It's the song of the redeemed
Rising from the African plain
It's the song of the forgiven
Drowning out the Amazon rain
The song of Asian believers [Not just Africans, Asians, or South Americans but everyone whether they know it or not (Mosiah 27:31)]
Filled with God's holy fire [The fire of the Joy in our hearts or the fire of shame and anger. It's a choice. Now. Matthew 5:45 "...for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."]
It's every tribe, every tongue, every nation
A love song born of a grateful choir
It's all God's children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns [!!]
It's all God's children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
Let it rise about the four winds
Caught up in the heavenly sound
Let praises echo from the towers of cathedrals
To the faithful gathered underground
Of all the songs sung from the dawn of creation
Some were meant to persist
Of all the bells rung from a thousand steeples
None rings truer than this
And all the powers of darkness
Tremble at what they've just heard [!!]
'Cause all the powers of darkness
Can't drown out a single word [!!]
When all God's children sing out
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
All God's people singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
Here's the thing: He reigns right now. I have just had to pay attention. I have had to put down all the empty distractions and really listen. He's there. He guides me. And from what I hear from others, he's guiding them too.
During the Lord's day many of his people expected a military hero in the Messiah who would come and free them from the Physical Bondage of Rome. They didn't understand that freedom from any kind of Bondage starts within the soul. Here is a quote I love by President Ezra Taft Benson that explains this concept better than I can:
So he reigns from the inside out. His Spiritual Second Coming has already started inside every true believer. Can you feel it (John 14:27; D&C 34:7)? And it will culminate in his Physical Second Coming. Don't miss out!
Newsboys
When I first heard this song it was after spending a long day studying the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I was in the car with my kids, running errands or something. I think I felt the song more than I heard it. It was so amazingly powerful! He reigns. No question about it.
I love the Newsboys for singing this song! What talent and what a way to use it! Hats off to them.
I heard this song on the radio in November of 2008 (I added it to my iPod soon after so I was able to look up the date). It used to be one of my favorites when I was a teenager in the 80s. When I heard it this time it took on a whole new meaning to me. I was going through some major Conflicts in my life, struggling to make things right. This song seemed to come straight from heaven. I know when that's true because it's like the song is singing the story my heart needs to hear even when my mind is thinking the only story there is, is the one I've been trying to get through day in and day out. And of course that's when the lyrics start spinning the story for me.
I've never seen you look like this without a reason
Another promise fallen through, another season passes by you
[So something was wrong inside of me. And the seasons were passing by me. Yet I kept ignoring it thinking I just had to "be the good girl you always have to be. Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know...well now they know..." But over time I discovered I had a confused idea of what it meant to be a good girl. I could feel I needed to learn something about Mercy and this song was giving me a clue as to what that was.]
Shock [Definitely shock.These lyrics expressed the intensity of my feelings. Kind of an outlet that said it was okay to reveal how I was feeling to Him. "Come up screamin'!"]
[This song has two perspectives--"you" which is second-person
perspective and "I" which is first-person perspective. This is the way I
have found the Lord speaks to me through the Holy Ghost. He speaks in both second and
first perspective when helping me through my issues. When he uses second-person, he's talking directly to me. When he uses first-person he's empathizing with me, taking on my voice, my thoughts, my feelings. So this first line of the second stanza that follows is him taking on my perspective.]
I never took the smile away from anybody's face [So he's basically saying, "You know you never have purposefully taken the smile away from anybody's face. This isn't how you roll."]
And that's a desperate way to look for someone who is still a child
[I needed to understand that I still had a Child side to me. I needed help. And I needed to go to Him for help.]
In a big country, dreams stay with you
Like a lover's [Love's] voice fires the mountainside
Stay alive
[I was beginning to understand that I needed to stop doubting or discounting my heart. I needed to acknowledge that even though I was doing all that I knew was right, I still felt like this couldn't be happily ever after. There was more for me to learn. Psalms 62:8; Mosiah 7:33; D&C 8:2]
I thought that pain and truth were things that really mattered
But you can't stay here with every single hope you had shattered
[Yeah, my hope was shattered. Just hearing Him say that brought be so much peace. I had been dead set on sacrificing my life even though I couldn't seem to give that sacrifice with Real intent on a day to day, event by event basis. Sacrifice without hope doesn't seem to work very well. It seemed dead. I was forcing myself to do what I knew was right. I hadn't stopped to think about The Sacrifice that was done for me which needed to become operable in my life in order for me to be able to sacrifice in Balance, with real intent, with Hope, in Love.]
I'm not expecting to grow flowers in a desert
But I can live and breathe and see the sun in wintertime
[Again, this is that first-second person perspective combination. I didn't expect to grow flowers in the desert. I knew life was hard. Things that mean the most take work! I was willing to take that. But shouldn't there be a little more Joy in the Journey? And I was talking about the core kind of Joy the kind that no Disneyland vacation, big house, or luxury cruise has the power to sustain. Maybe I was talking about Sustainable Joy. Where was that? Why wasn't it incremental? Would it only come after death? What did the scriptures say about this? (Alma 32:41-43)]
In a big country, dreams stay with you
Like a lover's [Love's] voice fires the mountainside [Love has a voice. It exists independently. Certain laws have to be obeyed so that it might flow. If they are not, then it will be stopped up. It's the politics of dancing. D&C 130:20-21; D&C 93:8-10, 20, 30]
Stay alive
[I hear this phrase, "Stay alive," repeated a lot in this song. There are opportunity costs to every sacrifice. We can sacrifice something Good for something Better. But we can also mistakenly sacrifice something Best for something Good. Making those choices, discerning between Good, Better, and Best is a crucial part of our Agency. And it defines who we are and who's we are (Matthew 10:34-39). So we need to decide what it is that we want to "stay alive" and what it is that we need to let go of in order to come alive. (see the talk "Good, Better, Best" by Dallin H. Oaks]
So take that look out of here, it doesn't fit you
Because it's happened doesn't mean you've been discarded
["been discarded" That's a pretty good description of how I felt. But He was saying I hadn't been discarded, that He would never discard me (3 Nephi 22:7-9). I just had to figure out what the story was and what He wanted me to do about it.]
Pull up your head off the floor, come up screaming
Cry out for everything you ever might have wanted
[This was key for me. What did I desire? What did I want? He wanted to know. He wanted me to know. And I wanted Him to know that I could not, would not consciously do anything against God's will to obtain my Desire. So I wanted to know how I could obtain that Desire within His boundaries--the Balance that he describes in the scriptures and within my heart? (D&C 82:10). And this became the crux of my Faith: "For with God nothing shall be impossible" (Luke 1:37) and "Whatsoever thing ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is good, in faith
believing that ye shall receive, behold, it shall be done unto you (Moroni 7:26).Stories have to be spun. Certain variables may need to be changed. But in Mercy balance can be maintained, regained, and strengthened.And only someone who has that Balance can sacrifice in HIS NAME (Mosiah 3:17).]
I thought that pain and truth were things that really mattered
But you can't stay here with every single hope you had shattered
Shock, 1, 2 [!!]
[...more repetition of chorus]
There's a Bigger Country than what is right before our Physical eyes and ears. We can sense its existence within us. There's another King in charge of that Country. It contains another brighter and everlasting story for each of us. And if we have eyes to see and ears to hear, we will see and hear it.
I love this song by Big Country! Music with an amazing beat has the capacity to convey great power when partnered with clean lyrics like this song! I believe that saintly choirs accompanied by organs do not have a monopoly on hymns of praise and songs of the heart. I love to find songs from all walks of life and from all genres that sing about the True Matters of the Soul.
He [She] said I was in my early 40's,
With a lot of life before me,
And a moment came that stopped me on a dime.
I spent most of the next days, lookin' at the x-rays,
Talkin' 'bout the options and talkin' 'bout sweet time [love]. [I changed this word because I have learned throughout my life that nothing is more important than maintaining this Christ-like love in our relationships whatever variables need to be changed.]
Asked him [her] when it sank in, that this might really be the real end.
How's it hit ya, when you get that kind of news.
Man what ya do.
And he [she] said,
[I like to think that these moments that stop us on a dime can refer to any kind of trials or adversity that we suddenly realize we have to bear. I will never forget those moments.]
[Chorus]
I went sky divin', [I've talked a lot about "losing our life" in order to find it. And seriously, I've been given some pretty heavy things that I am required to believe in. And in order to walk in faith, I've needed to do certain things that have felt just like sky diving would feel.]
I went rocky mountain climbin', [To me this meant figuring out what the heck I could do to make it right. It meant studying the scriptures and praying like I had never done before. And not just for a short period of time but as a new habit I recognized I had to establish in my life in order to make it through.]
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull name Fumanchu. [The bull represents hell for me. It represents all the battles I've had with the adversary. I've never ridden a bull or a fake one but I've seen it done and it's a pretty good representation of how I felt at times.]
And I loved deeper, [When I finally let go of my Specific expectations, looked at my Desires from a more General perspective, and redirected them to a more appropriate source for me--when I finally did this--the love for everyone in my life sank down into the depths of my soul.]
And I spoke sweeter, [Seriously. Everything changed.]
And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying, [I didn't really understand where I hadn't been forgiving or what needed to be Fore-Given before. But when I allowed others to be what they wanted to be without trying to force them into being what I needed them to be which was more than they were able to be and then turned to my Savior for what I needed, wow, it was so amazing!]
And he said someday I hope you get the chance,
To live like you were dyin'. [And that's why I'm posting this song. I really hope everyone gets the chance to not just give up their lives, their selves but give them up to Jesus Christ. What life he gives back is hands down the best thing I've ever experienced. I mean I'm seriously done searching for more. I've found it.]
He [She] said I was finally the husband [wife],
That most the time I wasn't. [Until I was loved the way He loved me I couldn't be the wife I knew I inherently Desired and HAD to be. I mean there was no other choice unless I wanted to be eternally miserable. I had to become more than I was.]
And I became a friend a friend would like to have. [Letting go of myself helped me to focus more on the needs and Desires of my family and friends instead getting into these feelings of victimization when things didn't go as I expected.]
And all the sudden goin' fishing,
Wasn't such an imposition.
And I went three times that year I lost my dad. [This refers to anything I didn't really like to do before, things that
bored me or were an "imposition." Afterwards they flowed out of me so naturally.]
Well I finally read the good book,
And I took a good long hard look at what I'd do
If I could do it all again. [I had read the good book and other good books before, but there are levels of looking at it. It was finally this good long hard look and the application of it in my life that turned the key.And there's no use dwelling on could of-should of things. We start now. That's why Jesus died for us. To give us that chance now. It's not too late.]
And then.
[Chorus]
Like tomorrow was a gift and you've got eternity
To think about what you do with it,
What could you do with it, what can
I do with with it, what would I do with it.
[I knew I had a choice. I had to make my choice. I had to make sure that this choice was in alignment with God's will for me. I was trying to find the Justice in it. But what I found instead was the Mercy in it. I realized that sometimes I have to accept Mercy for me. And it was hard because even though I came to the point where I understood that Mercy, it meant I would have to hurt people because they wouldn't understand. That made it seem contrary to giving up my life: What about the Mercy I committed to give to others? It made it seem like I was being selfish. Yet I couldn't and had never before been ABLE to give up my life on a daily basis and in all my relationships like I was now able to give it up. I came to be filled with Mercy. It just started flowing out of me. And I realized that even though it did hurt others, it was only temporary and that when we accept his Mercy for us, he will also give it to--compensate, atone for, redeem--all those who have been called to help me bear my burden. I'm so thankful for those who have chosen to bear that burden when it came to them--especially my kids.]
[Chorus]
Sky divin',
I went rocky mountain climbin',
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull name Fumanchu.
And I loved deeper,
And I spoke sweeter,
And I watched an eagle as it [He] was flyin'. [The eagle I watched flying was Jesus Christ. I studied his life, studied his choices, his actions, his words and pondered them deeply. He never ceased to amaze me.]
And he said someday I hope you get the chance,
To live like you were dyin'.
To live like you were dyin'.
To live like you were dyin'.
To live like you were dyin'.
To live like you were dyin'.
rt: Tim Mcgraw, lft: Tim Mcgraw with song writers Tim Nicols and Craig Wiseman
This song was written by Tim Nicols and Craig Wiseman. And there is a story behind it. I've read it. If you want to buy it, here is a link: Live Like You Were Dying
I am so grateful for these song writers and for Tim McGraw singing it. It was such a balm for my soul during those hard times, a way for me to understand more fully what I was going through.
"Sometimes I think
What will people [Christ] say of me [I try not to get caught up in what people think of me. I know they will think what they will as they did of Christ. Yet I do want my life to be a Cause to lead my Children to develop a closer relationship with their Savior.]
When I'm only just a memory
When I'm home where my soul belongs
[...where my soul belongs]
Was I love
When no one else would show up
Was I Jesus to the least of us
Was my worship more than just a song
[Seriously. I need to be real. I want to be real.]
Chorus
I want to live like that ["like that" to me means like Jesus
Christ lived. I picture him and his life and his sacrifice. How could I
ignore his story? It reaches out and affects me even across the gulf of
time between his lifetime and mine.]
And give it all I have [I know this is all that's expected. No more. No less.]
So that everything I say and do
Points to You
[The only way it can point to him is if I receive him First as my Savior, my God, my guide, my coach, my Cause.]
If love is who I am
Then this is where I'll stand [Mosiah 5:15] [Sometimes I focus too much on what I can change in order to be better. Understanding that there are things I need to make a stand in has helped me gain greater peace and strength in my life.]
Recklessly abandoned [Mark 8:35]
Never holding back
[Never holding back!]
I want to live like that
I want to live like that
Am I proof
That You are who you say You are [He's so beautiful!]
That grace can really change our heart
Do I live like Your love is true
[This echos my words and my Desire.]
People pass
And even if they don't know my name
Is there evidence that I've been changed
When they see me, do they see You
[We can get confused and think our value comes from whether people really do see Christ in us. But whether THEY do or do not does not define who we are. Yet it is important for their sakes that they feel the love of our Savior through us. Through our interactions with them, they sense that we're truly thinking of them and their needs before our own. This is no show. That is what Christ has done for us and so that is what we do for them.]
Repeat Chorus
I want to show the world [my Children, family, friends, all those who I interact with] the love You gave for me [When we talk about "showing the world" it's easy to picture ourselves on stage. But that frame of mind has never returned Sustainable Results. It's more important for me to think about one person at a time. The empathy and admiration in my heart is more easily accessed for them when I think of their story, what they have been through, what they need one by one.3 Nephi 17:21]
I'm longing for the world to know the glory of the King
[Those who don't know him would find Sustainable Joy if they did.]
I want to live like that
I want to live like that
I want to live like that"
I love this group! "Sidewalk Prophets"
I love their testimony of Jesus Christ. Just listen to their voices! I can feel how much they love him through this song. And I love to join my voice, my heart, with theirs in worship of this Amazing Being.
This song is really called "She's So High" by Tal Bachman. But of course I spin the lyrics and the fundamental idea behind it. I change the she to a he and the He I'm talking about is Jesus Christ. The height I'm talking about is his amazing Balance and love as both a General and Specific Cause.
She's He's blood, flesh and bone
No tucks or [touch of] silicone
He's touch, smell, sight, taste and sound
[So completely and utterly REAL! Nothing pseudo, false, plastic, fake.]
But somehow I can't believe
That anything should happen
I know where I belong
And nothing's gonna happen
Yeah, yeah
[Sometimes I feel so unworthy of his presence. Will he really answer me? Does he really have time for me? He's so high. He is God, Creator of the earth and the entire universe. So many people I know that are so high don't give me the time of day. It's all about them. They are so conscious of their highness. Is he different from them?]
(Chorus):
'Cause he's so high...
High above me, he's so lovely
He's so high...
Like Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, or Aphrodite Martin Luther, Alma, Nephi, or Joseph [Some of my favorites! So amazingly beautiful but so down to earth.]
He's so high...
High above me
First class and fancy free
He's high [my] society [I prefer his Effects to anyone else's]
He's got the best of everything [This is for sure!]
What could a girl like me
Ever really offer?
He's perfect as he can be
Why should I even bother?
[There must be some paradoxical truth at work here. Something like the Little Drummer Boy or the widow and the mite. So I sing the Little Drummer Boy song to him.]
(Repeat Chorus)
He comes to speak to me
I freeze immediately
'Cause what he says sounds so unreal
[As I read the scriptures and other stories of truth, his voice echoes through them in the Effects I experience. It verifies General truths and then reveals Specific ones for my ears only. And I stop everything else I'm doing. I leave my "boat and my nets" like Peter and follow him. Literally I have a reason now to be good, motivation to try my hardest to maintain my Balance even in the face of Imbalance.]
But somehow I can't believe
That anything should happen
I know where I belong
And nothing's gonna happen
Yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah
[This is an unfinished song in many ways. It expresses how I feel in the midst of my leaps of faith. It speaks of my challenge to believe in things that are unseen yet are true. It speaks of me trying to believe him when I see him walking on the sea like a spiritand he says, "It is I; be not afraid."
I heard this song for the first time about 6 years ago and was attracted to it because of its passion. When I hear passion in a love song I'm glad when it is purifiable. If it's not I avoid it like the plague. Purifiable means it's not blatantly speaking of the kind of love-lust Process that Survival of the Fittest Causes engage in. And even if that was what the original song writer meant underneath the words, I spin it, cleanse it and turn it into REAL love with passion.
Idolatry is REAL love placed upon an unworthy object or person. An unworthy person is someone who cannot or will not return the level of commitment we are willing to offer. Or it is Desire without our own commitment. It is wanting to obtain the prize without engaging in the Inherent Process that belongs to that person or thing (D&C 130:20-21). I spin or flip into opposites all these variables in order to purify the song:
I address the song to a VERY worthy person.
I change the meaning of any edgy lyrics to something real, true, and paradoxical. For example, "tucks" and "silicone" may be referring to plastic surgery but I change them to refer to the difference between a Pseudo Cause and a Real Cause. Through experience I have come to feel the flesh and bone difference between these two.
As I sing the song to him, I'm pledging my utter commitment to him in my quest to identify and obey to the best of my ability (and through his grace) whatever law is attached to the Desires I'm asking for.
In this way, I claim the song as my own. : ) I use it to keep my love and commitment fresh in my heart and mind. Real love is not bereft of passion. It is full of a depth of passion that is endless.
When I'm working through the storms of my life I'm pretty stressed. During those times nothing else seems to be able to reach me as powerfully as music. But I don't just listen to the music. I listen to the lyrics and my heart. I listen for meaning and how it specifically applies to my life and the current conflict I'm trying to resolve. Bottom line: I'm listening for my Savior's voice in the song. I reach for him, not just with my physical ears but with my spiritual ears. I think I have done this ever since I was a little girl without even knowing what I was doing. It is some kind of instinctive, spiritually genetic skill.
So it is pretty often that I spin the lyrics in a song. I translate them to my situation, to fit my story. For example, if it is a woman singing to a man, I might swap it to a man singing to a woman if I am in need of my Savior's confirmation, comfort, and guidance. I listen to what he might be saying to me through these words.
Love songs are obviously singing about the relationship between a man and a woman but I spin them so that I hear the words singing about my relationship with my God. I let the Spirit govern my translations. Since I have had so many experiences in the past where the lyrics in a song (accompanied by that feeling of peace) have been instrumental in healing my heart, my faith in this Process is strong.
I did this one day a number of years ago when I was really struggling with an issue in my life. I had gone on my walk around the neighborhood with my iPod on. The following song came on (it's from my aerobics instructor playlist). I remember I was trudging up a hill when it was like someone said, "Hey, listen." I heard these comforting words as if they were straight from Him to me:
Superwoman
by Sonny O'Brien
[During my walk I changed this to 'Superman' and thought of Christ singing it to me]
Whenever you need me, whenever you call
whenever your world comes tumbling down, [My world was tumbling down]
I will break the fall
'cause I've got the power, to depend on
when a hero is all that it takes,
so if you need somebody [Man, I needed somebody]
I am your super[man], I'll be there for you
I am your super[man], I will care for you [I needed someone to care for me in this way]
no matter how hard, no matter how tough
I'll lift you up, and if you want it enough [the lyrics I found said something different on this line but I'm pretty sure this is what she sings in this version of this song]
I am your super[man], everyday
I'll climb any mountain, I'll swim any sea
I'll even fly to heaven and back, if you believe in me
'cause I've got the magic you can count on
when a miracle has to be done,
so if you need somebody
Repeat
I didn't just hear the words. Something happened in my heart as I listened. Wave after wave of peace flowed into it like waves crashing on the shores of a beach. It was so amazingly pure and powerful. I could feel His presence. And I knew without a doubt that he was communicating to me. He wanted me to know that he was enough for me. At the time I was in despair and felt like NOTHING could resolve my conflict. NOTHING. I had nowhere to go. I had no answers. And even though he didn't give me specific answers at this time, I felt utterly and completely comforted. I don't know why. I usually want answers and don't feel better until I get them. I guess it was just knowing that He was there for me. I could FEEL he understood what I was going through. It was like he was holding me.
In hindsight I can see that he did know exactly what was going on and why I was feeling the way I was. I can see now that I wouldn't have been able to understand then. I didn't have enough information. I didn't know the full story and it couldn't be explained to me yet. Over time I've come to understand it but in that moment on that day I didn't. Yet this song, the words he said to me through it combined with the peace I experienced was enough. It's not that I didn't have other people to call and talk to about how I was feeling. I did and I'm thankful for that. It's that what other people usually had to say to me or how I felt when I talked to them wasn't enough. I have come to know this about myself: I need Him. Whatever it is that he is and he has that is different from what other caring and compassionate people have, I need it.
I am so thankful to Sonny O'Brien for this song. It has been a lifeline to me, a means by which I can reach heaven and it can reach me.
When I was young and I read phrases like "sing redeeming love" or "songs of praise" I didn't really get it. It has only been since my heart has led the way in desiring to sing redeeming love that I finally do get it. And the following song expresses why my heart does this now. My son, Aaron, sent this song to me as one of his favorites! It has become one of mine. I have included the lyrics below and have commented on them in the [blue brackets].
"Me Without You"
by TobyMac
Raindrops rollin' off my brim
Streetlights got the pavement glistenin'
Touchdown, I fall into Your arms
Right where I belong
Your everlasting arms [I so connect with this]
And where would I be
Without You... [exactly!]
I'd be packin' my bags when I need to stay
I'd be chasin' every breeze that blows my way [yep]
I'd be building my kingdom just to watch it fade away
It's true
That's me without You-ou-ou-ou-ou-ou
That's me without You-ou-ou-ou-ou-ou
That's me without You-ou-ou-ou-ou-ou [I have to dance in my kitchen during this part--D&C 136:28]
Don't know where I'd be without You
(Wooooah, without you)
Flashback, step into the scene
There's You and there's a very different me [I know all about this!]
Touchdown, You had me at believe
You had me at believe, You did
And where would I be
Without You, without You...
(Repeat Chorus)
(Where would I be...) [WHISPERING]
(I was so deep,
So incomplete
Til' You rescued me
Yeah, You rescued me) [Tears and the deepest impact in my heart when I contemplate what he's saying here. You have to listen close--on headphones to hear this part.]
You rescued me
You are mine, I am Yours
You rescued me
And I am Yours forever
You saved me, remade me [It's funny that he sings the very same song my heart is singing!]
(Repeat Chorus)
The meaning that this song conveys is the reason I am starting this blog called "Sing Redeeming Love." Some days I feel like I'm going to burst with how thankful I am to Jesus Christ for what he has done for me. And music seems to be the best way for me to express such sacred deep feelings. My blog, Special Ops Moms, conveys a more expanded version of how I progressed in my journey from:
Point A: Flashback, step into the scene There's You and there's a very different me
To Point B: Touchdown, You had me at believe
You had me at believe, You did
The Servant Program, both the website and the videocasts, conveys the core structure of my journey or what I have been taught along the journey. It asks questions of the reader. This enables me to pass on what I have been given.
My heart-felt thanks to TobyMac for sharing his talents in conveying this message through music!
