So today, I’d love to give you some gifts the Lord has given me recently- some may seem like simple truth, but lately I’ve just been really needing to grasp that simple truth a little more.
I hope that what He’s given me can also be something special for you and give you hope for where you are. Also… if you want to listen to or read what I’ve been reading, get a pen and paper(or the notes page on your phone) to jot them them down. I’ll give you a list at the end of this blog.
“Nietzsche said “without music, life would be a mistake.” And, though I’ve made plenty of mistakes in music and in life, I think I agree with him. Music has given me a language that words cannot. In many ways, my life lessons have been music lessons: the song has taught me how to live and life has taught me how to sing. I want you to join me in my music lessons. I want to convince you that your song is important.” (Jon Foreman, “Music Lessons”, Huffington Post)
I shared the quote above because I just read that article the other day and that paragraph just blew my mind. If you can find a minute or two in your day, you should definitely read that article. Isn’t that just incredible, though?! Your song is important. I love the way that good ol’ Jon words things. I feel like it is a beautiful picture of where I am. I am loving music and life in new ways. Hard ways, sometimes, but it’s worth the fight. I don’t always understand why I’m here or what I could offer the world that it doesn’t already have, but I’m slowly beginning to see the truth that the Father holds for me in the midst of all the thoughts I have.
He has given me a new passion for music and for worship in this time- I could tell you all the reasons I think that is, but I guess what matters for this conversation is that He has given me a passion.
He has also brightened my mind with His joy. I don’t always understand it and I’m still in the process of learning more about what it means to truly live from the Lords’ joy and from His strength. But this verse I found yesterday has really encouraged me, so I hope it can encourage you, too!
“So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.” (John 16:22-23)
You’ve probably heard it before, but I just recently found myself so amazed by it. No one- NO ONE- can take the joy given to you by the Father, away from you. It just blows me away!
Found these verses yesterday, as well. They are simple, yet profound truths that we should all remember.
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
“I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent them into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” (John 17:15-16)
In all of these verses from John, Jesus is either talking to his disciples or praying to His Father- just to give you a little context.
I just want to leave you with this:
I pray that you may have blessing and protection in your life and that only the Lord’s truth may make its way into your heart- that you may know deeply your worth in Jesus Christ. I pray for the capacity for joy and peace in your heart to expand until it seems there is no more space to hold it all.
I appreciate you a whole lot! Thanks for reading and if you’re looking to read some more or listen to something incredible, here’s my list:
“Music Lessons”- article by Jon Foreman on Huffington Post. Also can be found on jonforeman.com, under tab “Written Work”
“The Power of Vulnerability”- TED talk by Brene Brown
“The Happy Intercessor”- book by Beni Johnson (great book to read if you’re wanting to learn more about interceding and how joy and worship play into it)
“Love Does”- book by Bob Goff (super interesting book… just read it)
Also… I’m writing an actual update blog pretty soon, so stay tuned!
