Goodness of God

The next entry for my Blog is Goodness of God, which was written by Ben Fielding, Brian Johnson, Edward Martin Cash, Jason Ingram, and Jenn Johnson.  It was first released January 4, 2019.  A link to CeCe Winans singing the song is at the bottom of the Blog.

I love You, Lord
For Your mercy never fails me
All my days, I’ve been held in Your hands
From the moment that I wake up
Until I lay my head
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God

‘Cause all my life You have been faithful
And all my life You have been so, so good
With every breath that I am able
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God

I love Your voice
You have led me through the fire
In darkest night You are close like no other
I’ve known You as a Father
I’ve known You as a Friend
And I have lived in the goodness of God, yeah

‘Cause all my life You have been faithful, oh yes You have
And all my life You have been so, so good
With every breath that I am able
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God

Your goodness is running after, it’s running after me
Your goodness is running after, it’s running after me

With my life laid down, I surrendered now
I give You everything, oh Lord
Your goodness is running after, it’s running after me
Your goodness is running after, it’s running after me (oh yeah, oh yeah)
Your goodness is running after, it’s running after me
With my life laid down, I surrendered now
I give You everything
Your goodness is running after, it keeps running after meAnd all my life You have been faithful
And all my life You have been so, so good
With every breath that I am able
Oh, I’m gonna sing of the goodness of God
I’m gonna sing

All my life You have been faithful
(All of my life You’ve been faithful)
All my life You have been so, so good
(So good with every breath)
every breath that I am able
(Every breath I’m able)
I will sing (I’m gonna sing)
Of the goodness (of the goodness of God, yes I am)
I’m gonna sing of the goodness of God
Oh, I’m gonna sing of the goodness of God

I would like for you to stop for a minute and think about the very first line in this song, “I love you Lord.”  Have you really taken time to tell God how much you love him and thank him for all he has done for you, your family, and your friends?  I strongly believe most of us spend a lot more time asking things of God as opposed to thanking him for every blessing of every day.  I would like for you to take some time right now to think about why you love someone and make sure that God gets that same amount love if not more.

Love is such a powerful word, but we don’t always stop to think about what it means.  This song does a great job telling us what God is doing every day in our lives and how he runs after us because he loves us and never gives up on us.  Wherever we go, he is there with us.  Whenever we try to run from him, he runs beside us.  Whenever we try to hide, he finds us.  Whenever we feel like we cannot fight any longer and fall to our knees in despair, he is there to join us in the battles of life.  When we are lonely and feel unloved, his arms are wrapped around us.  As you think about these things and remember how he kept you safe, how can you not love God?  God’s mercy, his unending forgiveness, is there to bring us peace; regardless of the mistakes we have made in our lives or the times we have ignored him.

Not only is God with us at all times, his hand is always extended to us so we never have to walk alone, no matter the challenges we are facing.  It doesn’t matter where we are, where we have been, or where we are going; his love surrounds us.   Think about all of the challenges in life you have faced.  Now, think about how you survived those challenges.  You survived because God was there with you the entire time and had his arms wrapped around you, you just didn’t realize it.  In our greatest moments of hopelessness, despair, and darkness;  God was always there to lead us back into the light.  The song writers state how they love the voice of God.  Some may say I have never heard the voice of God.  Is his voice a booming sound that wakes us up and brings us back to reality?  In our times of despair, we may feel as if we need a loud voice to bring us out of our despair.  The reality is that if we have accepted God’s son Jesus as our personal savior, the holy spirit dwells within us and is our internal communication link with God, we find this in the book of John 14:26, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”  All we have to do is open our hearts and minds to God and we will be able to hear that still small voice.  It is that voice that helps to calm the storms of life we face, and bring us an inner peace as we fight our battles.  The Holy Spirit is with us from the day we accept Jesus until the day our life on earth is no more.  This is what the goodness of God is all about, he loves us unconditionally and sees no fault in any of us who have accepted him and his son.

I love the line in the song, “your goodness is running after, it’s running after me.”  Most of us probably have the tendency to believe that we have to reach out to God and get his attention before he can help us.  The reality is he is trying to get our attention to keep us out of the situations we get into, but we tend to ignore him until we are in complete desperation.  In effect, he is trying to head off the issues ahead of us, but we don’t take the time to ask for or listen to his guidance.  We seem to prefer to proceed with doing things we shouldn’t do instead of listening to that still small voice that is reaching out to us.  He is always faithful to us, even when we are unfaithful to him.  In some ways it is like parenting.  As a parent, I want to watch out for my children and try to keep them out of trouble, but there is only so much I can do when my children don’t listen.  Even when my children disobey me and choose their own paths, I still love them as much as I always have.  We find commitments of God’s eternal faithfulness to us throughout the bible and here are just a couple of the many passages of scripture.  Psalm 108:4 “For Your mercy is great above the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.”   Psalm 117:2 “For His merciful kindness is great toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.” 

Since God has been there with us every step of every day, isn’t it time for us to praise him with every breath we take and time to sing of his mercy and his grace?  It is time to stop running away from God, it is time to fall into the security of his promises and his love.  Are you one of the people who have continued to run from God?  If so, isn’t it time for you to quit running away and accept his son as your savior?

 Select to hear CeCe Winans Sing the  Goodness of God

Hold On To Me

The next entry for my Blog is Hold On To Me, which was written by Lauren Daigle, Paul Brendon Mabury, and Paul Duncan.  The song was initially released in 2021.  A link to Lauren Daigle performing the song is at the bottom of the Blog.

Hold On To Me

When the best of me is barely breathin’
When I’m not somebody I believe in
Hold on to me

When I miss the light the night has stolen
When I’m slammin’ all the doors You’ve opened
Hold on to me
Hold on to me

Hold on to me when it’s too dark to see You
When I am sure I have reached the end
Hold on to me when I forget I need You
When I let go, hold me again

When I don’t feel like I’m worth defending
When I’m tired of all my pretending
Hold on to me

When I start to break in desperation
Underneath the weight of expectation
Hold on to me
Hold on to me

Hold on to me when it’s too dark to see You (I’ll hold on)
When I am sure I have reached the end
Hold on to me when I forget I need You (I’ll hold on)
When I let go, hold me again

I could rest here in Your arms forever
‘Cause I know nobody loves me better
Hold on to me
Hold on to me

Have you ever gotten the feeling that all you do every day is fight one battle after another just to survive in this world?  The battles may be associated with just putting food on the table, dealing with family issues, health, or external influences that just sap all of your energy.  You fight these battles every single day and eventually reach the point where you have nothing else to give and all of your emotional and physical strength is gone.  You are no longer the person you used to be and are ready to just throw up your hands and say I quit.  The person you are ceases to exist in your mind, the world has defeated you, and you cry out to God to hold on to you and not give up on you.  Despite where you are in your life, you can still know that God is always there and his arms are always open for you. 

When we find ourselves in this situation, we sometimes become focused solely on the negative issues in our lives and view everything that goes on around us with a negative perspective.  We do not even try to look for the positive.  Many times, windows of light and doors are being opened right in front of us, and we disregard them since we are lost in the morass of darkness we are living in.  Our friends try to talk to us and cheer us up, but we just ignore them; we have the attitude of “they just don’t understand.”

The chorus is a desperate plea for help.  We may have reached a point where we are just ready to leave this world via suicide or perhaps give into the call of drugs that give us short term relief before a final addiction ends our life.  The plea to God is that even though I have forgotten you, please wrap your arms around me and never let me go.   In the book of Deuteronomy 31:8, we find these words, “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

As we start to question the value of our life, maybe we have the attitude of “why bother” and why should my friends continue to try and bring me out of this deep hole, I am just not worth the wasted effort.  We just feel as if we are putting up a façade to everyone else, but fading away and giving up on the inside.  We can no longer handle the weight of the burdens as we try to carry them alone nor can we meet the expectations of all of those around us.  The good news is that our savior is there to help us with your heavy load.  We are told in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. “

I really like the way she closes out this song; because at the end she has once again found peace, comfort, and love; all coming from our heavenly father.  She recognizes that her focus should only be on him since he is the only one who can solve our problems and loves us more than anyone else ever could.  The great news for us, is not only does God love us, but has a plan for us!  This comfort is found in the book of Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to give you hope and a future”.  We need to try and remember to look to God first as opposed to viewing him as our last hope.

Click to hear Lauren Daigle Sing Hold On To Me

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