Bride's Song

Heavens/Heaven Shamayim / Shameh   H-8064   Strong’s# The root of this Hebrew word comes from the root meaning, “to be lofty.”   As a noun it means, “heavens, heaven, sky, aloft and air.” The ancient root means, “breath” and “a place of the wind.”   Heaven often appears as plural in the Old Testament because the Hebrews understood the great expanse and vastness of heaven.   The plural form emphasized this point.   Heaven also referred to God’s dwelling place.   LORD God of Israel, there is no God in heaven above or on earth below like You, who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts.   1 Kings 8:23 Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the LORD your God, also the earth with all it is this day.    Deuteronomy 10:14 Worship opens the door to heaven.   Worship creates an atmosphere where earth and heaven meet.   Perhaps we can compare it to Jacob’s ladder...

Incense Qatar (Strong's # H-6999)    Qatar as a verb means, “to smoke, to turn into a fragrance by fire, to kindle and to burn.” The noun form qetorith means, “incense or perfume.” You shall make an altar to burn incense on;    Exodus 30:1 Aaron shall burn on it sweet incense every morning; when he tends the lamps, he shall burn incense on it.   And when Aaron lights the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense on it, perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.   Exodus 30:7-8 These were the instructions given to Moses regarding the altar of incense.   The incense offered twice a day to the LORD on the altar of incense symbolized the prayers offered to God;   the intercession of the priest in the morning and evening for the people of Israel.   The altar of incense was in the Holy Place just in front of the curtain that concealed the Holy of Holies.   As the priest physically offered incense to burn upon...

Elohim (Strong's # H-430) is the first name of God that appears in scripture in Genesis 1:1.   In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Elohim is translated as God.    The name Elohim comes from the root, elah or el meaning, “strong or mighty.”   Elohim is associated with the idea of a “strong creator.”    The ancient meaning of El is “one who holds authority over others.”     The ending added to the word elah or el makes this word plural yet it is used with singular verbs and adjectives.    Elohim is plural but used as singular thousands of times in the Old Testament.   When elohim is used in the plural sense it is usually in reference to pagan gods and not referring to the God of Israel.  From a Christian perspective we can see the trinity expressed in this name (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) but the corporate Godhead was also part of the Hebrew understanding from the Tanakh (Old Testament Scr...

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11 ESV  I have a precious tribe of believers who share the same heart.  We are an Intercessory Worship Team called, Incense Rising.  Our little group plants the songs and decrees that the LORD gives us in places where we are led to deposit them.  We do lead worship for groups of people but our main purpose has been to voice God's hopes and dreams into the region and state we live, New York State.  We have been writing songs together as a team for over a year.  Even those of our team who have never written songs are writing lyrics that become songs.  It is a unique blending of the gifts God has deposited and developed in each one of us. "Above All Names" is a wonderful ...

My own sheep will hear my voice and I know each one, and they will follow me. I give to them the gift of eternal life and they will never be lost and no one has the power to snatch them out of my hands.  My Father, who has given them to men as his gift, is the mightiest of all, and no one has the power to snatch them from my Father’s care.  The Father and I are on.   John 10:27-30 TPT So many voices clamoring for our attention.   Emotionally charged voices everywhere we go, across every part of our lives.   Who are we listening to?   Who is telling us the truth?   Who can we trust? Even in the most trusted environments such as church and family we can hear the wrong voices.   It is not that people intentionally want to give speak things that are not true but they are sometimes speaking out of what they know, their own agendas and what the world says, not what God says. There have been several times in my life where this battle against d...

  Len Douglas, worship leader, musician and songwriter gave me this song to record in 2019.   Len, his wife Gail, our friend Marcia and I are an Intercessory Worship Team, Incense Rising.  We meet to worship, pray and plant God’s desires for our region through decreeing His Word and prophetic song.   Last year Len had been meditating on John 20 and Mary Magdalene’s encounter at the empty tomb on the day of resurrection.  This song is filled with a depth of emotion; of loss, then surprise and unspeakable joy.  “We seek the one we love so such, we brought the spices for a final touch. It’s an act of worship, in our own way but His love was greater and He couldn’t stay.”   Later in the song the lyric changes to, “He brought the spices for a final touch.” That resurrection morning the women came with their precious spices for Jesus.  It was their act of love that compelled them to go with their spices to the tomb that morning.  At that...

  My heart is on fire, boiling over with passion.  Bubbling up within me are these beautiful lyrics as a lovely poem to be sung for the King!  Like a River bursting its banks, I’m overflowing with words, spilling out into this sacred story.   Psalm 45:1 The Passion Translation I discovered the incredible passion of this psalm over 25 years ago walking in the misty morning on the coastline of the Olympic Peninsula.    I was on vacation with my family and got up at dawn and decided to walk the beach and talk with God.   I opened my NKJV Bible to Psalm 45 and started to read it as I walked along.   I don’t think I had ever read this Psalm before or if I did, I did not understand the depth of these words.   My heart felt like it was about to explode.   My heart became filled with words that I couldn’t seem to speak.   My silence was actually singing deep inside my soul and spirit.   When I returned to my home in New York, ...

In the Bible there are relational titles such as husband and bridegroom in reference to the LORD and Yeshua/Jesus .  The LORD refers to Himself in terms of a husband in reference to His relationship to Israel .  Yeshua alludes to Himself as the bridegroom as He preached about the coming Kingdom of God and in regards to His presence among His disciples.  We see this concept explained and elaborated on also by others writers such as Paul and John in the New Testament in reference to the Church, the bride of Messiah.   The relationship of husband and wife is the most intimate relationship there is. We see this from the very beginning of time.   And Adam said, “This is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. ” Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.  Genesis 2:22-23 This relationship between husband and wife produces new life...

  In 2001 my life was so conflicted. The Capital Region Prayer and Healing Center had just opened in Albany, N.Y. and I was a regular member of the Monday night worship team.   I had just started working with home recording.   I had been a songwriter since I was 18 years old and this was a time in my life that exploded with new songs on a weekly basis.   I was passionately in love with Jesus and it was hard to find the balance between this passionate pursuit, my family and work life.   I was in fellowship with equally passionate individuals who were also passionately writing songs and consumed with love for Jesus. I was at a worship conference in Syracuse, NY with Jeremy Sinnott in 2000.   At the end of the conference, he asked if there was someone out there who would produce music just for the LORD, no profit, not fame, just God’s thumb print, then pick up this vision and do it.   I grabbed hold of that vision that day.   It was like a precious...