love of god – Song Dive

The next entry for my Blog is At the Cross (Love Ran Red), which was written by Matt Armstrong, Ed Cash, Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, and Jonas Myrin and released by Chris Tomlin in 2014. A link to Chris Tomlin singing the song is at the bottom of the Blog.

At the Cross (Love Ran Red)

There’s a place where mercy reigns
And never dies
There’s a place where streams of grace
Flow deep and wide
Where all the love I’ve ever found
Comes like a flood
Comes flowing down

There’s a place where sin and shame
Are powerless
Where my heart has peace with God
And forgiveness
Where all the love I’ve ever found
Comes like a flood
Comes flowing down

Here my hope is found
Here on holy ground
Here I bow down
Here I bow down
Here arms open wide
Here You save my life
Here I bow down
Here I bow

At the cross, at the cross
I surrender my life
I’m in awe of You
I’m in awe of You
Where Your love ran red
And my sin washed white
I owe all to You
I owe all to You
I owe all to You
I owe all to You, Jesus, Jesus
Your love ran red
Your love ran red

Can you imagine what our life would be like if we were punished for every wrong, aka sin, that we committed? Maybe our sin was a lie, maybe saying something we shouldn’t have said, maybe it is what we watch on TV or at the movies, maybe we cheated in our marriage; I think you get the point. The net is we would live a life of doing wrong, as we do today, and receive immediate and ongoing punishment. What kind of life would that be? Jesus commanded us to obey his commands and since God is our creator, why wouldn’t he punish us for wandering away from him? The good news is that our God is a merciful and loving God, who cares for his family, his children. Because of his love, he is willing to give us mercy, which is basically a continual wipe the slate clean get out of jail card on a permanent basis. Mercy is when God doesn’t give us what we deserve. God never gives up on us and never turns his back on us, his mercy is always flowing. No matter the magnitude or our sin, his love is deeper and wider than we could ever imagine. I compare his love and mercy to a massive waterfall that washes away everything in its path. Just as the waterfall ultimately ends in a flowing river, such is the love of God that washes away all of our sin and brings peace to our life. This love and mercy far exceed what we can find with anyone or anything else.

This mercy came to us via the cross, the son of God dying for each of us as individuals and as the children of God. As Jesus hung on that cross, he had blood flowing from the beatings he was subjected to, the nails in his hands, the nails in his feet, the wound in his side, and the crown of thorns on his head. Greater than the flow of blood was the flowing of his love for us. Because of the death and outpouring of the blood of Christ on the cross, God gives us perpetual love and mercy that never ceases. All that is asked of us is that we accept Christ as our savior, and recognize that he died for us. If we do not accept him, then he died in vain and we trade our heavenly home for an eternity in hell. We should all be in awe of what Christ was willing to do for us, even though many of us may never accept him as our personal savior. What can be more important in our lives than recognizing what Jesus did for us, the courage it took, and the pain he endured? His flowing blood and his love washed all of our sins away and we have become white as snow since we will no longer have the blackness of sin; he forgave us all of sins we have committed and will ever commit while he hung on that cross. It is so easy to surrender our life to Jesus and he asks so little of us. Most of us are focused on today and our narrow view of tomorrow, whereas with Jesus; we can focus on eternity.

Any hope we have in life is misplaced if it is not in Jesus. Jesus is the only being worthy of our worship, nothing we strive for or attain in our life is greater than eternal life that only he can offer. Without Jesus, what do we have to live for? I recently read a devotion by Max Lucado which stated that suicide rates were up and that perhaps it is due to the fact that people without Jesus in their lives have no hope beyond their time on this earth. Hopefully you have surrendered your life to Jesus, have kneeled at the foot of the cross, and have let the love of Christ flow over you and wash away all of your darkness.

Click to Hear Chris Tomlin Sing At the Cross (Love Ran Red)

The next song for my Blog is a song that was written by Paul Mabury, Lauren Ashley Daigle, and Jason Ingram. It was first released in July, 2018. A link to Lauren Daigle performing the song is at the bottom of this Blog entry.

You Say

I keep fighting voices in my mind that say I’m not enough
Every single lie that tells me I will never measure up
Am I more than just the sum of every high and every low?
Remind me once again just who I am, because I need to know (ooh oh)

You say I am loved when I can’t feel a thing
You say I am strong when I think I am weak
You say I am held when I am falling short
When I don’t belong, oh You say I am Yours
And I believe (I), oh I believe (I)
What You say of me (I)
I believe

The only thing that matters now is everything You think of me
In You I find my worth, in You I find my identity, (ooh oh)

You say I am loved when I can’t feel a thing
You say I am strong when I think I am weak
And You say I am held when I am falling short
When I don’t belong, oh You say I am Yours
And I believe (I), oh I believe (I)
What You say of me (I)
Oh, I believe

Taking all I have and now I’m laying it at Your feet
You have every failure God, You’ll have every victory, (ooh oh)

Occasionally we all get the feeling that perhaps we are not good enough. The feeling may come because of something someone said, a failure we have experienced, or someone rejecting us; with the bottom line being we just feel discouraged, unloved, and defeated. We begin to question ourselves, our abilities, and perhaps even our faith; we just feel vulnerable in all aspects of our life. These are times when we let Satan and the distractions of the world take over our lives, and it just seems so hard to quit listening to word “failure” as it dominates our thoughts. We may reach a point at which we believe we will never be able to become what we thought we could be.

There are also days when we are on the other end of the spectrum, we may feel on top of the world. Maybe we got a promotion, found out a child is on the way, an illness was cured, or maybe a special person entered our life. These are some of the greatest times in our life and seemingly erase the bad days in the blink of an eye. These are times of our lives that we live for. Wouldn’t it be great if we could stay in this euphoric phase, where all of the bad has disappeared? I believe this is something we all long for, but with the evils in the world and the external influences they bring; we end up living the rollercoaster of life’s highs and lows. We long for peace and normalcy and sometimes forget that our heart and eternity belong to God and he is the one who really holds our life in his hands. The problem is, we sometimes forget this while on the rollercoaster of life. We eventually reach that point of reaching out to God for help, and as we open our hearts to him; he reminds us of who we are, who he is, why we are here, and what eternal life really means.

The chorus in this song helps us to understand what God can and will do for us at all times. He knows what we need before we even ask. He knows that one of the greatest needs we have is to be loved; isn’t love one of the most wonderful feelings we can ever have? It is such a wonderful feeling to be loved by our families, our friends, by little children, and especially by that one person we adore and love the most. Even in those times when we feel alone, feel as if the world is collapsing around us, and someone has hurt us; have you stopped to think that the love of God is still there with you and is as strong as it has always been and always will be? Even though we do not feel the love coming from those in the world into our lives, God is always there, is always loving us, and always has his arms around us. Romans 8:39 tells us:
Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God.

As we face the challenges and defeats in our lives, we believe we are no longer strong enough to face the challenges that confront us every day. Our effort to push back becomes weaker as we give up on our hopes and dreams. We seem to forget that we serve an all-powerful God that loves his children and is there to provide them with all of the strength they need and more. He is always there to put his arms around us and protect us from whatever the world throws at us. Yes, there will be emotional pain and physical pain in our lives, but nothing in this world is strong enough to overcome the strength and love that God provides. He alone made the ultimate sacrifice to give us eternal life, along with that gift comes his protection since he wants us to spend eternity with him. Along with the sacrifice he made for us, he gave us the promise of eternal love and of an eternal family that would always love us. We are reminded of his protection in Deuteronomy 31:6

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.

As we finally stop and open our hearts to God, we start to realize that we are not measured by this world or the opinions of others. It is during this time we remember what salvation is all about and how we should focus on what God wants us to do with our lives; not what we want to do with our lives. We face the challenge of doing God’s will and not our will. As imperfect people, we will not be able to defeat all of the temptations of this world; but we can be assured we are never alone and have all the strength we need to carry forward every day of our lives. We just need to believe in what God has promised us and know he will never abandon his children. It is time to lay all of our burdens, our defeats, and our failures at the feet of God. He will turn all of these into victories we could never have imagined.

You are never alone when you believe and accept the love of Christ.

Click to See Lauren Daigle Perform You Say