating a way of life for all Christian parents.  Are we so busy entertaining our children “so I can just have some time” that we aren’t actively training our children?  What do my children see me doing?  Do they see me growing, ministering, helping, working, and learning?  Or do they see me lazy, defeated, busy, distracted, and worldly? 

Josh and I are in a busy season of life, and it’s not just because we have kids.  It is really easy for us to get to the end of the day and just watch the boys play instead of actually doing something with them.  However, we try to do things with them because we know we are training them for the rest of their lives.  We don’t do it right every day, let me tell you – we make a painfully large amount of mistakes.  I pray that we will do better every day with our boys.

We don’t do anything fancy.  Our “something with them” is often a walk to see the train go by; running around in a field with a ball; soaking up sunshine with some bubbles outside; letting Malachi help make supper (Joash hasn’t been allowed to do that much yet, and if you know him, you know why, haha); reading books; doing the laundry; cleaning at church.

What worked in the days of Solomon still works in 2020.  Good or bad, our children are watching what we do, how we live, what we say, who we hang out with, where we spend our time – they see it all.  We won’t want to say “observe my ways” if we aren’t living the way God intends.  Let us choose God’s way of life, and let us remember the great responsibility and privilege that comes with it!

Accompanying is something I’m passionate about. Solo performance is not my strong suit; it is important and something I constantly seek to improve in, but it is not my passion. Going on 18 years of being a church pianist in various forms, I’ve come to realize how essential being a good accompanist is. I am no professional musician, so please remember that as you consider my tips 🙂 . However, I have been gleaning ideas and observations from truly professional musicians for years, and I know God has helped me incorporate much of what their examples teach me.

Being a good accompanist is imperative for a church pianist, because the only solo pieces you find yourself performing are usually offertories. Much more often you find yourself playing while others sing or play their instruments. In any given Sunday I accompany no less than 8 songs – and that number can easily jump to 15 or more if I am the pianist at night, too, or if it is cantata time!

My goal as an accompanist varies based on who and what I am playing for. Is it a vocalist? Is this a choir piece? Are we singing the first congregational hymn? What is the spirit of the church this evening? Is this song happy or somber? Does the vocalist need me to keep her on track or do I need to simply follow her? You see, some vocalists need the encouragement of bold playing for them to sing out. Others expect me to match the rise and fall of their own dynamics. When accompanying, it is not your time to shine. I enjoy coming up with variations for song playing, but only to the extent that it doesn’t take away from the vocalist.

Learn to sightread! Do you know how many times I’ve been asked to sight read music?! (Keep reading to find out what pushed me to learn to sightread!) Congregational music is half sight reading, too! My music director in college really pushed me in this area…and I am so grateful he did. He expected me to be able to play the choir music for rehearsal well enough that I was not throwing off the entire choir. Sight reading is something I’ve heard skilled musicians say they “can’t” do – but I beg to differ. We all can if we practice.

For the sake of background, I have a story for you! I remember one time when I was 15 or so, there was a music workshop at our church for young people. It challenged me in my vocal skills but also in my piano skills – because at that workshop, I realized how little learning I had put into my music…instead, mostly to that point I had relied on any natural ability I had. I’ll never forget how embarrassed I was when one of the teachers at that workshop asked me to play the piano accompaniment for the choir music we were learning together. I complied because I assumed I could – however, a few measures in to it I had botched it so badly that he asked me to stop. Yep, that was embarrassing, especially in front of your teen friends. That instance taught me a very valuable lesson, though – that I had better learn to sightread – and to this day I have that instance etched in my memory.

Remember that God says to make a joyful noise – and He also says to do things decently and in order. He desires for us to do our best in whatever we do. Practicing and improving musical abilities us a huge part of doing our best!