Nursing Home Music

Written in Heaven

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 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice 
that your names are written in heaven. Luke 10:20 ESV

There are a great many things most of us would like to do or have in life. Many of these things are good and right, such as getting married, getting a job and having a decent home for our family. Each time we reach one of these accomplishments we feel a bit of satisfaction and joy. When it comes to whatever ministry that God has placed us in, the same holds true. Sunday school teachers love nothing better than praying with a child to receive Christ, worship leaders love seeing people raising their hands and singing along and pastors get excited when the altar is filled with people praying. Now, don’t get me wrong, these are all great, but when the disciples came back super enthusiastic from a bang-up mission’s trip Jesus cautioned them to focus elsewhere. He pointed to a day when all our life is over, and our doing is done. The only thing that will matter for us then is if we find that our names are written in Heaven. One way to be sure about if our names are written in Heaven is to search our hearts and ask a simple question: “Where is our greatest treasure?” Jesus told us that where our treasure is, there our hearts will be also. If we have made Jesus, the treasure of our heart. If we have asked Him to be Lord of our life and to forgive our sins, then we can rejoice not just in Heaven, but here and now. Our greatest joy must always be, not that others praise us or think we are important: not that we have a stack of money in the safe or the latest model car. The greatest joy must be that we have been found by the Good Shepherd and that our lives belong to Him!

Today’s song was recorded this past Sunday at Discovery Villages, where my friends in long-term care loved singing this song. If you listen carefully, you will hear more and more voices as the hymn goes along. That is because they were still coming into the room and towards the end you will also hear some clapping joining the voices. I believe that the joy they are experiencing is because they have realized more than most of us, that none of the things of this world really count for much, but the promises of God will last forever!

Joy! Joy! Joy!

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Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy! Psalm 47:1 ESV

Not that I always am well prepared, but I do prefer to have some semblance of a message and a list of hymns to get us started each week at Life Care Center. But, even on the weeks when I have everything carefully mapped out, I have found that the residents love having the chance to pick a song themselves. This week’s suggestion from one of our seasoned saints was so great and we had such a blast singing it together, that I wanted to share it. It just goes to show, that getting older, doesn’t require us to lose our joy or our sense of fun. I do hope you will not only get a smile from our impromptu session, but that you will sing along and experience the joy that only Jesus can give.

He Arose at Life Care

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Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:29 ESV

Sometimes I try to imagine, what t would have been like on that first resurrection morning and wish I had been able to see Jesus with my own eyes and hear HIs voice, saying, “Fear not.” Thomas wished the very same thing, and eight days later, Jesus obliged that wish and showed Himself to Thomas and invited him to come and touch His wounds. What a privilege Thomas had to be able to see and touch Jesus, but how humbling that must have been for him to also hear, “More blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believed.” So, on those days when, like me, you wish you had been there, remember that you are more blessed than even those eleven disciples, and have an opportunity for an even greater joy. In singing Robert Lowry’s rousing hymn, “He Arose”, it gives us me the sense of what it must have been like to rejoice in seeing Jesus just like the first believers. We get to lift our voices with such a joyful uncompromising praise that my heart is filled to the brim. The most amazing miracle of all time – the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead changes both all of history and the history of our lives, because we believe in Him. I hope that you will enjoy seeing the many faces of our special friends in assisted living as they joined with us today. But no matter whether you sit in a wheelchair in a long term care facility or in the corner office of a giant corporation, there is no greater hope that you can have, than to know Jesus. He rose from the dead and has come to offer us eternal life, if we will put our trust in Him. “He arose! He arose! Hallelujah, Christ arose!”