This song had my attention the first time I heard it.  It reminded me of my friends that struggle with their identity in Christ, not seeing themselves as Christ sees them and living in a constant state of fear and unworthiness.  This is my gift to my friends who struggle in this area–an encouragement to remember who they are– and not only are they loved by me, but also by the one that created them, sent His son to die for them and wants them to live in the freedom that His love provides.

The music that was heard in my house today:

What does it mean to be a believer in Christ? Should we follow the example that he set before us?

A song that has resonated with us in the past year or so, is certainly still speaking to us today…..

I am paying close attention to this stanza:

’cause my Jesus bled and died

He spent his time with thieves and liars

He loved the poor and accosted the arrogant

So which one do you want to be?

If this is true, and I believe that it is, how can we ever push to have our rights validated? How can we seek to be correct in everything? How can we seek our own purposes?

When there are so many people in this world that are crying out to just be loved, how can I turn my back on them? No matter what their sin…..they still are loved by God. They do matter to Him. How can I love them any less?

My prayer is that I would never get to a point of being looked at by God as arrogant and self serving—may I always be open to loving whomever is placed in my path and that I would do so by the example of My Jesus.

It is not often that you come across someone with as pure of a voice as Alison Krauss. She has an unmistakable sound that puts her in class all by herself. I was fortunate to come across this video of Alison singing A Living Prayer on Jay Leno. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

We all have had the experience of knowing others that pass through our lives with which we have a special connection. In fact, we may have several important people that we surround ourselves with, even now. For me, I have been able to find that connection with many people in my life and quite a few of those people stand out as extraordinary. One such person is my grandmother.

What a woman! She had an uncanny ability to show love to everyone she met. It didn’t matter who you were, she loved you. She just radiated the light of Christ that made you want to be with her, all the time. She was quite a role model for me as I grew into my teenage years.

When she was diagnosed with cancer, I began spending even more time with her. On one occasion we were discussing music, particularly spiritual songs, and I asked her the name of her favorite hymn. It was then that I found out that her favorite hymn was How Great Thou Art.

Her prognosis was not good. In fact, she passed away several months later. But having the knowledge that this song was important to her, my uncle and I were able to put together a presentation of how important she was to each member of our family by performing this song at her funeral. (I was using sign language to “sing” the hymn, my uncle and a dear friend played the tune and sang along as well)

So, this post is dedicated to my grandmother, a woman who was an incredible inspiration to me and who I wish could see how wonderfully happy I am today.

How Great Thou Art

A song of great reverence and adoration to our God, the One who has created in us a love for others to share life with, the One who leaves us in awe daily as we acknowledge Him and His unfailing love for us. This hymn speaks of the gratitude that we have for that beautiful love.

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: “My God, how great Thou art!”

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

Carl Gustav, from Sweden, was the author of this poem. As he was taking a walk, he was caught in a severe thunderstorm. As the storm began to calm, he could see in the distance a clear bay and heard a church bell ringing. Then the words began to form in his heart and a peace began to consume him. This “poem” was published in 1891. It was later translated into German and in 1927, a Russian version was published.

Stuart Hine, an English missionary to Ukraine, translated the poem and sang it at an evangelistic meeting in England during World War I. The first three verses were translated into English and Russian in 1949. He later added the fourth verse.

At the website, All About God, Author Lucy Adams, writes:

Of the hymn’s importance he said: “When we reach that heavenly home, we will fully understand the greatness of God, and will bow in humble adoration, saying to Him, O Lord my God, how great thou art.” May we all live in such a way that we will be ready when Jesus Christ appears to receive the saints. Our heavenly home awaits us, all of those who have received Christ in obedience.

Edwin Orr brought the hymn to America and in 1954, Cyrus Nelson of Gospel Light Publications copyrighted and published the hymn. Also, in 1954, the hymn was sung by George Beverly Shea at a London Billy Graham Crusade. It became quite popular as it started appearing in many songbooks.

This hymn is a perfect one to focus on the risen Christ. It is one that, as we read it’s history and bask in the truth of all that God has provided for us through Jesus Christ, should cause us to pause and peacefully think on the depth of His love for us.

Take the time to listen to this wonderful hymn and let it consume your heart with the love of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.

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As I was bringing up the idea of highlighting different music, my good friend and fellow blogger, Amy, reminded me of the song, Friend of God by Israel Houghton and Michael Gunger. It is a simple song, but one that encourages us to realize who we are in the eyes of God.

Who am I that you are mindful of me
That you hear me when I call
Is it true that you are thinking of me
How you love me it’s amazing

I am a friend of god
I am a friend of god
I am a friend of god
He calls me friend

God almighty, lord of glory
You have called me friend

He calls me friend
He calls me friend…

Here is a sample of the song and the story behind the song (in the words of Israel Houghton)

When I first heard this song, I was attending a women’s conference. Singing this song, along with thousands of other women, was really one of the highlights of that conference. Now, if we can live as we believe the words that we are singing within this song, the confidence that we have of ourselves in Christ would be astounding! To know that we are a friend of God is a concept that we don’t think of often enough, but that is exactly how He sees us. He wants the intimate fellowship that we crave to be with Him, so that we may share that same intimacy with others.

Update: Jacque at Seeking Rest in the Ancient Paths has started a meme about Psalms and Praise Songs. I am posting an update on this entry to participate in her theme. Go to her site and check out her latest post!

Here is the first in a series of posts that will focus on music, most specifically on music that encourages us in our walk with God. There are so many wonderful songs to discuss, so I hope that you will enjoy learning the background of each of these songs.

The song that I would like to begin with is a wonderful hymn that I know we all are familiar with…Amazing Grace. The tune is especially familiar, but you may not be aware of the history behind the lyrics and composition of the song.

John Newton (1725-1807) was the composer of this hymn, which like many hymns of that time, was sung by a different tune. The lyrics however are the same:

Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)
That sav’d a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears reliev’d;
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believ’d!

Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
‘Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promis’d good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call’d me here below,
Will be forever mine.

John Newton had been involved in slave trading for years and even continued this after his conversion in 1748. He later decided to give up the slave trade to become a minister. Many of his sermons led to others realizing a need for the abolition of slavery.

To me this is an example of God’s grace. A man that made decisions in his life that brought pain to others was saved and used for God’s glory! He clearly realized the grace that was freely given to him and thanked God for it through his prolific lyrics and in his actions towards others.

How many of us can use an example from our lives that demonstrate the grace of God? I know I can….and more than once. God has continued to pull me under the shadow of his wing more times than I can count. There are times that we think we see the whole picture….but then are shown the real “whole picture”. It is humbling, is it not?

It is also a picture of the love of God. He loves His children. That is so evident. When I was in a situation a few years ago that could have been devastating for me and my child, it was God’s love that prevented me from taking a step further (even though I thought I was making the right decision). He knew the “whole picture” and later when I saw what had been waiting for me, I was humbled by God’s love for me.

I think that John Newton was a humbled man. He made choices (wrong choices) and turned to God. Through each circumstance, either good or bad, he acknowledged God’s grace and love, and the belief in his ultimate destination.

Want to learn more? John Newton and Amazing Grace

Want to hear Amazing Grace?

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What I am about to share was totally unplanned, but I just ran across a website that is promoting Amazing Grace Sunday for the movie by Walden Media, Amazing Grace. Amazing Grace Sunday is today, February 18, 2007 and churches are encouraged to sing the hymn Amazing Grace, to show unity in support of abolishing slavery. The idea is that the participating churches would be singing at one time…the same song…in unity.

I have not seen this film. I haven’t even watched the trailer, so I am not promoting the movie or Amazing Grace Sunday. It is just more info to check out about the history of this song and what it is encouraging others to accomplish.

I hope this post has encouraged you to listen to this song a little more closely, to experience the rich history within it’s composition and to realize the grace of God is very real… John Newton experienced it in his life and so do we…every day.

HT: Emerging Women

I love music. I love to sing music and I love to hear a good rhythmic tune. I especially love to listen to a song that praises God. There are many songs available to us that are not very edifying (yes, even of the Christian genre!), but there are many songs available to us that are edifying (some of those are in the mainstream), and I would like to make a consistent effort to write about them. Maybe discuss the history of the song, maybe how it has ministered to me personally…I’m not sure. We’ll see how God leads the writing of the posts.

So, keep checking in…I’ll be highlighting a certain song with regards to how it has encouraged me in my walk with God. Maybe you will be encouraged to share how certain songs have ministered to you as well.

Have a blessed day!