This week's song is one of my all time favorites..."Lord, I Need You"
by Matt Maher and Audrey Assad.
There are times when I'm overwhelmed. Times when I'm weak. Times when I can't see the light. In these times, all I can say is, "I need You, Lord."
A cry out to God that centers my everything around Him, because He is my everything.
I feel like sometimes we can get wrapped up in the world and forget how badly we need God.
When we are reminded how badly we need God, I believe our faith naturally becomes stronger.
"Lord, I come, I confess Bowing here I find my rest Without You I fall apart You're the One that guides my heart
Lord, I need You, oh, I need You Every hour I need You My one defense, my righteousness Oh God, how I need You
Where sin runs deep Your grace is more Where grace is found is where You are And where You are, Lord, I am free Holiness is Christ in me
Teach my song to rise to You When temptation comes my way And when I cannot stand I'll fall on You Jesus, you're my hope and stay."
This whole song is meaningful to me, but I especially love this verse...
"Where sin runs deep Your grace is more
Where grace is found is where You are
And where You are, Lord, I am free
Holiness is Christ in me."
It's such a wonderful realization of knowing that God's grace
is more than my sin instead of vice versa.
Also, understanding that when we focus on what Christ has done for us and what He is doing in us, it's very difficult to feel overwhelmed, weak, and hopeless.
I believe music can be so powerful and transcending.
Audrey Assad's music, especially.
She is one of my favorite singer/songwriters because her music is not surface level, but so much deeper.
It's relaxing and moving, centered on God's loving and gracious character.
I have all of her albums, but her newest album, "Fortunate Fall" is by far my favorite.
I can't necessarily say that today's song is my favorite from the album, because each song is wonderfully unique.
However, this song sheds light on one of God's most powerful characteristics to me.
Humble
Humble and human, willing to bend You are Fashioned of flesh and the fire of life, You are Not too proud to wear our skin to know this weary world we’re in Humble, humble Jesus
Humble in sorrow, You gladly carried Your cross Never refusing Your life to the weakest of us Not too proud to bear our sin to feel this brokenness we’re in Humble, humble Jesus
We bow our knees We must decrease You must increase We lift You high
Humble in greatness, born in the likeness of man Name above all names, holding our world in Your hands Not too proud to dwell with us, to live in us, to die for us Humble, humble Jesus
We lift You high We lift You high
Jesus' humbleness amazes me. Gosh, I love every word of this song, but "humble in sorrow, You gladly carried Your cross. Never refusing Your life to the weakest of us. Not too proud to bear our sin, to feel this brokenness we're in" paints a beautiful picture. Even during the long trek up to Golgotha, with a heavy cross laying across His beaten and broken flesh, Jesus didn't act out of pride or put up a fight. He carried His cross with a humble attitude. He never said, "I'll die for you, but not for you." He said, "I give life to all, even the weak!" He was so humble that He took our sin and felt all the pain we've endured.
The chorus, "We bow our knees, we must decrease, You must increase. We lift you high"comes from John 3:30. John the Baptist was telling people about the coming Messiah and he ended his testimony with, "He must increase, I must decrease." John the Baptist was humbling himself before Christ. He was showing us to do the same.
"Not to proud to dwell with us, to live in us, to die for us." Often, I focus on Jesus dying for us, but tend to forget that He also humbled himself by living here on earth and also in us!
Think about that.
Wow.
Not only did He die for us, but He lives in us.
How humble.
He's the only person that had every right to say, "I don't need to carry this cross. I don't need to live among the poor and sick. I don't need to live in sinners." But if He had said that, He wouldn't have been the Son of God.
How humble.
That's just incredible to me that the one and only perfect person would die for me, an imperfect person, but not only that, live in me. Because He was humble, we should humble ourselves, as well. We humble ourselves to God and others...not feeling superior to anyone, but equal.
We have a lot to learn from Jesus, that's for sure.
What lyrics speak to you? Do you struggle with humbling yourself?
Two things you should know about me...well, three actually. One-I love music. I definitely can feel the Holy Spirit in music. Two- Audrey Assad is my all time favorite singer. Her voice is like butter and I could listen to her all day, everyday. Three- my all time favorite band is Tenth Avenue North. I saw them a few years ago when they opened for Casting Crowns and I've loved them ever since. Their sound is unique & their lyrics are full of meaning.
So last night was a great night. You wanna know why? I went to Tenth Avenue North's concert and Audrey Assad opened for them, along with The Rend Collective Experiment (Irish Christian band-they're one of my favorite bands now). Yep, it was pretty, stinkin awesome. It started with an upbeat Irish band with cute accents (I'm a sucker for an Irish accent haha), then we were serenaded by Audrey and then we were jammin out with TAN. Let me tell you, these guys are so energetic and Mike (the lead singer) is hilarious! I laughed so much. If you have a bucket list, go write down "Go to a Tenth Avenue North concert", if you don't have a bucket list, I suggest you create one just for them...go on...I'm serious...you won't regret it. I promise. I still can't stop thinking about last night...it was that good.
Moving on. Their latest album is called The Struggle and the songs that explain how in life we often struggle. Most of the time we think of struggling as a bad thing. I mean, who wants to struggle, right? However, a lot of times God uses struggle to show us something. Whether it be for us to cling to Him or to learning something, there is purpose. It may sound mean, but it isn't...it's love. Mike said last night "He cut us to heal us, He died to revive us." Word!
I think one of the reasons last night was so awesome was because I could relate to the message. My Lyme Disease has been a struggle, BUT God has used it. So I'm thankful for this struggle. The Bible never tells us that life will be easy, but that we will face persecution and struggle. Jesus says (John 16:33), "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world
you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."However, if we seek out God, He will use the struggle for His glory. I know I may talk about this a lot, but it is so important. Everyone struggles. That's life. Good news though, "we are free to struggle, we're not struggling to be free." Those are the words of TAN's song, The Struggle.
Galations 5:1 says, "It is for freedom, that Christ has set us free." When He died on that cross and rose from the grave, He was saying that death has overcome. Death and struggle cannot keep God from moving. It only shows His glory much more. It's hard to think that death can be a good thing, but with God all things are possible. A lot of people think that Christianity is all about rules and never missing church, but that's not it at all. Jesus has made us free from our sin. All we need to do is believe in that truth and follow Him. Let Him use your struggle.Whatever struggle you may be facing right now, He can take that struggle, use it for His glory and restore you.
In Him we find freedom.
John 8:31-32- Jesus said, "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." Hebrews 9:15- For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are
called may receive the promised eternal inheritance-- now that He has died as a
ransom to set them free. . . 2 Corinthians 4:8-12- We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
Check out their song "The Struggle"! "Don't Stop the Madness", "Worn", and "Losing" are good ones too...heck, just check out the whole album! Let me know what you think!
The girls- my eyes are glowing, aren't they? I can't get them fixed :/
The crowd raising their arms up to the Father...love it!
Scripture today is Luke 17-18.
Have a great weekend & don't let struggle get you down, let it lift you up!
In my post, Are you a fan of...?, I talked about how Jesus always had crowds gathered around him, but another thing that has stood out to me during my journey through the Bible in a year plan, was that Jesus never stopped. He never said, "Man, I need a vacation." He kept traveling to teach and to be in relationship with people. Like my Dad says, he "was on a mission".His mission was to win hearts...to win people over.
This makes me think of one of my favorite songs, "Won Me Over" by of course, the one and only, Audrey Assad.
"Was on the run, a road that I ruined, chasing a lie I thought I believed in, Don't know why I do what I do
Running from you, is running to you You're everywhere... I couldn't escape You never stop - you never do.
[chorus] I was full of fear and prone to wander, lost & lonely till the day you won me over, you won me over I was halfway gone and going nowhere Half alive until the day you won me over, you won me over, over
I should have known what I was missing If I were you, I would have stopped chasing Your love's too strong to let me go.
[chorus x2]
I was halfway gone and going nowhere..."
Can you relate to that song? I know I can. I think we have all experienced a "full of fear, prone to wander, lost & lonely" time in our lives. You see, Jesus doesn't want us to fear or wander or be lost and lonely. When He was here on earth, His mission was to win those people over. Even though He may not be physically here now, His spirit is with us and still winning people over.
He doesn't win just church going people. He doesn't win just people who drive the speed limit. He wants to win everyone over. Whether you've done drugs, been to jail, turned your back on Him, He still wants to win you over. Even if you are running from Him, He is still there. Most of the times when we run from Him, we find Him. "Running from you, is running to you.You're everywhere... I couldn't escape You never stop - you never do." God is a pursuer. He is a chaser. He does not give up.That's not His style. Just like He was here on earth, He would not stop teaching and loving people.
I love the lyrics, "I was halfway gone and going nowhere. Half alive until the day you won me over." We may think a life of luxury makes us alive, but the truth is, it doesn't. When we let Him win us over, we become truly alive. A lot of times we run after things that cannot make us happy, the worldy things. God wants to give us true happiness. So if you haven't been "won over", stop and look around. He is trying to show you that He is there and He wants you. He wants you to notice that He is the only one who can give you happiness and a purpose. You may have this "worldly" film over your eyes that makes it hard to see, but God has the ability to remove that film and show you what you've been missing.
"I should have known what I was missing. If I were you, I would have stopped chasing
Your love's too strong to let me go." Don't waste your time on things that can't win you over, let God win you over. Let Him steal your heart.You don't want to miss out.
Do you remember when God won you over? What did it take for you to realize that He was with you the wholetime? Were you running from Him?
Feel free to leave me a comment! I'd love to hear about how God won you over :)
P.S.- If you are reading along with me, today's scripture is Mark 14.
You remember when you were a kid in school and the teacher would say, "get in line!" What was the best part of getting in a line? Being the line leader, of course! Whenever we would get in line, there would usually always be a race to be the line leader (if the teacher didn't assign line leaders). Now that I think about it, what is so cool about being a line leader anyway?! I guess it's because we are humans and even when we are kids, we like to be in control...go figure.
If I wasn't line leader, I always hoped to be closest to the front. You want to know why? I remember the first time I got in trouble at school was in 3rd grade and I was in the back of the line (aka "caboose" the teacher would call it, to make us feel better...it never worked for me). Anyway, I was talking to little Tommy and we all know, you're not supposed to talk in the hallway, right? Well my teacher heard me chatting away and as a consequence I had to pull a marker (in front of all my classmates) and let me tell you, I thought the world was ending. So ever since that life changing moment (well, maybe not life changing), I decided that it is less tempting to talk or misbehave when you're closest to the line leader.
So while I was having my quiet time, reading my bible and listening to music (Audrey Asssad, of course!) I realized that we aren't meant to be line leaders. Line leaders are supposed to be responsible and know where to go and how to get there. Let's face it, we aren't always good at those three things. I'm irresponsible at times...I don't always know where to go and I definitely don't know how to get there. You want to know my solution? I step back. Let Jesus lead and realize that He is my line leader.
In order to follow Jesus like a good follower, I must stay towards the front of the line, preferably right behind Him. The farther back that I'm in line, the more I lose sight of Him. We are more likely to be tempted to do things we shouldn't and that leads us to discipline (like pulling a marker...or worse, and that's no fun, trust me!) Line leaders lead us to our destination and set an example for us along the way. Who better to lead us, than Jesus?!He sets the example. He knows where to go. He knows how to get there. He knows how to act along the way. He set the example of patience, true love, forgiveness, acceptance, service, humility and many, many other attributes.
Jesus told his disciples (and us), "Whoever wants to be my disciple, must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me" (Matthew 16:24). John 8:12 says, "When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” There are many other verses about how Jesus is to be our example...our line leader, but these show that we can't go wrong when we follow him.
Let's have the mindset of Audrey Assad's song, "No Turning Back".... "I'm following behind you. I'm staying close beside you. I've got nothing to lose and I've got everything to find." So step back and let Jesus lead you. He knows the way.
"You've been let down, it's true Your painis so easy to see You're haunted by your history And it feels like you've got no escape
Your life left you high and dry You used to be sure of yourself But then your whole world went to hell And tomorrow looks just like today
So, you lie on your bed, you won't let the morning come in And you hide in your room, feeding that fear and it's killing you....
His Story: I miss the life in your eyes The home that I found in your arms And now you don't know who you are But I won't give up on you
You lie on your bed, you won't let the morning come in And you hide in your room, feeding that fear and it's killing you Don't you know That it's killing me too, cause your heart break is breaking you
And you lost your fire And your flame's gone out And your down on your knees Cause your life is not what you thought it would be
Lift up your head Help is on the way And it won't pass you by You just gotta reach out your hand Lift up your eyes Love is on the way And it won't pass you by You just gotta reach out your hand
Go on and lift up your head Because love is on it's way And it won't pass you by You've just gotta reach out your hand."
What you just read were the lyrics to "Breaking You" by Audrey Assad. Could you relate to the top story? If that's your story, God wants you to know something...
He is with you.
No matter what you've done or what your history is...drugs, alcohol, sex, regrets, whatever is "feeding your fear" and guilt,
He is NOT giving up on you.
He hates to see you this way.
He wants you to open your eyes & heart to Him.
He wants you to trust in Him.
He wants you to ask for help.
He wants to help you.
He wants to give you life.
I hope and pray that this was encouragement to "lift up your head" and "reach out your hand". His hand is there and He's waiting for you to grab hold. God doesn't want you to go through this alone. Trust me, you won't get any sense of relief or peace unless you open up to God. There was a time when all I did was lay in bed and hid because of fear, but when I reached out to God, my life was transformed. If you need prayer, please let me know! I would love to pray for you. Check out the video for the song!
If you could be an animal, what would you be? Okay...think about it & we'll get back to that in a bit... So I don't know if Labor Day kicked my butt or what, but I have been totally beat the past few days. However, I've been a good patient...trust me! I didn't even need anyone to tell me to stop and take a break! In fact, I did a small craft project this morning and took quite a few breaks! Yay me!
So my project today is designed to match this project (below-sorry it's a little blurry) I did a couple of weeks ago for my mom's kitchen.
With that in mind, this was today's project.
Did you pick out the theme of both projects? Birds...freedom...you might say? Ding ding ding, you're correct...for both! I picked the first verse (2 Corinthians 3:17) because I like it and I'll be honest..I saw it on Pinterest. It was perfect for our kitchen because the theme is birds. Then, I saw something like today's project on Pinterest and I thought "that would be perfect for the kitchen!" So I did it. It was a lot of fun and I may do something like it again!
Back to my question...what animal would you be? This probably sounds silly, but stick with me. There is a point to this question, I promise. If you asked me this question yesterday, I would probably answer with a "horse," of course, but after I finished this project, my answer changed to a bird. You might say, "why?"Yeah I know some birds are locked up in cages in homes or at the zoo, so trust me, I wouldn't want to be one of those. I would want to be the bird that can fly anywhere at anytime! They are truly free. I guess you could say, "Well, Chelsea, wild horses are free." I would answer with, "But wouldn't the view from a birds viewpoint be much better than a horse??? I think so!"
Good news though, you won't be seeing me with feathers trying to fly (thank goodness!). I don't need to be a bird because Jesus has set me free.Galations 5:1 (The Message) says, "Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you." Because we are saved by Christ, we have all the possibilities right at our feet. He wants us to soar and reach new heights. Isaiah 40:31 says, "but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength,. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." With Him all things are possible (Matthew 19:26) , so we should never let fear or anything get in the way of what God wants us to do with our lives. Pray about it, seek God's guidance & then fly!
A lot of times sin can keep us locked up, just like a bird in a birdcage. Everywhere the bird turns, it sees bars and can't escape. God doesn't want us to feel like a bird in a birdcage. He wants us to feel like a free bird without rules and chains. In fact, He wants that for us so badly that He sent His only son, Jesus, to be crucified and resurrected. Romans 8:2 says, "because through Christ Jesus the law of the spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death." Just like Jesus was free from death because of His resurrection, we are free from our sins. When we give our lives to God and confess that we've messed up, striving for a new start, He gives us freedom! So let's live like free birds rather than caged birds (I don't know about you, but I'm claustrophobic anyway).
Oh yeah, the words "I sing because I'm happy....I sing because I'm free" is from Audrey Assad's song, "Sparrow" (love it)! Check it out if you'd like!
So last week I went to my monthly doctor's appointment. My doctor is very funny and usually always happy, but this appointment was a little different. He was funny and happy until I listed off all of things I have done the past few weeks. Once I had finished explaining my obligations and my wish for a normal summer, he quickly reminded that I have Lyme Disease and can't be normal at the moment. He was not happy that I had been so busy. Unfortunately, because I have been so busy this past month, my health has suffered. Now we are backtracking on treatment which I was not happy about. Anyway, his advice and demand was that I rest so that I will get better faster. I agree with this advice and believe that rest is important, but I hate laying around all the time. With support of my adamant doctor, family, and friends, my goal of the month is to rest. So where am I going with this? Well, I don't think I'm the only one who needs rest. Even if you don't have health issues like me, I feel that everyone could benefit from just resting. However, these days it's really hard to rest when our schedules are jam packed with things to do. We are so focused on getting things done that we forget one of the most important things...rest. Jesus said (Matthew 11:28 NIV), "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." It's important for us to step away from our hectic lives and just rest so that we may be rejuvenated to the face our next busy day. Resting can be different for people. How do you rest? Maybe your rest is gardening or reading a book in bed or napping! Reading the Bible could even be your rest. Whatever it may be, try being proactive and setting aside 15 minutes a day to just rest. If I'm not resting by laying down, I like to rest on my deck. There I can clear my mind and focus on what the promises that God has given me. So my challenge for you AND me, is to rest every day. We can't miss the fact that true rest only comes from God. One of my favorite singers is Audrey Assad. She sings a song called, "Restless". The chorus goes like this..."And I'm restless, I'm restless, 'Til I rest in You, 'til I rest in You...I wanna rest in You." We may feel rested after a long nap, but we don't find true rest until we seek God and all His promises for us. It can be tough to step away from our hectic lives, but it's definitely worth it! It can help physically, but also spiritually. So go get some rest, I know I'm going to!
Be blessed today! :)
