Something Simple
I love you, Lord
And I lift my voice
To worship You
Oh, my soul rejoice!
Take joy my King
In what You hear
Let it be a sweet, sweet sound in Your ear
Lord, I needed something simple– nothing long and involved – to express myself to You this morning.
Here’s a very nice video of the song and I also found a lovely “Story behind the song…” Have a blessed day!
Story behind the song: ‘I Love You Lord’
“It was a dark time in my life. We had no extra money, no friends nearby, no church home and my husband was busy all of the time with his studies. I didn’t drive, so I couldn’t get away. We lived on a highway in a mobile home, so I couldn’t even put the baby in a stroller and go for a walk. Our only neighbors were people long retired and tired of life. When I needed some encouragement there was no extra money for long distance calls to family or friends. I was lonely. The only thing I was committed to was trying to get up each morning before our baby, then a toddler, and spend some time with Jesus. I knew that was where the ‘life’ was.”
“The day the song came, I had gotten up early and was sitting with my Bible and my guitar. I realized that I didn’t have anything in me to sing to Jesus. I just didn’t have anything in me to offer Him. I was so empty. So, I prayed and said to the Lord, ‘If you want to hear me sing, would you give me something that you would like to hear?’”
“I started strumming on the guitar and the first words came out of my mouth with absolutely no effort. I love you Lord, and I lift my voice to worship You. I scribbled them on a piece of paper, just in case I would want to remember them, and sing them again. Those words meant a lot to me.”
I wondered if I could play the melody again — if I would even remember. I played and sang the two lines again. They were still there, in my mind. The last two lines just followed as effortlessly as the first two had come. It was a gift from God that just wrote itself.”
“Though it is a very simple song, it changed everything for me, and it still is changing life for me. When you are in a dark valley and the Lord gives you light, it makes all the difference, and you keep growing.”
Then Laurie shared with me this heartwarming story:
“The most meaningful time that I ever heard anyone sing my song was in the fall of 2000 while my husband and I were in a Discipleship Training School. Late one night in the dormitory, I heard a baby crying. I slipped down the hall to the outside of the door just to pray for the baby, that it would be able to sleep. As I was praying outside the door, I heard the mother singing a song, but the little one kept crying. She then began to sing “I Love You Lord,” and while she was singing, the baby fell asleep. The mother had no idea that the one who wrote the song was just outside the door.”
“We love Him, because he first loved us.” – 1 John 4:19
Apr 18th, Tues, 6:42 am
Unfulfilled Cravings
Oh, Father, this week has already been full and it’s only early Tuesday morning! There’s much more to rest of this week – things of vital importance. I am grateful that You are with me. I willingly give myself over to You. Use me to impact those with whom I come in contact. May Your love dominate everything I say and do. Amen.
1 John 2:15-17 (<<click here)
As I read this through this passage, Lord, it conveys the ideas of fleeting – here today and gone tomorrow – short lived – unfulfilling. That’s what the world offers. It’s glitzy and appealing to the eye but when, and if, we can even get ahold of “it”, the joy it brings quickly passes. Then off we go on the next excursion…only to have the entire scenario repeat itself.
John states in verse 16,
“For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions.” (emphasis mine)
This old sin-filled world never offers genuine, lasting satisfaction. It offers plenty of cravings for all kinds of pleasures and things, but we are just grasping handfuls of smoke. We think we have something but it just vanishes before our eyes, leaving us nothing to show for our efforts and only emptiness in our souls.
Lord, only when we seek out a relationship with You do we find satisfaction. Our love for You and what we accomplish in that love are the only things that will last but a moment in the reality of time. Only those things will last for eternity.
May I be diligent in investing in eternity. May love overrule my life. May I be seeking to interject You and Your love into every situation and relationship I come across. May I give the world more than just a craving but may I give it the reality of You. Love the world through me, Lord. Amen.
Apr 18th, Tues, 5:22 am
The Reality of You
Thank You, Father, for You, for Your overwhelming love, for the reality of who You are. Where, oh where, would I be without You! I love You, Father…
I tend to get fairly emotional when I am weary and, Lord, I have surely been both the last few days. But I also know that it is far more than weariness that has brought me to tears over the last few days. I have cried, and am crying even as I type… because of You. Just thinking of You and all that You have done for me…all that You went through…for me…for all of us…
Readying for last night’s Maundy Thursday service, I listened to Michael Cards, “Come to the Table”, to Twila Paris’s “Lamb of God”, and to Cheri Keaggy’s “In Remembrance of Me” and I wept… In preparation for our Easter Sunrise service, I listened to Sandi Patty’s “They Could Not” and I wept…
Then during last night’s service, we partook of communion. As I called people forward, I stood at the front with the plate and the cup. As they dipped their bread into the cup, I wept… I usually pass along a verbal blessing to each person by name, bidding them to remember what You did for them and conclude with, “bless you.” I could barely get out the bless You through my tears. Even now I weep. Oh, what You did for me, Lord!
Then this morning, before sitting down to type, I read a young mother’s post on Facebook. Thank you, Jennifer, for sharing.
Tonight we went to a passion play. Worried how Clay would respond we sat in the back, next to the door where the characters came in & out. I explained the process of what was happening…for the most part he was mesmerized. I kept asking him “is this real?” And he would respond, “no it’s a play!”
Half way through before Jesus was arrested, Jesus left the stage and came to the door we were standing by! Clay jumped out of my arms and whispered to me “look it’s Jesus! Oh, Mommy, I need to tell him that I love him, please let me go & please come with me.” Once he had my permission he literally ran to Jesus! This gracious man playing the role of Jesus squatted down, held out his hands as Clay ran to him, he hugged tightly, as he normally does…and he whispered in Jesus’ ear, “I love you, Jesus!” The actor hugged him back, and said back to him, “I love you too! Thank you for giving me a hug!”
This happened in the darkness of the scene, in the darkness of the sanctuary, no one knew it happened, except a tearful Mommy, a proud Daddy, a child & Jesus (both the actor & the Son of Man)!
In the darkness of your life, circumstances; look to the one who is reaching out to you waiting for your embrace & waiting for you to hear those words, “I love you too!”
Oh, the reality of who You are, Jesus. And it’s not just at Christmas, nor is it just at Easter. You are alive and well and are by my side. Where, oh where, would I be without You!
Apr 14th, Fri, 5:35 am
TAG NOT TO BE REMOVED
Father, Almighty God of all that is, I will never cease to be in awe of Your attention towards me. I see myself as one amongst billions! But You see me…as me and You interact with me because You love me. I am important to You. Thank You, Father, for Your love and personal attention.
In one of my excursions down the hall last night a thought occurred to me, Lord. It related to the kind of relationship that we have. My thought was about the infamous “TAG NOT TO BE REMOVED” tag on mattresses. OK, it like 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning and odd things can pop up in your mind! But hear me out.
When we come into existence we get a “TAG NOT TO BE REMOVED” tag. Now we can cut off a mattress tag (it’s really there to keep the manufacturer in line) but the tag on us is that we belong to You, our Creator. We are a one-of-a-kind being. We are created to fulfill a unique niche that no one else can. We are special.
But where we and the mattress differ is that our tag can’t be removed. We may not like the tag. We may deny that we were created. We may flat out deny the existence of our Creator…but our tag cannot be removed. We are who we are.
No matter how much we rebel. No matter how far we run. No matter how much disdain, apathy or hatred we may have for our Creator…He still loves us. We cannot sever the “tag” that binds us to You. And no matter how far we wander, we are never too far gone to return home – to the One who loves us.
Depending on where you stand Psalm 139:1-18 can be extremely comforting or, I suppose, infuriating. Take a moment and click on it to read it.
Lord, I for one am comforted by the words of David,
How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me! v.18
Amen!
Apr 12th, Wed, 6:38 am
Hate: Stumbling in the Dark
Father, what a day of emotions yesterday was – up and down and all around! I’m so glad You were along for the ride and continue to help me keep things in perspective. You are bigger than them all and all I have to do is to look up into Your face and know that we’ll get through it together.
1 John 2:9-11 (<<click here)
Lord, “hate” is a very potent word and in the next chapter, John even equates “[hating] another brother or sister”, i.e. a fellow believer, with murder. (1 John 3:15) From a very early age, it was drilled into me to not hate others. We might strongly dislike the actions of someone but we were never to hate them. It may seem like I am splitting hairs but even at my age I still feel that there is a big difference between the two. In Romans 12:9 Paul tells us,
“Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.”
When we “hate a fellow believer” we are “still living and walking in darkness” and hate coupled with darkness is always misleading. If we were to have to navigate someone else’s home in the dark there would be many stubbed toes, banged shins and probably some broken things as well as we stumbled about trying to find our way through the maze of the unknown.
Hate is just as blinding. The emotion skews our view of the circumstances. When we see the person we hate our perception is distorted. But again, as I referred to last week, You stated from the cross in regards to those who had nailed You there, in regards to those who were hurling insults upon You, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34
Hate is debilitating. When it factors in we hurt ourselves and we hurt others. We are not the only ones stumbling about but we can “cause others to stumble”, too.
Lord, the culture in which we live is a breeding ground for hate. Hate speech is everywhere! Help me to avoid feeling that way when I think of fellow believers who don’t agree with me, especially when we disagree strongly or when they lash out and hurt me. May I be like You. May my love be unconditional. Amen.
Apr 11h, Tues, 5:23 am