Many reasons. The Only Way.

"10,000 Reasons" 


Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name

The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning
It's time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes

[Chorus]
Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name

You're rich in love, and You're slow to anger
Your name is great, and Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find

[Chorus]
Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name

And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending
Ten thousand years and then forevermore

[Chorus x2]
Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name

Jesus, I'll worship Your holy name
Lord, I'll worship Your holy name

Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name
Jesus, I'll worship Your holy name
I'll worship Your holy name




Wow. This song just brings me complete PEACE and JOY. Every time I listen to it, I feel as though I am laying down in the Father's arms. Matt Redman has done an excellent job!! 


We all need to take some time out of our busy schedules and sit down with the Father on a regular basis. It only builds us up. We need to thank Him also, for all that He is continually doing for us. Today, while I was riding in the car, I was listening to 10,000 reasons by Matt Redman and I just sat back and began to thank the Lord for all He has given me. I have been stressing out a lot lately over scholarships, housing, gasoline, and general life expenses for next year. I do not know how I am going to pay for all of it. I guess I should say I do know now. As I was sitting in His presence thanking Him, He gave me the total amount of money I have already received in scholarships compared with the cost of school. I began crying immensely. He has everything in His hand, and He certainly does not miss anything! 


The first verse reminds me of our testimonies and our walks with Him. It is talking about how each day is new, but it is still the same with Him. No matter what we go through, no matter how hard life may seem at the moment-- He is always right there holding our hand. I want to be singing when the evening comes. I want to continue singing His goodness as long as I am able to sing! We are put here to praise his name. Thankfully for us, He has given us MUCH to praise!!


I will be the first to admit that I fail on a daily basis. I yell at my siblings, I fight with my mom, I resent my father, and I bicker with others. Now, I don't always do all of those on the same day, but I am no where near perfect! Thankfully, my Father is "rich in love" and "slow to anger". I cannot imagine how many times my foolish decisions have disappointed Him. I want to be better. Despite anything I can ever do, He is still mighty and awesome! No matter what happens in my life, I want to keep on singing praises to Him for all that He has given me! If you cannot think of anything to be thankful for, I encourage you to sit down, quiet your mind and be still in His presence. He will show you the things you have to be thankful for. The Word tells us that from our mouths comes the overflow of our hearts.. When I listen to this song, I like to sit back and just thank Him for  the big and little things. The things I often overlook. I hope that as I mature in Him those things will be a natural overflow from my mouth constantly. 


Finally, Redman goes into our end times. When I am laying on my death bed and my body is failing me I hope that my mouth is still singing His praise! I hope that I am at peace, that I have joy, love and praise for His name. When I sit in stillness and begin to thank Him, it is not always words from my brain that come forth, in fact, it is often words from my heart and the depths of my soul. Things that I would never say if someone else were standing there listening. Things that the Spirit is saying to the Father. The line that stands out the most to me is the last one. I want to be sitting in Heaven, on the golden streets singing His praise for eternity! But I do not want to wait until I am there to start singing. I was recently in a store singing to myself when one of the employees walked up to me and said, "You must just really be happy, 'cause you don't have in any head phones and you are just singing away". Hearing her say that touched me. I was singing because of the joy in the depths of my heart. I want that to be how my life is constantly. I want my soul to sing His praise unending. 


Please join me in this. Tame your tongue. Use it to glorify Him. So when your time comes, you can sing His praise unending. 


BLESS THE LORD, O MY SOUL
O MY SOUL
WORSHIP HIS HOLY NAME! 
SING LIKE NEVER BEFORE
O MY SOUL 
I'LL WORSHIP YOUR HOLY NAME!!

Mirrors

"I don't matter", "regrets only", "addict", "illegal", "victim", "they used me", "I am angry", "weak", "refugee", "rejected", "my life doesn't work", "anxious", "betrayed", "empty", "I cheated them too"-- "BELOVED". 


To begin with, I must ask, have you ever felt like any of the words that appeared on those pieces of cardboard during the video? Are you angry? Are you lonely? Has someone done you wrong? Have you done someone else wrong? Is your life just not working? Do you feel like you have let God down? I have felt many of the above listed words before, but how many times do we put the word "beloved" up and claim it as our identity? Not nearly enough times. 


Okay, I am not writing about this song to make us realize how awful we are, rather to help us realize that God sees us through rose colored glasses, or more accurately the blood of Jesus Christ. 


This Monday, right before I left my evening worship service, Omar (the pianist) was asking the Father to let us see ourselves in His mirror. In His blood stained mirror that hides all of our imperfections. As he was speaking I saw the beautiful picture of how God sees us, and I wondered what would happen if the world actually saw ourselves through His eyes. When I turned my truck on and it was talking about looking in a mirror. The words that stuck in my head were "In the mirror all I see/ Is who I don't wanna be/ Remind me who I am". The song was saying the same thing that Omar had, but in a different way. How do we look at ourselves? Most importantly, how does God look at us?


To begin, "When I can't remember what grace is" stands out in my mind. This is sad. I am blessed to have a mother who is full of grace. So much so, that once on a trip with a bunch of friends, one of the teenage guys in the car said, "You have too much grace!" The point behind this is that our perfect Heavenly Father has much more grace than anyone on earth can ever dream of having, and there is no such thing as "too much" in His book. Yet, somehow, we constantly forget that He sent His Son to die for us. We did not deserve that, it was grace. It was certainly grace that caused Him to spare Noah, save His people from Pharaoh and do anything and everything else He has ever done on this earth! 


But, we feel like we are worthless and He hates us. I once talked to a girl who told me that she was scared to pray, because she thought God was angry with her. This is the perfect example of someone who has forgotten who they are to the Most High God. 


Next, "When my heart is like a stone" sticks out. How many of us have let our hearts harden toward a friend, family member, acquaintance, or even toward God? I recently heard someone say that we are not arguing with the person standing next to us, but with the demon that is quarreling within them. Since I heard this, it has opened my eyes. I also know that none of us can be set free until we let go of the hurt that we have and allow peace and grace and joy to replace the hurt. Unfortunately many Christians get hurt at church, and they turn and run from God as though it is His fault. Any time we are running from Him we will not fully be at peace, instead we will be "running far from home" like the prodigal son. 


The final line that stands out is "Afraid I'll never be enough". We will never be enough. However, He is more than enough, and He is on our side. We no longer have to be good enough, because the only one that matters is looking at us in His special mirror that has a layer of blood covering it. It shows us being pure and holy if we have accepted the gift that Jesus has given us. So the next time you question who you are, erase the title that you have for yourself and replace it with "beloved".


When you look in the mirror, ask yourself: am I looking in my mirror, the world's mirror, or my Father's mirror? If you are not looking in God's mirror then run to Him, read His Word, seek His face, because He loves you just the way you are.