soulful hymns//ancient words

welcome to the first day of the month of march! i hope February treated you well. the hymn i'm sharing today is one of my favs. it reminds me the the Word of God (who is the person of Jesus), is the most important book i can ever read. 

 

via

i get to know the heart of Jesus as i read His love letters each day. they rebuke me and correct me and most importantly, they remind me that i am loved by my Darling Jesus. and this love, His love, changes everything. i journal what He teaches me each day when i read to get to know more about Him and how my relationship with Him will thrive.

ancient words by michael w. smith

Holy words long preserved
For our walk in this world,
They resound with god's own heart
Oh, let the ancient words impart.

Words of life, words of hope
Give us strength, help us cope
In this world, where e'er we roam
Ancient words will guide us home.

Chorus:
Ancient words ever true
Changing me, and changing you.
We have come with open hearts
Oh let the ancient words impart.

Holy words of our faith
Handed down to this age.
Came to us through sacrifice
Oh heed the faithful words of Christ.

Holy words long preserved
For our walk in this world.
They resound with god's own heart
Oh let the ancient words impart.

Chorus x4

We have come with open hearts
Oh let the ancient words impart.
  

"and these words which i command you today shall be in your heart. you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."// deuteronomy 6:6-9

"My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you."// galatians 4:19

 "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."// John 1:14

Jesus is formed in me day by day as i spend time with Him, the Word. i get to know what He likes, dislikes... i get to understand why He asks me to do certain things. 

and hopefully, people out there who don't read the Bible get to see humans who are showing Jesus so well by the way they live so much so that unbelievers will be convicted to believe in Jesus. 

some of the major truths in the Bible are:

"for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son (Jesus) that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting Life" //John 3:16

"And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.  And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” // mark 12:30-31

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;  does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;  does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love..// 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, 13

so have you been reading and meditating on the Word lately, have you been teaching the truths hidden in the love letters of Father to your children, nephews, nieces, grand kids, stranger kids, kids in your church, kids on the street, your friends and colleagues, your siblings, your family? i hope you do. and i hope that you use the Word practically in Your life because Father always has a word from His Word to encourage our weary hearts in every situation that we find ourselves in.

 xoxo, delali.

currently

Relishing in & enjoying: the time spent in the beauty and serenity of nature with Cheryl, le guitar. :)

venue for photos: my alma mater, UG. :)

Gushing over: my new bible and camera I gifted myself for my birthday and the flat pumps my sweet friend, martina gave me for the birthday (which was 25^th may :) 

I love that the bible has these cute index thingys that make it easier to find a book. 

I got this cute Samsung HD camera a little before my birthday. I know, I have to invest in a big girl nikon/canon camera sometime but for now this should do. ;)

the cute flat pumps-thanks martina!

Loving: my new cross earrings & my not-so TWA-{teeny weeny afro}. well I got kinky curly twists over the weekend so it hasn’t been that long since I rocked my ‘fro so it still counts. ;)

before & after church on le birthday

Listening to: desert soul, joy, my lighthouse, you are my vision by rend collective… sing in the rain by moriah peters…my hope is in You by aaron shust. These have been on repeat like crazy. Rend collective is becoming my new fav band, ya’ll!

Watching: preacher’s kid {watched this last night actually}. This movie is really good! Watched it first when it came out a few years back, and it doesn’t get old. Especially to any girl out there seeking for attention from the wrong guy, the girl looking for love in the wrong places, the girl who is willing to compromise her values/beliefs just to please some guy who’s not worth it, the girl who thinks she’s gone too far, messed up too much to return to the ultimate Lover of her soul, this movie is for you. It’s got a lot to teach.

Reading: aside le bible, a summer read titled ‘beach season’, {and blogs, one of my favs being, the lipstick gospel}

I haven’t really done a ton of novel reading. I finished reading through proverbs during the weekend and started jeremiah. {I’d love to name one of my future sons jeremiah. such a powerful + lovely name, right?}

Thankful for: sweet friendships, the kind where you can share your wild dreams & fears & bare your soul. The kind where you aren’t afraid or ashamed to be vulnerable. the kind that puts up with all your quirks. the kind that breathes life and speaks truth into you, the kind that is real. I’m not about shallow small talk, I’m about deep + hearty conversations.

Dreaming about: the beautiful future and all the possibilities it holds.

via

Learning to: play the guitar and to fight for my joy. The latter is a spiritual discipline which is oh, so worth it.

Praying for: diligence to love and serve the Lord with all my heart and soul. {but without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Hebrews 11:6}

what have you been up to lately? do share!

xoxo

gen delali.

linking up here.

My First Missions Trip

This March, I got a beautiful opportunity to go on my first missions trip. It was to Adukrom, a town in the Eastern part of my country. Prior to that, I had no idea about embarking on such a trip. You see, I prayed to God and told Him to lead me to a missions group where I can get the chance to share His truth to hurting people, and the most interesting thing happened. Two days after that prayer, God sent a stranger to my door who introduced me to this Foundation that honors God by reaching out to people, especially teens with the soothing message of God. Crazy, I know. But God totally heard my prayer and answered me. I was so thrilled! This foundation has apparently been operating in my school for about three years now and I had no clue about it...until that day when I was in the midst of praising God for helping me get a very good grade on one of my finals from last semester, and the God-sent stranger knocked on my door.

 I love going to new places and I absolutely love sharing God’s Word with people so I fell in love with the idea of being a missionary. I hoped, dreamed and wished for it but I never really seriously told God about it. This experience taught me that I should always be specific and direct with God when I want something. I’m learning that when I’m willing to serve Him, He opens the necessary doors for me to diligently serve Him. He’s such a cool Father. =D>

So I signed up to be part of the Foundation and went on my first missions trip which lasted for two days. Before we left I already knew there might be challenges we would face so I was prepared for the out-of-my-comfort-zone experience. And yes, it was challenging but I’m so glad I went. I got to share the Word with a number of senior high schools girls and for the first time I went on a dawn broadcasting. Whoa! Yeah, I know. Sometimes I look back and ask “was it really me?” Haaa, I’m so kicking shyness outta my life. The amazing this is, I didn’t have to depend on my own strength. I told God He should fill me and use me to say what He needed the people to know. I was jittery and nervous, but I did it. The opportunity to be a counselor to a couple of senior high school girls who rededicated their lives to God was totally amazing.

 

Me with my fellow missionaries  

 “All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16,17

Through this outreach, I learned some vital things. I realized that if I wasn’t living right for God, I would have felt awfully guilty for encouraging those wonderful people to do the things which I wasn’t doing myself. But I thank God that I strive to always do what is pleasing in His sight. So the experience served as a check on myself and challenged me to walk my talk always. You can imagine the kind of leader I would be if I don’t do the things I tell others to do. And the whole thing also served like a mini retreat for me, you know. Either my face was constantly in the Bible or I was praying and ministering to people. I’ll admit this experience renewed and strengthened my relationship with God. It was refreshing.

“But how are men to call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? And how can men preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news!”” Romans 10:14,15

I just had to take a snap with this pretty tree. hehe

When I look back on my life, I just thank God for all the beautiful changes He’s working in me. I mean, two years back I wouldn’t have dedicated my time into serving God like this. And I’m so glad I made the decision to serve Him faithfully by reaching out to people. I’m still a work in progress and I’m nowhere near perfect. But my willingness to submit to the will of God and to fulfil the Great Commission is enough to begin an awesome adventure with God. 

 I don’t have to be a pastor behind a pulpit before I share God’s Word. I’m a vessel willing to let God fill me with His plans to go out there and win some souls. J Because seriously, what will be the point of me being on earth if I don’t obey God? My life would be pointless. Honoring God is what brings me fulfilment and joy. I don’t want to live this life forgetting the most important things which is to love God above all things and to love others. 

“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30,31

So if I truly love others, I should have a deep seated desire to share God’s love and redeeming truth with them. I should be ready to give hope to the hopeless. I should be able to trust God and sacrifice my comfort to go out there and make disciples. :) Jesus said “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” Matthew 28:19,20

 

Rebecca didn't look too amused here. Must have been the cold weather.

          On our way to half night service

               

I believe this new journey of me serving God as a missionary is going to be the start of something really beautiful. I can feel it. And I’m believing God’s Word concerning my life each day. I’m happy my relationship with God is blooming and becoming so real and very personal. I love it. :-*

So dear friend, how are you honoring God’s will these days? If for some reason or two you can’t go out there and tell people about God, your everyday life itself should be honoring God so much that it inspires others to want to live their lives for God too. Let how you live be the proof of your love for God...the things you say, the way you behave...Your life may be the Bible somebody reads.

“Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2

  

During our final sermon

The team

Before we left to Accra. I have no idea why Michael had his eyes opened. lol

  When you get the opportunity to go out there and reach out, please don’t miss it for anything in the world. It’s a humbling and wonderful thing to do. I’m so looking forward for my next missions this summer and I’m trusting Him to provide all I need for the trip. Exciting details on this later. ;)

I love this song from Britt Nicole about reaching out. I pray it blesses you.

Don’t let your lights go down,

 Don’t let your fire burn out,

 Because somewhere,

Somebody needs a reason to believe.

Why don’t you rise up now?

Don’t be afraid to stand out,

That’s how the lost get found.

Dear friend, Love is calling you to call out to others to share the Good News. Are you willing to say yes? I sincerely hope you do. :) xoxo 

Delali.