Stanley Simpson

Come As You Are – Entry #1 of 5

The next song for my Blog was written by Ben Glover, David Crowder, Matt Maher and was first released in 2014. A link to David Crowder performing the song is at the bottom of this Blog entry.

Come As You Are

Come out of sadness
From wherever you’ve been
Come broken hearted
Let rescue begin
Come find your mercy
Oh sinner come kneel
Earth has no sorrow
That heaven can’t heal
Earth has no sorrow
That heaven can’t heal

So lay down your burdens
Lay down your shame
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

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
Earth has no sorrow
That heaven can’t cure

Fall in his arms
Come as you are
There’s joy for the morning
Oh sinner be still
Earth has no sorrow
That heaven can’t heal
Earth has no sorrow
That heaven can’t heal

I will begin the first entry in this Blog by analyzing the following lines.

Come out of sadness
From wherever you’ve been
Come broken hearted
Let rescue begin

We all go through times in our lives when we experience sadness to some degree. We lose loved ones, we lose pets, we lose a job, we hurt someone’s feelings, have a broken relationship; all of these types of occurrences cause us to be sad and maybe even feel very alone. In times like this, there are days when we feel that our lives are crumbling. We may in fact want people to leave us alone while we work through the difficult time; but the reality is we need someone to help us regardless of the source of our sadness. Too many times we delay getting that assistance to help bring joy back into our hearts and our sadness just continues to linger and the hole we are in gets deeper and deeper. Jesus left us with the Holy Spirit who is to be our constant companion and our comforter so we would never be alone and we would always have Jesus with us at all times.

Broken hearts can be devastating and it is so hard to heal a broken heart. Broken hearts can cause depression, may make us feel as if our lives are completely lost and there is no hope for the future. During a time of being broken hearted, we may doubt our own self-worth. I also believe that those we have loved the most are the ones who can give us a broken heart that we feel can never be healed. We are always told that only time can mend a broken heart and that is probably true from an earthly perspective, but that time and that pain can be decreased or eliminated by turning to God for help. We need to consider a couple of actions, one is to turn to God to ease our pain and the other is to think about the plan God has for us that will be the eternal plan for our life.

The rescue from our pain / the healing of our broken heart starts by putting our pain at the feet of Jesus. He tell us in John 14:27 that his peace is a peace that only he can give; it is a peace we cannot get from anyone in this world. I realize this is easier said than done, but it is the first step in the process of healing; let go and have faith that Jesus will take this burden away. The verse says: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” In Christ alone can we get the true peace, healing, and rescue that we need.

We need to remember that God has an eternal plan for our life, take a look at what Revelation 21:4 says about all of our suffering: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” We are also told in Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” So, yes, God knows we will have suffering due to the sins of this world; but he also reminds us that our physical life is only a blip when looking at the eternal life scale. Things may be painful today, but God has a bright future planned for us and we cannot even begin to imagine what is in his glorious plan!

Click Here to See Crowder Perform Come as You Are

Reckless Love – Entry #4 of 4

Today’s focus will be on the final section of the song, note that these lines are repeated until the end of the song.

There’s no shadow You won’t light up
Mountain You won’t climb up
Coming after me
There’s no wall You won’t kick down
Lie You won’t tear down
Coming after me

As children, and sometimes as adults, we are afraid of what is lurking in the shadows. Maybe the shadow is caused by a cloud blocking off part of the sun, maybe there are some tall buildings that hide the light, or maybe we are in area that just doesn’t get much light and appears to always be in the shadows. You also have those shadows that you make with your body, that are exaggerated based on the time of the day and angle of the sun, makes us look sort of funny.

What about the shadows we don’t see, but yet they are there; such as hopelessness and depression? Do you sometimes feel that you are a shadow, that you never see light in your life? Maybe you feel as if every time you look around, you only see darkness and never see the brightness of the sun. These are the shadows that we need to take to God so he can take them away. John 8:12 tells us: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” The shadows/darkness in our life occur as we are overcome by the challenges of life. Jesus is the beautiful light that helps us to stay in the light, we just need to cast our eyes on him and he has the power to keep us in the light. There is no darkness or shadow that he cannot make disappear.

Maybe we are not struggling with the challenges of hopelessness or depression, but we are overcome by obstacles that we just cannot overcome. These challenges are like huge mountains we need to climb over to either get to the top or to the other side. We are looking at that mountain as if it is all twenty-nine thousand feet of Mt Everest. Our journey up the mountain has begun and we are already getting tired and realize we are ill prepared for the journey ahead. The goal should be to make the mountain of obstacles to go away, not to climb the mountain. To make this happen, we need to put the challenge in the hands of our Savior and have faith in him that he will take care of this for us. Matthew 17:20 states: “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Basically we are being told by Jesus that he can help us overcome any mountain in our life, all he asks of us is for us to have faith in him.

Just as we sometimes live in shadows and stare up at seemingly insurmountable mountains, we also have walls that stand before us and block our way. Perhaps they are walls we created by our actions or maybe they were created by the actions of others. They are probably mental or emotional walls that we cannot see over or around, either way they block our way and we feel as if we have no way around them. Many of these walls are created due to differing religious beliefs, different races, and differing cultures. We often struggle to accept others and their differences and this wall impacts our relationship with God. When Jesus died on the cross, he died for everyone; so shouldn’t we do our best to accept those who are different from us? Ephesians 2:14 tells us how Christ destroyed this wall: “For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us.” So once again, Christ is telling us there is no wall he can’t completely obliterate, but we must put our faith in him to make it happen.

Satan and his legion create a world of lies. They tell us how we are unworthy in all aspects of our life, how Christ was just a good man, there is no eternal life, there is no one who loves or cares for us; the list of deceptions and lies appears to be never ending. Satan is such a good liar that we don’t even realize we are being deceived until it is too late. The good news is found in John 14:6, “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Essentially Jesus is the only source of absolute truth and he trumps the lies and deceit of Satan. If we believe if Christ and put our faith in him, we will be able to see through the lies of the world and of the great deceiver.

Jesus leads us when necessary, follows behind us if that is where he needs to be, walks beside us, carries us, and is always there when we need him. He is always there to break down any barrier that gets between us and him, we just have to put our faith in him and ask for his help. As we wander off our path and get distracted by the influences of the world, he always comes to get us.

We are so fortunate and so blessed to have a reckless God who will do anything to help us spend eternity with him.

This concludes the Blog for Reckless Love.

Reckless Love – Entry #3 of 4

Today’s focus will be on the second verse of the song.

When I was Your foe, still Your love fought for me
You have been so, so good to me
When I felt no worth, You paid it all for me
You have been so, so kind to me

Have you ever considered that you were or are an enemy of our Lord? My immediate thought is that I would never be his enemy, how could I be after all he has done for me? Yet, when I stop and think about “When I was Your foe”, I realize that I was an enemy of the one who saved me. In the world today, we are constantly bombarded by news and actions that are not acceptable to God and therefore should not be acceptable to those who are saved and truly love the Lord; the vast majority of the breaking news items are focused on sinful actions. To help put this in perspective, think about your views on these recurring top news items: abortion, the various components of LGBTQ, how we treat people of other races or nationalities, people who have different political views than we do, and the list goes on. As you think about your views on the above, are you truly acting the way God would want you to act or are you acting against what the bible reveals to us? Are we doing what is right and what God wants us to do or are we going along with the way the world wants us to be? Note that I am not advocating hatred, violence, or prejudice against anyone since I believe that we should love all people even if their beliefs and actions do not align with what we are taught to believe via the word of God.

By taking the stance that you support the sins and ways of the world, you are taking a stand against God; take a breath and think about this… I think we do a lot of things because we want to be accepted by those around us and build friendships, but James 4:4 tells us “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” When James refers to adulterers and adulteresses in this verse, I believe he is referring to those who want to be part of the beliefs of the world and also profess to be a child of God, but we must make a choice. If we work hard to be friends of the world and believe what the world wants us to believe, then we have become a foe of God and told him he is no longer our friend.

In spite of the influences of the world and despite the fact that we are sometimes an enemy of God, he loves us. He still sent Jesus to die for us, so we could have eternal life despite the influences of the world. He still gave us the Holy Spirit to help guide us. He still fights for us everyday and that still small voice reminds us who we really belong to and how we should cling to the love of Christ and not be drawn into a world that becomes more sinful every day. John 15:19 tells us “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” This is a great verse to remember when you struggle with the conflicts between what the world believes and what Jesus requires us to believe. Even though we do not deserve his love, even though we are constantly pulled away from him by the world, and even though we struggle to keep him first in our lives; he has erased all of our sin so we can live with him forever. As the old hymn states, Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe.

Are you a friend or foe, take some time to reflect on this and choose who or what you want to serve.

Reckless Love – Entry #2 of 4

This Blog entry will be focused on the incredible chorus of this song.

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine
I couldn’t earn it, and I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah

The adjectives preceding “love” are amazing as I stop and digest this one line. I believe that being overwhelmed is usually, although not always, used in a somewhat negative context. We are overwhelmed with personal issues, overwhelmed with the amount of work we have to get completed in a specific period of time, overwhelmed due to health issues, overwhelmed with family demands, or perhaps just life in general. It is on these days that are overwhelming that we just want to hide somewhere, just to escape for a while! These are the times we need to stop and remember that God doesn’t immerse us in problems or battles, he immerses us in his love and in his power. Psalm 46:1-2 tells us “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.”

Though it is hard to let go and look for that peace we need, God is there to overwhelm us with his strength and his support. He is the peace in the midst of the storm. No matter what we have done, God’s arms are always open to us. He feels our pain and perhaps cries tears along with us as he comforts us. His love is eternal and unconditional. We are told in Psalm 136:1, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”

I believe the most powerful and possibly most misunderstood word in the chorus is reckless as it relates to the love of God. When I think of reckless, I think of a person out of control, moving forward without a plan aka flying by the seat of our pants, maybe just being careless, or perhaps references to my driving. I would have never thought of this as an adjective to describe God’s love. Maybe in our eyes, God’s love is reckless and we haven’t really stopped to think about the things he does and the possible impacts.

He has a plan for our lives from birth to our physical death, so whatever he does is part of a plan. He died for everyone and loves everyone, even though many will never understand his death on the cross nor accept his love. He didn’t expect everyone to love him, but he was willing to put himself out there and suffer the rejection. We would probably not be willing to risk our love in this way since we are not willing to face the rejection. Jesus stated he was the way, the truth, and the life and that the only way to heaven is through him. This seems like sort of a reckless statement, since once again, he opened himself up to criticism from those who do not accept that he is the son of God; yet he put himself out there. God also does not fear guilt by association, he always loves us regardless of what we have done. Others may abandon us in times of need because they are afraid of being linked to us, but God never lets us stand alone and doesn’t care what people think of him. I am glad I have the reckless love of God.

Line two of the chorus has a few interesting aspects as well when it states that this reckless love chases down. I believe he committed to staying with us from the day we were conceived. We come to love God at different ages and sometimes never, but we find in 1 John 4:19,”We love, because he first loved us.” Since he first loved us and his love is eternal, it only makes sense that he will lead us, walk with us, or chase us; whatever we need to get us on the right path. He sees us when we wander off the path and because he loves us so much, he chases us down and helps steer us back to where we belong. He fights for us as he did for the Israelites as they left the bondage in Egypt. He is always there to fight for us or along side us as we face the battles we face with temptation, sin, and despair. He doesn’t give up on us even though we often give up on him. In the parable of the one-hundred sheep in Matthew 18:12-24, when one sheep goes missing, the shepherd goes to find that one sheep. Although ninety-nine sheep were safe and accounted for, the shepherd was concerned about his entire flock. Jesus, who is our shepherd, is there for all of us and is only happy when he has his arms around all of us. We may wander off, but he will be there to pull us back if we let him.

Of our own accord, we would have never been worthy of God’s love and therefore do not deserve his love; Romans 3:10 tells us that none of us are worthy. There is nothing we could do to earn his love, no actions we could take, and no sacrifices we could make; yet he still accepted us. By sending his son to die for us, we became the eternal children of God. He knew we would sin, he knew we would make mistakes, he knew we would sometimes ignore him; but the death of Jesus on the cross took away all of our sins from the day we were born to the day we die a physical death. Such is the reckless love of God.

Reckless Love – Entry #1 of 4

The next song for my Blog was written by Caleb Culver, Cory Asbury, and Ran Jackson and was first released in 2017. A link to Cory Asbury performing the song is at the bottom of this Blog entry.

Reckless Love

Before I spoke a word, You were singing over me
You have been so, so good to me
Before I took a breath, You breathed Your life in me
You have been so, so kind to me

When I was Your foe, still Your love fought for me
You have been so, so good to me
When I felt no worth, You paid it all for me
You have been so, so kind to me

And oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine
And I couldn’t earn it, I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah

There’s no shadow You won’t light up
Mountain You won’t climb up
Coming after me
There’s no wall You won’t kick down
Lie You won’t tear down
Coming after me
There’s no shadow You won’t light up
Mountain You won’t climb up
Coming after me
There’s no wall You won’t kick down
Lie You won’t tear down
Coming after me
There’s no shadow You won’t light up
Mountain You won’t climb up
Coming after me
There’s no wall You won’t kick down
Lie You won’t tear down
Coming after me
There’s no shadow You won’t light up
Mountain You won’t climb up
Coming after me
There’s no wall You won’t kick down
Lie You won’t tear down
Coming after me

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine
And I couldn’t earn it, I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah

I will begin the first entry in this Blog by analyzing the first verse of the song.

Before I spoke a word, You were singing over me
You have been so, so good to me
Before I took a breath, You breathed Your life in me
You have been so, so kind to me

This is a song that covers a lot of ground, but the driving focus of the song is just how much God really loves us; he always has and he always will. Before we could even speak and perhaps before we were even born, God was singing how great we are and how even greater we would become. We were probably unaware of his joy at our conception, but he and the angels were already celebrating even if we could not hear or even understand if we did hear! God was creating a special time just for us with his thoughts of love and songs of joy for each of us individually. He knew about the world around us, the challenges we would face, and our future; he wanted us to start out knowing that someone loved us regardless of how our world would change as we left the womb. This line of the song takes me to Psalm 23 where we read, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.” He is starting us out with the same peace he will offer us the rest of our days. He is so good to us, even before knew he even existed.

The next line of the song can be very controversial and brings a tremendous amount of conflict in our society today due to the varying opinions surrounding the morality of abortions. Putting the conflict aside for the moment, the entire birth process from conception to birth is an amazing event and process. Birth is truly a miracle that could not happen without a well-orchestrated plan. Yet another miracle of God. Our heart starts beating right after conception even before we are able to breathe on our own. We are not able to breathe on our own until we exit the womb. During the period of time in the womb, oxygen gets to the infant via the umbilical cord. Oxygen is necessary for the baby to live and since the baby is immersed in fluid and does not even have developed lungs for a while; the umbilical cord is the true lifeline. The lungs are fully formed around the thirty-two week mark and the baby has the ability to breathe air at around thirty-six weeks, which means the baby has a greater chance of survival outside the womb if it makes it to week thirty-six. The first true breath of air using the baby’s fully developed lungs comes shortly after leaving the womb. During our entire time in the womb, God was forming us. He already knew we were coming, even before conception, and he already knew the plan for our life. We read in Jeremiah that God knew us before we were formed and in Psalms that God made us and fashioned us into who we would become. The net is that he has been a part of our life long before we were that twinkle in our parent’s eyes. As we escaped that womb of safety and security into a new world, God gave us that first breath of air as we entered the next phase in our lives. Yes, he was and is so kind to us and just as he protected us in the womb and prepared us for our life outside the womb, he is with us for eternity. The world is a little scarier than the security of the womb, but we can always reach out and hold his hand and depend on him. We are never alone. I believe that if we stop and take the time to communicate with God, we may even hear the song in our heart that he has been singing for us since before we were conceived.

Click Here to Hear Cory Asbury Perform Reckless Love

Hello My Name Is – Entry #2 of 2

This entry will focus on the second half of the song.

I am no longer defined
By all the wreckage behind
The one who makes all things new
Has proven it’s true
Just take a look at my life
Hello, my name is child of the one true king
I’ve been saved, I’ve been changed, and I have been set free
Amazing grace is the song I sing
Hello, my name is child of the one true king
What a love the Father has lavished upon us
That we should be called his children
I am a child of the one true King
What a love the Father has lavished upon us
That we should be called his children
Hello, my name is child of the one true king
I’ve been saved, I’ve been changed, and I have been set free
Amazing grace is the song I sing
Hello, my name is child of the one true king
I am a child of the one true king

Who are you? The answer depends on who you ask. When talking to a potential employer, you are your resume. The interviewer is interested in the jobs you have performed, what you were responsible for in each of those jobs, your greatest accomplishments, and why did you leave. Your friends would answer the question a little differently. They would describe your friendship, the qualities that make you a good friend, and perhaps how you have changed their life. A spouse/significant other would perhaps point out some different aspects of who you are. They may talk about the qualities that made them want to spend their life with you, how you make them feel special, and what kind of parent you are. If you answer the question, you may include all of the above, but you may focus on some of the above, but you would also think about failures, poor decisions, people you hurt, and how your life could have been much better had you had not done some of these things; so, your response might be more of a mixed bag.

The exciting news when we Christ as our Savior, our past is truly our past from his perspective. His eyes are on today and our future, he has erased the sinful actions of our past. We are now looked at as a child of God, we are no longer judged, viewed, or evaluated on our past; it no longer defines who we are. It is true that we may have been very bad in our past and we will never forget some of the bad things we did nor will people who knew us during that time. Satan will always be able to remind us if we let him. Once we have accepted Christ, it is up to us to put everything behind us and move forward down the right path. We need to spend our time with Jesus and listen to his voice, not the voices of our past or of Satan. This is a choice we make, Jesus has already wiped our slate clean and he is not going to remind us of our past, his eyes are always facing forward and he is telling us to do the same. Every time our eyes turn toward the past, we need to immediately stop and listen to the Holy Spirit that dwells within us; this will help us keep our eyes and our hearts focused in the right direction.

It is very difficult to imagine the love Christ has for us. He doesn’t care about any evils in our past, he doesn’t care who we were, he merely loves us unconditionally. Stop a minute and just try and comprehend what that means, I am not sure that I can. Can you truly say you love anyone unconditionally? This outpouring of love is never ending, no matter how we acted yesterday, how we act today, or how we will act tomorrow. This is what having love lavished upon us really means. He has fully adopted us as his children and into his eternal family, nothing we can do can change this unconditional unfailing love.

We can say without any hesitancy or doubt that we are now children of the One True King, take some time to let that statement fill your heart.

Hello My Name Is – Entry #1 of 2

The next song for my Blog was written by Matthew West and first released in 2012. A link to Matthew West performing the song is at the bottom of this Blog entry.

Hello, My Name Is

Hello, my name is regret
I’m pretty sure we have met
Every single day of your life
I’m the whisper inside
Won’t let you forget
Hello, my name is defeat
I know you recognize me
Just when you think you can win
I’ll drag you right back down again
‘Til you’ve lost all belief
These are the voices,
these are the lies
And I have believed them,
for the very last time
Hello, my name is child of the one true king
I’ve been saved, I’ve been changed, and I have been set free
Amazing grace is the song I sing
Hello, my name is child of the one true king
I am no longer defined
By all the wreckage behind
The one who makes all things new
Has proven it’s true
Just take a look at my life
Hello, my name is child of the one true king
I’ve been saved, I’ve been changed, and I have been set free
Amazing grace is the song I sing
Hello, my name is child of the one true king
What a love the Father has lavished upon us
That we should be called his children
I am a child of the one true King
What a love the Father has lavished upon us
That we should be called his children
Hello, my name is child of the one true king
I’ve been saved, I’ve been changed, and I have been set free
Amazing grace is the song I sing
Hello, my name is child of the one true king
I am a child of the one true king

I will begin the first entry in this Blog by analyzing the first section of the song.

Do you have those days in your life when you feel as if the whole world has come crashing down on top of you? All you can think about is the negative things in your life and perhaps the failures that got you to this point. As we focus on these regrets, we are where Satan wants us to be, focused on anything else but our Lord and our eternal life. Satan is the voice of regret whispering in our ear and is constantly reminding us of everything we have done wrong in our lives. We are letting him hold us back from who God wants us to be.

As if the flood of regrets is not enough, Satan also likes to remind us of all of our failures. Our failures could be the job we didn’t get and desperately need, a broken relationship, the loss of someone special in our lives whom we never told often enough how much we loved them, or perhaps a promotion we deserved that was given to someone else. Satan continues to whisper in our ear and reminds us of how unworthy we are. We all have struggles we battle every single day as we just try to keep our heads above water and it is at this weakest moment that Satan reminds us of our failures and we fall back into the rut and into the inner darkness that seems to overwhelm us. We just want to hang our heads in absolute dejection or throw our arms up and just say “I can’t do this anymore!”

Satan and his minions are always around us and we constantly hear their whisperings during our weakest moments and many times we believe what we are hearing. We start to believe we can do nothing right, nobody loves us, and we are destined for a miserable life on this earth. At some point, as we strengthen our relationship with Christ, the many voices of Satan get quieter as they are drowned out by the love of Jesus and the voice of the Holy Spirit. We start to realize that we have been hearing lies our whole life and have had Satan stealing away our joy and hope, but no more!!

The song shifts from the voice of Satan to our own voice. Once we have accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior, we become his child for eternity, we become a child of the only true king. We become secure in knowing we have eternal life, all of our sins have been forgiven, and we have been set free of our past. Satan still is and will always be talking to us, but he has no power over the one true king, Jesus. Yes, our past is still there, but all of our wrongs have been forgiven and we now have the opportunity to start on a new path with our Savior. We can now look to the path Jesus has planned for us as opposed to the path we have been trodding. Through the death of Christ on the cross, all of our sins have been forgiven, his grace truly is amazing. We spend our lives ignoring him, tackling our struggles on our own, letting Satan be our guide, and essentially ignoring him and his love for us. In spite of it all, he was still willing to die for us and through grace all of our sins are erased and forgotten. It is no doubt Amazing Grace that fills our heart and soul. Yes, we do have a new name, it is no longer regret, defeat, or hopelessness; it is child of the one true king!!!

Click Here to Hear Matthew West Performing Hello My Name Is

In the Garden – Entry #2 of 2

I reviewed the first verse and the chorus in the first Blog entry for this song and will do an analysis of the remaining two verses in this entry to close out this song.

He speaks and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing
I’d stay in the garden with Him
‘Tho the night around me be falling
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling

Have you ever thought about the earthly voice of Jesus during the short time he walked the earth? Was his voice soft, was it booming, do he come across as a king, did it command attention? I know that many times in my life, I probably need it to be booming and harsh as I frequently don’t do the things I should be doing or trusting in him as I should. I believe he had a voice that made people want to listen, a voice that oozed compassion, and commanded attention without being loud or harsh. We do know he did not mince words when delivering his message, but I believe he did it in such a way that people listened and understood as opposed to getting upset and being offended.

How many times have you been outside and heard the birds singing and enjoying themselves as they flitted from branch to branch? I love to watch the birds and listen to them chirp and sing, it is such a peaceful environment which seems to block out many distractions as I get absorbed by the tranquility they bring. I can remember my mom and dad sitting in their recliners looking out at the birds as they flew in and out of the bird feeder. There always seemed to be birds singing while awaiting their turn to eat. Mom and dad always made sure there was a feeder close to the window so they could see and hear the birds. The birds can almost be hypnotizing at times when the setting is just right. Yet the sound of Jesus’ voice is so comforting and welcoming that even the birds stop to listen. I think this is the type of voice we hear as we escape to our garden and just stop and listen. His voice reaches us in times of tranquility as well as times of chaos, all we have to do is listen.

Are you aware that Jesus gave each of us a melody? A melody in a song is basically the tune, sort of the path we take from the beginning to the end of the song and verse to verse. I think Christ created a unique tune for each of us, since although we are his children; we are all different in some way. I do not believe our melody is a song with words, it is more a continuous feeling of love, peace, and joy that resonates in our soul. The song is always playing in our hearts, it is up to us to stop and listen. Don’t let the evils of our society, constant bad news reports, and other distractions take you away from the melody that is ringing in your heart; the melody is His way of reminding you he is always there and will be with you always.

As we walk in the garden with our Savior and feel that wonderful peace that only he can give, we are reminded of his promise to never leave us alone. He keeps telling us how much he loves us and that he knows the future and everything that has happened and will happen to us. We would love to stay in the garden alone with him, but we have to get back into our daily lives. Our dedicated heart to heart time may be coming to end for that moment, but we know we can reach out to him every second of every day and he will be there. As we leave our special garden and start coming back to our hectic lives, he is calling out to us and telling us how much he loves us and he will be eagerly waiting for us when we are ready to talk again.

We don’t have to be in the garden to pray, I view that we enter the garden when we can have a dedicated time(s) of prayer. It is the time when we pour out our hearts to God and the time we are in the garden will vary. The important thing is that we set aside this time every day since we constantly need the reminder that we are not alone and that all things will work out according to his plan.

We also need to have a continuous awareness of the presence of God and should pray for help as things pop up that challenge us and we should thank him as every blessing occurs and every prayer is answered.

When was the last time you were In the Garden?

In the Garden – Entry #1 of 2

The next song for my Blog was written by C. Austin Miles and first published in 1912. This is a timeless song found in many church hymnals and sung by many great artists. A link to Alan Jackson performing the song is at the bottom of this Blog entry.

In the Garden

I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear, falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses

And He walks with me
And He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known

He speaks and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing

And He walks with me
And He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known

I’d stay in the garden with Him
‘Tho the night around me be falling
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling

And He walks with me
And He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known

I will begin the first entry in this Blog by taking a look at the first verse.

I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear, falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses

Most of us lead very hectic lives in which we are trying to balance our personal lives, family, demands of our job(s), or perhaps all of these and we become completely overwhelmed. It sometimes feels as if everything is coming down around us. During these challenging times, wouldn’t it be nice to have an escape, at least for a short respite?

Have you ever noticed that one of the most beautiful settings in a flower garden occurs in the early morning? It is at this time that the morning dew is on the roses and other flowering plants and they glisten in the early morning sun. The writer has created such an idyllic setting that symbolizes peace and tranquility. I believe the application in our lives is that we need to have a time of peace and tranquility every day with our Lord and Savior. The place and time is up to each of us and he will be there awaiting our arrival. Our chosen setting may be a closet, a room, a walk, a drive, basically wherever we choose. This special place is our personal Garden and the location and time may change, but it is where we escape to for our one on one time with Jesus. It is a time of inner peace which blocks out everything else in our lives and allows us to focus on our relationship with Jesus. This is the way we should feel as we commune with our Savior. As we open our hearts in this peaceful setting and prepare to pray, we may sense that Christ via the Holy Spirit is with us. Perhaps you sometimes feel so distant from God, but there are other times when you feel Jesus is so close as you pray. The writer in this song has set the perfect setting for prayer and as our hearts are open, Jesus lets us know he is with us. The reality is, he is always there, but we don’t always hear him or see him in action because our hearts are not open to His presence and his comfort, our hearts are more focused on the avalanche of challenges life brings.

Jesus does not join us to just nod his head as we talk to him, he wants to be an active part of our lives. Jesus is only a passive participant if that is all we allow him to be. He wants to walk with us and guide us, he doesn’t want to just follow behind and watch what happens to us; he wants to lead us down the right paths. Via the Holy Spirit and that still small voice, Jesus is talking to us, sharing wisdom, providing guidance, and trying to help us understand the impact of the choices and decisions we make in our lives. Our time in the garden is more than just our conversation with Christ, it is also strengthening our relationship with him. We communicate our blessings, our needs, our praise and he tells us how much he loves us and that everything will eventually be ok. He also reminds us we are never alone in anything we do and we are also a child of his. The more we reach out to him, the more aware we will be of his presence.

Our time in the garden with Jesus should be a time of peace and joy. We are there with the one who loves us more than anyone else possibly can. He is also the one who truly understands every fear and trouble we have and can provide comfort that we never thought possible. Where else can we find such joy? Every time we pray, we need to enter into the arms of Jesus, open our hearts fully to him, and just let him hold us.

Click Here to Watch Alan Jackson Sing In the Garden

Trust in You – Entry #4 of 4

In the Blog entry for today and the final one for this song, I want to take a look at the last verse of this wonderful song:

You are my strength and comfort
You are my steady hand
You are my firm foundation
The rock on which I stand
Your ways are always higher
Your plans are always good
There’s not a place where I’ll go
You’ve not already stood

How often do you have fears in your life and feel you are too weak to address these fears? These fears can be emotional, physical, real, or perceived. There is a good chance we have fears every day of our lives and that we all have times when we feel weak and helpless. Christ is there to give us all of the strength we need and he is the one who is always there to comfort us. Not only to give us the strength to face our fears and our enemies, but he is there for us to lean on. He always stands ready to hold us in his arms, wipe away our tears, and to show us things will really be ok.

We try to stay on track with our faith every day, but it is so hard to do. We keep wandering off of our path and many times we know we are not on the path we should be on. Jesus is always there with his hand reached out to us. His feet are always on the path he has for each of us and he is there to take our hand and guide us or perhaps carry us. He just waits for us to offer our hand to him and ask for his help. It is so awesome that he is always there with his hand extended out to each of us.

We were recently at the beach and had to walk quite a ways to get to the spot where we wanted to set up our umbrellas and chairs. The sand was hot and our feet kept sinking in the sand, so it was hard to get to the spot we wanted; but the walk was worth it! We knew that when we walked on the sand that it would be challenging to get where we are going. Many times we establish our hopes, dreams, and our daily lives on weak foundations that we can’t really depend upon. Maybe the strengths we are counting on are ourselves, our friends, or maybe things we have read or heard. The problem is that none of these are strong enough and dependable enough in the long run. Christ is the only one who can offer us a firm foundation built on solid rock, on bedrock; he will never fail us. We just need to keep our eyes on him at all times.

The path that Jesus wants for us and has planned for us is above the fray of life, above the worries and sins of this world. He wants and asks us to look to him and let him help us across the pitfalls of life that we often create or encounter; he is the only one who stays above it all; yet close enough to always hold our hand and be our guide. He alone knows the plan for our life and we know his plan is perfect. Even though we do not know the twists and turns our lives will take, he knows the path and the destination.

It is so reassuring to know that Christ knows what is ahead and he knows where our steps will lead us today, tomorrow, and for eternity. He knew our path before we were created and he knows what tomorrow brings; does it make sense to trust in anyone else?

Every day, we need to open our hearts in prayer to our Savior and simply say “I will trust in you” for all things.