wandering from 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 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