What I Want You to Know

What I want you to know

They say sometimes we wait too long

And that we should be reminded 

That we should never forget to say what matters most

So here’s a couple things

A few important notes

What I want you to know

Is you are deeply loved

Not just by friends or your family

But by a Heavenly Father above

The arms of heavenly grace

Holding you firm, holding you secure

God’s gentle embrace,

Keeping you near

What I want you to know

Is every passing moment has a price

A cost and an opportunity 

and that every earthly treasure we acquire

pales in the light of eternity.

So keep your mind set above

Not on these fading things

What I want you to know

Is times won’t always be good

There are times of great darkness

You’ll be tested more than you ever thought you could

And when you cross that bridge 

where the waters seem so deep

I pray you’ll remember the nail scarred hands 

that hold your soul safely in their keep.

What I want you to know

Is that I am often proud

Of who you’re growing to be

And pray you always stand on solid ground

Remember that you never walk alone

Our precious holy God and son,

Never leave you on your own.

There’s so much I’d like to say

If I could find the words,

The grandness of the savior’s story

And his love laid down for you

This - this above all is what I want you to know

Definitions

“Definitions”

Faithful- there’s no one faithful like you.  You’re the God who ever chases, who always pursues.  You never fail, all your promises come true.  You never give up on your plan, your rescue. From Adam to David to Jesus to Paul, its your covenant work, your efforts alone that rescued them all.  You’re faithful - God you are faithful.

In all things, in all ways you define what is true

You are the standard all things measure by

So help me make less of me and much more of you

So God I want everything I do to be defined by you

Holy - there’s no one Holy like you.  Perfect in power, perfect in virtue.  Worthy of worship, worthy of praise, you are worthy.  On earth, in heaven there is no one like you.  In all things you’re righteous, heaven’s pure light.  Judging justly and truly, all your judgements are right.  You’re Holy, God you are holy.

In all things, in all ways you define what is true

You are the standard all things measure by

So help me make less of me and much more of you

So God I want everything I do to be defined by you

Mighty - there’s no one mighty like you.  You make and sustain more than our eyes can see.  You’re a strong fortress that cannot be overcome.  The wind and the waves bow to your will.  Those purchased by your blood can’t be plucked from your hand.  By your power the darkness is undone.  You’re mighty - God you are mighty.

In all things, in all ways you define what is true

You are the standard all things measure by

So help me make less of me and much more of you

So God I want everything I do to be defined by you

Outside this Window

Outside this window there’s a depot

A hub where people come and go

Here and there they wander – to missions unknown

Some filled with purpose, some wandering astray

Seeking direction – trying to find their way

 

And you remain standing – unshaken and still

A lighthouse of direction in seas that can run rough

A beacon reminding that you love us,

And that love is enough.

 

Outside this window there’s a steeple,

A cross covered in the rain

The clouds have rolled in and still it remains

A steady symbol of hope, the attentive can’t ignore,

There is the one - who still calms our storms

 

You remain standing – unshaken and still

A lighthouse of direction in seas that can run rough

A beacon reminding that you love us,

And that love is enough.

 

Outside this window there’s a world

A wealth of experience and need.

A meager shadow puppet of what it was supposed to be.

A shell and a frame purposed for so much more

Longing for a carpenter to rebuild and restore.

 

And you remain standing – unshaken and still

A lighthouse of direction in seas that can run rough

A beacon reminding that you love us,

And that love is enough.

 

Outside this life there is a heaven,

A place of wonder and relief

A work begun and completed by a savior’s mercy.

In that place there’s a people, God himself has rescued

Where there’s a new name waiting for me and for you.

 

Hallelujah, Our God makes all things new

Hallelujah, The Lord will see us through

There's lots of worship songs out there now.  Some of them are very good (See Andrew Peterson's "Is He Worthy?" as a great example).  Others, well...sometimes they seem...incomplete.  There's one out there that ever since I heard it, I can't help but feel that it is missing a large chunk of everything.  So with apologies to the original author, I've made some additions.  If you know the original song, I may be off on the number of repeats, these numbers are for demonstration purposes only.

Original Version

This is how I fight my battles (x20)

It may look like I’m surrounded, but I’m surrounded by you. (x10)

Bk’s Expanded Version

In this world there is struggle

In this world there is pain

Times when we don’t understand a thing

We fight for meaning

We long to break through

 

And as worries and doubts try to creep in…

It may look like I’m surrounded, but I’m surrounded by you

This is how I fight my battles

                (Finding truth in your word)

This is how I fight my battles

                (Waiting for you to Move)

This is how I fight my battles

                (With my knees bent to you)

This is how I fight my battles

                (Surrendering to your will)

 

There are times when darkness seems so deep

There are times when this world makes it hard to sleep

When conflict runs so long and so deep

When we need to push back and find some peace.

 

And as that darkness closes in…

It may look like I’m surrounded, but I’m surrounded by you

This is how I fight my battles

                (You light up the dark)

This is how I fight my battles

                (Holding the hand of my savior)

This is how I fight my battles

                (Your strength pulls me through)

This is how I fight my battles

                (Trusting in your promises Lord)

 

When I’m tempted to forget,

That you know my name

When guilt and shame play their games,

The accuser stands ready,

To point out our sin and coat us with blame.

 

And as the enemy builds his case…

It may look like I’m surrounded, but I’m surrounded by you.

 

This is how I fight my battles

                (Redeemed by your blood)        

This is how I fight my battles

                (Holding to the risen son)

This is how I fight my battles

                (Leaning on the grace you give)

This is how I fight my battles

(Trusting in the work you’ve done)

Wow...

So, it's been a LOOOOOOOONG time since I touched this blog, the dust is so thick I sneezed twice trying to make this post...

If anyone's still out there...here's a new one for you..

Too Much

Standing in your shadow, thinking of the injustice of it all,

I’m complaining through my prayers at an order just so tall,
Your voice whispers to my heart just what I should do,
Yet I struggle and resist like I’m a child of two,

 I didn’t send my son to death on a tree

And I don’t hold in my hands all eternity
yet still I think – God you ask too much of me

 

When letting go of our desires becomes the cost of chasing you
When life round here gets crazy and there’s so much yet to do
And there’s so many clouds around that the sun cannot break through
I struggle and I cry,

I didn’t send my son to death on a tree

And I don’t hold in my hands all eternity
yet still I think – God you ask too much of me

When the world comes crashing against what we know is true

The fight comes right to us and the things we value
When we’re so lost that we don’t know what to do
We can feel your push, the words you’d want to say…

 I didn’t send my son to death on a tree

And I don’t hold in my hands all eternity
yet still I think – God you ask too much of me

When you ask me to act in a world filled with pain and tragedy

To stand in the face of lies and duplicity
When the right thing to do grabs my heart like a vice
And I can’t avoid the fact that it won’t feel very nice
When God grabs on and just keep squeezing

I didn’t send my son to death on a tree

And I don’t hold in my hands all eternity
yet still I think – God you ask too much of me

When I can see where I’ve gone wrong,

But I’m hesitant to change,
I’m asking you now…and I know

It’s never too much, never too much, never too much for you.

 

Ten

At long last....number ten...

I feel like this one ended more abruptly than I planned - victim of severe cuts that were made because I felt it was moving in too many directions at once. Maybe I can salvage some of the cut material into something different. Could take months. haha.

"If you asked me"

I guess I wanted to be the hero for you,
My imagination tells me, this dream would compel me,
into the man every boy would like to be.
To run into danger’s cold embrace
Through fire, the tongues of red hot flames
And rescue you, whatever trial you were going through

If you had asked me, I’d have said “there’s nothing I won’t do,”
To show the love, the depth of love, that I had for you
To be honest though, we both know - only God knows if it’s true.
Is there really anything I would not have done…if you asked me to…

I guess I thought it would be harder than this,
we’ve been given so much, we could have done much with less,
Say it’s different now, I know I can’t complain,
Everything that’s come our way, molds and shapes us like potters clay,
Though I may not be the knight I dreamed I’d be,
I’ve still got these words that I would say…

If you had asked me, I’d have said “there’s nothing I won’t do,”
To show the love, the depth of love, that I had for you
To be honest though, we both know - only God knows if it’s true.
Is there really anything I would not have done…if you asked me to…

Don’t know why I would have thought it would be easier than this.
The challenges we have faced have been more than I guessed.
Say it’s different now, I guess I was naïve
Thinking it would be easier every day, I should not be deceived so easily.
Shed those tears, cry those cries, this will not go away
We’ve come these miles, won’t you walk a bit further with me.

If you had asked me, I’d have said “there’s nothing I won’t do,”
To show the love, the depth of love, that I had for you
To be honest though, we both know - only God knows if it’s true.
Is there really anything I would not have done…if you asked me to…

If you had asked me…but you didn’t ask me,
Things didn’t quite go that way. It’s a bit different now,
We don’t know why, we may not know how, but it’s different now,
Most things move on and they’re never quite the same,
But we know love, and that’s always the same.

If you asked me, but you didn’t ask me…
And you didn’t have to.

Nine

Okay - forgive the dust, sometimes I have dry spells. This one didn't turn out quite how I hoped. I wasn't able to turn it around to where I wanted to go with it without making it cheesy. In any case, I'm sure not many people read these things anyways...so...



Abandoned houses

Empty, the life has moved away,
the lamp has darkened as the skies have gone grey.　
Lost interst, broken principles. Walking away...

It used to be that things looked so bright.
The sun can't get brighter on Easy Street when everything is going right.
Even the shadows never looked so menacing under the reflections of a brighter day.
Now paint can't cover flaws and phantoms under the once trodden stairway
in these abandoned houses.　

It's not that nobody cared. Quite the opposite may be true.
Even choice takes you down a wrong road or two -
Count these as lessons learned. Perhaps the thought of meeting "the dream"
has faded like the color from the lawns and the trees.　
Delusions of granduer perhaps have fallen, been bruised and scraped - wounded.

There's no one home, they've moved on
What's left here among the weeds and the broken fences?
The welcome's gone from the mat in the doorway
How we wish a light would shine through the window once again -
there's so much more here than they've become... for these abandoned homes.

But they're not gone forever, where the light once shone.
Not every house can rest empty, there's still room for hope
Looking on their eyes, windows to the soul, the heart still holds a treasure.
Like broken hearts, these can be restored.

Don't let the clutter block your path to the door,
there's more value here than maybe even before,
The experience of choices, though the scars remain,
can rebuild life into the walls and the frame,
who will point the light to these darkened halls,
to restore the life they were created for...

Can you invest the time in these abandoned houses...