Continuing my focus on Emmanuel – God with us, I share this Emmanuel song I remembered as “There Is A River”; officially titled “I Will Rejoice”.  Recorded by William Murphy, it’s based on Psalm 46:4 There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.

[Verse 1:]
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of our God
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of our God
So I will rejoice, I will rejoice, and be glad
My depressed days are over, I will, I made up my mind, I will, I’m gonna be glad

[Verse 2:]
There is a fountain full of grace that flows from Emmanuel’s veins
There is a fountain so full of grace that flows from my Savior’s veins
It came and it healed me
It came and refreshed me
It came and washed my sins away!

[Chorus:]
So I will rejoice, I will rejoice, and be glad

From https://genius.com/William-murphy-i-will-rejoice-lyrics

Part of this week’s revelation I’ve gleaned is: all life is worship. Let’s think about this starting with:

^{Acts 17:27} That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:  ²⁸ For in him we live, and move, and have our being; … For we are also his offspring.

^{1 Corinthians 6:19} What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? ²⁰ For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

So in Him we live, move and have our being, our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost; we are not our own because Christ bought us for the Father. Now we are the redeemed, Christ Jesus lives in us. Don’t forget that in Christ, we are seated with Him at the right hand of the Father. All this means whatever we do, we should do it to glorify the Lord. Whether we eat, drink, wash dishes, care for our children, work outside the home or any other activity, clearly we bring the Lord along with us. There is no longer any sacred or secular, there’s good and evil. We walk in the light of the Spirit, and this light overcomes darkness. This means we can overcome whatever comes into our life as the over-comers in the book of Revelation:

^{Revelation 12:11} And they overcame him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. 

Galatians 5^{: 24} And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

As we live in the Spirit, let God’s Spirit search you. As King David found: He’s the one who can clean up our hearts and renew our spirits.

Psalm 51: ¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

^{Psalm 139:23} Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:  ²⁴ And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Once you’re clean and in right relationship, remember where to set your affections:

Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. ² Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. ³ For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

I pray you will take time to seek the Lord this week and grow deeper in your relationship with Emmanuel, the One in whom you live, move, breath, and have your being. May all your life be an act of worship, for He is worthy of it all!