Musical Monday

As I get ready to start college, I'm trying to prepare myself, both mentally and spiritually, for the challenges that are ahead. I'm trying to memorize verses that will help me as I face temptation and overwhelming circumstance. I've also discovered how listening to music with powerful lyrics can encourage me to walk with God...and I've discovered a new CD that contains just such music: "Come Weary Saints", by Sovereign Grace Music. The song below (one of the tracks from the CD) is especially beautiful.

Every Day

by Todd Twining and Joel Sczebel

In Your grace, You know where I walk
You know when I fall
You know all my ways
In Your love, I know You allow
What I cannot grasp
To bring You praise

Thank You for the trials
For the fire, for the pain
Thank You for the strength
Knowing You have ordained
Every day

Your great power is shown when I’m weak
You help me to see
Your love in this place
Perfect peace is filling my mind
And drawing my heart
To praise You again

In my uncertainty, Your Word is all I need
To know You’re with me every day

~~~~~~~

Absolutely beautiful! What an incredibly challenging and encouraging song!!

Musical Monday

God of Justice (We Must Go)
by Tim Hughes

God of Justice, Saviour to all,
Came to rescue the weak and the poor,
Chose to serve and not be served.

Jesus, You have called us.
Freely we've received,
Now freely we will give.

We must go, live to feed the hungry,
Stand beside the broken,
We must go.
Stepping forward, keep us from just singing,
Move us into action,
We must go.

To act justly everyday,
Loving mercy in every way,
Walking humbly before You God,

You have shown us, what You require.
Freely we've received,
Now freely we will give.

Fill us up and send us out,
Fill us up and send us out,
Fill us up and send us out Lord.
~~~~~

We sang this song at the "Do Hard Things" Conference last Saturday. Isn't it so challenging? I love the lines, "Stepping forward, keep us from just singing, move us into action, we must go." Amen! What a kick to the ol' spiritual funny bone...the conscience, that is! It is so easy to forget those "moments of enlightenment." So often, I'll be strongly convicted concerning an area in which I am lacking...and then I'll move on with life...acting as if that conviction means nothing.

Father, "stepping forward, keep me from just blogging, move me into action, I must go!!"

Musical Monday

Be Thou My Vision

by Dallan Forgail

Be Thou my Vision,
O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me,
save that Thou art
Thou my best Thought,
by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping,
Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom,
and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee
and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father,
I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling,
and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield,
Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity,
Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter,
Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward,
O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not,
nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance,
now and always:
Thou and Thou only,
first in my heart,
High King of Heaven,
my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven,
my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys,
O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart,
whatever befall,
Still be my Vision,
O Ruler of all.

~~~~~

I love this hymn! God should be my main focus in everything I do and say. The 4th verse is especially challenging to me.

Musical Monday

I just discovered this song by Joy Williams, and I love it. It's so beautiful. I've added it to my playlist, so if you want to hear it (Joy Williams has a gorgeous voice), just scroll to the very bottom of this page, and click on the song's title.

Beautiful Redemption

by Joy Williams

I've had my forty days and forty nights at sea,

I've had forty years in the wilderness, or so to speak,

I've walked with sand from the ocean floor on my feet,

To turn and say you left me.

I'm a doubting Thomas needing to believe,

I'm a perfumed sinner just like Magdalene,

I'm Judas kissing on your cheek eager to decieve,

I am all of these.

Chorus:
I cry, Father, Father, forgive me

You say, Child, I already have.

You are beautiful,

Beautiful Redemption,

You are Beautiful,

Beautiful Redemption.

I'm the guilty thief that's hanging by your side,

and my shame is dying with your sacrifice,

And all my fears come crashing down

as I look in your eyes,

I see paradise.

Hallelujah (we all, we all, we all fall down) x 4

You are beautiful,

Beautiful Redemption.

You are Beautiful,

Beautiful Redemption.

~~~~~~

Isn't that beautiful? He's already forgiven us, no matter what we've done. No matter how badly we behaved, no matter how greatly we've doubted, no matter how drastically we've strayed from Him...He's forgiven us! All we need to do is "cry 'Father, Father, forgive me!'" That's God's promise, and we can be certain that He will keep it!!

Musical Monday

We sang this hymn yesterday...it's really good!

Beneath the Cross of Jesus
by Elizabeth C. Clephane, 1830-1869

Beneath the cross of Jesus
I fain would take my stand,
the shadow of a mighty rock
within a weary land;
a home within the wilderness,
a rest upon the way,
from the burning of the noontide heat,
and the burden of the day.

Upon that cross of Jesus
mine eye at times can see
the very dying form of One
who suffered there for me;
and from my stricken heart with tears
two wonders I confess:
the wonders of redeeming love
and my unworthiness.

I take, O cross, thy shadow
for my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine than
the sunshine of his face;
content to let the world go by,
to know no gain nor loss,
my sinful self my only shame,
my glory all the cross.

~~~~~~~~~~

When we trust in and medidate on Christ's redemption, grace, and mercy, we will have hope, stability, peace, and joy!! All because Christ cared enough for me to die in my stead...how amazing is that!?! Thank you SOOOO MUCH LORD!! How merciful He is!

Lord, help me to live my life in a way that points others towards Your grace and redemption, and help me to rely on You fully...for everything I need!

SEEK HIS FACE WITH ME!
LOVE~BRIANNA

Musical Monday

My dad read this hymn to us last night.

Join All the Glorious Names
by Isaac Watts

Join all the glorious names
Of wisdom, love, and pow'r,
That ever mortals knew,
That angels ever bore:
All are too poor
to speak His worth,
Too poor to set my Savior forth.

Great Prophet of my God,
My tongue would bless Thy name:
By Thee the joyful news
Of our salvation came,
The joyful news
of sins forgiv'n,
Of hell subdued and peace with heav'n.

Jesus, my great High Priest,
Offered His blood and died;
My guilty conscience seeks
No sacrifice beside;
His pow'rful blood
did once atone
And now it pleads before the throne

Thou art my Counselor,
My Pattern, and my Guide,
And Thou my Shepherd art;
O keep me near Thy side:
Nor let my feet
e'er turn astray
To wander in the crooked way.

My Savior and my Lord,
My Conqu'ror and my King,
Thy scepter and Thy sword,
Thy reigning grace, I sing:
Thine is the pow'r;
behold I sit
In willing bonds beneath Thy feet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wow, I've sung that hymn many times, but I've never thought about all the words! Writing them down makes you hear each line...and this hymn is definitely worth hearing! What a strong message! I love the part that says that all the glorious names are "too poor to set my Savior forth." I also love the line that says "His pow'rful blood did once atone/And now it pleads before the throne." Isn't that fact so amazing?? He pleads for US! The part that says that Christ is our "Pattern" and "Guide" is also challenging...I'm supposed to copy Him, just like someone would follow a pattern when sewing a dress. My mom loves the very last line of this hymn: "behold I sit in willing bonds beneath Thy feet." That is REALLY challenging to me! I need to willingly and TOTALLY submit myself to Him!! And after reading this hymn and seeing how awesome, gracious, and powerful He is, I realize that I owe Him my allegiance and service! Wow! Thanks for this reminder and lesson, God.

SEEK HIS FACE WITH ME!
LOVE~BRIANNA

Musical Monday

I know I haven't posted Musical Monday for a while...but it's been a little crazy around here! Right now I'm sitting on a couch at a resort in FLORIDA!! Yay!!
Ok, so I just love this song by Casting Crowns...

Voice of Truth
by Casting Crowns

Oh,what I would do to have
the kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves
To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown
Where Jesus is,
And he's holding out his hand

But the waves are calling out my name
and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
time and time again
"Boy, you'll never win,
you'll never win."

But the voice of truth tells me a different story
the voice of truth says "do not be afraid!"
and the voice of truth says "this is for my glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

Oh, what I would do
to have the kind of strength it takes
To stand before a giant
with just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound
of a thousand warriors
shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand

But the giant's calling out
my name and he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
time and time again
"Boy you'll never win,
you'll never win."

But the voice of truth tells me a different story
the voice of truth says "do not be afraid!"
and the voice of truth says "this is for my glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

but the stone was just the right size
to put the giant on the ground
and the waves they don't seem so high
from on top of them looking down
I will soar with the wings of eagles
when I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
singing over me

But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says do not be afraid
And the voice of truth says this is for my glory
Out of all the voices calling out to me (calling out to me)
I will choose to listen and believe (I will choose to listen and believe)
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

I will listen and believe
I will listen and believe the voice of truth
I will listen and believe
'Cause Jesus you are the voice of truth
And I will listen to you.. oh you are...

This song is very encouraging to me, because, like everyone else, there are so many times when I'm just SO CERTAIN that I CAN NOT do --. I can't control my thoughts, respond patiently to stress, etc. But God's truth stays true! He's given us everything we need to make the right choices: His Word, direct access to Him through prayer, the Holy Spirit, etc. THANK YOU SO MUCH GOD!!!

SEEK HIS FACE WITH ME!
LOVE~BRIANNA

Musical Monday

I heard this awesome song on WRBS...so challenging!

Give It All Away
By Aaron Schust

Search my heart, search my mind, search my soul
Make me clean, make me new, make me whole.

Refrain: All of my plans, all of my dreams, I lay them down before Your feet.
All of my time, all that was mine, I now submit to Your design,
'Cause You are the one who can make my life complete,
You are the one who can give light to my feet,
You are the one and only one who dared to give it all away for me.

You are my strength, You are my God, you are my King.
You make me laugh, You make me dance, You make me sing.

Refrain

Everything inside, everything outside, I give it all away
You never change, but You rearrange my heart more everyday.

Refrain

This is so true! He really does rearrange my heart every day...believe me, he REARRANGES!!! :-)

SEEK HIS FACE WITH ME!

LOVE~BRIANNA

A Very Late Musical Monday...

I know it's a little late to be posting, but our Internet has been down half the day and I've been doing school work the rest of the day! So here's Musical Monday...a little late! I've been reading through the Psalms lately, and a section of Psalm 119 really challenged me. Since Psalms are really songs, I decided to write about this particular Psalm for Musical Monday. I'm quoting from my Mom's Amplified Bible; I think it's a pretty cool translation!

Psalm 119:9-16
by King David
How shall a young man cleanse his way?
By taking heed and keeping watch [on himself] according to Your word

[conforming his life to it].
With my whole heart have I sought You,
inquiring for and of You and yearning for You;
O let me not wander or step aside
[either in ignorance or willfully]
from Your commandments.
Your word have I laid up in my heart,
that I might not sin against You.
Blessed are You, O Lord;
teach me Your statutes.
With my lips have I declared and recounted
all the ordinances of Your mouth.
I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies
as much as in all riches.
I will meditate on Your precepts
and have respect to Your ways
[the paths of life marked out by Your law].

This is so challenging to me. As I get closer and closer to starting college, and as I see more and more of how absolutely WACKY this world is, I'm starting to grow more and more aware of the need to stay CLOSE to God. I've got to "meditate on" His precepts and "have respect to" His ways. I thought it was interesting that David says that he's "rejoiced in the way of [His] testimonies as much as in all riches." That means I need to cherish His commands, just like I would my most prized possession! Wow! Thank You God for giving me your Word to guide me, and PLEASE help me to stay close to You!

SEEK HIS FACE WITH ME!
LOVE~BRIANNA

Musical Monday

On Mondays, I will share the lyrics of a song that I like.
Yesterday at church, we sang this hymn:

The Longer I Serve Him
by William J. Gaither

Verse 1: Since I started for the Kingdom,
Since my life He controls,
Since I gave my heart to Jesus,
The longer I serve Him,
the sweeter He grows.
Verse 2: Every need He is supplying;
Plenteous grace He bestows.
Every day my way gets brighter;
The longer I serve Him,
the sweeter He grows.
Refrain: The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows.
The more that I love Him, more love He bestows.
Each day is like heaven, my heart overflows.
The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows.

This hymn encourages me to keep serving God. I won't have a trouble free life just because I'm a Christian; the words of this hymn are only true if I serve Him!

SEEK HIS FACE WITH ME!
LOVE~BRIANNA