You may remember last month when a huge snow storm hit the eastern half of the US on a Sunday, cancelling Church services for many who were in the bullseye of the storm.
Personally, due to Flu recovery and then another snow storm, it was now the third Sunday in a row that I had missed our services.
Realizing there might be others who were also desiring some sort of fellowship and Christian community, I attempted to do a livestream on Facebook, but it didn’t work correctly.
Uh oh…. Time to switch the approach to filming an actual video quickly and posting it later that afternoon/evening.
Episode 50–Manna From My Father’s Hand Podcast
This month, episode 50 of the “Manna From My Father’s Hand” podcast is a replay of that video, with easier to hear audio and slightly edited video.
This episode includes a few of my own original songs, some hymns and some personal words.
Some of those songs have already been posted as separate shorter videos, and will be linked in this article if they are available now, or they may later be posted as separate song videos.
For now, you can go ahead and watch the whole video here (or read here for the same info)
Here is what is included in this video podcast episode:
A recording of me singing the songs and sharing from my heart, in front of our window facing our deck, with the snow falling quickly in the background.
During that video we had already received at least 7 inches. In the end, we “only” received a little over 13 inches ;). But there were those in our area who got MUCH more … way closer to a couple of feet of snow.
It’s now almost 4 weeks later, and because these weeks were very cold, we STILL have much of that snow.
Chances are quite good that there will be more snow for us before springtime begins to thaw us out completely.
Whether or not there is additional snow, this video still applies to these long, cold, sometimes bleak winter days when many long for fellowship.
Inhabit Our Hearts
(video time-stamp 2:40)
The first song is one of my originals called “Inhabit our Hearts” that we have sung many times at our church.
This song is not included on any of my current CD’s, but is available for Church use via CCLI (song number 6632364).
How Great Thou Art
(time-stamp 6:53)
The second song was “How Great Thou Art”, an absolutely CLASSIC hymn written by Stuart K. Hine, requiring no further explanation! Hope you’ll sing along if you watch the video!
Good Morning, Lord
(time-stamp 12:00)
When I began the livestream earlier in the day, it was morning, and I had all intentions of sharing a “morning” song. By the time the video was made, it was afternoon. LOL.
Regardless, the next song was another one of mine that is beloved by many, called “Good Morning, Lord”.
This song is from my “Fill This Temple” CD. It is also accessible via CCLI (song number 4997616).
You can listen to (and purchase/download) this actual song here:
https://lisaprokopowitz.bandcamp.com/track/good-morning-lord
Wrist Update
When this video was recorded, it was around six months since falling and breaking my wrist, and the ability to play guitar again has been SUCH a BLESSING!
Those types of challenges in our lives can be used by the Lord (if we submit to Him and allow Him to do so) to prune us, sharpen/deepen our faith and build our character.
Hard times like huge snow storms with uncertainty about what is to come, and the thought of having to dig out and clean up from the storm can either swamp us emotionally, or teach us to turn our eyes to Jesus in these times, and trust Him to give us the “peace that passes understanding” mentioned in Philippians 4:7.
It is Well With My Soul
(time-stamp 17:45)
The next song echoed back to such times, having been written by someone who had endured unspeakable loss and sorrow.
It is another classic, well-known hymn called “It is Well with My Soul”.
Even in the midst of our “storms”, it can certainly be “well” with our souls, causing us to testify to His goodness so very profoundly, even (and especially) in the midst of our grief.
Find your peace in Jesus.
We are Sunk Without Jesus
Switching gears a little, there was a word that had been impressed on my heart in the days leading up to that snowy Sunday, by reading certain parts of Scripture in a new translation.
In reading from the end of 1 Kings into the beginning of 2 Kings, the stories contained therein struck me even more deeply than usual.
Usually having read those parts of the Bible in the NIV or ESV, this new translation (the New Living Translation) made the words penetrate my heart more profoundly.
Probably because that translation is so easily understood in English, the words seem to easily come to life.
Having read these passages SO MANY times in the past, THIS time it became painfully clear how short of a time-frame passed during these life-altering years in history.
You know how David is referred to as a “man after God’s own heart” in the Bible (1 Sam 13:14, Acts 13:22); and how his son Solomon is considered the wisest man on earth (1 Kings 4:24-31)?
It’s striking how even though David loved the Lord so deeply, he was STILL able to fall into sin so tragically with Bathsheba (and the attempted cover-up by the murder of her husband). The son born as a result of that sin had to die. Yet it was Bathsheba who later was mother to Solomon who ended up as the next King.
It also amazed me that David’s son Solomon, who finally became his successor, could be so incredibly WISE, and yet also fall so completely in the end, because his heart was led astray to IDOLS by all of his WIVES….
And the most sorrowful part? That the Kingdom was established under David, and then it only took ONE GENERATION for that kingdom to fall apart.
AND, that even to this day, we are SO MUCH like they were.
In some ways that makes me cry.
In other ways, hope springs up in my heart, because if God could still love them, and include THEM in His story, allowing them to be in the line of the Messiah, even with all their foibles and failures, certainly through Jesus (the ultimate and TRUE “Son of David”), He loves US and is able to extend such profound grace to us as well.
This passage puts it all in a nutshell:
“The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the LORD’s command. So the LORD said to Solomon, ‘Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.'”
1 Kings 11:9-13
Point is, we are sunk without Christ. Because none of us can be perfected on our own. None of us have the wherewithal to follow His law perfectly. And if you think you do, you’re lying to yourself. And if you don’t know the Lord, I want to encourage you to come to Him, because He paid the price that you’re going to owe to the Father in the end. He paid it for you.
Gospel in a Nutshell
That’s the Gospel in a nutshell. You owe a debt that’s too big for you, so God came to this earth to live this life, pay the price for you and allow you into the Kingdom.
So won’t you come to Him today, my friend?
And if you DO know the Lord…. Those of us who do; we need Him so badly. We need Jesus. Our good works are really worth nothing when they’re done from us. But when they’re done according to His Spirit and in His Spirit … Hallelujah! He does His good work.
Speaking of “our works” vs. His, I would never show up on video like I do on my own accord… I don’t have the tenacity to do all that is required to make it happen.
But Jesus is good, and He lives within me, and on the morning that this video was recorded, it seemed that He might be urging me to love YOU and share all that. Sharing His goodness…. That’s where the idea for the video originated in the first place.
What is Your Bible Like?
On that snowy day, it was right before the three year anniversary of my father’s death…
I remember many years prior to that, visiting him at his house in MA, sharing something about Jesus with him. I had my trusty old Bible with me (the one that I’ve read for YEARS, with notes written on almost every crumpled page), and I went upstairs to get it to share a certain passage with him.
As I opened the Bible to read, he listened and watched me. He later commented that when quoting Scripture, it was so impactful that I would open the Bible and turn the pages. Not only did it probably draw his attention because it was such a tangible experience, but also because somewhere in his heart, perhaps he realized that it was a Sacred thing to open the Bible and read.
He had pushed back on us sharing our faith with him for most of our lives, and at least at this moment, he was listening to what was being said (from what I could tell at least).
Over the ensuing years, my husband and I had given him a beautiful Bible with a leather cover, hoping that perhaps he would open it and read it.
He ultimately never made a profession of faith that was clear and concise, although his heart did become more tender with age.
Well Used or Brand New?
Flash forward to three years ago, going through his things after he passed away. We found that beautiful Bible (that I now treasure, and use for reading in my videos and when sharing Scripture at Church). The sad thing is that it was in almost the identical condition as when we gave it to him. No pages ruffled, no writing in the margins. Pristine and untouched.
Even though I treasure that beautiful Bible now, it would have been SO MUCH BETTER to have found it well USED and marked up.
My question for you: If you have a Bible, what’s it like? Is it marked up, with pages that are wrinkled and showing wear from being turned repeatedly; or is it basically brand new, likely dusty, untouched and unread?
It is in READING the Bible and getting those words into your HEART, allowing Jesus to take up residence there … that is where the PEACE comes from. Peace that will get you through all the storms of your life.
So if you don’t have one, please consider GETTING one (they are SO easy to find), and if you do have one, by all means OPEN it and let it minister life to your heart.
There is a God. One God in heaven. He came here for you and me, because of His deep love.
Give Me Jesus
(time-stamp 32:26)
The next song is a traditional hymn called “Give Me Jesus”. Here is a clip of that song that I’ve put out separately from that snowy day video. I pray that it moves your heart.
Oh, when I come to die … give me Jesus….
Just give me Jesus. My friend, in the end, when our time comes for our last breath here on this earth, may our next breath be, with His face before us, saying “Well done, good and faithful servant” … enter in.
I pray that for you, my friend. There’s so much chaos right now in this world, so much fear, so much bitterness. We need Jesus.
Life is hard enough without all the chaos, without all the craziness. It’s hard enough!
So may we let go of all the craziness….
Back when this snow storm video was recorded, I had been thinking of a friend who was in a tremendous amount of pain, and during that prior week, while singing one of my songs “unto the Lord”, I sensed a nudge in the Spirit to sing that song over him on Sunday. And then, our service was canceled….
So since I was putting out the video, it seemed good to go ahead and sing it over ALL who would later watch or listen to that video, since it’s hard to know exactly why the Holy Spirit might lead in such a way and to whose heart He might want to minister.
Holy One of Israel
(time-stamp 38:30)
In fact this song is one that I had played for my Dad during one of the days I spent with him before he passed away.
I had a rough video of me singing it during a concert from a few months prior to my time with him, and had the video on my laptop.
He was in a rehab place, although he never actually rehabbed, sadly. Anyway, that afternoon he and his roommate were both lying back in their beds as I played that song for him from that concert video on my laptop. They both listened intently.
At the end of the song, I asked if he wanted to hear another song, and he said something like “I simply want to absorb what I just heard”, and he proceeded to drift off into an afternoon nap.
So the last song to be shared on this more recent snowy day video is THAT one, called “Holy One of Israel”.
As I said, my Dad never came out and professed an active conversion to Christ, although his heart had softened over the years, and in his last years, his caregiver would often play my “Fill This Temple” CD for him, which he apparently LOVED.
It’s hard to think all those lyrics about Jesus could be going in to your heart and not make a change in there….
Somehow I trust and pray that as he listened to this song, during his “last days”, the Lord Jesus met him in that place … that quiet place of the heart. He had heard the Gospel from us so many times. Sometimes you need a touch from Jesus Himself to realize it’s all true.
So this is the last song shared on that snowy Sunday video (time-stamp 38:30). If/as you listen to it, I pray that Jesus will meet you in that quiet place as well, and bring you healing, hope and comfort.
Holy One of Israel (CCLI song number 6177070) can be found on my “Sacred Sojourn/Follow Me” CD. You can listen (and purchase/download) this song here:
https://lisaprokopowitz.bandcamp.com/track/holy-one-of-israel
I pray for you that the songs and words in this blog (and/or the podcast, if you watched the video) have drawn your heart closer to Jesus this day, and that no matter what challenges you are facing, He will pour out upon you His “peace that passes understanding”. In Jesus’ name, and by His abundant grace.
Lisa Prokopowitz is a Christian Singer/Songwriter, Guitarist, Podcaster and Blogger who seeks to lift up the name of Jesus and draw hungry hearts unto Him.
The podcast (Audio) version of this episode will be posted here:
https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/shining-river9
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