I’ve always had a special place in my heart for Acts 3, ever since I learned it in Bible quizzing. The verse “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give to you.  In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!” has stayed in my mind since I memorized it my senior year of high school.  Maybe because it has a ring to it.  Or maybe because there’s so much depth behind it…which I definitely discovered more of as I studied it this year in BSF.  The beggar wanted money.  He got so much more, through faith.

I started singing a few lines on the way home the Friday night that we studied Acts 2, because I knew Acts 3 was coming, and pretty soon a melody and some lyrics arrived.  The more I reflected on the story and the song, it really struck me that the beggar had similarities to a student that I mentor.  Everyone is longing for worth.  But, the worth that we crave to feel for ourselves is not the worth we need – we need His touch of healing and worth in our lives.  But, in order to find that, we have to respond to the call to walk, and get up in faith.  It became my prayer for this kid.  

The Gate Called Beautiful

Brought here everyday without the power to walk away
Or so you think, but dare to believe
You’ve set your gaze on the feet that will hesitate
Time to lift your eyes; Look at me

I have no silver or gold but I see your soul
Can’t give you the worth I know you’ve been dying to hold
All I have is yours, but it comes with the call
To get up and walk

See that beggar from long ago at the gate called beautiful
Sitting there with her head hung low at the back of the room
To have the faith of Peter and John is all I’m asking for
As we wait for the miracle to take root

I have no silver or gold but I see your soul
Can’t give you the worth I know you’ve been dying to hold
All I have is yours, but it comes with the call
To get up and walk

As soon as you walk, you’re gonna find you’re dancing
As soon as you dance, you can’t help but praise Him
Before long, you’re gonna find that you know Him
There’s no turning back, no turning back from the love of God

I have songs coming out of my ears, friends!!  I’ve written two songs, but I am so excited that I have to share the song I wrote most recently before the one earlier last month!  

Currently, I am studying the book of Acts in Bible Study Fellowship, and it has been awesome!  When we were studying Acts 10 – where Gentiles are welcomed in to God’s plan of salvation, my friend gave a talk on God’s mysteries, focusing on the mystery of the Church.  I was struck by her explanation of a Biblical mystery.  As she says, “It is not a question of ‘who done it?'”  A Biblical mystery is a truth that has always been, but God chooses to reveal at the appointed time.  One of these mysteries is the church.  God has always been about everyone, despite race, being welcomed into His plan of salvation.  We see this in Ruth and Rahab, and foretold by the prophets.  But, it isn’t until Cornelius that it becomes apparent that salvation is a free gift for all, and that God is building a community out of every people to be His chosen people, His bride the Church.  However, when studying Acts, why stop at that mystery?  

What about the mystery of God’s Spirit with us?  Up until the time of Pentecost, God’s Spirit did come down on some for a limited time.  By Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, He created the way for God to commune with us indefinitely by His Holy Spirit.  He could have stayed on earth as human flesh, but instead sent His Spirit to indwell every believer at all times!
Now, those are some mysteries!  The song itself has such an upbeat and hopeful tone with the lyrics: “Oh the gravity of this mystery come close! … We can be daughters, we can be sons!  No separation; we’ve been made one by the blood.”  
​
The other line that was belabored for some time was the last line of the bridge, “For Your mysteries never change, and yet just like Your mercies, they’re new everyday.”  Scripture tells us that His mercies are new every morning.  His gift of mercy never changes, but it is new, experienced afresh for every need in everyday.  I think that though a “big” reveal happened at Pentecost and Cornelius’s house in Acts 2 and 10, respectively, I think we can experience His mysteries afresh each day, as we desire to learn from and commune with the Spirit and create unity in the Church.
Also, some of the best imagery I’ve written is in this song!  To God be the glory!

Mystery Come Close
A stone rolled back; An age begins
The tomb laid bare had witnesses
They waited in Jerusalem 
For He had promised His Spirit

Gathered in one place, the shock wave hit
Each soul aflame and filled with breath
As His fiery Presence split and came to rest
No one exempt from His nearness

Oh the gravity of this mystery come close
Set into motion so long ago
Remaining hidden until now fully known:
We can be daughters; we can be sons
No separation from our God 
With us 

The ripple effect was widespread
Still they were amazed when it led to Cornelius
For it’s not by race, but by grace that we’re grafted in
And this was His plan from Abraham

Oh the gravity of this mystery come close
Set into motion so long ago
Remaining hidden until now fully known:
We can be daughters; we can be sons
No separation; We’ve been made one
By the blood                   
The dead are raised so that we know His power to save
All who call on His name
No distance too great; No chain that He cannot break
Come set ablaze Your purpose in us to reign 
For Your mysteries never change
And yet just like Your mercies
They’re new everyday

Just got to go to the studio and record my mom’s favorite song!!  It is a song that didn’t make the first album, but comes from an Old Testament verse, so it is going on the second album.  It comes from the verse Zephaniah 3:17 which says, “The Lord your God is with you.  He is mighty to save.  He will take great delight in you, in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but He will rejoice over you with singing.”  The phrase, “He will rejoice over you with singing” has always intrigued me.  Stephen Curtis Chapman once had a lyrics that said, “What does God’s voice sound like when He sings or when He’s angry?”  Five Iron Frenzy had a lyric that said, “He speaks His words like plain men sing.” So, what does His singing sound like?!?
There are probably arguments out there that say that this is figurative.  But, because singing is so important and is mentioned that we should praise Him by many psalms and by Paul in his letters, I’m convinced that God sings.  And we can be assured that if He does sing, it is the most beautiful sound we have ever heard.  The idea that we have not yet heard Him, but we will get to hear it – and this song is a longing for that day.  
Another fun tidbit about my songwriting journey that can be thrown in here…there is a line in this song that says: “Sometimes I think I hear it in the dead of night, but then I can’t remember in the morning light.”  I will somewhat frequently wake up with music running through my brain.  Sometimes, it is music that I’ve heard before, but others…it is music that I’m writing…or haven’t even thought about before.  The last several songs I’ve finished have had pieces come together at 11 PM or 3 AM.  And for those who know me, that shouldn’t happen.  One of my friends recently said, “I don’t know if you realize this…but you can’t really function past 10 PM.  So, the fact that you just came up with the entire bridge of a song at 11 PM shows that it is the Holy Spirit and not you.”  Good reminder.  And, what a comforting thought to think that our Savior rejoices over us with singing.

Find the Melody

I’ve been searching for the perfect melody
One that stills the wind and calms the raging seas
It speaks the blinding light
And breathes the life inside

Oh, I cannot imagine the songs You sing
Though I’ve heard it said You sing them over me
Awaken my soul to sing
The greatness of Your glory

Write the song in my heart
Let it speak of who You are
Only then I’ll truly sing
Lifeless words without You
I’m just one note without a tune
I’ll search my whole life long to find Your melody

Sometimes I think I hear it in the dead of night
But then I can’t remember in the morning light
Risen, I know You’re there
But hidden, I’m unaware

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Find the melody
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
​Sing over me

Welcome to the school year! And now, post homecoming week, I’m finally finding some time to sit down with my guitar.  I have been working since the end of the summer on re-writing one of my songs from college that had promise, but just wasn’t there yet.  Now, I think it is!
It is called The Unseen and comes from the passage in 2 Corinthians 4 where is says, “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  Therefore, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen.  For what is seen in temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”  This comes right after the famous passage about how we have this “all surpassing greatness” as treasure in jars of clay.  That we are pressed, but not crushed; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed, etc.  

When I wrote the song in college, it was about how we are wasting away on the outside, but being renewed day by day on the inside.  (Which is hilarious that I wrote a song about that in college, because I definitely wasn’t wasting away very much physically.  Now, at 31, I realize I’m still not really wasting away physically in comparison with what is to come).  But, also, the verses of the song focused on persecution. “I am not abandoned, but I’ve been persecuted.  Not destroyed, but I’ve been bruised and I’ve bled.”  Which, also, is just not true.  I wasn’t, and haven’t been persecuted.  I’ll just be honest.  And even though there are probably songs that could be written for the persecuted, at this point, I don’t think I am the one to write them.

But, I loved the bridge of the song, which talks about being renewed day by day, and I loved the beginning of the chorus, which says, “Don’t let me dictate my own fate.  I want to be what you create.  As this world berates treasures in jars of clay, I know I’m not the same.”  It often brought to mind a different Scripture, at the beginning of 1 Corinthians 1 “But the cross is foolishness to the world…God has used the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.”  The ideas that:  giving up of self is going to look crazy to the world, which is obsessed with self.  But, we know that the only way to save our lives is to lose them.  For He is achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs anything that we can achieve here.  And, let’s be honest…even though we don’t admit it…every self-glorification goal will have will all come to naught.  For real…we all die.  A good friend of mine put it nicely: “When we see our physical bodies wasting away and stripping us of our physicality, it greatly heightens our awareness that all we have is Him.”

So, I think with those thoughts, a better crafted version of the song has been finished.  Hope you enjoy!

The Unseen
I am wasting away…

When I was younger, I was living only for this life
Simply getting better at buying into lies
The cross is foolishness to those who think they live without it
But from birth we all begin our slow decay 

I can see destiny’s door
But I don’t think death’s worth living for

Don’t let me dictate my own fate
I want to be what You create
As this world berates treasures in jars of clay
I know I’m not the same
Unveil the mystery degree by degree
‘Til all that’s left of me is the unseen

So you can strip me of all my earthly glory
All the temporary self-autonomy
Everyday I lose a little flesh-fueled arrogance as
Your Spirit works the miracle in me

I’m out of my control
But I want to live for the eternal 

I am wasting away (x3)
On the outside (x4)
Made new day by day (x3)
On the inside (x4)
On the inside; On the inside, I’m not wasting away, away!!!

Nothing like the start of the school year crazy, but also being able to work on a song!  This is a song I wrote a long time ago, but a few of the lyrics I wanted to make more accessible to myself and potential listeners.  The heart of the song is about being the hands and feet of our Savior in His gospel movement.  Adopting a new way of life that cares for the poor, the underprivileged, and the outcast.  We often brush off the fact that world change begins inside of us, as we become new creations in Christ, and then it extends to the world outside.

In addition, it has one of the well known verses “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” from Romans embedded at its core.  Hope you like it!

Beautiful Hands and Feet
We are waiting for a time
When peace will reign again
In each of our hearts so fear cannot win

We are waiting for a time 
When hope fills every man
Because Arms of love can reach any distance
How beautiful those hands

They have so much need
O God, please use me
This world leaves them wanting
They are the least of these
Send me to bring relief
My deepest longing
Is to be Your hands and feet

We are waiting for a time
When truth and justice meet
No longer are there lives bound in slavery

We are waiting for a time 
When all will know their need
Of the Savior come for the broken to make them complete
How beautiful those feet 

How can they believe
In what they have not seen or heard?
How could they have heard 
Without your people proclaiming?
How could we ever proclaim
Unless we are blessed with your grace and sent? 
To teach and mend
With beautiful feet 
And beautiful hands

Well, this song has been a long time coming!  But FIRST, and announcement!  This song is the first song to be recorded for what will become, Lord willing, album #2: Old Testament Songs!!!  WOO!!!  So, to whomever reads this…I hope you are as excited as I am!

I actually recorded this song back in Greenville about 8 or 9 years ago now, and then there was this organization that connected upcoming songwriters with CCM successes…so TobyMac of all people listened to it!  (No, I don’t know him and he doesn’t know me.  They just connect your music via the interwebs).  He had said it was really great, about an 8 out of 10, but that it could grow. He said I was so focused on rhyming the word wilderness that I overused it and everything rhymed.  So, I gave it some space, rewrote the lyrics, and then never thought I’d do anything with it again.  Until I started recording in Nashville again.  This is the only song I’ll ever ask Luke to “re-record.”  But, the lyrics were so much better than before, and I felt like we could do better instrumentally as well.  And I was right :).  Also, quick side note: TobyMac said that I remind him of Kevin Max!  I’m not sure if I should take that as a complement…because he’s a dude and I’m not.  But, his voice is awesome.  So, there’s that.

So, what is this song about?  I wrote it during my first year of teaching, which I’ve explained was very hard.  But, it was also written after a summer of diving into the Scriptures about the Israelites wandering the wilderness.  As a summer camp staff, we looked at the mistakes and successes of God’s people, His patience, His discipline, His providence, and began to see how we could apply it to our lives and work.  But, then I started my first year of teaching and it was much harder than camp.  Thankfully, some of the ideas came rushing back.  God never left His people without what they needed…even if they didn’t like their current situation.  And even though the song ends up a bit more hopeful that what I may have felt most of that first year, it is what I needed.  Besides the fact that the lyrics are simply better, I love how the new recording of this song panned out.  The verses make you feel like you are plodding through the wilderness, and the chorus, though connected, lifts musically.  Which is what I hope the lyrics are doing as well:  they are proclaiming the truth.  That is what we must do when we are in the wilderness.  Proclaim the truth that He is with us, hope is not lost, He will provide, He will restore all things even if He isn’t at that exact moment.  So, I’m excited about that!

Last awesome part of the song is I got to put the words Mount Gerizim into a song!!  Moses instructs Joshua and all the people, as they leave the wilderness to stand on two mountains with a valley in between.  They are close enough together (and the Israelites numerous enough) that if they yell in unison, the other side will hear them.  Half the tribes stand on Mount Ebal, and pronounce the curses that will come upon them if they disobey God.  The other half of the tribes stand on Mount Gerizim and pronounce the blessings that will come as a result of obedience.  That is my aim: to live in such a way that I hear the words “Well done, good and faithful servant,” and in such a way that we strive for obedience, knowing the blessings of God that follow.  I hope it is sooner rather than later that you get to hear the studio version, but here are the lyrics!

Praise in the Wilderness

Seems like yesterday I saw the Red Sea part
All my enemies drown at the Red Sea’s heart
Funny how soon I’ve found myself in the wilderness
Even out here in the desert place, the blessings flow
I have found all I’ve needed on the desert floor
Here I stand with so much less than I’ve had before
But out here in the wilderness
There’s more than you know

You can’t feel this by word of my mouth
Come and taste it and see for yourself
You’ve got to believe there seems to be more
I know that this appears upside down 
That the wilderness is where hope abounds
You’ve got to believe; come be restored    

Mile after mile, I am lost in the sun and sand
But I’ve learned I don’t need to know where I am
Just to know where I’m going:  that is enough for me
Every step brings me closer than where I’ve been
Every test makes me stronger than how I’d lived
With past regrets and emptiness, Oh I don’t know how it is
That deep inside this wilderness
I’m not alone

I must admit there are times I don’t understand
And I feel like this journey will never end
But I’ve always had the strength it takes to keep walking through
So I’ll shout forth my blessings on desert sand
Even more from the top of Mount Gerizim
As I descend to the Jordan, and I leave this wilderness
I must recount the faithfulness
That carried me home

I just got to spend the past three weeks in Alaska where I was able to counsel and lead worship at a Bible Camp outside the village of Unalakleet.  I have been there several years and written a few songs about my experiences there.  But, this year one of the camp stewards was kind enough to take my parents and I on a boat ride down the river.  About halfway through the ride, I began to have part of a melody running through my head.  I was sure I’d probably forget it – as there is nothing to write it down or record it with, but it stuck with me for a few days until I had a chance to work on it.  A friend had also told me recently that their favorite Psalm was Psalm 42, which has the well-known words “My soul thirsts for the living God as the deer pants for water” and “Why are you downcast, oh my soul?  Why so disturbed within me?  Put your hope in the Lord for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.”  This passage has some beautiful water images in it.  

Then, I began to brainstorm other passages with water references – like John 4 with the Samaritan woman at the well and Jesus tells of the living water – or Jeremiah 2 where the disobedient Israelites dig for themselves broken cisterns, which cannot hold the living water – or Revelation 22 where water flows from the throne of God and the tree of Life is on the river banks!  Another staff member saw me writing and asked about it.  I told him what I was up to and he said, “Don’t forget Ezekiel 47!  The water that flows from the temple that starts shallow but grows deeper!”  

So, a song with simple imagery of a river was able to be expanded into a song about the beautiful imagery of water in the Bible.  I see it as a song that gives our soul hope in the Lord, as the Psalmist asks his soul to have in Psalm 42, because we know that Christ lives and the river runs!!

The River Runs

Why are you downcast, oh my soul?
Put your hope yet in the Lord
How my soul longs for the living God
As the deer thirsts for water

I will remember Your great love
Through the night, You are my song
How my soul longs for the distant shore
Where water flows from the throne
Oh my soul, rest assured the river runs

The river rushes with rhythm in steady time
The river flows ever deeper yet still runs wide
The river laps at the banks that need its Life
Oh, the river runs

Broken cisterns and ancient wells
Could not hold the living water as it fell
Blessed are those who thirst for more
For they shall be filled to overflowing
Oh my soul, believe the river is running
​
It’s crystal clear
As water flows again from the Lamb
And fruit appears
The tree of Life no longer hidden from man
It will bear its fruit in season
And its leaves will heal the nations
And we will see His face and thirst no more

Man, I just love the Old Testament.  We finished our study at BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) this year with the study of Solomon’s life.  (We started with Joshua, went through Saul and David to Solomon).  When Solomon builds the temple for the Lord that David wanted to build, he dedicates it with this crazy, huge, awesome prayer.  The prayer is a plea that God hear His people from wherever they are if they turn toward Him and His dwelling place (the temple).  But, he predicts all sorts of crazy things that will happen to the Israelites (even exile), but asks that if they admit their sins and turn back to the Lord, that the Lord forgive them and bring them back to their land.

What I find fascinating about the prayer, aside from it’s predictions, is two things.  First, Solomon isn’t praying just for the forgiveness of His people and their restoration to their land and keeping their inheritance.  He doesn’t pray that these things happen unless there is heart change.  This is a prayer that I want to be true in my life.  As I sing this song, I hope that the desire to be a new person continually washes over me and draws me closer to Him.  Second, Solomon prays for the foreigner.  I actually have no idea, but I’m unsure if there are really other instances recorded in Scripture where an Israelite, much less a king, prays for a foreigner.  And Solomon prays that they would come to know the Lord as God.  Which I am not sure anyone else was praying at the time – and isn’t that to be our prayer as well?  That others come to know Him?

So, because I loved His prayer so much, I wanted to capture it in song.  But, it is lengthy in Scripture, and I am a wordy songwriter.  This is a bit different of a song structure with no chorus, but hopefully still coherent.  It is also the longest song I have ever written.  So, I’m just following after Solomon 🙂

Solomon’s Prayer

Oh Lord, the God of Israel, there is none like You  
You who keep Your covenant of love with all who in faith abide
Let Your Word become true of my life

Oh Lord, God of Israel, will You come to dwell with us?
For even the highest heaven cannot contain Your glory
Yet You’re here in this house where You said Your Name shall be
Hear me cry, Oh Lord, hear my plea
Oh Lord, God of Israel, when the skies bring no rain
When plague or disaster overlay the promise
Then aware of our hearts’ afflictions and our own rebellion
We turn to seek Your face
Forgive our wickedness; Teach us the right way to live
That we may fear Your Name          

Oh Lord, God of Israel, You alone know our hearts
Surely we will stray from You again, for there is none who is righteous
But in our sins, please don’t leave us

Sovereign Lord of Israel who led us out of Egypt
From the fire yet back into the fire we’ll go for our redemption
In the land where we are held captive, if we admit of our sin we’re ashamed
And that we need Your grace
With all our heart and soul we turn back to You from our wrongs
Don’t let us remain unchanged
Don’t let us remain the same

Oh Lord, God of Israel, you are the God of the foreigner
For we were once all enemies of Your love
When from a distant land we come, from every people and tribe and tongue
Brought nearer by the blood
Then hear from heaven above, even as You dwell with us
That all may know You are, You are God

This is an old song I wrote a while ago.  It is a reflection on all the phrases in Matthew 13 where Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven is like…”  The kingdom of heaven is like yeast, that when put into a batch of dough, spreads and causes the whole to rise.  It is like a mustard seed, which grows into the largest of garden plants. It is like a field where the sower plants his seed. It is like a net catching all kinds of fish.  It is like a treasure in the field or an expensive pearl that would cause a man to sell all he has to buy it and so gain the treasure.  

Now, I’m not going to pretend I know all about each of the parables Jesus told about the kingdom of heaven.  On the contrary, I know very little.  But, I know that we cannot always see God’s kingdom present on earth, but it is here!  We are to pray that His kingdom come on earth (Lord’s Prayer).  When we forsake ourselves, our nature, our own desires in order to gain His, we give up our lives but to gain the greatest gift – His grace and our salvation.  He then enables us to live lives of purpose for His glory.  And, look what God can do with our very little! Like a mustard seed, it grows far more than exponentially.  That’s what the kingdom is about.  To me, this song becomes a song of hope because it shows us that God is always at work even if we can’t see it.

Just recently, when preparing for a house show, I wanted to play this song.  I was never super excited about the bridge because I had never really figured one out.  I thought that if I ever took it to studio, maybe Luke could do some cool instrumental thing.  But, I was just chillin’ and playing my set list and started looking at this song, went to church, and at church a bridge started forming, and I came home and wrote it down!  I think it adds a lot rhythmically to the song (which I realize you can’t quite get from the lyrics, but maybe someday you can hear it!).

Your Kingdom Come

It’s hard to believe in what we can’t see
Been told this a million times
But even a small seed brings a forest alive, alive tonight, yeah
If we see increase when the yeast inside
Causes the whole to rise
Then what of the unseen right before our eyes, our eyes tonight, yeah
Keep Your kingdom coming
‘Cause with arms open wide we’re running

To embrace the mysterious
Though I can’t see, I feel it come
Fan into flame the smoldering embers
Until we surrender to Your kingdom come
And it has begun

So we’ll be searching like a merchant
For the pearl of the greatest price
Could it really be worth this? To leave it all behind tonight, yeah
For what is concealed in this empty field
Is worth every sacrifice
In time it will reveal a greater design, design tonight, yeah
Keep Your kingdom coming
‘Cause with arms open wide we’re running

Is it here yet? IT IS
Are we not all the seeds at the heart of His kingdom come?
Is it here now?  YES
But still on its way as His Life sparks the fire that burns our kingdoms down

Hot off the press!  The amount of songs I’ve written lately has been pretty insane…so I’d expect a slow down soon :).  But, since this song wraps up what I have been studying in the Bible this year…which went from Joshua all the way through Solomon.  So, this included all the passages about King Saul and then King David.  So, when re-reading the story about David and Goliath (which almost everyone knows!), I had a thought:  Did David feel invincible?  Because he sure sounds like it.  He knows he is the Lord’s anointed and that God will give him this victory!  But it doesn’t sound like he is always so assured.  A few pages later, when he is running from Saul, he essentially says, “I’m out of here!  I’m not going to stay in Israel but go to the land of the Philistines.  If I stay, surely I will lose my life to Saul.”  Where is the man who trusted God’s promises to bring victory as he promised.  

But, this also begged the question in me…is there ever a time where I can be assured of victory?  Now, I realize this question is kind of vague.  In my mind, I’m thinking about  mainly mentoring relationships or time poured into students.  We have no guarantees how students will respond to effort I give to help them succeed.  When I disciple students, I also have no idea if they will keep the faith or turn away.  And it is so discouraging to watch kids “self-destruct.” If I could know what kids to pour into, wouldn’t that be nice?  (I think part of this question was wanting to make my life easier).  But the other half of this question was just genuine wrestling in my soul:  I long to be confident and brave and hope for the best always when walking into hard situations, but knowing that not everything goes as I want it to (or even as God would want it to because He desires no one would turn away) makes it hard to act with confidence.

As I wrestled with this for some time throughout this year, a good friend of mine brought up that followers of Jesus counted it a privilege to suffer for His name.  Suffering is a part of the Christian walk, and they were encouraged because they were suffering as Jesus did.  To desire victory and success is not wrong, but to expect it and then face discouragement when it doesn’t happen takes away from the resilience God wants to grow in us.  My friend also mentioned that there are several times in life where trials can 1) draw us closer to Jesus, but 2) draw others closer to Jesus.  In a time when her family had serious skepticism about her faith, her illness drew them to a realization that her faith was real.  Some really amazing conversations resulted.  She then ended that e-mail with, “Who is this God that brings life from ashes?!?”  So, I have to give her the credit for that :).

But, to close – this song is an anthem of hope for me!  We cannot predict when we are going to see success or when we will face trials, temptations, or discouragement.  But, we can know that the true victory in Christ has already come.  He has conquered every evil for all time and His victory has already begun to manifest itself.  But, even in this time, true victory is the realization that God is taking back our hearts from fear.  We can be brave because we know He will be with us.  We cannot lose what is to be born in passing through this fire.  Any trial we face God will use.  In that way…I kind of feel like we are invincible, right?  

Along those lines, some bonus verses from 1 John come into the bridge.  This is probably one of my strongest songs, and I hope you enjoy it!

Life From Ashes

I’m thinking about David again and the one stone in his hand
Did he feel invincible then?  Or a little afraid, just like me?
‘Cause I don’t always win, and the doubts flood in
And I’m already running from my own defeat

Can You show me what it means that You hold the victory?

Awaken my eternal eyes
To see the hope inside my soul that flourishes in time
With a strength that will not run dry
We cannot lose what’s to be born in passing through this fire
Who is this God that brings life from ashes?
‘Cause He’s never done

But not all giants look the same, there are some that we cannot slay
Do Your promises remain even if I should stumble?
So when the past hits like a wave and my hearts holding onto the ache within
I know I want to be brave again no matter the outcome

Don’t let the fear inside of me hold even one victory

Even when our hearts condemn us
You set them at rest in Your Presence
You are greater than our hearts, Greater than the counted cost
This is all I need
This, this is the victory