I learn a lot from music. Jesus music, that is... as I call it.
I love a good worship album and rarely do I have something playing in my car or through our Apple TV that isn't about praising Jesus or telling of how awesome He is. (To clear it up, I don't feel like it HAS to be that way, I just really love it that way).
I love feeling surrounded by a song so much so that it makes me say "Amen!" out loud or "Yes, that's right!" I may be a little bit of a weirdo here, but I'm ok with that.
I recently heard a song by an artist I found on NoiseTrade named Harvest Bashta. It's called Song of The Lamb, and it makes my insides sing.
Then I heard a new song by Bethel called A Little Longer and oh man, it is beautiful. It's one of those "Amen!" songs. They both are, really.
The Song of the Lamb lyrics go like this:
May the Lamb receive the reward of His suffering
May the Lamb receive the reward of His suffering
May the Lamb receive the reward of His suffering
Starting with me
For the Lamb is worthy, the Lamb is worthy
The lyrics are simple but profound and make me what to stand up with my arms raised and say "Yes, you deserve it!"
And the Bethel song is the same way.
The lyrics of A Little Longer go like this:
What can I do for you?
What can I bring to you?
What kind of song would you like me to sing?
I'll dance a dance for you, pour out my love for you, beautiful King
Cause I can't thank you enough
I love both of these songs so much and I love what they represent. Like, what a position to be in with our beautiful King where we are kneeling before Him and asking how we can please Him. Or, how beautiful to be in recognition of the sacrifice of our Lord and to have a heart that wants to give Him the praise He deserves.
My friend, Brittany, introduced the Bethel song to me and commented about how it might be a little confusing for someone who might be prone to do things just for the sake of doing. You know what I mean, right? It's so easy for us (me) to feel like we need to DO something. Half the time, I don't even need a reason to want to do something, I just feel like I'm supposed to. I'm supposed to ask God if He wants me to dance for Him because... I'm just supposed to. Or I'm supposed to praise Him because that's what whoever is leading worship says to do.
This is true, for sure. The balance between doing for the sake of doing and doing out of a heart that's compelled really is difficult at times.
But in listening to these songs, I didn't hear that spoken to me. What I heard was someone's heart in such a place of recognizing the great love and goodness of our king that there is a genuine desire to offer something back to Him. I love that.
I hear this and I'm like "Yes! So good! I want to do that too. I want to offer this kind of worship to Him!" My heart feels compelled and I'm reminded of how awesome He is and how much praise He really does deserve.
... But Wait! There's more.
In the Bethel song, the music changes, and here's how the rest of the lyrics go:
I hear You say "You don't have to do a thing
Simply be with Me and let those things go.
They can wait another minute.
Wait... This moment is too sweet,
Please stay here with Me
And love on Me a little longer
Cause I'm in love with you. My heart burns for you."
What?!
First, it's so sweet to me that I can even offer anything to Him in return for His love. And then He just comes out of nowhere and says, "Just wait... I want to just be with you for a minute. Just be still and love me and let me love you."
It's like that romantic moment where you realize how much you love someone, and all you want to do is hold them in your arms. Yes, you want to do lots of things to show your love as well, but sometimes you just need to cuddle. Sometimes you just need to BE with each other and enjoy each other.
Isn't it crazy that God loves us like this? That He doesn't just want from us. He doesn't just want us to prove our love to Him by doing the "right things" or even reading our Bible or attending a church. Sometimes, He really just wants to hang out with us and maybe even cuddle and enjoy our presence and have us enjoy His.
I want to have more of a heart like this. Like all of it, really. I still do love blessing Him with worship and don't want to discount the goodness or importance of that in the least. But I do want to remember to just stay with Him and enjoy Him as well. It's so special to me that God wants that with me! I just forget it sometimes. But I'm thankful for people like Harvest and Bethel who help to remind me of such sweetness.
Yes! and Amen!
I love a good worship album and rarely do I have something playing in my car or through our Apple TV that isn't about praising Jesus or telling of how awesome He is. (To clear it up, I don't feel like it HAS to be that way, I just really love it that way).
I love feeling surrounded by a song so much so that it makes me say "Amen!" out loud or "Yes, that's right!" I may be a little bit of a weirdo here, but I'm ok with that.
I recently heard a song by an artist I found on NoiseTrade named Harvest Bashta. It's called Song of The Lamb, and it makes my insides sing.
Then I heard a new song by Bethel called A Little Longer and oh man, it is beautiful. It's one of those "Amen!" songs. They both are, really.
The Song of the Lamb lyrics go like this:
May the Lamb receive the reward of His suffering
May the Lamb receive the reward of His suffering
May the Lamb receive the reward of His suffering
Starting with me
For the Lamb is worthy, the Lamb is worthy
The lyrics are simple but profound and make me what to stand up with my arms raised and say "Yes, you deserve it!"
And the Bethel song is the same way.
The lyrics of A Little Longer go like this:
What can I do for you?
What can I bring to you?
What kind of song would you like me to sing?
I'll dance a dance for you, pour out my love for you, beautiful King
Cause I can't thank you enough
I love both of these songs so much and I love what they represent. Like, what a position to be in with our beautiful King where we are kneeling before Him and asking how we can please Him. Or, how beautiful to be in recognition of the sacrifice of our Lord and to have a heart that wants to give Him the praise He deserves.
My friend, Brittany, introduced the Bethel song to me and commented about how it might be a little confusing for someone who might be prone to do things just for the sake of doing. You know what I mean, right? It's so easy for us (me) to feel like we need to DO something. Half the time, I don't even need a reason to want to do something, I just feel like I'm supposed to. I'm supposed to ask God if He wants me to dance for Him because... I'm just supposed to. Or I'm supposed to praise Him because that's what whoever is leading worship says to do.
This is true, for sure. The balance between doing for the sake of doing and doing out of a heart that's compelled really is difficult at times.
But in listening to these songs, I didn't hear that spoken to me. What I heard was someone's heart in such a place of recognizing the great love and goodness of our king that there is a genuine desire to offer something back to Him. I love that.
I hear this and I'm like "Yes! So good! I want to do that too. I want to offer this kind of worship to Him!" My heart feels compelled and I'm reminded of how awesome He is and how much praise He really does deserve.
... But Wait! There's more.
In the Bethel song, the music changes, and here's how the rest of the lyrics go:
I hear You say "You don't have to do a thing
Simply be with Me and let those things go.
They can wait another minute.
Wait... This moment is too sweet,
Please stay here with Me
And love on Me a little longer
Cause I'm in love with you. My heart burns for you."
What?!
First, it's so sweet to me that I can even offer anything to Him in return for His love. And then He just comes out of nowhere and says, "Just wait... I want to just be with you for a minute. Just be still and love me and let me love you."
It's like that romantic moment where you realize how much you love someone, and all you want to do is hold them in your arms. Yes, you want to do lots of things to show your love as well, but sometimes you just need to cuddle. Sometimes you just need to BE with each other and enjoy each other.
Isn't it crazy that God loves us like this? That He doesn't just want from us. He doesn't just want us to prove our love to Him by doing the "right things" or even reading our Bible or attending a church. Sometimes, He really just wants to hang out with us and maybe even cuddle and enjoy our presence and have us enjoy His.
I want to have more of a heart like this. Like all of it, really. I still do love blessing Him with worship and don't want to discount the goodness or importance of that in the least. But I do want to remember to just stay with Him and enjoy Him as well. It's so special to me that God wants that with me! I just forget it sometimes. But I'm thankful for people like Harvest and Bethel who help to remind me of such sweetness.
Yes! and Amen!
Comments
Post a Comment