Songs pt. 2
Music has been a huge way that God has spoken to me. Certain songs have ushered in certain shifts in my heart.
I Will Be Still (Spontaneous) - This was the song that calmed my stress and spiraling thoughts when I was in a season of unrest and panic. It was something I sung out of desperation, and then out of resigned acceptance.
You Never Miss a Moment (Spontaneous) pt1. - Jesus died on the cross so we could be close. Obviously my entire life will be a process of learning that, but this song helped make the vague outline of Jesus in my life a bit more tangible. There doesn't have to be some grand revelation or life-altering breakthrough for Jesus to be there. He wants to sit with us, to talk, to be close not for any other reason than that I love Him, and He loves me, and we enjoy each other. I have shown up for focused time with Him basically every morning for the past 2 years, and I am seeing the fruit of that. If I show up, I know that He will. I have called and He has answered. He is my best friend because He is excited about everything I'm excited about, He wants to hear everything. He doesn't miss a thing.
You Never Miss a Moment (Spontaneous) pt. 2 - I was created by His hands, the Breath of Life in my lungs that made me a living soul. Every fiber of my heart is meant to be directed towards God, reflecting His love and responding to His moving in my life. I want to be so aware of God that each step and word and thought is following Him, seeing where He is leading me and following, not out of duty, from needing to be close, needing to obey Him because He is holy and always right and He loves me so so much. He would never lead me astray, so I have to follow Him everywhere.
Light (Spontaneous) - No matter what the world is telling me or how dark it feels, my heart is ground zero for Life. It is immovable in God's love and life. No person or situation can take that away from me. It is my rock, my foundation that I live my life from. I have a responsibility to this Life in me, to release it, to let that light be seen and known by others. Nothing can take my hope away from me, but there's enough to share. I am confident that nothing in the entire universe can separate me from the Trinity. I am so confident in the hope and joy that is promised to me. Beyond any outside influence, the most important relationship will always be the one between God and I. Even if I am the last one in the world, this is it for life.
Something Always Changes (Spontaneous) - The environment literally changes when we bring God back to the forefront of our thoughts. The best way to shift your heart out of loneliness or anger or literally any emotion that is less than the joy that He has for us, is to praise God. It is our response. Praise. It's not just our response to the good things, but the bad. Freaking praise.
Rest In You - In John 17, when Jesus is in the garden of Gethsemane (which, can you say poetic mirroring!!! The world went wrong in a garden, and then it was beginning to be mended in a garden. That is some good symmetry), He said "And this is life eternal, that they should know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." This song coupled with that verse brought be into a period of time where I saw the reality of our situation.
I know we're taught this in Sunday school, but I think it's become too commonplace, too accepted as no big deal. HE IS OUR ONLY HOPE. LITERALLY. THAT'S IT. HE IS OUR ONLY CHANCE AT LIFE. We have no hope apart from Him. I can rest because He has already done everything. I don't have to work for His love, and I don't have to fear for my life. There is a narrow path to Life, but He walks beside us, holding our hand. And I know that imagery is cheesy and often repeated, but it finally MEANS something to me.
Good and Loved - The only thing that I know to be true without a shadow of a doubt, the only thing that I will stand on for the rest of my life on earth, the ONLY THING THAT IS GUARANTEED TO ME, MY FOUNDATION: is that God is good, and I am loved. He is pure goodness all the way through. He doesn't simply possess qualities of goodness, He is goodness to the fullest extent. We cannot exaggerate how good He is. And the same goes for love. We cannot exaggerate how much He loves us, because it is love to the fullest extent, complete, no room for anything else. Those two things will carry me through absolutely anything. It doesn't mean that I won't feel bad or confused or any other emotion; it means that I have a standing to come back to, an automatic truth that requires no effort on my part.
Explode My Soul - He is enough for everything. He is enough to calm our fears, He is enough to fulfill our deepest desires, He is enough to win our inner battles, He is enough to swallow up our loneliness, He is enough. He wants to fill us until we are overflowing with praise and adoration, and our lives radiate with His presence. He is just as reliable and faithful as He has promised. We were made to have our needs fulfilled, to be completed by God. I know all of that sounds general and obvious and nothing special, but I believe it so strongly, that He is enough for everything and everyone. "What He promised is what He gave." And because we're human, and because we're dumb, we accept lies as truth, but He is enough even for that. He is enough when we are drowning in lies and fear, and we have chosen other things as our savior. Even then, He is enough to pour out grace and patience and wait for us to remember what is true. He has faith in us. Isn't that wild? God, creator of everything, has faith in me. He believes that I am capable of more. He knows who He made me to be, and He knows how strong love is better than anyone, and He has faith that I will get there, that I will return. He is not panicked when I momentarily let go of truth, so why should I be? He is enough.
Another In the Fire - Even when I'm in the middle of my sin, when I am hopeless, when I feel so keenly my physical, fallen state, He is just as close. He wants me to aware of my sorrow and of Him in those moments. The Holy Spirit was introduced over and over, not as the Fixer or the Solution (though that is applicable), but as the Comforter, and we don't need Comfort when we're feeling all spiritual and great. The Comforter is in us, living and moving with us, wanting to do what He was put inside us to do: Comfort. We are not alone. I cannot stress this enough. It is the whole point of everything, relationship and family. There is someone always standing with us, always. He is so much greater, and so much closer, than we know.
Communion - Stripped down, for the rest of my life, I will be seeking God, and He has said that I will find Him. He is not a mystery; He wants to be found, and He wants to be heard. He has made this whole process as simple as possible, giving us our best chance. He is a father and the Father. This song feels like revival, like the act of taking in a breath fully for the first time. It is fresh and clean and effortless and sweet. This is my most precious friendship, and I will guard it with my life, nurturing it for the rest of my life. This is it, forever. Despite what the world says, it is actually the path of least resistance, least pain. It is what we were made for, what we know deep inside our souls.
Yeshua - We have the same Holy Spirit that was there at the creation of the world, the same Holy Spirit that comforted Jesus along His path to the cross, the same Holy Spirit that convicts and moves and sees and pulls us into the love of God. The same Holy Spirit is described as rivers of living water flowing out of us. I love that the Holy Spirit is described as a river because a river has to GO somewhere. It's not a lake, designed to be sedentary -- beautiful, yes, but it stays in one place. A river ebbs and flows and wears away at obstacles. It demands to go somewhere. We will actually work harder going against it than if we just step aside and let the river do what it came to do, flowing out of us. Cooperating is the path of least resistance.
So Will I - All of creation knows it's Creator. Over and over in the Bible, it talks about nature responding to God, and God knowing nature, caring for His creation. There is a reason that all of creation requires more than one part to be whole. If God was concerned about making the most functional and indestructible world, He would have made everything fully self-sufficient somehow, able to stay alive forever on it's own. But of course His nature and desires affect what He creates: a world that is full of complex moving parts that all need each other to continue in life. There's a reason that all humans share the intrinsic need to be loved and cared for, there's a reason we have strong family bonds yet also make friends with complete strangers. We reflect God's focus of family and relationship and love. Whether we know it or not, humanity is such a reflection of God; when I see stories of people doing good things: saving animals, volunteering, adopting children, etc. I now get an overwhelming sense of "We get this from You." Just because we don't always know our Father, doesn't mean that we don't look like Him. (which brings a lot with it, like a responsibility on our part to regard unbelievers as our brothers and sisters and treat them with the same love and grace)
Pieces - His heart has not changed towards me. He is just as passionate about me as the first time I heard this song and felt His love. His heart is directed towards me fully. This is what we stand on; when we know nothing else, we know that we are vastly loved by a wholly good God. He is who He says He is, and He has done what He has said He will do. His love changed me, is changing me, and will change me. He is the same, consistent, knowable rock that we lean upon when all understanding fails. His love is so much stronger than our own reasoning or attempts at goodness. If we freaking surrender to the fact that we can't match His level of persistence and unshakable closeness, how we relate to others will swing closer to effortless.
I Will Be Still (Spontaneous) - This was the song that calmed my stress and spiraling thoughts when I was in a season of unrest and panic. It was something I sung out of desperation, and then out of resigned acceptance.
You Never Miss a Moment (Spontaneous) pt1. - Jesus died on the cross so we could be close. Obviously my entire life will be a process of learning that, but this song helped make the vague outline of Jesus in my life a bit more tangible. There doesn't have to be some grand revelation or life-altering breakthrough for Jesus to be there. He wants to sit with us, to talk, to be close not for any other reason than that I love Him, and He loves me, and we enjoy each other. I have shown up for focused time with Him basically every morning for the past 2 years, and I am seeing the fruit of that. If I show up, I know that He will. I have called and He has answered. He is my best friend because He is excited about everything I'm excited about, He wants to hear everything. He doesn't miss a thing.
You Never Miss a Moment (Spontaneous) pt. 2 - I was created by His hands, the Breath of Life in my lungs that made me a living soul. Every fiber of my heart is meant to be directed towards God, reflecting His love and responding to His moving in my life. I want to be so aware of God that each step and word and thought is following Him, seeing where He is leading me and following, not out of duty, from needing to be close, needing to obey Him because He is holy and always right and He loves me so so much. He would never lead me astray, so I have to follow Him everywhere.
Light (Spontaneous) - No matter what the world is telling me or how dark it feels, my heart is ground zero for Life. It is immovable in God's love and life. No person or situation can take that away from me. It is my rock, my foundation that I live my life from. I have a responsibility to this Life in me, to release it, to let that light be seen and known by others. Nothing can take my hope away from me, but there's enough to share. I am confident that nothing in the entire universe can separate me from the Trinity. I am so confident in the hope and joy that is promised to me. Beyond any outside influence, the most important relationship will always be the one between God and I. Even if I am the last one in the world, this is it for life.
Something Always Changes (Spontaneous) - The environment literally changes when we bring God back to the forefront of our thoughts. The best way to shift your heart out of loneliness or anger or literally any emotion that is less than the joy that He has for us, is to praise God. It is our response. Praise. It's not just our response to the good things, but the bad. Freaking praise.
Rest In You - In John 17, when Jesus is in the garden of Gethsemane (which, can you say poetic mirroring!!! The world went wrong in a garden, and then it was beginning to be mended in a garden. That is some good symmetry), He said "And this is life eternal, that they should know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." This song coupled with that verse brought be into a period of time where I saw the reality of our situation.
I know we're taught this in Sunday school, but I think it's become too commonplace, too accepted as no big deal. HE IS OUR ONLY HOPE. LITERALLY. THAT'S IT. HE IS OUR ONLY CHANCE AT LIFE. We have no hope apart from Him. I can rest because He has already done everything. I don't have to work for His love, and I don't have to fear for my life. There is a narrow path to Life, but He walks beside us, holding our hand. And I know that imagery is cheesy and often repeated, but it finally MEANS something to me.
Good and Loved - The only thing that I know to be true without a shadow of a doubt, the only thing that I will stand on for the rest of my life on earth, the ONLY THING THAT IS GUARANTEED TO ME, MY FOUNDATION: is that God is good, and I am loved. He is pure goodness all the way through. He doesn't simply possess qualities of goodness, He is goodness to the fullest extent. We cannot exaggerate how good He is. And the same goes for love. We cannot exaggerate how much He loves us, because it is love to the fullest extent, complete, no room for anything else. Those two things will carry me through absolutely anything. It doesn't mean that I won't feel bad or confused or any other emotion; it means that I have a standing to come back to, an automatic truth that requires no effort on my part.
Explode My Soul - He is enough for everything. He is enough to calm our fears, He is enough to fulfill our deepest desires, He is enough to win our inner battles, He is enough to swallow up our loneliness, He is enough. He wants to fill us until we are overflowing with praise and adoration, and our lives radiate with His presence. He is just as reliable and faithful as He has promised. We were made to have our needs fulfilled, to be completed by God. I know all of that sounds general and obvious and nothing special, but I believe it so strongly, that He is enough for everything and everyone. "What He promised is what He gave." And because we're human, and because we're dumb, we accept lies as truth, but He is enough even for that. He is enough when we are drowning in lies and fear, and we have chosen other things as our savior. Even then, He is enough to pour out grace and patience and wait for us to remember what is true. He has faith in us. Isn't that wild? God, creator of everything, has faith in me. He believes that I am capable of more. He knows who He made me to be, and He knows how strong love is better than anyone, and He has faith that I will get there, that I will return. He is not panicked when I momentarily let go of truth, so why should I be? He is enough.
Another In the Fire - Even when I'm in the middle of my sin, when I am hopeless, when I feel so keenly my physical, fallen state, He is just as close. He wants me to aware of my sorrow and of Him in those moments. The Holy Spirit was introduced over and over, not as the Fixer or the Solution (though that is applicable), but as the Comforter, and we don't need Comfort when we're feeling all spiritual and great. The Comforter is in us, living and moving with us, wanting to do what He was put inside us to do: Comfort. We are not alone. I cannot stress this enough. It is the whole point of everything, relationship and family. There is someone always standing with us, always. He is so much greater, and so much closer, than we know.
Communion - Stripped down, for the rest of my life, I will be seeking God, and He has said that I will find Him. He is not a mystery; He wants to be found, and He wants to be heard. He has made this whole process as simple as possible, giving us our best chance. He is a father and the Father. This song feels like revival, like the act of taking in a breath fully for the first time. It is fresh and clean and effortless and sweet. This is my most precious friendship, and I will guard it with my life, nurturing it for the rest of my life. This is it, forever. Despite what the world says, it is actually the path of least resistance, least pain. It is what we were made for, what we know deep inside our souls.
Yeshua - We have the same Holy Spirit that was there at the creation of the world, the same Holy Spirit that comforted Jesus along His path to the cross, the same Holy Spirit that convicts and moves and sees and pulls us into the love of God. The same Holy Spirit is described as rivers of living water flowing out of us. I love that the Holy Spirit is described as a river because a river has to GO somewhere. It's not a lake, designed to be sedentary -- beautiful, yes, but it stays in one place. A river ebbs and flows and wears away at obstacles. It demands to go somewhere. We will actually work harder going against it than if we just step aside and let the river do what it came to do, flowing out of us. Cooperating is the path of least resistance.
So Will I - All of creation knows it's Creator. Over and over in the Bible, it talks about nature responding to God, and God knowing nature, caring for His creation. There is a reason that all of creation requires more than one part to be whole. If God was concerned about making the most functional and indestructible world, He would have made everything fully self-sufficient somehow, able to stay alive forever on it's own. But of course His nature and desires affect what He creates: a world that is full of complex moving parts that all need each other to continue in life. There's a reason that all humans share the intrinsic need to be loved and cared for, there's a reason we have strong family bonds yet also make friends with complete strangers. We reflect God's focus of family and relationship and love. Whether we know it or not, humanity is such a reflection of God; when I see stories of people doing good things: saving animals, volunteering, adopting children, etc. I now get an overwhelming sense of "We get this from You." Just because we don't always know our Father, doesn't mean that we don't look like Him. (which brings a lot with it, like a responsibility on our part to regard unbelievers as our brothers and sisters and treat them with the same love and grace)
Pieces - His heart has not changed towards me. He is just as passionate about me as the first time I heard this song and felt His love. His heart is directed towards me fully. This is what we stand on; when we know nothing else, we know that we are vastly loved by a wholly good God. He is who He says He is, and He has done what He has said He will do. His love changed me, is changing me, and will change me. He is the same, consistent, knowable rock that we lean upon when all understanding fails. His love is so much stronger than our own reasoning or attempts at goodness. If we freaking surrender to the fact that we can't match His level of persistence and unshakable closeness, how we relate to others will swing closer to effortless.
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