Tag: lyrics

Christian Music Appreciation: Go Beyond

Christian Music Appreciation: Go Beyond

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Hey fellow Christians! Welcome back to my latest piece in my Christian Music Appreciation (CMA) series and we are about to take a close look at another Christian praise-and-worship song and then examine how its lyrics related to the Holy Bible.

The song to be featured now is Go Beyond, composed by Benjie Alipit and musically arranged and recorded by the COG Worship Band. It is an original song of Church of God World Missions Philippines.

Before we take a look at the song, let me explain that Church of God World Missions Philippines is a Christian church (main venue is in Dasmariñas City, Cavite) that strives to connect all of its COG churches around the Philippines and bring God’s Word outside the walls of the church and into the communities online. They are dedicated to evangelize and minister to every lost soul in the name of Lord Jesus. When it comes to social media, they heavily use the hashtags #BornAgainPilipinas and #COGPhilippines.

With the explanation and done, we can finally start with the lyrics of Go Beyond posted below for you all.

Intro:

Woah oh woah oh (6X)

–

Verse1:

Never failing God

All Your promises make me relentless

With Your unending grace

I receive the love that I don’t deserve

–

Pre-Chorus:

There’s no stopping now

Though I walk to the darkest valley

I will still go on

–

Chorus:

I will go beyond the mountain

Beyond the farthest distance I can be

I will tell the world how much You love me

I will go beyond the highest praise

For the things You’ve done are priceless

I will go beyond my capacity

To tell the world of all You’ve done for me

We will praise You

–

Verse 2:

Overwhelming peace

Fear is gone when you’ve overtaken me

With Your undying mercy

Now I’m confident that I am saved

–

Chorus:

I will go beyond the mountain

Beyond the farthest distance I can be

I will tell the world how much You love me

I will go beyond the highest praise

For the things You’ve done are priceless

I will go beyond my capacity

To tell the world of all You’ve done for me

We will praise You

–

Coda:

No walls

No fear

Can hinder me

I declare Your goodness and mercy

To analyze the biblical relevance of this song, let’s start with the early lines Never failing God All Your promises make me relentless. Those words from the lyrics show that we Christians all reasons to be excited or to be totally dedicated to God knowing that He always keeps His promises to us. When His promises come true, they are indeed very well worth the wait. Remember also that God is truly faithful to us. Check out the following holy scripts below starting with God’s promise to Abram.

I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

Genesis 12: 2-3 (NKJV)

By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.

Hebrews 11: 11 (NKJV)

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3: 16 (NKJV)

Whatever God promises, whether it’s prosperity, happiness, justice, recovery, rebirth, positive reform and blessings, He truly keeps them for those who are faithful (not religious) to Him. This alone should inspire us all to go beyond with the Lord. Genesis 12: 2-3 marked God’s promise to Abram who was already faithful and in due time, after traveling far following His instructions, Abram and his wife Sarai got blessed. Even though she was already 90-years-old, the faithful Sarah (formerly Sarai) gave birth to Isaac (Hebrews 11: 11) which itself shows that God sometimes decides to wait before fulfilling His promise. The fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham (formerly Abram) and Sarah with Isaac as their offspring together marked the beginning of what we in the modern world refer to as Israel (both country and people).

Going further into the New Testament, the arrival of Jesus (John 3: 16) marked God’s plan to have humanity redeemed from the curse that started with Adam’s rebellion towards God which gave dominion to Satan. This shows that God Himself promised to have His creations saved with Jesus (God in the flesh) as His ultimate instrument to make it happen. As such, we the faithful can always look forward to God fulfilling His promises, and truly go beyond! With God, nothing is impossible!

From the chorus are the following lines: For the things You’ve done are priceless I will go beyond my capacity To tell the world of all You’ve done for me We will praise You. To put things in perspective, once we get blessed by the Lord, it is only right to be a blessing to others. We all live in a very screwed-up world and there are lots of people who did not really know the Lord because they were consumed by unbelief, religion, idolatry, politics, greed, covetousness, evil and the like. That means that there are indeed a whole lot of unsaved and lost souls around the world! We are surrounded by the unsaved and the lost! Being Born Again (refer to Jesus’ words in John 3: 3) and getting reformed with the Holy Spirit, it is only right that we spread God’s Word to others, share to others how the Lord changed us and blessed us, and why God is the true Heavenly Father and Ultimate Creator who deserves all of our praise! With the Lord, the unsaved and the lost can be saved, and once they submit to Him and become new creations, they can go beyond as well. We the faithful can help the Lord save the unsaved and the lost! Check out the following holy scriptures.

I pray that the Father of glory, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, would impart to you the riches of the Spirit of wisdom and the Spirit of revelation to know him through your deepening intimacy with him. I pray that the light of God will illuminate the eyes of your imagination, flooding you with light, until you experience the full revelation of the hope of his calling—that is, the wealth of God’s glorious inheritances that he finds in us, his holy ones! I pray that you will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God’s power made available to you through faith. Then your lives will be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through you! This is the mighty power,

Ephesians 1: 17-19 (TPT)

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

1 Corinthians 6: 19-20 (NKJV)

Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.

Acts 3: 19-21 (NKJV)

And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Acts 2: 4 (NKJV)

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, will all your mind, and with all your strength.

Mark 12: 30 (NKJV)

Now, if anyone is enfolded into Christ, he has become an entirely new creation. All that is related to the old order has vanished. Behold, everything is fresh and new.

2 Corinthians 5: 17 (TPT)

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

1 Peter 2: 9-10 (NKJV)

Now we can proceed with the next lines from the lyrics: Overwhelming peace Fear is gone when you’ve overtaken me.

As written in the Holy Bible, peace from the Lord is undeniably real and powerful. When one gets born again and becomes a child of God, he or she will get reformed to be holy (with the Holy Spirit in the heart), to study the Holy Bible and apply its lessons in real life, and find true peace that will last. Along the way, fear becomes nothing. In fact, fear has no place in Christianity and very certainly fear will NOT help you become part of God’s family and kingdom. The sad reality about the screwed-up world we live in is that fear is common and hindered the many unsaved and lost souls from becoming Christians. Fear is part of religion, unbelief, traditions, rituals and idolatry. Even the unsaved and lost souls who think they are fearless don’t realize their arrogance and ignorance about it. It is only by submitting to God that fear will be truly thrown out and peace will come in.

Apart from the Lord’s peace overwhelming it, fear will also be replaced by courage that comes with being part of the spiritual family…the Lord’s family! Here are some holy scriptures for your reference (the final verse is about being fearless, aggressive and protected with the Armor provided to us by Him).

I leave the gift of peace with you—my peace. Not the kind of fragile peace given by the world, but my perfect peace. Don’t yield to fear or be troubled in your hearts—instead, be courageous!

John 14: 27 (TPT)

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5: 23 (NKJV)

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

Proverbs 3: 5-6 (NKJV)

Put on God’s complete set of armor provided for us, so that you will be protected as you fight against the evil strategies of the accuser! Your hand-to-hand combat is not with human beings, but with the highest principalities and authorities operating in rebellion under the heavenly realms. For they are a powerful class of demon-gods and evil spirits that hold this dark world in bondage. Because of this, you must wear all the armor that God provides so you’re protected as you confront the slanderer, for you are destined for all things and will rise victorious.

Ephesians 6: 11-13 (TPT)

With the above scriptures, the lines from the song – Overwhelming peace Fear is gone when you’ve overtaken me – make sense with the Holy Bible! In fact, John 14: 27 emphasized peace from Jesus and His instruction for us not to yield to fear is so clear!

Now that it is obvious that the song Go Beyond is, indeed, a holy song, let me take the opportunity to describe the music. As performed by the COG Worship Band, Go Beyond is pretty energetic and the way it plays, it is an ideal song to play early during Sunday worship at church and get all the spiritual family members energized for further worship!

In ending this CMA, embedded below is the official music of Go Beyond (note: my thanks to Church of God World Missions Philippines for referencing their song) Enjoy it and always remember to thank, honor and praise Lord Jesus! Always be the fearless and aggressive church of the Lord and help Him save the many unsaved and lost souls around the world!

Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Sharing this Christian piece means spreading the good news of the Lord to others. It can help you save the unsaved souls out there.

If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me as well. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me at HavenorFantasy@twitter.com

Christian Music Appreciation: Way Maker

Christian Music Appreciation: Way Maker

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Occasionally during Sunday worship services at church, the musicians perform the wildly popular Christian praise and worship song Way Maker which has powerful words to lead worshipers to the Lord. As I personally witnessed and experienced, Way Maker really impacts us Christians to keep focusing on the Lord, honoring Him and praising Him.

Way Maker was written by Osinachi Kalu Okoro Egbu and strongly identified with Sinach (Oscinachi Joseph) who is a very famous worship leader and singer from Nigeria. The song was released as a single in late 2015 became tremendously successful with Christians and music enthusiasts. Unsurprisingly, Way Maker was covered by several Christian musicians around the world and Sinach performed it live at Lakewood Church (Joel Osteen) in Texas.

Posted below for you all is the official music video of Way Maker which was released online on December 31, 2015. As of this writing, it has registered almost 150,000,000 views!

So, did you enjoy that music video and the song itself? Did you experience the holiness through Sinach’s singing? Way Maker never failed me. Below are the lyrics of this very great and holy song.

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You are here

Moving in our midst

I worship you

I worship you

You are here

Working in this place

I worship you

I worship you

You are here

Moving in our midst

I worship you

I worship you

You are here

Working in this place

I worship you

I worship you

–

Way maker

Miracle worker

Promise keeper

Light in the darkness

My God

That is who you are

Way maker

Miracle worker

Promise keeper

Light in the darkness

My God

That is who you are

–

You are here

Touching every heart

I worship you

I worship you

You are here

Healing every heart

I worship you

I worship you

You are here

Turning lives around

I worship you

I worship you

You are here

Mending every heart

I worship you

I worship you

–

Way maker

Miracle worker

Promise keeper

Light in the darkness

That is who you are

Way maker

Miracle worker

Promise keeper

Light in the darkness

My God

That is who you are

–

You wipe away all tears

You mend the broken heart

You’re the answer to it all

Jesus

You wipe away all tears

You mend the broken heart

You’re the answer to it all (to it all)

Jesus

–

Way maker

Miracle worker

Promise keeper

Light in the darkness

My God

That is who you are

Way maker

Miracle worker

Promise keeper

Light in the darkness

My God

That is who you are

–

You are here

Touching every life

I worship you

I worship you

You are here

Meeting every need

I worship you

I worship you

+++++

Now that you’ve seen both the music video and the lyrics, let me share the biblical relevance of key lines from the song starting with You are here, Moving in our midst.

No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.

1 John 4: 12 (NKJV)

You shall not be terrified of them; for the LORD your God, the great and awesome God, is among you.

Deuteronomy 7: 21 (NKJV)

It is clear that for as long as we Christians, who got born again into Jesus, keep being faithful (not religious) to Him, keep applying His Word into our lives and keep persevering with His holiness, God is undoubtedly present among us. 1 John 4: 12 emphasizes that even though God is invisible to us, we manifest His nature through lifestyles that reflect His love and this proves His presence is real. Deuteronomy 7: 21 points back to the blessings of obedience to God and our true purpose as creations of His. We need not be terrified of other people (those who are trapped by darkness, sin and unbelief) because we faithful Christians are God’s chosen people. Since we are God’s children, He will not abandon us nor forsake us. As such, the song’s lines You are here, Moving in our midst make biblical sense.

Next lines from the song to be analyzed are Way maker, Miracle worker, Promise keeper, Light in the darkness, That is who you are.

Do not yield to fear, for I am always near. Never turn your gaze from me, for I am your faithful God. I will infuse you with my strength and help you in every situation. I will hold you firmly with my victorious right hand.

Isaiah 41: 10 (TPT)

Commit your works to the LORD, And your thoughts will be established.

Proverbs 16: 3 (NKJV)

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways, acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

Proverbs 3: 5-6 (NKJV)

“No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the LORD.

Isaiah 54: 17 (NKJV)

Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Hebrews 13: 5 (NKJV)

“Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed.

Joshua 23: 14 (NKJV)

In relation to the above holy scriptures, the song’s lines Way maker, Miracle worker, Promise keeper, Light in the darkness, That is who you are not only make biblical sense but are also holy. As the almighty and merciful creator, God keeps His promises always and because He loves us, He will always make ways for us, make miracles happen and keep us children of His away from the darkness. All what we need to do is keep being faithful to the Lord and live with purity and holiness under His watch. Remember, the day one becomes born again, the true Christian life (free from unbelief, idolatry, religion, religious traditions and religious rituals) begins, then we follow our pastor to guide us to Him directly and our ultimate authority of reference is the Holy Bible (God’s Word). As children of God, we each have a personal relationship with Him which is strictly off-limits to everyone else. To really know the nature of God, study the Holy Bible (not those man-made sacraments) and authorize Heaven on Earth as part of your worship to Him. Let God come into your life.

The next lines of Way Maker that caught my attention are You wipe away all tears, You mend the broken heart, You’re the answer to it all (to it all), Jesus.

Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

John 3: 3 (NKJV)

Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.

John 14: 1 (NKJV)

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

John 14: 6 (NKJV)

For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,

1 Timothy 2: 5 (NKJV)

“I leave the gift of peace with you—my peace. Not the kind of fragile peace given by the world, but my perfect peace. Don’t yield to fear or be troubled in your hearts—instead, be courageous!”

John 14: 27 (TPT)

As already mentioned before, Lord Jesus redeemed us all with His blood spent to pay the price for us. Jesus is God in the flesh and even though many churches around us that are still trapped by religion and idolatry always emphasize too much on His death by showing crosses with Jesus’ crucified body displayed, we Christians know the truth that Jesus has always been alive and His resurrection proved He is God. It is Jesus, not the idols, who makes the way for Christians to connect to God and establish personal relationships with Him. Jesus himself spoke the truth that in order to see God’s kingdom, one must be born again. Born in the Holy Spirit, followed by living the new life as a true Christian with the Holy Spirit in the heart. The above holy scriptures say it all and made clear that with Jesus as our Lord, we have nothing to fear and nothing to be terrified with. Lord Jesus not only redeemed us all, He gave us His peace which this screwed up world we live in could never, ever match. The idolaters who keep worshiping people, relics, images, statues and statuettes, and keep performing rituals of religion will never realize peace from Jesus because they don’t realize the truth. The non-believers, the secularists and atheists are also unfortunate. As such, we Christians must pray for them to realize their errors and submit themselves to Lord Jesus while they are still living. Pray that they will realize the truth of Christianity so that they can be saved spiritually. Lord Jesus is the Redeemer, the Reformer, the Savior and also the Way Maker!

As such, the lyrics You wipe away all tears, You mend the broken heart, You’re the answer to it all (to it all), Jesus are indeed truthful to the Word of God.

In closing this piece, posted below for your enjoyment and faith in the Lord is a past live video performance (30:19 to 37:32 on the time) of Way Maker by pastor Darlene Zschech and the anointed musicians of Hope Unlimited Church (HopeUC). Just click and enjoy. Praise the Lord with it!

Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Sharing this Christian piece means spreading the good news of the Lord to others. It can help you save the unsaved souls out there.

If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me as well. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me at HavenorFantasy@twitter.com

Christian Music Appreciation: All

Christian Music Appreciation: All

carlocarrasco

While I witnessed Planetshakers perform live here in the Philippines as part of Jesus Global Youth Day in 2019, I was unable to watch them during their live performance (also here in the Philippines) this past January.

As it turned out, a whole lot of Filipinos bought tickets and attended the January 2020 event with Planetshakers performing great music and leading them to worshiping the Lord. No less than pastor Sam Evans was there. Among the many songs they performed, I noticed one new song that was not only beautiful but also holy. That song was simply titled All.

The song All performed by the anointed musicians of Planetshakers was commercially released as part of their album Glory Part Two.

To start with, here are the lyrics.

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I want to, to know You

I want to hear Your voice

You are my, desire

I want to be so close

–

Close To You

–

I tune in, to listen

To hear You speak to me

I reach out, believing

That You are all I need

–

All my attention

Is set on You now

You are the centre

–

Jesus all, all

All I want is You

And my heart and soul

Is longing just for You

–

You are, You are

Everything to me

You are, You are

Everything to me

–

Your presence, Your power

Your glory’s all I seek

I’m hungry, I’m thirsty

Your love is all I need

–

All my affection

Is set on You now

You are the centre

–

Jesus all, all

All I want is You

And my heart and soul

Is longing just for You

–

Jesus all, all

All I want is You

And my heart and soul

Is longing just for You

–

You are, You are

Everything to me

You are, You are

Everything to me

–

You are the desire

Of our generation

We want You, we need You

Holy Spirit

–

So pour out Your presence

In our generation

All we want is You

–

You are the desire

Of our generation

We want You, we need You

Holy Spirit

–

So pour out Your presence

In our generation

All we want is You

–

Jesus all, all

All I want is You

And my heart and soul

Is longing just for You

–

Jesus all, all

All I want is You

And my heart and soul

Is longing just for You

–

You are, You are

Everything to me

You are, You are

Everything to me

You are, You are

Everything to me

You are, You are

Everything to me

+++++

For biblical relevance, let’s start with the lines Jesus all, all, All I want is You, from the lyrics. Those lines really established the actual meaning of the song’s title. And then there are other lines in the lyrics that relate with it such as You are, You are, Everything to me. The Holy Bible itself has a lot of holy scriptures about wanting Lord Jesus more than anything. We can start with this holy scripture with Lord Jesus’ own words for your reflection.

And everything I’ve taught you is so that the peace which is in me will be in you and will give you great confidence as you rest in me. For in this unbelieving world you will experience trouble and sorrows, but you must be courageous, for I have conquered the world!

John 16: 33 (TPT)

The above holy scripture makes clear that with Jesus, nothing is impossible for us Christians and the Lord will never abandon us nor forsake us. The Lord is not only our reformer, our provider, our defender and our mentor but also the source of genuine peace! These are blessings and miracles that we can only receive from Jesus. For that alone, Lord Jesus is all we want and need for He is everything to us. Never forget that it has always been Jesus who redeemed us from darkness. It was the blood of Jesus that purified us and paved the way into becoming His body! Next scripture…

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

2 Peter 1: 2-4 (NKJV)

In the above scripture, the apostle Peter emphasized that true knowledge is found in the God of Christ and in the holy scriptures recorded in the Holy Bible (the Word of God). By knowing Lord Jesus (God in the flesh as well as His Son), His tremendously great and precious promises become available to those who believe in Him. This includes entrance into Heaven, being part of His body (we the Christians are the church and are part of the spiritual family), getting our inheritance from God and the promised return of Jesus (the Second Coming). Along the way, as noted in the last line of the holy scripture, we the Children of God must always maintain our defense from the wickedness and temptations of the eternal loser Satan. For as long as we are faithful to the Lord, we can always defeat Satan and free the billions of unsaved souls here on Earth to lead them to Jesus. Really, all we want and need is Jesus!

Going back to Planetshakers’ song All, the lines You are, You are, Everything to me as well as Jesus all, all, All I want is You and I want to, to know You, I want to hear Your voice, You are my, desire, I want to be so close make perfect biblical sense for faithful Christians. Truly the writers of the song knew the Word of God, the Holy Spirit, Lord Jesus and God the Father. To say the least, the song is a blessing, produced by Planetshakers people who were anointed by the Lord! All is a song that musicians of Christian churches should consider playing during Sunday worship service!

To end this article, here is the official video of the live performance of All held here in the Philippines during Planetshakers’ January 2020 special event. Enjoy and always keep praising the Lord! Remember that we Christians are the Body of Christ and we are the fearless and aggressive church of Lord Jesus!

Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Sharing this Christian piece means spreading the good news of the Lord to others. It can help you save the unsaved souls out there.

If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me as well. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me at HavenorFantasy@twitter.com

Christian Music Appreciation: Shout to the Lord

Christian Music Appreciation: Shout to the Lord

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It is one of the most popular Christian praise and worship songs of all time in the whole world. For many, it is the one song that defined pastor Darlene Zschech’s place in the world under the eyes of God for it is undeniable that it helped lead people to Him. The song described is none other than Shout to the Lord, released in 1993 by Hillsong as part of their album Simply Worship with words and music done by Darlene Zschech.

It is a very beautiful song that always succeeds in making people realize their true purpose under God which leads them to Him, motivates them to praise and thank Him more and ultimately move on with Christian living. Shout to the Lord is sung by millions of churchgoers every week and is unsurprisingly the favorite of many Christian churches for Sunday worship. Now let’s take a look at the lyrics of this famously powerful Christian song.

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My Jesus

My Saviour

Lord there is none like You

All of my days

I want to praise

The wonders of Your mighty love

–

My comfort

My shelter

Tower of refuge and strength

Let every breath

All that I am

Never cease to worship You

–

Shout to the Lord

All the earth let us sing

Power and majesty

Praise to the King

Mountains bow down

And the seas will roar

At the sound of Your Name

–

I sing for joy

At the work of Your hands

Forever I’ll love You

Forever I’ll stand

Nothing compares to

The promise I have in You

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As seen in the above lyrics, Shout to the Lord is not about merely shouting to Him but rather praising Him out loud not for a moment but with a will to keep praising without ever giving up. The lyrics opened with references to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who was sent by God to us here on Earth (refer to John 3: 16) and paid the price for our redemption. Of course, Jesus went on to return back to life and spent some time with His believers before ascending to Heaven with the promise of returning to us.

Back to the song, there are powerful lines such as All of my days, I want to praise in the opening. The next section in the lyrics has Never cease to worship You while the next section has Shout to the Lord, All the earth let us sing as powerful lines.

There is basis for the song within the Holy Bible. Let’s start with this holy scripture.

Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures all generations.

Psalm 100: 1-5 (NKJV)

That holy scripture emphasizes that we the creations of God (certainly not idols) are welcome to enter His presence express ourselves to Him with dynamic praise which includes happiness, singing, thanksgiving, worshiping and honoring Him. Because we are so occupied with daily living, duties and social responsibilities, we Christians sometimes forget to approach the Lord with high energy, deep appreciation and strong confidence.

We are supposed to be strong, happy and excited to praise God always and this is reflected in the line I sing for joy in the song. As Christians who got saved by the Lord, we no longer live in darkness for we are already citizens of His kingdom, the kingdom of light! We are supposed to be lively spiritually and even while living in the flesh.

Here’s the next holy scripture.

Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it! Shout, you lower parts of the earth; Break forth into singing, you mountains. O forest, and every tree in it! For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, And glorified Himself in Israel.

Isaiah 44: 23 (NKJV)

As children of God, we should always acknowledge His works on overcoming evil, saving more unsaved and lost souls. We acknowledge to the Lord not by merely thanking Him but praising Him with happiness, thankfulness and honor. For every victory of the Lord, we have real reasons to celebrate with singing and shouting joy. The song Shout to the Lord reflects that especially with the lyrics Praise to the King, Mountains bow down, And the seas will roar, At the sound of Your Name.

As Christians who are faithful (not religious, not idolatrous and not trapped by relics, traditions and rituals) and peaceful thanks to Jesus’ redemption, we have every reason to be very lively in worshiping the Lord. We should not allow others to silence us from shouting praise and joy to the Lord even though they prefer silence (or that they prefer their tradition of less lively worship not knowing or ignoring what was written in the Holy Bible). This brings me to the next holy scripture.

And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD: “For He is good, For His Mercy endures forever toward Israel.” Then all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, and because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.

Ezra 3: 11 (NKJV)

The great shout in Ezra 3: 11 refers to God’s followers shouting loudly by voice along with the blast of trumpets expressing praise and giving thanks. The shout was also victorious in nature. Now we can proceed to one more holy scripture.

Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.

Psalm 98: 4 (NKJV)

The above scripture’s first lines are very similar to the following lines from Shout to the Lord: Shout to the Lord, All the earth let us sing. Did Darlene Zschech take direct inspiration from Psalm 98: 4 when she composed Shout to the Lord? That I’d like to find out from her someday.

In closing this piece, here are two YouTube videos of Shout to the Lord performed by Darlene Zschech when she was much younger and from several years ago. Remember to always praise, honor and thank the Lord in a very lively manner. Study His Word (the Holy Bible) and pray in tongues to Him always. Be led by the Holy Spirit! Enjoy!

Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Sharing this Christian piece means spreading the good news of the Lord to others. It can help you save the unsaved souls out there.

If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me as well. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me at HavenorFantasy@twitter.com

Christian Music Appreciation: The Potter’s Hand

Christian Music Appreciation: The Potter’s Hand

carlocarrasco

Hello everyone! Welcome back to the latest installment of my Christian Music Appreciation (CMA) series which puts focus on songs that are not only great to listen to but are also holy and worthy of praising the Lord with.

Today, we take a close look at the song The Potter’s Hand which was released in 1998 by Hillsong Worship with words and music by the great Darlene Zschech. This is truly a beautiful song and at the same time, its lyrics are very meaningful and should make you reflect about your purpose and your existence.

Here are the lyrics…

Beautiful Lord, wonderful Savior

I know for sure all of my days are held in Your hand

And crafted into Your perfect plan

You gently called me into Your presence

Guiding me by Your Holy Spirit

Teach me dear Lord, to live all of my life

Through Your eyes

 –

And I’m captured by Your Holy calling

Set me apart, I know You’re drawing me to Yourself

Lead me Lord, I pray

 –

Take me

Mold me

Use me

Fill me

I give my life to the Potter’s hand

Call me

Guide me

Lead me

Walk beside me

I give my life to the Potter’s hand

 –

You gently call me into Your presence

Guiding me by Your Holy Spirit

Teach me dear Lord, to live all of my life

Through Your eyes

So what does the song mean?

In my honest opinion, the clearest meaning behind the song relates to the creation of humanity done long ago by God and the purpose He prepared. In the song’s title, the word potter was used to symbolize the creator. The potter is the one who creates pots using raw materials and special skills (molding, timing, estimating, shaping, etc.). It was God, not some accidental phenomenon of science, who created the human race. As such, we need to go back to the very beginning in the Holy Bible starting with the Book of Genesis.

It was written on Genesis 1: 26-28 (NKJV):

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Take note that on verse 26, God’s words were “Our image” which turned out to be the Holy Trinity as explained in the New Testament. “Our image” most likely refers to such qualities as personality, reason and intellect along with the abilities to hear, see, speak and relate. In short, the human race was created with God’s characteristics and He really had a plan on establish the earth as a world filled with His creations that carry His traits. This truth alone is worth reflecting when we ask ourselves why God created us in the first place.

Part of humanity’s creation was for man to be God’s kingdom agent on earth. Man was meant to rule and subdue the rest of creation, including the aggressive satanic forces. God said, “let them have dominion,” which gave man the authority to execute and maintain His rules on earth. In return, it was expected that man be always obedient to Him for He is, after all, the Creator of everything. Man’s power to reign in life will extend only as far as his faithfulness to God’s law.

God’s creation of man and woman formed the foundation of the house of the Lord. Through them, He intended to manifest His character and authority, express his dominion over the earth, display His indisputable power over the works of darkness, and subdue His archenemy Satan. It was clear all along that God had plans for humanity. Those plans were created before each and every one of us were even born!

From the song was the line I know for sure all of my days are held in Your hand followed immediately by And crafted into Your perfect plan. These two lines strongly reflect what God intended when He created the human race. As such, evil human traits like racism, extremism, discrimination, killing, idolatry, unfaithfulness, destruction, rebellion and abuse are clearly wrong and completely in opposite to God’s plans for humanity.

As recorded in Genesis chapter 3, humanity failed when Eve was tempted by the serpent (the evil one) into eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil which she gave to Adam who ate it. Adam, who was specifically commanded by God to never eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2: 15-17), committed rebellion against Him which led to an enduring series of chaos (wars, genocide, fascism, murder, crime, abusive governments and the like) in our world even until now.

Generations later, God sent to us His Son Jesus. It was Jesus who performed miracles, made people aware of God’s plan and love for them, set examples in accordance to God being a just creator, and ultimately redeemed humanity from Adam’s rebellion (refer to Hebrews 2: 14-15, Romans 8: 38-39, John 11: 25, Romans 6: 3-5, Galatians 3: 13 and Revelation 20: 6).

Clearly God had planned to save the flawed human race with Jesus! His own Son was sent to not only bring hope but also give humans the good news that God cares, loves and is willing to welcome them into His kingdom…and all it took was having faith in the Lord!

Jesus, who died for people’s sins, came back from the dead, made His return felt to several people and eventually rose to Heaven, achieved the most tremendous victory for humanity through redemption. He truly is the Messiah, the Redeemer and the Son of God whom we should all be thankful, faithful and obedient to. Jesus is the one we all should look up to for all time in our lives. Jesus is also God in the flesh which alone makes it important for us to reflect upon our creation. Creation itself is what The Potter’s Hand reflects.

To truly connect with Jesus and accept Him as our Lord and Savior, it is essential to be born again (this includes receiving the Holy Spirit into your heart) and this means breaking ourselves free from the chains of religion (along with its idols, teachings and rules that hinder people from establishing relationships with God) as well as the chains of unbelief. Being religious is NOT the same as being faithful to the Lord. Christianity is not religion but a way of life complete with faithfulness and a living relationship with the Lord. There is more to the personal relationship with God than there is to religion, and this is the truth that religious people don’t realize or have refused to accept as they allowed themselves to be trapped by religion. By becoming born again and receiving His spirit, you will truly become a child of God as well as a saved soul.

Trust me. I know! In my old life, religion ultimately led me to ruin and becoming lost. I was even hostile to Christianity during my lost years. After becoming born again, I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior and then a series of positive changes plus blessings (including love) followed. Thanks to Jesus, my life has moved forward by leaps and bounds! My true purpose in life has been realized and my faith in the Lord will never fade away. I have been saved, reformed and redeemed!

As Lord and Savior, Jesus is the true reformer and redeemer for humanity. Reform to be worthy of becoming part of the Kingdom of God is only possibly by having faith in Jesus. Reform led by Jesus is way beyond what any man could ever achieve. A man living in today’s age of social media and smartphones can arrogantly present himself as a reform-minded savior (or “reformer”, a fake one at that) and attract some fans (some of whom become obsessed by his charm and even commit idolatry) by using technology but ultimately he will NEVER match the impact of Jesus! People who seek salvation don’t need idols, don’t need to worship people and don’t need religion. They need Jesus!

Remember these very powerful words Jesus said in John 3: 3 (NKJV)

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Going back to The Potter’s Hand, take note of the following lyrics.

You gently called me into Your presence

Guiding me by Your Holy Spirit

Teach me dear Lord, to live all of my life

Through Your eyes

 –

And I’m captured by Your Holy calling

Set me apart, I know You’re drawing me to Yourself

Lead me Lord, I pray

As His children, God called us and He has plans for each and every one of us since before the beginning of time. The true purpose of being Christian includes humbling ourselves, submitting ourselves to the Lord, learning and re-learning His lessons with deep dedication (this means intense learning from Him through the Holy Bible), realizing His plan for each of us, repenting our sins directly to Him, being faithful to Him, following His lead and meeting His High Call. The above lyrics symbolized these elements.

Truly God created us all with very solid purposes. By realizing our true purpose as Christians, we acknowledge the Holy Bible (not rituals, not traditions, not idolatry and not religion) is the ultimate authority as it is the true path to Lord, having faith in the Lord is sufficient for salvation, having a personal relationship with God is essential, spreading our Christian faith to help save the many unsaved souls.

All these lessons as confirmed by Holy Bible make The Potter’s Hand truly a very holy and meaningful song. As such, The Potter’s Hand is worthy of praising the Lord with, especially on Sunday worship at church.

Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Also my fantasy book The World of Havenor is still available in paperback and e-book format. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me as well. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me at HavenorFantasy@twitter.com