You Say

The next song for my Blog is a song that was written by Paul Mabury, Lauren Ashley Daigle, and Jason Ingram. It was first released in July, 2018. A link to Lauren Daigle performing the song is at the bottom of this Blog entry.

You Say

I keep fighting voices in my mind that say I’m not enough
Every single lie that tells me I will never measure up
Am I more than just the sum of every high and every low?
Remind me once again just who I am, because I need to know (ooh oh)

You say I am loved when I can’t feel a thing
You say I am strong when I think I am weak
You say I am held when I am falling short
When I don’t belong, oh You say I am Yours
And I believe (I), oh I believe (I)
What You say of me (I)
I believe

The only thing that matters now is everything You think of me
In You I find my worth, in You I find my identity, (ooh oh)

You say I am loved when I can’t feel a thing
You say I am strong when I think I am weak
And You say I am held when I am falling short
When I don’t belong, oh You say I am Yours
And I believe (I), oh I believe (I)
What You say of me (I)
Oh, I believe

Taking all I have and now I’m laying it at Your feet
You have every failure God, You’ll have every victory, (ooh oh)

Occasionally we all get the feeling that perhaps we are not good enough. The feeling may come because of something someone said, a failure we have experienced, or someone rejecting us; with the bottom line being we just feel discouraged, unloved, and defeated. We begin to question ourselves, our abilities, and perhaps even our faith; we just feel vulnerable in all aspects of our life. These are times when we let Satan and the distractions of the world take over our lives, and it just seems so hard to quit listening to word “failure” as it dominates our thoughts. We may reach a point at which we believe we will never be able to become what we thought we could be.

There are also days when we are on the other end of the spectrum, we may feel on top of the world. Maybe we got a promotion, found out a child is on the way, an illness was cured, or maybe a special person entered our life. These are some of the greatest times in our life and seemingly erase the bad days in the blink of an eye. These are times of our lives that we live for. Wouldn’t it be great if we could stay in this euphoric phase, where all of the bad has disappeared? I believe this is something we all long for, but with the evils in the world and the external influences they bring; we end up living the rollercoaster of life’s highs and lows. We long for peace and normalcy and sometimes forget that our heart and eternity belong to God and he is the one who really holds our life in his hands. The problem is, we sometimes forget this while on the rollercoaster of life. We eventually reach that point of reaching out to God for help, and as we open our hearts to him; he reminds us of who we are, who he is, why we are here, and what eternal life really means.

The chorus in this song helps us to understand what God can and will do for us at all times. He knows what we need before we even ask. He knows that one of the greatest needs we have is to be loved; isn’t love one of the most wonderful feelings we can ever have? It is such a wonderful feeling to be loved by our families, our friends, by little children, and especially by that one person we adore and love the most. Even in those times when we feel alone, feel as if the world is collapsing around us, and someone has hurt us; have you stopped to think that the love of God is still there with you and is as strong as it has always been and always will be? Even though we do not feel the love coming from those in the world into our lives, God is always there, is always loving us, and always has his arms around us. Romans 8:39 tells us:
Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God.

As we face the challenges and defeats in our lives, we believe we are no longer strong enough to face the challenges that confront us every day. Our effort to push back becomes weaker as we give up on our hopes and dreams. We seem to forget that we serve an all-powerful God that loves his children and is there to provide them with all of the strength they need and more. He is always there to put his arms around us and protect us from whatever the world throws at us. Yes, there will be emotional pain and physical pain in our lives, but nothing in this world is strong enough to overcome the strength and love that God provides. He alone made the ultimate sacrifice to give us eternal life, along with that gift comes his protection since he wants us to spend eternity with him. Along with the sacrifice he made for us, he gave us the promise of eternal love and of an eternal family that would always love us. We are reminded of his protection in Deuteronomy 31:6

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.

As we finally stop and open our hearts to God, we start to realize that we are not measured by this world or the opinions of others. It is during this time we remember what salvation is all about and how we should focus on what God wants us to do with our lives; not what we want to do with our lives. We face the challenge of doing God’s will and not our will. As imperfect people, we will not be able to defeat all of the temptations of this world; but we can be assured we are never alone and have all the strength we need to carry forward every day of our lives. We just need to believe in what God has promised us and know he will never abandon his children. It is time to lay all of our burdens, our defeats, and our failures at the feet of God. He will turn all of these into victories we could never have imagined.

You are never alone when you believe and accept the love of Christ.

Click to See Lauren Daigle Perform You Say

I Can Only Imagine

The next song for my Blog was written by Bart Millard and first released in 1999. A link to MercyMe performing the song is at the bottom of this Blog entry.

I Can Only Imagine

I can only imagine what it will be like
When I walk, by your side
I can only imagine what my eyes will see
When you face is before me
I can only imagine
I can only imagine
Surrounded by You glory
What will my heart feel
Will I dance for you Jesus
Or in awe of You be still
Will I stand in your presence
Or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah
Will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine
I can only imagine
I can only imagine when that day comes
When I find myself standing in the Son
I can only imagine when all I would do is forever
Forever worship You
I can only imagine
I can only imagine
Surrounded by Your glory
What will my heart feel
Will I dance for You, Jesus
Or in awe of you be still
Will I stand in your presence
Or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah
Will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine
I can only imagine hey ya ah
Surrounded by Your glory
What will my heart feel
Will I dance for You, Jesus
Or in awe of you be still
Will I stand in Your presence
Or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah
Will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine
I can only imagine hey ya ah
I can only imagine yeah yeah
I can only imagine
I can only imagine ey ey ey
I can only imagine
I can only imagine when all I will do
Is forever, forever worship You
I can only imagine

Knowing what you know today about Jesus, can you imagine what it would be like to be one of the disciples? They had the opportunity to spend almost every day for three years with him. At that point in time, perhaps they didn’t fully understand everything that we understand today. I don’t believe they started getting the true feeling of who Jesus was until he not only rose from the dead, but re-appeared to all of them. They also were able to see him ascending into heaven forty days after he rose from the grave. They were so blessed to spend that time with him and to see him as a man who lived with them, see him as the son of God, and see him rise into heaven to await our final coming home.

We sometimes struggle with our faith and perhaps envy the disciples who were with Jesus. Our challenge is that even though we can’t physically see Jesus, we must trust in his promise of eternity with him. It is during these questioning times that we must focus on what Hebrews 11:1 tells us:
Now faith is the assurance that what we hope for will come about and the certainty that what we cannot see exists.

We have to trust in his word and know that we are no different from the people who were with Jesus. Yes, they walked with Jesus, but they also saw him leave. From that point forward, they, like us, had to have strong faith since that is what we have to hang onto every single day as the world via Satan and his dominions try to take it away from us.

Now I want to take a look at this song with the above narrative in mind. We have accepted Christ as our Lord and savior and have faith in his words and his promises. The time to enter our eternal home is now upon us, we can’t wait to meet him face to face. What will it be like? Perhaps Jesus comes up beside us as we enter our heavenly home and then walks along the path with us, maybe there is a brief silence as reality sinks in. We are probably a little scared as we turn to face him for the first time and look into his eyes. In those eyes, we will only see love and compassion as we have never known; coming from someone who only sees us as one of God’s perfect creations. For the first time, we realize what unfailing love really means. Indeed, we can only imagine what that will be like.

We will be surrounded by his glory, which I perceive to be a visual view of love that radiates from the inside. This love overcomes everything in its path and it will almost be as if we are surrounded by brightness and radiance we have never known, since we have always lived in a dark world of sin. It will also be the first time we have been surrounded by the perfection that only Christ can bring. How will we react? As humans, we probably expect our hearts to be racing, we may feel as if we are having trouble breathing, and our bodies just seem locked in place. As this feeling passes, maybe our dancing will start; perhaps we will dance our hearts out as David did. We are told in II Samuel 6:14

And David danced before the Lord with all his might.

Notice it doesn’t say that David did a little swaying to the music or a gentle waltz, he danced as hard as he could. Maybe we will be like David or maybe we will be in such awe being in the presence of our savior that we simply fall to our knees or perhaps fall completely prostrate in worship. We have lived for this moment all of our lives, to be at the feet of Jesus. We are told many places in the scripture to sing praises to the Lord, sing out his holy name, and lift up our voices to him. Isaiah 12:1-6 is a good example of how we should praise our Lord.

   “Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name;
   make known among the nations what he has done,
   and proclaim that his name is exalted.
   5 Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things;
   let this be known to all the world.
   6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,
   for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”
   We know that is what we are supposed to do, but will we be able to even    speak in his presence; much less sing?

I am not sure how we can prepare for the day we first come face to face with Jesus, I believe each of us will respond differently based on the unique individual we are and that God created. As we stand there in the midst of heaven surrounded by love, our hearts will be filled with love, thankfulness, and praise we have never known in our human bodies. We will have the desire to worship our Lord at all times. We won’t have any trouble singing his praises, singing to him, joining in with the angels; our lives will begin anew. How great will it be to just be able to talk to Jesus face to face?

What a day that will be, when we meet our savior face to face, and join those loved ones who made it there before us. We remember the day they left us and the tears that we shed and now the tears of sadness are replaced with tears of joy. I can share all of my thoughts on this song and suggest how we may react as we arrive at our eternal home, but the reality is, I can only imagine.

Click Here to See MercyMe Perform I Can Only Imagine

His Eye is on the Sparrow

The next song for my Blog is a gospel hymn that was written in 1905 by lyricist Civilla D. Martin and composer Charles H. Gabriel. A link to B J Thomas performing the song in 1981 is at the bottom of this Blog entry.

His Eye is on The Sparrow

Why should I feel discouraged?
Why should the shadows come?
Why should my heart be lonely
And long for heaven and home?
When Jesus is my portion
My constant friend is He

His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches me
His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches me
I sing because I’m happy
I sing because I’m free
For His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches me

Whenever I am tempted
Whenever clouds arise
When songs give place to sighing
When hope within me dies
I draw then closer to Him
From care He sets me free

His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches me
I sing because I’m happy
I sing because I’m free
For His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches me
For his eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches me

I believe we all have a tendency at times to have that ‘down in the dumps’ feeling. Sometimes we know what is causing us to have that feeling, other times it just seems to happen. The net result is we just aren’t happy. We probably get discouraged about something almost every day. As that discouragement takes control, we feel darkness around us as well as inside of us, and we feel alone. It doesn’t matter if we are surrounded by people on a bright and sunny day, we are in our own silent dark cocoon. Many times, we may just call out for God to take us home to be with him in our heavenly home and just leave this world behind. These are the times when we need to take inventory of what is happening in our lives and where our hope of getting us out of the dumps resides.

It is during these times when we have forgotten about our comforter. A portion is a part of a larger whole, Jesus is the portion of God who gave his life for us. We need nothing else but Jesus to secure eternity in heaven. Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, is with us always. There is always a portion of him inside of us, there is always a portion of light inside of us, and the love of Jesus, the friend who will never desert us, is inside of us as well. Everything we need to conquer the ‘down in the dumps’ is inside of us, we just have to reach for it.

God watches over all of his creations and Matthew 6:25-26 lets us know how God watches over some of the smaller of his creations. So, if God is going to this effort for the birds, won’t he do the same for us, the beings created in his image? This should be our signal that everything is really going to be alright, we just need to put our faith and trust in the right place.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” Matthew 6:25-26

Instead of hanging out at our personal dumpster, we should feel happy and free knowing we have a father who loves us and is saving a spot in his eternal home for us. We should be singing at the tops of our voices with a heart full of hope. Wouldn’t it be great to be singing and someone come up to us and ask why we are so happy? What an opportunity for sharing the love of Christ.

There are other times we are tempted by sin to do something we shouldn’t do. I am of the opinion that we know when we are getting ready to do something we shouldn’t be doing, when we know we are going against the will of God. As we start focusing on this temptation, we start falling under the dark clouds again. Maybe we physically committed the sin, or maybe we committed the sin in our mind; either way we know we are putting ourselves in an emotionally bad spot. The songs we were singing out loud or in our hearts have disappeared as we once again let the pressures of the world overwhelm us. Once again, we have let Satan just suck the life and hope out of us. But deep in our heart and soul, we eventually connect with our best friend Jesus once again. Satan and this world can try to hide Jesus from us and we let him, but Jesus is always there to hold our hand and put his arms around us and set us free from the darkness around us. We just need to call upon him.

We then remember once again how he loves us so much and of what he has done for us and what he will continue to do for us. Our heart and our voice raise once again because we have trusted in him for the happiness and freedom from this world that only he can provide.
I am glad that he loves those birds so much and even happier that he loved me enough to die for me and wants me to spend eternity with him. Knowing this and keeping my heart on Jesus should make me sing with joy at all times, even more so than the bird who has gained freedom from its cage.

Aren’t you glad his eye is on the sparrow? Think about this next time you hear the birds singing unashamedly.

Click here to hear B J Thomas singing His Eye is on the Sparrow

How Great is Our God

The next song for my Blog was written by Chris Tomlin, Ed Cash, Jesse Reeves and was first released in 2004. A link to Chris Tomlin performing the song is at the bottom of this Blog entry.

How Great is Our God

The splendor of a King, clothed in majesty
Let all the Earth rejoice
All the Earth rejoice

He wraps himself in light
And darkness tries to hide
And trembles at His voice
Trembles at His voice

How great is our God, sing with me
How great is our God, and all will see
How great, how great is our God

Age to age He stands
And time is in His hands
Beginning and the end

The Godhead Three in One
Father Spirit Son
The Lion and the Lamb
The Lion and the Lamb

How great is our God, sing with me
How great is our God, and all will see
How great, how great is our God

Name above all names
Worthy of our praise
My heart will sing
How great is our God

You’re the name above all names
You are worthy of our praise
And my heart will sing
How great is our God

How great is our God, sing with me
How great is our God, and all will see
How great, how great is our God

The whole world sings, the whole world sings
How great is our God
How great is our God
How great, how great is our God.

We may often talk about the greatness of God, but have you ever really stopped and thought about what greatness means and how this applies to God? The writers of this song have done a very good job describing the attribute of greatness as it relates to God.

He has the radiance, magnificence, glory, brightness, and nobility of a king; yet is not defined by a robe or a throne. He is not the king of a country or the king of just a sect or group of people; he is the king of the world, which he made. He is a king of love who sent his only son to die for us so that we could have eternal life, so why wouldn’t we rejoice? The entire world should rejoice because of the love of our king and the future he has prepared for us.

God is described as being wrapped in light. It is the light of truth, the light of holiness, and the light of absolute power. The light draws those who want to become part of his kingdom and be with him forever. Those who only seek to bring darkness into the world and destroy hearts and souls of others cower at his sight and try to hide from him. Even the most evil beings in the world recognize the glory and power of the one God.

The chorus illustrates the love of those who are drawn to this light. Let’s all sing together about the love of the one clothed in the light and his power. As we sing of our God, others will join us and help spread the message around the world of the greatness of not just a God, but our God, the God. The voices we raise in song of the one God will help to bring love and hope to a dark world. One day, all will see his power and his glory and his greatness.

He is not just the God of today, he is the God of the beginning and the end. Only he can see the past and the future and only he, as the creator, knows what the future brings for each of us. He is more than just the creator; he is the father who created this world, the son who came to this world to die for our sins so we could have eternal peace, and the spirit that resides in us which always reminds us of his love and his promise. In his role as the son, he was both a lion and a lamb. He was a lamb in that he was sacrificed for us. The lamb symbolizes purity, meekness, and forgiveness; all qualities of someone who would lay down their life for us.

Our God is also a lion, one of the most powerful and fearless animals on the earth. Proverbs 28:1 references the power and fearlessness of a lion:

“The wicked flee when no one pursues them, but the righteous are as bold as a lion..”

For those who love the Lord and have accepted Christ as their savior, he is the lamb who has given them eternal life. The power of the lion is there for all who believe and accept and there is no power that can take God’s love away from them. Satan, his legions, and the world may come after those of us who have God by our side and in our hearts, but they can never win. God has promised us as his children, an eternal life with him.

His name is above all names because he is above every being and is the master of every living creature on earth. God is the only being who deserves our praise and our worship. Too many times we put our lives, our jobs, our personal pursuits, and our money ahead of him; yet only he is eternal and worthy of all praise.

Our song of praise and worship begins in our heart and rises to our lips as we let everyone know the greatness of our God. Let your song be heard.

Click to Hear Chris Tomlin Sing How Great is Our God

You Raise Me Up

The next song for my Blog was written by Brendan Graham and Rolf Lovland and was first released in 2002. A link to Josh Groban performing the song is at the bottom of this Blog entry.

You Raise Me Up

When I am down, and, oh, my soul, so weary
When troubles come, and my heart burdened me
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence
Until you come and sit awhile with me
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas
I am strong when I am on your shoulders
You raise me up to more than I can be
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas
I am strong when I am on your shoulders
You raise me up to more than I can be
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas
I am strong when I am on your shoulders
You raise me up to more than I can be
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas
I am strong when I am on your shoulders
You raise me up to more than I can be
You raise me up to more than I can be

I don’t normally write about songs that are primarily a repetition of a chorus and have very little verse, but this song is so powerful that I decided to add it to my Blog. As you listen to the song via the link below, listen without distraction to the building power each time the chorus is repeated. I was blown away by the power of the message of the song and the delivery by Josh Groban. The song doesn’t mention God or Jesus, but the words are about things only they could do and have done.

There are many times when we are down and feel as if nothing is going right in our lives. Maybe there are problems at home, at work, with family, with friends, money, and the list seems to go on and on. On some days, it just seems as if we are facing the perfect storm of problems that just seem to drag us down. On these bad days, we feel pain and misery to our very core, to our soul. We have trouble coming out of the pit and struggle to find any joy in our life. Does any of this seem to resonate with you and how your life just seems to sometimes fall apart?

The best thing we can do is try to stop the noise and the outside influences and open ourselves to our Savior. As we start blocking out the world, we start opening our heart and senses to the Holy Spirit, which resides within each of us once we have accepted Christ as our savior. I am not saying it is easy to find this quiet time or quiet space, but we can’t communicate effectively with God unless we allow ourselves to listen to that still small voice. He is always there, so the challenge is with us to open our hearts and minds to his guidance and peace. As we start to feel his presence in our heart and soul, we also start to feel his peace. How long he sits with us is really up to us, maybe it is a minute, a few minutes, or even longer; but it is this peace that helps us to win the battles each and every day. The less we communicate with God, the more difficult and challenging the battles become.

The chorus jumps in with how God can immediately raise us above the battles we face everyday. He can make us feel as if we have been taken to the highest mountain. Stop for a minute and think about being on a tall beautiful mountain. What can you see, what can you hear, who made the mountain anyway? Psalm 121 tells us who made the mountains: I lift up my eyes to the hills– where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. From my perspective, I see the beauty of the surrounding mountains and valleys, I don’t hear anything except maybe wind and birds, and I only feel peace. God can give us this feeling without leaving wherever we are, we just need to let him. God doesn’t need to actually take us to the top of a physical mountain for us to have the escape, but he showed many times in the bible that he can if necessary. Abraham, Moses, and Elijah were all called to a mountain by God. Jesus called Peter, John, and James to the mountain to witness the transfiguration.

The first line of the chorus tells how God can lead us to inner peace. The second line tells us how God can lead us through the most difficult times. Troubled waters is a good analogy for the bad days in our life. The waters, aka problems, become so scary that we do not want to even risk getting in a boat to get to escape and we certainly don’t want to get out of the boat in the midst of the storm. Jesus tried to show Peter that all it took was faith and trust in him and he could walk on the troubled waters; and Peter did walk until he took his eyes off of the savior. It is in quiet time with God when we get our strength and as soon as we break our quiet time, we are back in the midst of the storm. The longer we have our focus on God, the less time we have to spend navigating the troubled waters.

The third line of the chorus reminds me of the Footprints poem when the person asked Jesus why there was only one set of footprints in the sand when life was the most difficult; and Jesus replied that was when he carried us. This line references how strong we can be when on the shoulders of Christ. Basically we are invincible when we are relying completely on God. Yes, we will have tough days with challenging battles going on in our lives, but nothing can separate us from him, his love, and the peace only he can offer. He has guaranteed us an eternal life of peace and love once we leave this place. On the bad days, a good go-to verse for me is Isaiah 40:31 which says: but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. So basically he is giving us the strength and courage we need if we just rely on him. Every battle we face has already been won by God.

The last line of the chorus gives us the encouragement we need to take another step and take on another challenge. We can be spiritually lifted up higher than we can ever imagine. We can be stronger than we ever thought possible. We can have a peace that exceeds our highest expectations. God can raise us up to be more than we dreamed we could be and allow us to achieve far greater things than we ever envisioned.

Just stop and think about who you could really be and what you could really do if you allowed God to raise you up.

Click Here to View Josh Groban Perform You Raise Me Up

Why Me Lord

This Blog entry is for a song written and sung by Kris Kristofferson in 1972. Click on the link at the end of the Blog to hear the song performed by Kris Kristofferson.

Why Me

Why me Lord, what have I ever done
To deserve even one
Of the pleasures I’ve known
Tell me Lord, what did I ever do
That was worth loving you
Or the kindness you’ve shown.
Lord help me Jesus, I’ve wasted it so
Help me Jesus I know what I am
Now that I know that I’ve need you so
Help me Jesus, my soul’s in your hand.
Tell me Lord, if you think there’s a way
I can try to repay
All I’ve taken from you
Maybe Lord, I can show someone else
What I’ve been through myself
On my way back to you.
Lord help me Jesus, I’ve wasted it so
Help me Jesus I know what I am
Now that I know that I’ve need you so
Help me Jesus, my soul’s in your hand.

I believe this song poses a few questions that many of us may have asked over the course of our lives. There are perhaps many times we ask, “Why Me Lord” in times of anger, sadness, and disappointment, but this song focuses on the undeserved blessings we receive in our lives.

The writer starts by asking what has he ever done to deserve any blessings/pleasures from God. For this question to really resonate, we must first realize the blessings we have received. How often do you stop and think about those blessings, think about the timing, and also thank God for bestowing these blessings to you? The reality is we do not deserve anything from God since we constantly do things we should not do and we leave him out of our lives most of the time. If God was like many of us, he would have turned his back on us a long long time ago and never looked back. God loving us in spite of us ignoring him is yet another blessing.

The song addresses how our lives are wasted as we wander along our path in life without acknowledging God’s love for us or how he sacrificed his only son for us. Recognizing what we have done is truly devastating and it is true that our life before Christ was wasted. Yes, we may have done some good things, but we were perhaps doing them for the wrong reasons. What were we doing to help others secure eternal life through the sacrifice of the life of Jesus? It is true we may have helped others for a time, but did we help them for eternity? We realize where we failed when we turn our lives over to Christ and accept him as our Savior; we are then allowing him to mold us and shape us and not relying on ourselves.

The remorse of not knowing God shows as the writer seeks a way to repay God for everything he has done for us and his willingness to love us even though we ignored him. Although we can never repay God, the good news is that he never expects repayment; he only desires that we follow him the remaining days of our lives and ultimately spend eternity with him. Isn’t that an awesome thought, unquestionable love with no strings attached? All he wants is for us to accept Christ as our Lord and Savior.

Once we have given our hearts to him, then we will begin to understand the value of his love, what eternal life means, and to be eager to share this with everyone we come in contact with. Have you ever taken the time to write down your life story and how you came to know Christ? Once you have taken the time to write your story, then you can become prepared to share your story. God wants others to know your story and how you came to the point of giving your life to him. Others need to know the mistakes we have made and how God has loved us forever even when we did not include him in our life. We cannot repay God and he does not expect us to, but he does expect us to share our story and bring his children into the fold.

As the writer says, our soul is in his hand.

Click to Hear Kris Kristofferson Sing Why Me Lord

The King is Coming

We know that Jesus the King of Kings will be coming back as he promised. This song paints a picture of perhaps what it might be like if he came to your city. We don’t know when he is coming or exactly where we will see him, but we do know he will be taking the saved back home with him. As you read the lyrics and/or listen to the song, think about how you would feel and what he has done for you.

This next song for my Blog was written by: Gloria Gaither, Willam J. Gaither, and Charles Millhuff and first released in 1970. A link to the Gaither Vocal Band performing the song is at the bottom of this Blog entry.

The King Is Coming

The marketplace is empty
No more traffic in the streets
All the builders’ tools are silent
No more time to harvest wheat
Busy housewives cease their labors
In the courtroom no debate
Work on earth is all suspended
As the King comes thro’ the gate
O the King is coming
The King is coming
I just heard the trumpets sounding
And now His face I see
O the King is coming
The King is coming
Praise God, He’s coming for me
Happy faces line the hallways
Those whose lives have been redeemed
Broken homes that He has mended
Those from prison He has freed
Little children and the aged
Hand in hand stand all aglow
Who were crippled, broken, ruined
Clad in garments white as snow
O the King is coming
The King is coming
I just heard the trumpets sounding
And now His face I see
O the King is coming
The King is coming
Praise God, He’s coming for me
I can hear the chariots rumble
I can see the marching throng
The flurry of God’s trumpets
Spells the end of sin and wrong
Regal robes are now unfolding
Heaven’s grandstand’s all in place
Heaven’s choir now assembled
Start to sing “Amazing Grace”
O the King is coming
The King is coming
I just heard the trumpets sounding
And now His face I see
O the King is coming
The King is coming
Praise God, He’s coming for me

We know that the King will be coming back as he promised and this song paints a picture of perhaps what it might be like if he came to your city. We don’t know when he is coming, but we are told every eye will see him. As you read the lyrics and/or listen to the song, think about how you would feel and what he has done for you. This song is not about the theology of the rapture and the second coming, but about the impact Jesus might have if he arrived at an entrance to your city. I get excited as I think about the words in this song and the emotions it brings.

With today’s social media and news media, we can always be aware of everything going on around the world at any time. The word starts to spread that Jesus has been seen and is heading into the city. Of course everyone wants to see him, especially the believers. Non-believers, the majority of whom have probably heard about Jesus, want to see this curiosity, this person proclaiming to be the son of God.

The malls, shopping centers, schools, offices will all be vacated as the word of his coming spreads. As the traffic backs up, people get out of their vehicles to run to a location where they think they can see the King. The moms and dads who are at home are running out with their children, the sounds of all construction ceases, and all other activities cease. The only sounds are the whispers of “he is coming” and “can you see him yet.” Everyone is focused on this one event.

The trumpets start to sound, announcing his arrival, and the noise level in the crowd rises as they strain their necks to see him or perhaps seek higher ground as they try to see him. All of a sudden the first people see the King and the noise level rises among the crowd. Maybe some are just praising him at the top of their lungs, some may be dancing with joy, and some may just be standing in awe. I am sure that the crowd is pressing forward as people just want to be closer to him or to touch him. Each of the believers know that he has come to take them home. There will be many people with their faces plastered to the windows. Every floor with windows overlooking the arrival is packed with onlookers and their happy faces. The people who have accepted Christ have been redeemed and they are probably overwhelmed to see the man who died for them so they could join him in eternal life.

The people who survived broken homes, abuse, abandonment, infidelity are there because they found their way to Christ, perhaps the only love they have ever felt. The song references people who have been freed from prison and this could be the actual release from a physical prison or maybe a release from a prison of sin and despair. I am not sure it means that the person in the real prison was actually released, but it is someone who knows that they have spiritual freedom because of Christ and also have eternal life.

The little children who are probably looking on in awe and maybe not understanding all that is going on, but have heard about the King from their parents. The elderly or aged, are standing there with the children and perhaps reflecting back to the time they came to know Jesus, a good reason for their faces to be glowing. The elderly can sense that their aches, pains, and struggles in life are finally over and that they are nearing a reunion with their loved ones whom they have lost over the years.

The closer the King gets to us, the louder the rumbling of the chariots become. Our hearts are racing and we are filled with emotion as he draws closer. The crowds are getting bigger and the trumpets are getting louder and we can finally see his face. We are ready to be swept away from a sinful world that we battle every day. The angels are in their flowing robes and have formed their choir in the grandstands of heaven. Can you just imagine the sound of them singing Amazing Grace? I can feel the emotion just thinking about that time, that sound, and what is waiting for me.

We have run the race and fought the fight and we, as the redeemed, are finally coming home.

Click to hear the Gaither Vocal Band sing The King is Coming

In Remembrance of Me from Celebrate Life

The next song for my Blog was written by Ragan Courtney and Buryl Red and was first released in 1972 as part of the Celebrate Life Musical. A link to Cynthia Clawson performing the song is at the bottom of this Blog entry.

This song has a very special meaning to me. I was part of a church youth choir that toured various sites in Israel and we sang at each of the historical sites. Some of the sites included the Garden Tomb, Bethlehem Square on Christmas Eve, and the Upper Room. I can still remember walking up those worn steps to get to the Upper Room and then entering what is now an empty room with columns being the only items within the room. It was amazing to be where Jesus conducted the Last Supper and let his disciples know what was about to happen. We then sang this song. As we sang in this special place, I was filled with emotion as the sounds began reverberating off the walls and thought about what our Savior was preparing to do for each of us. My visit was many years ago, but the words of this song are even more powerful to me today.

In Remembrance

In remembrance of me eat this bread
In remembrance of me drink this wine
In remembrance of me pray for the time
When God’s own will is done

In remembrance of me heal the sick
In remembrance of me feed the poor
In remembrance of me open the door
And let your brother in, let him in

Take eat and be comforted
Drink and remember too
That this is my body and precious blood
Shed for you, shed for you

In remembrance of me search for truth
In remembrance of me always love
In remembrance of me don’t look above
But in your heart, in your heart
Look in your heart for God

Do this in remembrance of Me
Do this in remembrance of Me
In remembrance of Me

This entire song is about Jesus reminding us to remember the sacrifice he became to save all of us, remember his teachings, remember his love for others, and remember to follow the message he has placed in our hearts.

We have communion at church on a regular basis and it is intended to be a reminder for each of us in regards to what happened in that Upper Room long ago. Jesus gave his life so we could have eternal life. As we eat and drink from that communion table, that is what we are supposed to be remembering; nothing else in our lives is more important that the true meaning of communion. Along with remembering the sacrifice of Christ, we also need to pray that it is God’s will that needs to be done. It is not about us and our problems and our dreams, it is about what God wants. God has already promised us eternal life if we accept his sacrifice, so why wouldn’t we be willing to give our all to fulfill his will for us while on this earth?

Jesus was followed by people in need everywhere he went. He always took time to heal the sick, feed the hungry, and to share his message. He didn’t care what the people looked like, where they came from, why they were in the situation they were in, or even if they were potential enemies. He told us that everyone is our brother or sister in Christ and he has directed us to treat all of these people the same as he did. We should be opening the doors of our hearts to anyone in need. It seems as if too many people today only want to help those of the same nationality, same race, or same political beliefs. As the song implies and Jesus has stated, everyone is our brother and sister, we should be willing to help them regardless of whether they look or believe as we do.

The third verse reminds us that as we take our communion, we should feel the comfort and peace that comes through Christ. He wants us to remember his sacrifice, that was made just for us, so that we could spend eternity one day with him. He only reminds us to show us just how much he loved us, and that our focus needs to be on him and his plan for us. It is also so sad that Jesus had to die for me to gain eternal life.

Hopefully we all go to church on a regular basis, but it is also extremely important that we spend time in prayer and reading our bibles every day. We find truth and gain knowledge through all three of these avenues, we shouldn’t just depend on one of these. Jesus tells us that he is the way, the truth, and the life. To know truth is to strive everyday to be like Jesus. Jesus alone understood the essence of truth and the will of the father, and he was not distracted by the things of the world that influence us so deeply today. To seek truth is to follow the true path Jesus set before us. In addition to seeking the truth, we are also reminded in this fourth verse to always love. Some people hurt us, some people don’t like us, some consider us enemies; but Jesus commanded us to love everyone. No, we may not be happy with the way some people treat us, and we do not have to be their best friends; but we should still love them and pray for them. Sort of like the old adage, hate the sin but love the sinner.

The last couple of lines in the fourth verse may send the most powerful and thought-provoking message. The song essentially states that all of the guidance we need is already in our hearts. We can listen to sermons, we can do our own research, we can pray, and we should do all of these things; but Jesus via the Holy Spirit gave us everything we need. The Holy Spirit or Comforter dwells within us and is there to guide us every minute of every day.

As we go about our daily lives, are we truly remembering what Jesus has commanded us to do as his children? Please take the time to listen to this song and feel the impact of the message of Jesus in the Upper Room.

Click Here to Hear Cynthia Clawson Sing In Remembrance

Come As You Are – Entry #5 of 5

Today I wrap up my analysis of this song, with the focus being on the last complete verse. Most of the remainder is chorus.

There’s hope for the hopeless
And all those who’ve strayed
Come sit at the table
Come taste the grace
There’s rest for the weary
Rest that endures

When you stop and think about it, there are many times when you have a hopeless feeling. We start asking ourselves questions such as how did I get here, how could this happen, how can I ever get out of this feeling of hopelessness and helplessness? The normal tendency is to exhaust all of our own ideas, maybe then we turn to internet research, we then probably turn to friends for their guidance, and once we are completely overwhelmed with our challenge, we turn to God. What’s wrong with this picture? It doesn’t mean we won’t have challenging times in our life, but we can probably decrease the amount of time in which we have that feeling of hopelessness. We need to see God first for answers since he has given us hope through eternal life offered by the death of his Son.

We all wander away from God at some time. There are times when we feel really close to him and there are times when we feel distant. We stray from God when we sort of forget him or move him to the back of our thoughts, we are no longer walking beside him and listening to him; we have gone off on our own path. This happens when we turn our focus to other things and we don’t read our bibles as we should, we don’t pray as often as we should, we don’t go to church as we should, and we aren’t the light that he wants us to be. If we had others ignore us as we sometimes ignore God, we would probably lose friends and the closeness of family. The good news is that he is a loving father and is always waiting for his children to find their way back to him. Reading the parable of the prodigal son tells us how God still loves us, not matter how far we have strayed or how long we have forgotten or ignored him.

God has already set his table for all of the people described above. It is a table of not just great food and drink, but a table of love, fellowship, a time of rest and relaxation, and time with our father. There are no restrictions on who comes to his table, he only asks that we accept his son as our savior and the table is open to all who have. He doesn’t ask where we have been, why we did what we did, or why we seemed to have forgotten him; he merely says I love you, I missed you, and welcome back. All of our sins have already been forgiven and forgotten, all we need to be focused on is to stay on the path the son has prepared for us. We are surrounded by grace, we have eternal life, and we have a path that Jesus has laid out for each of us and is walking with us along that path.

I believe the title of the song, Come As You Are, tells the complete story when it comes to our relationship with Christ.

Come As You Are – Entry #4 of 5

Today I will focus on the following portion of the song,

All who are broken
Lift up your face
Oh wanderer come home
You’re not too far
So lay down your hurt
Lay down your heart
Come as you are

Are you broken? What does it even mean to be broken? These are difficult questions, but the reality is we are all broken. How we are broken differs for each of us. A person who is broken is someone who feels as if they are not worthy, they are undeserving, they have lost their way in life, and perhaps as if they are alone in a cold dark world. Maybe our brokenness comes from actual or perceived failures in our lives, the way others have treated us, where we live, or just the general environment around us. It is easy for the broken person to fall into a state of depression as they feel they loneliness and failure seeping in. I also believe we sometimes become broken due to a tragedy in our lives, such as a loss of a loved one. Not that we have done anything wrong, but there is now a hole in our heart that we are not sure how to mend.

With a defeated and broken spirit, we hang our heads, our demeanor changes, and the way we carry ourselves reflects how we feel. We essentially have a broken spirit and have given up on our life, we have become the prodigal son that the bible tells us about in Luke 15:11-32. It is during these times, in our darkest hours, that we need to lift up our hearts and faces to God. In this time of our greatest need, he alone can heal the pain and loneliness we are feeling. Psalms 34:18 reminds us that God is always there to take care of us: “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”

He feels our pain and he asks us to feel his love and open our hearts to his peace and his will for your life. He heals the brokenness and reminds us we are his children and nothing can take away his love for us or the plans he has for us. It doesn’t matter if we have wandered away from God and that we have not been opening our hearts to him as we should, he still loves us and has his hand open to us at all times. Yes it might be challenging for us to hold our head up again, to admit our failures, confess our sins, and admit how we have turned away from him. We just need to come back to him and put our pain, suffering, and brokenness at his feet. As he reaches out to us, we will feel his warm, his love, and I am sure a look of compassion and a smile would be on his face if we could see it.

All we need to do, is to humble ourselves before God and give him all our suffering and our pain and he will heal our broken heart and our broken spirit. We only need to come as we are.