Lyrical Friday - Taste of Eternity

Happy Friday Lovelies!

Have you ever heard a song that caused you to really meditate and remember the goodness of God? Words that brough to remembrance the mighty works He has done? Have you ever just stood unable to utter a word or a sound because the majesty of God is so grand and beautiful? Have you found yourself breaking forth from your stillness with the taste of eternity on your lips?

When I heard Taste Of Eternity by Bellarive, I experieced worship like I hadn't in a long while. In stillness and silence, I listened and understood. Breaking forth in awesome worship, I sang... I smiled towards Heaven and sang. And in a room filled with many voices, it was only my voice I heard and in that moment it was only my Lord Jesus and I.

I pray that in stillness and silence you may listen and understand as you play today's lyrical song. I pray that you may breakforth in awesome worship and sing, sing, sing to the audience of one. May the taste of eternity be on your lips.


Let the godly sing for joy to the Lord; it is fitting for the pure to praise Him. Psalm 33:1

But as for me, I will sing about your power. Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love. For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress. Psalm 59:16
But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life. Psalm 42:8

He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord. Psalm 40:3

Bellarive, Taste of Eternity
 

Father we come so aware
Of all that You've done
Of all that You are
Nothing above
No, none compare
So Father, we come here

CHORUS
The taste of eternity
Is here on our lips
With every breath we sing
With every breath we sing of
Your majesty
It's here in our midst
With every breath we sing

All else will fade
As You draw near
All that we want
Is all that You are
Nothing above
No, none compare
So Father, we come here

Oh, how holy
Oh, how worthy
Oh, how holy
Oh, how worthy
With every breath we sing
With every breath we sing
For every breath we sing is Yours
Every breath we sing is Yours

Sentence Tuesday

If we are growing holier,

We are growing kinder. 

— Andrew Bonar

Let's talk about sex, baby!

Happy Wednesday. A few months ago, I asked my friend to write a post on purity and she delivered... a whole lot of yada! Take the time to read this post and share with your friends.
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Let's talk about sex, baby!
by Stephanie Landa
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Have you ever wondered why God wants to protect the sacredness of sex for after marriage? Perhaps you're tired of hearing all the messages about purity/abstinence. It seems as though everyone is having sex, and you question what is the point of waiting after marriage for sex. “One side says condoms and sexual freedom are the answer to youthful clamoring about sex. The other, slides silver rings on the fingers of teens and hopes these miniature chastity belts will protect them in moments of temptation. Who’s right? Who’s wrong? Is there a middle ground? Can anybody claim to have clear and certain answers?” – Dannah Gresh
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What if I were to tell you that there is something no one has ever told you about sex? Would you believe me? Well, last night as I was a reading, “What Are You Waiting For? The One Thing No One Ever Tells you about sex” by Dannah Gresh, I came across a profound truth that I could not keep to myself and had to, just had to, share with you. In Genesis 4:1 we read, “Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant.” They were obviously not just laying” there! Gresh grabbed a Hebrew dictionary; she searched for the meaning of “lay” in the sentence. Gresh found the Hebrew word for sex is yada. Yes! The word we most often use to communicate a sense of boredom, is not so “blah, blah, blah.” The definition of the word yada is “to know, to be known, and to be deeply respected.”
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“Almost every woman can admit that she isn’t really yearning for a physical touch in her sexual encounters, but is seeking a deep emotional caressing. For men, most of them, want to know they have what it takes to receive your admiration. They yearn to be deeply respected.” –Gresh
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Out of curiosity, Gresh researched how many times this word (yada) shows up in the Hebrew Old Testament. It is used more than nine hundred times. Now, that’s a lot of yada! It gets even better…
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A couple of other passages that mention yada are Genesis 4:17, Genesis 4:25, Genesis 24:16, 1 Samuel 1:19-20, just to name a few. Several times, the word is used to convey a deep emotional knowing and mutual respect between a naked man and wife. The word yada is used most commonly in a verse like this: “Be still and know [yada] that I am God.” –Psalm 46:10. It’s clear from this verse that yada isn’t about a merely physical act. Yada is a word of intimacy that goes beyond the physical to describe the whole knowing of a person.
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“O Lord, you have searched me and you know [yada] me. You know [yada] when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar…” –Psalm 139 Feel free to read the rest of Psalm 139:1-4, 13-16, 23 and be prepared to be blown away and humbled by God’s grace and love. “When you are in intimate physical and emotional communion with your husband, it will be a mere picture of the passionate love of a God who has been seeking your heart since before you were born.” –Gresh
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This is the one thing no one has ever told you about sex: it’s an exquisite revelation of a much Greater Love.
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God is trying to direct our attention to a portrait that comes close to helping us understand. That portrait is pure, holy marriage. In that sacred place alone do we find a taste of the intimacy we can have with a living, loving God. Maybe that’s why the word yada can be traced from Genesis to Revelation. We must be remind us of what true intimacy looks like, for we have drifted far from the truth. 

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So there it is, Ladies and Gents!  Now go, ponder, and digest this information while falling at the feet of Christ and praising Him for His goodness and unconditional love. I hope this information has given you a greater understanding and has answered your question, “What is the point?” One more thing, please do not drown in the lies of the enemy making you feel unworthy because of your past. God is relentlessly seeking you and loves you for you, despite your past, recent, and future hiccups.

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*If you have not read the book, “What Are You Waiting For? The One Thing No One Ever Tells you about sex” by Dannah Gresh…I totally recommend it. Get it HERE. 

Lyrical Friday - Bring the Rain

Hello Friends.

It has been said that we can be found in one of three places: 1) in a storm 2) walking out of one or 3) walking into one. Certain trials can absorb our life and consume our very being, much like a category 5 hurricane. While other trials seem like a simple breeze, a casual rain, shaking us for a moment. We are reminded in Matthew 5:45 that the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike.

For every storm, God has given us a promise:
But now, listen to the Lord who created you. The one who formed you says,"Do not be afraid,
For I have ransomed you.      
I have called you by name; 
You are mine. 
When you go through deep waters,      
I will be with you.   
When you go through rivers of difficulty,      
You will not drown.   
When you walk through the fire of oppression,      
You will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.
Isaiah 43:1-3

As a dear friend and sister who has gone through all kinds of trials, I beg you to seek holiness in every storm. Seek holiness? Yes, seek all things holy: God, His Word, prayer, praise, serving others... It makes the passing through the storm a lot easier, even joyful. You'll see the spiritual growth in your life as you walk out of the storm. And it is the armor you wear walking into the storm.

Today's Lyrical Post is one of those songs that helps you get through the storm. That's one aspect of seeking holiness in a storm: through song! May these lyrics cause you to worship God. I am confident that as you worship God (with the little that you have), He will increase your faith and fill you with His peace. Praying for showers of love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, kindness, joy, peace and rest. Do not fear. You are His. He is with you . You will not drown. You will not be burned for for the flames will not consume you.
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Bring the Rain, Mercy Me


*At times we only have the strength to mutter out "holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty" those are the greatest words we can cry out with during a storm.

Lyrical Friday - Lover of Ashes

Behold, I will allure her, will bring her into t
he the wilderness, and speak comfort to her. I will return her vineyards to her and transform the valley of trouble into a gateway of hope. She shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. Hosea 2:14-15 
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Do not look upon me because I am dark— the sun has darkened my skin. My brother’s were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept. Song of Solomon 1:6 
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You are altogether beautiful, my love, and there is no spot in you. Song of Solomon 4:7 
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Yet now He has reconciled you to Himself through Christ. As a result, He has brought you into His own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before Him without a single fault. Colossians 1:22 
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There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1

God has called you His own, His prized possession, the apple of His eye, His beloved. He loves you, all of You! And though you may think you are not worth it, God says you are. Though you may see yourself as junk, a pile of useless ashes, God sees you in His glorious splendor. He is a lover of ashes and can make all things new! Ask God to help you see yourself not through the lenses of this world, but through the lenses of Heaven.

Lover of Ashes, JJ Heller


Simple voice talk to me in simple words
Gentle wind come sing to me the songs that I know
Come to me and hold my heart inside of me
Come and see
Come and see in me

Oh lover of ashes
Be patient with me
My filthy complexion is all that I see
But up from these ashes a beauty will rise
The pride of her father
Though humble in size

Perfect love
Fill my soul with melody
Perfect words of perfect peace
I will breathe, I will sing
I will breathe, I will sing