broken heart – Song Dive

You’re the Only Jesus

The next entry for my Blog is You’re the Only Jesus, which was written by Gordon Jensen. The song was first released in 1983. A link to David Wills, of the Imperials, singing the song is at the bottom of the Blog.

If not in you, I wonder where
Will they ever see the One who really cares?
If not from you, how will they find
There’s One who heals the broken heart
And gives sight to the blind?

‘Cause you’re the only Jesus
Some will ever see
And you’re the only Words of Life
Some will ever read
So let them see in you the One in whom
Is all they’ll ever need
‘Cause you’re the only Jesus
Some will ever see

And if not you, I wonder who
Will show them love
And love alone can make things new?
If not from you, how will they learn
There’s one who’ll trade their hopelessness
For give joy in return?

‘Cause you’re the only Jesus
Some will ever see
And you’re the only Words of Life
Some will ever read
So let them see in you the One in whom
Is all they’ll ever need
‘Cause you’re the only Jesus
Some will ever see

So let Him shine, let Him show
Let them see Him in you
You gotta let them know

‘Cause you’re the only Jesus
Some will ever see
And you’re the only Words of Life
Some will ever read

So let them see in you the One in whom
Is all they’ll ever need
‘Cause you’re the only Jesus
You’re the only Jesus
Some will ever see

This particular song is one that is not well known, but I believe it delivers a very powerful message regarding how we impact the lives of others. It is a song which spells out how our actions and inactions positively or negatively impacts others we come across in our lives. I have heard the phrase, which is the title of this song, many times over the years; but I have never truly stopped and taken it to heart. I view myself as a good person, but probably a person who doesn’t always say or do the right things when it comes to others. I believe that most of us are good people, we perhaps have strong family units, some good friends, but we struggle when we get outside of our comfort zone when it comes to people outside of our circle. This song challenges us to step outside of our comfort zone while at the same time reminding us of our role to help others. In the bible in the book of Mark 16:15, we find this command coming from Jesus, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”

So what exactly does helping others outside of our circle mean? I am not sure there is a one size fits all answer to this question since I believe there are times when we can be passive in our actions and sometimes more aggressive in our actions. As Christians, we are given the mission to share the message of Jesus, the son of God, wherever we go. I am of the opinion that most of us do not verbally share the message as we should, but it is also possible that people start to figure out who we are by our actions. Think of the times you have been around a small child or children, don’t they often mimic some of our actions? Maybe someone makes the comment, how he or she acts just like their mom or dad. What about when you are watched by others as you go about your daily life and routines, don’t you think that others are watching you? Maybe they don’t know you, but they are just people-watching such as many of us do from time to time. Take the time to do a little self-reflection on what they may see you do and hear you say. Maybe your actions or words seem inappropriate to this casual observer, who doesn’t really know you. Maybe it is someone who works in a place you frequent, maybe it is someone in your favorite restaurant, or maybe it is someone you pass by who is perhaps down on their luck and looking for a handout to get them through the day or a rough period in their lives but hangs out around some of the places you pass by. Now, take a few minutes to dwell on this scripture from James 2:15-20. “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.”

Think about all of the people I referenced above, and then one day one or more of these people hear you talking about church with some of your church friends. These bystanders that have been seeing you can hardly believe that you go to church. Maybe they don’t know a lot about church, but probably have a general belief that the church people try to be good people and go to church to learn to be better. They had some view of God and had perhaps heard about Jesus, but never understand what this is all about. The sad part is when these same people who have been seeing us in our daily lives, had no idea that we were a church person. We never took the time to acknowledge them, perhaps were never kind to them, or perhaps were rude in our overall demeanor. Now these people start thinking that if these are the kinds of people coming out of that church across the street, then I don’t want to be associated with those church people in any way. Since we did not really talk to these people, we never told them about Jesus, and we are judged solely on our actions or lack of action. Not only do we fail these people by not telling them about Jesus; but we have potentially turned them against the church forever. Take a moment and let that last statement sink in. These people have been reading your life to determine what being a Christian is all about. Did they see you help anyone in need? Did they see you engage when someone needed someone to talk to? Did they hear you tell the message about the love of Jesus and eternal life? You see, our role as a Christian is to act like Jesus in every way. Yes, we will fall short because we are not perfect, we are not Jesus. If we all think about what Jesus wants us to do and what he expects of us as Christians (not just church people), and what he commanded us to do; wouldn’t we become the only Jesus some will ever see?

Please take time to think about the message you send to others by your words and actions.

Click to hear David Will of the Imperials sing You’re the Only Jesus

Perfectly Loved

The next entry for my Blog is Perfectly Loved, which was written by Andrew Ripp, Ethan Hulse, and Rachel Lampa. It was first released April 8, 2022. A link to Rachel Lamp and TobyMac singing the song is at the bottom of the Blog.

Who said that you weren’t beautiful
And that you didn’t belong in your own skin?
Who said that you were all alone
And that you’re never gonna find love again?

So many little words, so many little lies
That have followed you all of your life
Looking for the truth, look into your eyes
And you’ll see it’s been there the whole time

Ooh, even when you were running
Even when you were hiding
Never been a moment that you were not perfectly loved
When you barely believed it
When your eyes couldn’t see it
Every single moment, you’ve always been perfectly loved
Ooh, perfectly loved
You’ve always been perfectly

In the hands of the Infinite
As the wounds of the world became His
See the kindness Heaven has for you
And how He’s always been drawing you in

So many open doors (so many open doors), so many miracles (so many)
That have followed you all of your life
Looking for the truth (looking for the truth), look into your eyes (oh)
And you’ll see its been there the whole time

Ooh, even when you were running
Even when you were hiding
Never been a moment that you were not perfectly loved
When you barely believed it
When your eyes couldn’t see it
Every single moment you’ve always been perfectly loved
Ooh, perfectly loved
Ooh

You’re not a problem
You’re not a mistake
Don’t need fixing or solving
In the arms of His grace

You’re perfectly human
Made from the dust
You’ve got a heart, broken and scarred, yet perfectly loved

Oh, even when you were running
Even when you were hiding
Never been a moment that you were not perfectly loved
When you barely believed it (when you barely believed it)
When your eyes couldn’t see it
Every single moment you’ve always been perfectly loved
Perfectly loved
You’ve always been perfectly loved

Ooh
Perfectly loved
You have always been perfectly loved

Have you ever been told that were not pretty, or beautiful, or handsome? Perhaps you were told that you were too skinny or too big or perhaps that you had an unusually shaped body. Maybe you were told you didn’t have the right looks. As young people, we may have been made fun of by groups of other people. It seems as if their mission in life was to ridicule others and just make them feel unworthy. In some instances, people are denied jobs because they don’t have that right look, however right look is defined. The really sad part in all of this is that many people are actually scarred for life because of the ridicule they faced in their younger days. As these scarred people enter adulthood, they firmly believe that no one will ever love them and that they will live a life alone. It is so easy for some people to feel they are not good enough whenever they experience these types of situations. It also seems there are some people who have the right look, the right build, the right personality, and seemingly glide through life never understanding those who didn’t fit the perfect model that the world expects. We may be the one in the background saying please pick me. I know I have painted sort of a grim picture, but I firmly believe there are people who fit this mold and many of us have felt this way at some point in our lives. What is most important and perhaps more challenging in some ways is that we need to focus on what God wants us to look like. In 1 Peter 3:3-4, we are told what God expects, “Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.” Many people may say that this scripture is directed to women, but I believe it really speaks to men and women, especially the second sentence. I also believe that the first sentence can apply to both sexes, especially in today’s world. The bible also tells us that we were created in the image of God. We find this in Genesis 1:27, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” This scripture is talking about our inner self and our spirit, not the external body. God loves us because of who we truly are on the inside. Our closest friends know us and love us based on who we are and do not take the worldly view of our physical appearance. It is our inner spirit that communicates with God, our external look means nothing in his eyes.

We can try to run and hide from the world and all it represents, but we can never hide or get away from God. He has always loved us even when we were trying to run and hide from him and the world. Since he is always with us and loves us unconditionally with a never-ending love, it is impossible to hide from him. So even in your deepest darkest moments, he is there to bring you peace and love. All we have to do is open our heart and let our inner spirit rejoice in his love. No matter what we do our how much we change, God’s love for us never waivers, it is an eternal love that no one can take away and is also something we can never escape. In the eyes of God, we are never a problem, we are his perfect creation and his love is unconditional.

Some of the people who read this may be thinking that God has never been there for them. They believe that God is merely a name or a spirit that cannot be touched or seen, so how do we know he is there and that he truly does love us. Take a few minutes to think about some of the challenges that you have faced in life. As some of those challenges ended, did you ever think about how these challenges were overcome? Was there someone new who came into your life? Did you get that job you thought you would never find? Did you suddenly find out that you could have that child when you thought it would never happen? These types of questions tend to be non-stop, but take some time to focus on answers that have come along the way. Do you believe that some of these issues in your life just magically went away? It is God who is in the middle of this and he is the one answering your requests and the only one who has never failed you. He brought that right person or people into your life, he helped you get that right job, he helped you when your heart was lonely, he helped you get food when you were hungry. God alone can meet your needs and he is the only one who will love you unconditionally for your entire life. He has known us since before we were born and he has great plans for each of us. We are told this is Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Just as God had a plan for Jeremiah the prophet, he has a plan for each of us.

God also tells us in Psalm 139:13-14 that he knew us before we were born, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” I believe that if you take the time and focus on the 2 scriptures above and reflect back on your life, you will find that you were never really alone; you were just unaware of God’s hand reaching out to you. You have never been truly alone and never will be, all you have to do is open your hearts and feel God’s love and presence. He alone will never leave us or forsake us. God is never-ending and perfect love.

You indeed are perfectly loved.

Click to hear Rachel Lampa and TobyMac sing Perfectly Loved

Me on Your Mind

The next entry for my Blog is Me on Your Mind, which was written by Matthew West, Jeff Pardo, and Anne Wilson. It was first released February 18, 2022. A link to Matthew West singing the song is at the bottom of the Blog.

I’ve read the words in red
How You leave the 99
To find the one missing
Feels like that was written
With me on Your mind

And the prodigal son who ran, leaving his home behind
The part where the father came running to meet him
Did You say that with me on Your mind?

Who am I that the King of the world
Would give one single thought about my broken heart?
Who am I that the God of all grace
Wipes the tears from my face and says, “Come as you are”?
You paid the price, You took the cross
You gave Your life and You did it all with me on Your mind (oh, oh, oh, oh, oh)
Me on Your mind (oh, oh, oh, oh, oh)

Just knowing You’re mindful of me
Just knowing You call me Your child
It’s flooding my soul with unspeakable hope
Thank You, Lord, that it’s me on Your mind

I’ve read the words in red of a heavenly home on high
You’re preparing a place where the sorrow’s erased
And when I stand before You, I’ll find
All along, it was me on Your mind

Who am I that the King of the world
Would give one single thought about my broken heart?
And who am I that the God of all grace
Wipes the tears from my face and says, “Come as you are”?
You paid the price, You took the cross
You gave Your life and You did it all with me on Your mind (oh, oh, oh, oh, oh)
With me on Your mind (oh, oh, oh, oh, oh)

Woah (oh, oh, oh, oh, oh)
It was me on Your mind

I believe we all have times in our life when we feel all alone and we often get down and out and feeling sorry for ourselves. Unfortunately, many people have this feeling way too many times and they lead very sad lives. Maybe our friends and our families try to encourage us, but they really don’t understand. The words of encouragement and friendly hugs and prayers may be there, but your heart is still hurting and sad. Some people, such as our Christian friends, may encourage us to read our bibles and read about the promises of God in hopes that it brings us out of our depression. Have you ever been in this situation before? If so; didn’t you feel completely hopeless? It seems even more distressing when you are in a group of people and everything in life seems perfect with them.

The writers of the song refer to the text in the bible that is written in red. These red letters are words that came from Jesus, the son of the almighty God. Not every bible has these letters, but the red-letter editions always put the words of Jesus in red. There is a story in the bible that Jesus shared in the book of Matthew 18:12-14, which tells us just how much Jesus loves us and views each of us as his children. “If a shepherd has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So, it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.” We are the lost sheep until we acknowledge Jesus as our savior and God as our father. No matter how far we wander away from God, he will be there with us. Yes, the 99 sheep are still as important to him as they have always been, but for that moment in time; he is focused on getting us into the flock and becoming part of his eternal family. When I reflect on the scripture above, it does seem as if I was the lost sheep Jesus came after and the red letters I had been reading were referring to me. It is so important to know that none of us are ever alone and we can never hide from the eyes of God.

The writers of the song also tell us about a family member who ran away from home with the dreams of getting everything he wanted in life. His father gave him his share of the inheritance and he went and squandered it all within a short time. This parable is found in the book of Luke 15:11-22, “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. None of us are perfect, we all make mistakes every single day. We say things we don’t mean and do things we don’t really mean to do. God loves me when I hold him close to my heart and God still loves me when I wander away. So maybe this story fits all of us in some way.

The chorus of the song is so powerful as it describes how the king of this entire world with its billions of people, still loves me and watches out for me every single day. Why am I so special that he wipes the tears from my eyes, heals the hurts in my heart, and loves me unconditionally? It is because each of us are his children and no matter how bad we act, he loves us unconditionally. He allowed his only son to suffer a brutal death on the cross, so that we could spend eternity with him. He wants us to come to him as we are and find comfort in his love. I don’t know if I will ever be able to comprehend the depth of God’s love, but I do know he always has me on his mind and in his heart. One day I will join him in the heavenly home he has prepared just for me and he has a special home for everyone who accepts him as their father and Jesus as their savior. The day Jesus died, you and I were on his mind.

Click to Hear Matthew West Sing Me on Your Mind

God of All My Days

The next entry for my Blog is God of All My Days, which was written by Mark Hall and Jason Ingram. It was first released by Casting Crowns in 2016. A link to Casting Crowns singing the song is at the bottom of the Blog.

God of All My Days

I came to You with my heart in pieces
And found the God with healing in His hands
I turned to You, put everything behind me
And found the God who makes all things new
I looked to You, drowning in my questions
And found the God who holds all wisdom
And I trusted You and stepped out on the ocean
You caught my hand among the waves
‘Cause You’re the God of all my days

Each step I take
You make a way
And I will give You all my praise
My seasons change, You stay the same
You’re the God of all my days

I ran from You, I wandered in the shadows
And found a God who relentlessly pursues
I hid from You, haunted by my failure
And found the God whose grace still covers me
I fell on You when I was at my weakest
And found the God, the lifter of my head
And I’ve worshiped You
And felt You right beside me
You’re the reason that I sing
‘Cause You’re the God of all my days

Each step I take
You make a way
And I will give You all my praise
My seasons change, You stay the same
You’re the God of all my days

In my worry, God You are my stillness
In my searching, God You are my answers
In my blindness, God You are my vision
In my bondage, God You are my freedom
In my weakness, God You are my power
You’re the reason that I sing
‘Cause You’re the God of all my days

Each step I take
You make a way
And I will give You all my praise
My seasons change, You stay the same
You’re the God of all my days

In my blindness, God You are my vision
And in my bondage, God You are my freedom
All my days

Have you ever had one of those OOPS moments when you broke something and it seemingly shattered into a gazillion pieces? Maybe it was an antique, maybe a valuable piece of pottery, a special heirloom, or maybe just someone’s extra special coffee cup. How did you feel when this happened, knowing there was nothing you could do about what happened? This sort of thing happens to your heart as well. Maybe you feel as if life has dealt you a bad hand and no matter what you do, you just can’t seem to come out of that deep dark abyss. Perhaps you feel this way because of relationship issues, losing a loved one, family problems, job problems, or maybe addiction problems. You begin to feel as if your heart is never going to be whole again and that there will never be joy in your life again. I believe all of the above is the core of where this song begins.

The only way we can have a healed heart is to put our lives into the hands of Christ, since only he can heal our shattered heart and help us keep going. It is true we will still have those painful memories and the scars of life, but putting our hearts in his hands allows us to have hope for the future. We have a fresh start on the future as he forgives our past. He gives us something to look forward to; an eternity with him and all of our fellow believers. We all live a life of unanswered questions, we want to know why, when, how, what if…….. These questions are all part of our daily lives and we don’t have the answers, but the good news is that God knows the answers to all of our questions. Part of our daily prayers should be asking God questions about whatever is on our mind. Sometimes we get answers to some questions right away and other times God brings us peace until he is ready to answer our question. Only he has the wisdom we need and the ability to overcome our impatience, if we just completely rely on him. I realize this is easier said than done because of our human nature, but try putting all of your questions and anxieties in his hands and experience his love and his peace.

The writer describes us as being in an ocean and we are struggling just to survive. This ocean pounding with waves, represents the struggles of life and they tend to suck us down every single day. As we cry out to God, hold out our hand to God, and give him our life; he grabs our hand and pulls us out of the waves. All of a sudden our life on that daily stormy ocean shifts to life on a peaceful lake. The wavy days are still out there as we forget our way, but God will always be there to put us back on the calm waters if we just reach out to him. He is the God of all of our days and is with us every day of our life even when we are ignoring him and forgetting about him.

No matter where we are physically, mentally, or emotionally God is there with us to hold our hand and guide us down the right path. Only he knows the right path for us and only he can keep us on the path where we belong. Everyday, our lives change in some way as we experience new events that impact us. We also go through stages of life such as youth, marriage, children, grandchildren, retirement, loss of a loved one; yet God is there to help us through every phase of our life and the troubles we face each step along the way. We constantly change over the course of our life, but God never changes. We lose our focus and we lose our way, but God is always laser focused on our path and on our journey; he knows the future of each of us. As the writer states, we should praise him every step of the way.

We spend a lot of our lives just running away from God. We are ashamed because of the things we have done; we are ashamed of not praying as we should, and we feel weak if we can’t handle things on our own. There are times when we are so disappointed in ourselves and who we have become. What we fail to realize is that God has never turned his back on us and that he stays with us and keeps holding out his open arms to us; he never ever gives up on us and never holds our failures over our heads. He only asks that we love him and accept his son as our personal savior. As bad as we have been or as neglectful we have been in our relationship with God; his overwhelming love for us never changes. He is always there to help us lift our heads and look ahead to the future instead of the past, knowing that he will never leave us or forsake us. We worship God because he is the only one who never lets us down, who forgives and forgets all of our wrongdoings, and the only one who can give us eternal life. Have you ever sung a Christian song or hymn and all of sudden you can just feel the presence and love of God? I get chills just thinking about those times when I strongly sense the presence of my Lord, there is no other experience like it. Psalm 98:4-6 encourages to sing, “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn, shout for joy before the Lord, the King.” A lot of us may say we can’t sing, but keep in mind that it is the Lord who gave us our voice and our talents and all of our songs are music to him.

Take a close look at the last verse of the song which gives us examples of when we need God and what he gives us as we call out to him. If you listen to the song via the link below, listen with your heart as you are reminded of what God has for us. The list of what he gives can never be captured in a Blog, a book, a library or a song. He gives us peace, the answers we seek, light in the darkness, freedom from the bondage of the dark world, and power that we cannot begin to fully comprehend. Isaiah 40:31 reminds us of what God can do in our lives if we only let him: “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.”

He is not just the God of our past, our good days, and our bad days; he is God of all of our days from the day we were born and for eternity.

Click to Hear Casting Crowns Sing God of All My Days