Bride's Song

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...

 Holy Spirit is preparing the bride through worship, a worship that is deeply rooted in our hearts.  The Spirit is blowing on the smoldering coals within us and producing flames of desire to be with our Eternal Bridegroom.  It is not just knowledge of Him as Savior and what He has done for us, but a deep desire to be with Him.  This worship of the heart speaks His name as we open our eyes from sleep and is our last thought as we drift off to sleep at night.  It is a desire that causes us to search for Him in our everyday experiences.  It prompts us to look for Him in every circumstance.  It is worship that sings throughout our days, in the best and the worst of times.  This depth of worship will bring about the return of the Bridegroom.  Only God the Father knows the hour of His Son’s return and He is waiting for a bride who will be ready for His Son.  A bride who loves Him, desires Him and desires for Him to be her husband.  His br...

  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...

  The LORD of Hosts , Yahveh Tsebaot (Strong’s # H-6635) is the plural of tsaba which means, “an army, a company organized for war, soldiers, a mass of persons.”   It originates from the root, “to fight, to mass, to war.”  The ancient meaning is, “mustering of an army as a wall or protection.” This title is used when God sent His heavenly forces to aid His people.  This is the God of victory, who commands the angels, the hosts of heaven.  Awake to help me, and behold!   You therefore, O LORD God of hosts , the God of Israel, awake to punish, all the nations; do not be merciful to any wicked transgressors.  Psalm 59:5 The LORD of hosts leads the host of heaven in battle against the enemy of our souls.   The LORD of hosts will return with His armies as Captain of the hosts and defeat satan forever.  Worship is warfare.   When we worship our God with all our being we are agreeing with the LORD of hosts and His forces in heaven are m...

  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...

    One day while Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of religious law were sitting nearby. (It seemed that these men showed up from every village in all Galilee and Judea, as well as from Jerusalem.) And the Lord’s healing power was strongly with Jesus.  Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to take him inside to Jesus,   but they couldn’t reach him because of the crowd. So they went up to the roof and took off some tiles. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat down into the crowd, right in front of Jesus.    Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.”    But the Pharisees and teachers of religious law said to themselves, “Who does he think he is? That’s blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!” Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts?    Is it easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand u...

  In Luke 4:14-30 we read about Jesus returning to His home town of Nazareth.   He had just begun His ministry after being tempted in the wilderness for 40 days.   He returns to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.   Jesus went to the synagogue on the Sabbath and read from the scroll of Isaiah. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering if sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. The people in the synagogue were impressed by Jesus command of the scriptures and marveled at his words.   They requested a display of the miracles they heard about in Capernaum but Jesus does not respond to them as they expect.   Instead, He begins to speak the truth about the present state of things in the Israel and the crowd was enraged and tried to throw Jesus off the cliff.  What hap...

  Are there times in your life you feel like God has abandoned you?   Prayers seem to be unanswered and heaven appears to be silent.   You wonder if you can take another loss, disappointment or crisis in your life.    In the middle of it all you ask yourself, “how did I end up here?” In the book of Ruth, Naomi, Ruth’s mother- in- law finds herself in that place.   She left Bethlehem in Judah with her husband and two sons during a time of famine seeking better provision in the land of Moab.   He husband, Elimelech died and Naomi’s sons married Moab women.   After 10 years both sons died and she was left a widow with her daughter- in -laws in a foreign land.   They were her only family in Moab and being a widow in their time in history was truly a crisis.   They had no one to protect them, no means of support and were at risk of starving if they did not find others husband or family to reside with.   There is much more to Naomi’s ...

  The Hebrew word for redeemer is gaal or goel.      Strong’s meaning (H-1350) is, “to be the next of kin, to buy back a relative’s property, marry a relative’s widow, deliver, ransom and purchase.” Then they remembered and sought earnestly for God, then they remembered that God was their rock, and the Most High God their Redeemer .     Psalm 78:34-35 Job makes an amazing statement in the middle of his anguish and loss.   Job declares the coming Redeemer and not only that He will deliver mankind but He will bring a physical resurrection.   Job was a righteous man that God allowed satan to inflict.   He suffered, he was humiliated, lost everything he had and eventually God brought complete restoration. “Oh, that my words were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book! That they were engraved on a rock with an iron pen and lead, forever!   For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and aft...