Greater Things

The next song for my Blog is a song written by Mack Brock, Jacob Sooter, and Jonathan Lindley Smith. It was recorded and released by Mack Brock in 2018. A link to Mack performing the song is at the bottom of this Blog entry.

Greater Things

My life is built on Your faithfulness
My hope is held in Your promises
I take each step with Your confidence
‘Cause I am Yours
I am Yours

You never fail
You never will
I trust Your name for greater things
You will come through
You always do
I trust Your name for greater things

You cleared a way in the wilderness
You brought me back from my brokenness
You took my shame and You buried it
What You’ve done
I won’t forget

You never fail
You never will
I trust Your name for greater things
You will come through
You always do
I trust Your name for greater things

You never fail
You never will
I trust Your name for greater things
You will come through
You always do
I trust Your name for greater things

I will not fear for You are with me
I’ve seen this fight from the victory
No power of hell could stand against me
‘Cause I’ve seen this from the victory, yeah

I will not fear for You are with me
I’ve seen this fight from the victory
No power of hell could stand against me
‘Cause I’ve seen this from the victory

You never fail
You never will
I trust Your name for greater things
You will come through
You always do
I trust Your name for greater things

What makes up the foundation for your life? Just like every house and every building needs to have a strong footing to stand the tests of time and nature, we need a strong foundation for our life. I believe we have all learned over time that we cannot survive alone in this world and that is why a firm foundation for life is needed. A constant in our lives is God’s faithfulness, he never fails us and he provides a base for us that can never be destroyed. By leaning on him, we cannot be defeated by anyone or anything. He has promised us eternal life through the death of his son and we find in the bible that his promises are always kept. There are many many stories of how the promises of God have come true, not only in the bible, but through the lives of those around us. With our faith and hope in him, we can move forward in our lives with confidence. Yep, we will face struggles, we will face temptations, and we will have lapses in our faith; but we can always know that he is there for us to lean upon and give us hope of a brighter tomorrow. As the writer says, we are his and his alone. Satan may distract us, our friends may lead us down the wrong path; but he will never leave our side and will bring us the hope and guidance we need when we turn to him again for hope and guidance. It is because of the love and power of God, that we can have confidence with every step of every journey we take in our lives, knowing that he is by our side to guide us and support us. Psalm 118:6-9 reminds us of the power of God, “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? The Lord is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.”
God has never failed us and he never will. We are told this in Deuteronomy 31:8, “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Because we have him as a foundation, a guide, and a leader; we are equipped to accomplish things that we could have only imagined before we let God into our lives. We are truly able to do greater things, all we have to do is put our trust in him.

The writer goes on to reference how God cleared a way in the wilderness. The bible tells in several passages how God took care of his people in the wilderness after the exodus from Egypt. We see how he fed the people every day, how their clothing lasted the entire time, and how he ultimately led them to their new home and out of bondage. He will also help lead us out of our wilderness. Our wilderness may not be the endless desert, but don’t we often look at our surrounding and have no idea what path to take to reach our goals or how to get out of the deep dark hole of despair we have fallen into? Just as the Israelites would have wandered aimlessly forever in the wilderness, don’t we do the same thing as we face the challenges in our lives? Each challenge we face that overcomes us adds to our despair and brokenness; sometimes it just seems never-ending. Our challenges cease to be never-ending when we trust in God to take our burdens. He carries the burdens for us, if we will only let him; and our load becomes so much lighter and allows us to focus once again on where he wants us to be in life. He allows us to hold our heads up high, despite our failures and falling away from his chosen path for us. All of our shame and our mistakes are gone, because he has erased our past and given us a new tomorrow.

I love the line, “I have seen this fight from the victory.” The awesome news is that the bible tells us not only some of the battles we will face in life, but it also tells us the end of the story. We know that Satan will ultimately be completely defeated, since he cannot successfully stand against God, and he will be removed from our presence forever. The end of our story is not really the end. We can perhaps visualize the end of the story of our life as it ends on earth, but I don’t believe we can even begin to understand the life prepared for us as we enter those heavenly gates.

Knowing that you have unlimited power with God by your side and the victory he brings to our daily challenges, what things can you accomplish that you had never dreamed possible? These are the greater things.

Cleck to Hear Mack Brock Perform Greater Things

Not for a Moment

The next song for my Blog was written by Jacob Sooter, Mia Fieldes, and Meredith Andrews and was first released in 2012. A link to Meredith Andrews performing the song is at the bottom of this Blog entry.

Not for a Moment

You were reaching through the storm
Walking on the water
Even when I could not see
In the middle of it all
When I thought You were a thousand miles away
Not for a moment did You forsake me
Not for a moment did You forsake me

After all You are constant
After all You are only good
After all You are sovereign
Not for a moment will You forsake me

You were singing in the dark
Whispering Your promise
Even when I could not hear
I was held in Your arms
Carried for a thousand miles to show
Not for a moment did You forsake me

After all You are constant
After all You are only good
After all You are sovereign
Not for a moment will You forsake me
Not for a moment will You forsake me

And every step every breath you are there
Every tear every cry every prayer
In my hurt at my worst
When my world falls down
Not for a moment will You forsake me
Even in the dark
Even when it’s hard
You will never leave me
After all

After all You are constant
After all You are only good
After all You are sovereign
Not for a moment will You forsake me
Not for a moment will You forsake me
Not for a moment will You forsake me

There are times in our life, when we wander completely away from where we wanted to be in our life. Maybe we are taken off course due to family issues, marital issues, health issues, job issues, financial issues, or relationship issues. The emotional and physical pressure from these issues make us want to escape from everyone and everything and we start a downward spiral into deep uncontrollable despair. We look around and see nothing but darkness and loneliness and reach a point where we have lost all hope. We no longer even know who we are and we don’t even know who to turn to in order to give us hope as we fall deeper into the pit of despair. We ask ourselves, will I ever be the same again or is this the new normal for me? As we flounder on this uncharted path, we get farther and farther away from God and become completely overcome by the storms of life that seem to be destroying who we are and everything we have known.
All of a sudden, we see his hand reaching out to us through the storm and he is walking across the water as if it were dry ground. We couldn’t see him coming because we had briefly lost our faith in him as well as his power. Even though we were thinking he was thousands of miles away out of the rain, he was there with us all of the time. Regardless of our negative thoughts about him and our lack of faith, he was there. Deuteronomy 31:8 tells us, “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed”. So even when we think God is thousands of miles away, he is really right by our side.

The fact that God is unchanging is a difficult concept for many of us to grasp. Everything in our world changes every day, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse; but God is unchanged in his expectations nor is he going to go back on his promises. He is the only source of truth we can depend upon and he is the almighty king. People may fail us, our dreams may not come true, our life may not have turned out the way we wanted it to; but God will keep his promise to watch over us, be there for us, and have our eternal home in heaven ready for us. We just need to remember that he said he would never ever forsake us or go back on his promises.

Not only is God there when we need him, he gives us peace and calm. When we realize he is there, that song of joy fills our hearts and we remember his promises of faithfulness that lasts for all eternity. A song of love is always on his lips even when we are not listening. He picks us up and carries us in the darkest periods of our life and will bring the light and joy back into our life, we just need to fall into his arms to experience the peace and comfort that only he can bring.

When Jesus left this earth, he left us with the Holy Spirit who dwells inside of us and is there to remind us of God’s promises and of his presence. Everywhere we go, every step that we take, God is there with us. Whenever we hurt, whenever we shed a tear, he is there to help us heal and wipe away our tears. All of this doesn’t mean we will not have the hard times, the dark days, or the feeling of the world crumbling around us; but what we do know is that God promised he would never leave us or forsake us. He left his twenty-four hour a day comforter with us and has our eternal home waiting for us. Until we arrive in our forever home, we each need to realize that we will never be alone or forgotten, not for a moment.
I believe the best scripture to close out his blog entry is Psalm 23, please take the time to read it and let the power of the word sink into your soul.
We are never alone, not for a moment.

Click to See Meredith Andrews Perform Not for a Moment

Click to See Meredith Andrews Perform Not for a Momen