Tag: loving god

Who I Thought You Were

The next entry for my Blog is Who I Thought You Were, which was written by Olivia Lane, Jacob Stanifer, and Dustin Lolli.  It was first released April 26, 2024.  A link to Olivia Lane singing the song is at the bottom of the Blog. 

Yeah, they told me that you loved me, then they told me to toe the line
They said I should be scared of doing things I know you don’t like
Saying sorry every day
Cuz I was so afraid

That’d you leave me so I left you chasing dreams I never found
But through these tears here on my knees I’m begging you to come around
Then the God I learned to fear
You showed up and made it clear that

You were there in the darkness
You were there in my pain
You saw me in the valleys and still loved me anyways
It’s so nice to finally meet you
Why was I so afraid?
I have so much left to learn
But thank God you’re not who I thought you were

I always thought you’d be so angry, instead you’re patient and you’re kind
You are for me, not against me, for way too long I believed the lie
That there was only so much grace
But now I can finally say that

You were there in the darkness
You were there in my pain
You saw me in the valleys and still loved me anyways
It’s so nice to finally to meet you
Why was I so afraid?
I have so much left to learn
But thank God you’re not

Way too holy to want the broken
Way too proud to love the meek
Cuz now I know that what I fear
Is not having you with me cuz

You were there in the darkness
You were there in my pain
You saw me in the valleys and still loved me anyways
It’s so nice to finally to meet you
Why was I so afraid?
I have so much left to learn
But thank God you’re not who I thought you were

Who is God?  What is God’s personality?  Is God really a being full of wrath who is always threatening the world?  It seems as if we frequently see God depicted as a being looking down on our world with a look of anger on his face and carrying a spear or trident, similar to a Neptune or Zeus image.  Many people strongly believe that God is a vindictive being who has no tolerance for those who do not love him.  In the past, there have been some teachers and preachers who tried to scare people into accepting God and they started to fear God instead of loving him. 

On the other hand, people tell us how God is filled with love and compassion.  So, which personality does God have?  Should we be afraid of his anger, should we try to run and hide from him, or should we open our eyes, ears, and heart to his love?  With all of the dimensions in God’s perceived personality, we get the feeling that we constantly fail God and need to apologize to him continuously since we all fail in some way every day.   It is almost as if we are afraid to love him and also afraid to run away from him.  Once we decide to love him, our greatest fear becomes disappointing God and being abandoned, no matter how scared we may be of him.  We finally realize just how much he loves us.

I realize this is a quite a gloomy perspective to start this song, but I truly believe that many people live in a fear of a powerful God instead of living in the love that only God can give.  This song tells us how people turn from God out of fear instead of running to his love.  Once we begin to realize that God is on our side and stands with arms open wide, we come to him on our knees.  We realize that in the darkest days of our life, God was there.  When we thought we were alone and lost, God was there beside us all the time.  It is almost as if we find that long last friend who we had been around for most of our life; we just never realized what they meant to us.  Once we realize that we were acting all of our lives in poor judgement, we can’t believe how much we were loved and cared for during every day of our life.  We reach a point where we can finally say, “I am so glad I met you and so happy to understand that I could not have lived my life without you.”  In the book of Romans 5:8-9, we are told that God sacrificed his only son so that we could spend eternity with him.  All he asks of us is that we accept the sacrifice he made.  “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”  Let this scripture sink in for a moment and think about whether you would be willing to pay this steep of a price for someone else.

Even though it took us so long to realize how we had misjudged God, he was never angry with us, he was never going to desert us; he always stood there beside us with his arms spread wide.  He doesn’t hold our past against us, he wasn’t angry with us, he was not judging us; he was just waiting for us.  This reminds me of a song “He Was There All the Time”, which was released back in 1988.  You can read about this song in my Blog since it was one of my earlier posts.  God started loving us before we were born and he holds no grudges against us.  He loves us all, it doesn’t matter if we once hated him, ignored him, or rejected him.  He even tells us in Psalm 103:12 that our past and our sins are no longer in his sight, “How far has the LORD taken our sins from us? Farther than the distance from east to west!”   Even though God is perfect in every way, he accepts us just as we are.  He goes from someone we fear to someone we love and can’t live without.  Isn’t it amazing that we can have someone in our lives that will always love us and never fail us?  We have no debt to pay to God, we only need to fall into his arms and thank him for not being the God we thought he was.

Click to Hear Olivia Lane Sing Who I Thought You Were

How Long Has It Been

The next entry for my Blog is How Long Has it Been.  It was written by Mosie Lister and was first released in 1956.  A link to Jim Reeves singing the song is at the bottom of the Blog.

How long has it been since you talked with the Lord
And told him your heart’s hid in secrets?
How long since you prayed?
How long since you stayed on your knees till the light shone through?

How long has it been since your mind felt at ease?
How long since your heart knew no burden?
Can you call him your friend?
How long has it been since you knew that he cared for you?

How long has it been since you knelt by your bed
And prayed to the Lord up in heaven?
How long since you knew that he’d answer you
And would keep you the long night through?

How long has it been since you woke with the dawn
And felt this day is worth living?
Can you call him your friend?
How long has it been since you knew that he cared for you?..

This is a song that came to me a short time ago and it delivers such a powerful message.  You may have never heard it before since it is an older song and you may not have seen or heard the lyrics, but it is such a great reminder for each of us who believes in a loving and powerful God.

I am sure that most of us probably have very engaging lives.  We may be busy with jobs, family, friends, sports, neighborhood activities, and just life in general.  The net is that at the end of the day, we are just ready to find that special spot in our homes and relax with those who are special in our lives.  Maybe you make it to church occasionally, maybe you read your bible as time permits, and you probably say a few prayers along the way to help you through the challenges of life.  This song has one simple question, “how long has it been” since you talked to the Lord, the most important being in your life?

For those of you who worship God, how much time do you give him every day?  When was the last time you spoke to God and just poured your heart out to him?  I think probably all of us have friends and family we confide in, but are there some things deep inside that we just really don’t want to talk about even though we would probably feel better if we did.  I have some wonderful friends, but there are some things that I never share with them.  Maybe it is because I am ashamed of something in my past or maybe it is just something I just don’t want to share since I am afraid of what people may think of me.  God is the one being you can turn to who will cast no judgement for what you have done, he will never betray your secret, and he will keep his arms wrapped around you even in your deepest darkest moments of despair.  So many people are concerned about how they talk to God.  The simple answer to this is that you talk to God the same as you would your very best friend.  He is the one person whom you can share everything with and who will cast no judgement upon you.  He is the best listener you could ever hope for and even better, he is always there and available to us. When you talk to God, there is no time limit; he is not on a schedule and is there for you every minute.  As you start talking to God and baring your soul to him, you will be amazed at how long your conversations last.  You will feel his responses in your heart and mind, not with your ears.  Many times, you may have a quick prayer with him, and then there are other times when you fall on your knees and talk to him almost all night.  Our talks can be a combination of praise and thanks, and they can also be personal needs or for the needs of others. When you are at the bed of a loved one who is nearing the end of their days, you may very well pray through the night since God will not interrupt you and he can feel the pain we are feeling.  At the end of a heart felt prayer, you can feel God’s love and almost feel his arms wrapped around you

I believe we all experience times in our lives when we can seemingly find no peace, there is something that is constantly weighing us down.  Do you have those times?  Maybe you have things going on in your life that just drag you down emotionally and ultimately physically as well.  In these times, it is almost as if your burdens get heavier and heavier and you just can’t take the emotional load any longer.  What you really need is to have someone to help offload the burdens and give you some relief.  Did you know that Jesus, the son of God, is that one friend who can bring you true relief?  In the book of Matthew, 11:28-30 he tells us he will carry our burdens for us.  “Come to Me, all you 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.”   When you think about friends, what role do they play in your life?  We spend fun time with friends, we share each other’s burdens, and we live life together; but even though we have these wonderful friends, they can never give us the love and peace that Jesus can.  The disciples first started with Jesus as servants and he was their teacher, but in the book of John 15:15, he tells them they are not servants, they are his friends.   “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you”.  Take a moment and let that sink in.  Jesus, the son of God, has just called his disciples, his followers; friends. Our friends and family love us and want the best for us, but they can never love us as much as Jesus.  When you take the time to pray, talk to Jesus as your very best friend, he is always there to listen and to guide.  He is the friend above all friends and he alone knows your deepest hurts and needs.  He is always there for you.  I know it is different sitting with friends who you can see and touch, but Jesus touches and heals you from the inside.

I can remember seeing books with prayers in them and so many times the front of the book had a picture of someone on their knees praying.  It is absolutely true that you can pray anywhere and anytime and God hears our prayers, but there just seems to be something special about being on our knees when we pray.  Personally, I think it is a way to symbolize our complete devotion to him.  When was the last time you were on your knees in prayer?  If you have been on your knees in prayer before, think about what caused you to get into this position of absolute submission.  Maybe this is a way to help you feel closer to God.  Maybe you were in a room praying by yourself with no distractions around and you began to feel the love of God coming across your heart and soul as you feel his touch while he listens to you. It is in these quiet still moments when we can bare our souls to God, knowing that he answers all prayers in his time.  When we rise from our knees, feel a burden that has either been lifted or is now shared and that we are not alone.  Please know that I understand that everyone can’ get on their knees, the main message is to humble yourself before God.

As you experience these deep times of prayer and conversation with our God, time can pass very quickly.  When you finally stop your prayer and sharing time with him, you may see those first rays of sunlight starting to peek above the horizon.  Your one-on-one prayer time should become something you look forward to everyday.  Of course, you can pray any time and any day, but the dedicated time is so special.  Take some time now and think about how often you pray to God for help, how often you pray and give him thanks.  Every day with God is a day worth living.

How long has it been…..

  Click to Hear Jim Reeves Sing How Long Has it Been