Thoughts of a Broken Man

“If the stars were made to worship so will I
If the mountains bow in reverence so will I
If the oceans roar Your greatness so will I
For if everything exists to lift You high so will I
If the wind goes where You send it so will I
If the rocks cry out in silence so will I
If the sum of all our praises still falls shy
Then we’ll sing again a hundred billion times”

Taken from:

So Will I (100 Billion X)

Song by Hillsong UNITED

“Redeemed”

By Big Daddy Weave

Seems like all I could see was the struggle
Haunted by ghosts that lived in my past
Bound up in shackles of all my failures
Wondering how long is this gonna last
Then You look at this prisoner and say to me “son
Stop fighting a fight that’s already been won”

I am redeemed, You set me free
So I’ll shake off these heavy chains
Wipe away every stain, now I’m not who I used to be
I am redeemed, I’m redeemed

All my life I have been called unworthy
Named by the voice of my shame and regret
But when I hear You whisper, “Child lift up your head”
I remember, oh God, You’re not done with me yet

I am redeemed, You set me free
So I’ll shake off these heavy chains
Wipe away every stain, now I’m not who I used to be

Because I don’t have to be the old man inside of me
‘Cause his day is long dead and gone
Because I’ve got a new name, a new life, I’m not the same
And a hope that will carry me home

I am redeemed, You set me free
So I’ll shake off these heavy chains
Wipe away every stain, ’cause I’m not who I used to be

I am redeemed, You set me free
So I’ll shake off these heavy chains
Wipe away every stain, yeah, I’m not who I used to be
Oh, God, I’m not who I used to be
Jesus, oh I’m not who I used to be
‘Cause I am redeemed
Thank God, redeemed
Thank God, redeemed

Nobody

By Casting Crowns (feat Matthew West)

Why You ever chose me
Has always been a mystery
All my life I’ve been told I belong at the end of the line
With all the other Not-Quites
With all the Never-Get-It-Rights
But it turns out we’re the ones You’ve been looking for all this time

‘Cause I’m just a nobody
Trying to tell everybody
All about Somebody who saved my soul
Ever since You rescued me
You gave my heart a song to sing
I’m living for the world to see
Nobody but Jesus
I’m living for the world to see
Nobody but Jesus

Moses had stage fright
And David brought a rock to a sword fight
You picked 12 outsiders nobody would’ve chosen
And You changed the world
Well, the moral of the story is
Everybody’s got a purpose
So when I hear that devil start talking to me, saying
“Who do you think you are”
I say…

I’m just a nobody
Trying to tell everybody
All about Somebody who saved my soul
Ever since You rescued me
You gave my heart a song to sing
I’m living for the world to see
Nobody but Jesus
I’m living for the world to see
Nobody but Jesus

So let me go down down down in history
As another blood-bought faithful member of the family
And if they all forget my name, well, that’s fine with me
I’m living for the world to see
Nobody but Jesus

So let me go down down down in history (go down in a history)
As another blood-bought faithful member of the family (it’s all I ever wanna be)
And if they all forget my name, well, that’s fine with me
I’m living for the world to see
Nobody but Jesus

‘Cause I’m just a nobody
Trying to tell everybody
All about Somebody who saved my soul
Ever since You rescued me
You gave my heart a song to sing
I’m living for the world to see
Nobody but Jesus
I’m living for the world to see
Nobody but Jesus
I’m living for the world to see
Nobody but Jesus

I really listened to the lyrics of this song this past Sunday, and it really hit me. Read them and send let them wash over you.

“In Christ Alone”

In Christ alone my hope is found

He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone! Who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
Till on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Till He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand

“In Christ Alone” is a modern Christian song. Keith Getty wrote it with the melody composed by Stuart Townend. Other names of it are “In Christ Alone (My Hope Is Found)” and “In Christ Alone (I Stand)”.

Written in 2001, the song was named by a BBC Songs of Praise survey the 9th best loved hymn of all time in the UK in 2005.
In 2013, a new bridge section was added to the song by Kristian Stanfill and included in the live “Passion: Let the Future Begin” recording.

When you go through your busy day, work, a trip to the store, the fast food restaurant, and those who work in these places, do you see functions… or do you see people. Do you see a boss, a secretary, a guy in the shop? Do you see a clerk, a cashier, a manager? Do you see a hostess, a waiter, a bus boy? Or, do you see people, with stories, with struggles, with dreams and goals?

I can speak for myself, and confess that I am guilty of this very thing. Most of the time I am so wrapped up in my world, I am not concerned with knowing others, or how I am treating others. I am worried about how others are negatively impacting my life, not how I can show God’s love to others.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:34‭-‬35 NKJV

Why do I allow myself to get caught up in this snare. I know better, and I can promise you that most who will read this are in the same boat.

I pray that you and I will turn to God, through His son Jesus, to see others as He does…as our brothers and sisters in Christ. To treat others with compassion and understanding, mercy and love, as He did for us.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
I John 4:7‭-‬11 NKJV

God bless

Rock of Ages

By Augustus M. Toplady, 1776

1. Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
   Let me hide myself in Thee;
   Let the water and the blood,
   From Thy wounded side which flowed,
   Be of sin the double cure,
   Save from wrath and make me pure.
2. Not the labor of my hands
   Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;
   Could my zeal no respite know,
   Could my tears forever flow,
   All for sin could not atone;
   Thou must save, and Thou alone.
3. Nothing in my hand I bring,
   Simply to Thy cross I cling;
   Naked, come to Thee for dress;
   Helpless, look to Thee for grace;
   Foul, I to the fountain fly;
   Wash me, Savior, or I die.
4. While I draw this fleeting breath,
   When my eyes shall close in death,
   When I rise to worlds unknown,
   And behold Thee on Thy throne,
   Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
   Let me hide myself in Thee.