Christian – Song Dive

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

The next entry for my Blog is I Wish We’d All Been Ready, which was written by Larry Norman. The song was initially released May 6, 2019. A link to DC Talk performing the song is at the bottom of the Blog.

I Wish We’d All Been Ready

Life was filled with guns and war
And everyone got trampled on the floor
I wish we’d all been ready

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Children died, the days grew cold
A piece of bread could buy a bag of gold
I wish we’d all been ready

There’s no time to change your mind
The Son has come and you’ve been left behind

A man and wife asleep in bed
She hears a noise and turns her head
He’s gone
I wish we’d all been ready

Two men walking up a hill
One disappears and one’s left standing still
I wish we’d all been ready

There’s no time to change your mind
The Son has come and you’ve been left behind

Life was filled with guns and war
And everyone got trampled on the floor
I wish we’d all been ready

Children died, the days grew cold
A piece of bread could buy a bag of gold
I wish we’d all been ready

There’s no time to change your mind
How could you have been so blind?
The Father spoke, the demons dined
The Son has come and you’ve been left behind

You’ve been left behind
You’ve been left behind
You’ve been left behind
You’ve been left behind

This song is a little different from the ones I normally write about. The song itself is a little slower, even though it was performed by a usually upbeat group. As I perform my search for songs every week, I look for the one that really impacts me the most. This song is a little out of character for me, but I believe it sends a powerful message that everyone needs to hear.

Are there times when you see things or hear things that are going on in the world that really bother or upset you? I supposed this has happened to me a few times in my life, but as I get older; I seem to pay more attention to what is going on in the world around me. It seems as if there are more wars going on all over the world. There seem to be more starving people as well as more homeless people. The churches around the world seem to be fighting more and more battles every day to keep the word of God alive. Many people no longer go to church and don’t believe in God or his promises. People continue to turn their back on God because they do not believe the bible and the fact that it is the word of God.

I am a Christian and believe that I must accept Jesus Christ as my personal savior to have eternal life in heaven. God’s promise was that he would send his son to die on the cross and that whoever accepted him as their personal savior would spend eternity with him. Christ showed that we truly could rise from the dead since he himself died on the cross, then walked again on this earth, and then rose into heaven. There were eyewitnesses to all of these events. Christ also promised that he will come again and that every living person on earth who had accepted him and his promise, will go to heaven with him to begin their eternal life. On the day Christ returns, people who are still alive, will ascend with him in the clouds; this event is called the rapture. So far, all I have done is set the background for the song.

Now I will give you my analysis on the song, but I thought the background would be helpful since the lyrics jump right into the event. As the wars go on around us, hunger keeps growing, and homelessness is taking over cities; people hear the story about this man coming down to earth from the heavens and taking people back with him spreads like wildfire. I can just imagine people running all over each other to get outside and see what is happening. Maybe to put into a perspective, imagine the issues if a massive sports stadium had to be suddenly evacuated; think of people getting crushed and even killed due to the mass of humanity running over them if they fell. Those who had accepted Christ were ready and are ascending into the clouds, those who have not accepted Christ are those who are getting trampled or perhaps falling to the ground when they realize they are left behind.

As millions of people around the world rise up in the clouds, our earthly population diminishes. The believers in Christ are gone and those left behind now have to determine how to keep food, supplies, medicine flowing since so many people will be gone in the blink of an eye. Food dwindles since many of the farmers will be gone, many truckers who carry the food to market will be gone, grocery stores will keep running out of food. Maybe people have money, but there is no food to buy. Children are dying perhaps because of not enough food, not enough medical care, and perhaps their parents are now gone and they are alone. In cold weather climates, children and others, may freeze to death if there is no readily available heat or the ability to build fires for warmth. I believe all young children will ascend into the clouds with Jesus, but those who were old enough to make a decision to accept Christ, yet rejected him, will be in the same situation as all of the rest of the people left behind.

How many times had many of these people heard the word of God and the promise of eternal life; but rejected the word. It is now too late for these people; they have been left behind. The song has been talking about generalities, but then it starts to give some examples of loss and heartbreak. Image you are asleep in bed with your spouse and you hear a sudden noise. You turn over to see if your spouse is ok, but your spouse is no longer there. Your loved one had accepted Christ and you did not, now you have been left behind. Maybe you were the one who refused to go to church because you didn’t believe in the word of God and his promises and your spouse went alone to church. This is referenced in the book of Luke 17:34, “^I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left.” Another person mentioned is walking up a hill, perhaps with a friend, and he turns around and his friend is gone. Maybe the friend who disappeared is the same one who used to try and tell you about Christ, but you never wanted to hear it. Now you have been left behind. In the book of Matthew 24:40-41, we are told “Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.”

You have probably had chances to hear about Christ your entire life and you ignored those chances. Maybe you thought you were too busy, you were not willing to change your life, perhaps your friends would no longer accept you, or maybe you just thought the Bible and Christianity were nonsense. So perhaps you are the one now thinking, how could I have been so blind? The son of God has come and you have been left behind. John 3:16 tells us what we need to do to ensure eternity in heaven, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

All of the above can be sort of depressing. I am a very upbeat person, but I think it is important to share my opinions via these blogs and then you can draw your own conclusions. I would not want to be a contributor to you being left behind, my hope would be that none of us get left. The good news is that you can accept Christ up until the day you die, so it is never too late. Maybe you miss the rapture and you don’t go to heaven right away, but Christ’s offer to accept him is always there; don’t run the risk of running out of time.

Are you ready?

Click to Hear DC Talk Sing I Wish We’d All Been Ready