Author Archives: Nannette

About Nannette

Wife to The Sweetheart, Mom to the Fantastic Six, Nana to six of the cutest littles on the planet, Author, The Daniel Fast, A Devotional. UPCI ministers.

Go, tell it on the Mountain!

2 Replies
 Did you know that Go Tell It On The Mountain has no published author, because it was passed down from plantation to plantation and never credited properly? John Wesley Work actually published it in 1907 and it has been a favorite Christmas carol for many decades.

He made me a watchman

Upon a city wall,

And if I am a Christian,

I am the least of all.

The story didn’t end for the shepherds, the Wise Men, for Joseph or Mary after the birth of Jesus. It didn’t even end 33 years later after His death burial and resurrection!

Here we are, ready to enter 2021. Did you know that He made YOU a watchman? He made ME a watchman! And if we are Christians at all, and we are friends, we are, we are the least of all, but He put us here to do a job.

So what did He leave us here to do?

Go tell it! Proclaim it everywhere you go!

We are to make His name glorious as we spread the Good News. Jesus Christ was born and it’s more than just a story. It’s not a fairy tale. It is for you, for your children, and their children too. Acts 2:39.

Are we moved with compassion to share this Gospel today? Are we willing in good times or adversity to share the story and our testimony?

Let us not hide it under a bushel. Let us not be so caught up in our plenty that we forget that our purpose on this earth is to reach others, not just to satisfy our earthly desires and wants.

He was born for a reason. He died for a reason. For you, me and all who would believe.

Let’s take this Good News, over the hills and everywhere!

While shepherds kept their watching
Over silent flocks by night,
Behold throughout the heavens,
There shone a holy light:
Go, Tell It On The Mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere;
Go, Tell It On The Mountain
That Jesus Christ is born.

The shepherds feared and trembled
When lo! above the earth
Rang out the angel chorus
That hailed our Saviour’s birth:
Go, Tell It On The Mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere;
Go, Tell It On The Mountain
That Jesus Christ is born.

Down in a lowly manger
Our humble Christ was born
And God send us salvation,
That blessed Christmas morn:
Go, Tell It On The Mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere;
Go, Tell It On The Mountain
That Jesus Christ is born.

When I am a seeker,
I seek both night and day;
I seek the Lord to help me,
And He shows me the way:
Go, Tell It On The Mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere;
Go, Tell It On The Mountain
That Jesus Christ is born.

He made me a watchman
Upon the city wall,
And if I am a Christian,
I am the least of all.
Go, Tell It On The Mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere;
Go, Tell It On The Mountain
That Jesus Christ is born.

Psalm 105:1 “Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done.”

Nannette-Christmas

DF cover side viewHave you purchased your copy of The Daniel Fast Devotional? 21 days of fasting devotions to take you through ANY FAST! Available on Amazon now in paperback and kindle!

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel! The rich scripture and story behind the song!

7 Replies

The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him ‘Emmanuel’, which means ‘God with us.’ Matthew 1:23.

In the Middle Ages, monks observed Advent as a time of and serious consideration of The Secondmeditation This beloved hymn was penned almost 1200 years ago by an anonymous monk in Europe. It is said to have come from a set of Latin verses called the “O antiphons“, performed in monasteries in the 8th century. An antiphon just means that two choirs sat opposite each other, singing the verses alternately.

The verses each referred to titles of the Messiah, telling of His coming. The five mentioned in the song are:

Emmanuel (God with us)-Isaiah 7:14 NKJV. “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.“
Lord of Might-Exodus 19:16 NKJV. “Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.”
Rod (Branch) of Jesse-Isaiah 11:1 NIV. “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.” Isaiah 11:10. NIV.  “In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.”
Dayspring (Morning Star)-Numbers 24:17 KJV. “I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.”
Key of David-Isaiah 22:22 KJV. “And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.”

In 1851, John Mason Neale translated it from Latin to English and called it Draw nigh, draw nigh, Emmanuel. Eventually it became known as we adore it today, O Come, O come, Emamnuel.

God is with us...Emmanuel!

Today, we are cumbered about with many things during this blessed season. Sure, we have our Christmas music playing, some of it even includes beloved hymns. We attend church, if we aren’t quarantined, and hear about the coming of the Christ Child. Hopefully we take time as a family to reflect on the real meaning of Christmas. But seldom do we focus on The Second Coming during the Christmas season!

Wouldn’t it be good if, this year, we could not only look back at why Jesus came as an infant but we could look ahead at His ultimate promise?

The coming of the Lord for His Bride!

We can look around us and see how much things have changed in our world BEFORE 2020! This past year we can lay our newspaper (or tablet, etc.) alongside our Bible and be amazed as we watch prophecy unfold before our very eyes. Yet, we do not despair! We look up for we know our redemption draws closer every day.

We are blessed to have relationship with Him now, to know Him now, to celebrate His first coming…now.

This relationship is preparation for the coming of Christ, when we shall see Him face to face!

We invite Him to come!

I pray I won’t leave Jesus in the manger but realize His purpose in coming the first time was to conquer death, hell and the grave so He might come a SECOND TIME for us!

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel!

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.

Refrain:
Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.

O come, O Wisdom from on high,
who ordered all things mightily;
to us the path of knowledge show
and teach us in its ways to go. Refrain

O come, O come, great Lord of might,
who to your tribes on Sinai’s height
in ancient times did give the law
in cloud and majesty and awe. 

O come, O Branch of Jesse’s stem,
unto your own and rescue them!
From depths of hell your people save,
and give them victory o’er the grave.

O come, O Key of David, come
and open wide our heavenly home.
Make safe for us the heavenward road
and bar the way to death’s abode.

O come, O Bright and Morning Star,
and bring us comfort from afar!
Dispel the shadows of the night
and turn our darkness into light. 

O come, O King of nations, bind
in one the hearts of all mankind.
Bid all our sad divisions cease
and be yourself our King of Peace.

Nannette-Christmas 

Repeat the Sounding Joy!

9 Replies

The more I have studied our beloved Christmas carols, the more in awe I have become of the writers who penned them.  Repeat the Sounding Joy!

Isaac Watts was somewhat of a boy genius. 

At the age of five he learned to speak Latin, at nine he was fluent in Greek, at eleven, French and at thirteen he conquered Hebrew! Attending church services week after week, he was not impressed with the music and the lyrics of the worship songs that were being sung and one Sunday morning after service he expressed his views to his father. He was fifteen at the time. His father did not ignore his impetuous teenager but challenged him to come up with something better.

At the evening service, Isaac presented the congregation with his first hymn:

“Behold the glories of the Lamb, Amidst His Father’s throne; Prepare new honors for His name, And songs before unknown.”

It was just a few short years later, in 1719, that Watts published his Psalms of David Imitated and included in it was our beloved Joy to the World. This is an imitation of the last half of Psalm 98. Originally a song of deliverance for the Israelites, Watts turned it into a Christian song of rejoicing! He declares how the salvation of God started with the Baby Jesus who then came to “…rule the world with truth and grace.”

The Redemption Story is evident all throughout Psalm 98 and in Joy to the World!

From the garden to His imminent return, we see Watts weaving history, the present, and the future into his timeline of events to create a masterpiece.

“No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found.”

You won’t find shepherds, wise men, a manger, or angels, things we normally associate with Christmas in Joy to the World. What you will find is the message that Jesus saves and that He is coming back again!

Though He entered this world as a baby, Jesus Christ was our Victor, as we see in the first verse of the Psalm: “…his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.” He has “made known his salvation…” (verse two).

He is our King in verse six and our Judge in verse nine. “He makes the nations prove the glories of His righteousness and wonders of His love.”

For those who believe, this carol is full of JOY! So should the Christian be all the year round!

Repeat-the-Sounding-Joy-

And Christmas is all about preparing our hearts for HIM, making room for HIM, making Him glorious!

“Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;
Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.” Psalm 98:4 NKJV.

Remember, as the days grow short and the hurry and flurry of activities seem to take away the blessedness of the season: Joy came to the world so long ago and if anyone has reason to be full of joy it is the people of the Most High God! Rejoice in that Hope today that He came for YOU and He is coming again!

Repeat the Sounding Joy!

Enjoy this rendition of the Christmas favorite with The Gaithers!

Nannette-Christmas