I had the privilege to see Tenth Avenue North in concert with Beth a few weeks ago. What an amazing time of worship. This song "By Your Side" has always been very close to my heart. The words are absolutely amazing and love just pours out of them. I wanted to break the lyrics down and right about how I view each line of the lyrics and how they have applied to somethings in my life and in other's lives that I have seen.
Why are you striving these days - Life is always about striving for something better. With everything we do in life, we always want more. Why?? Why can't we ever be content? Jesus tells us that He is enough for our lives. When will we ever be content with knowing that what Jesus has taught us is the reality of life. He allows the longing in our hearts so that we will turn to Him, not turn to people or things.
Why are you trying to earn grace - Jesus paid a price for our sins. By being obedient, He paid our sin debt. It is a free gift of salvation! Why do we always feel like we have to earn it from Him. He chose to provide it to us freely.
Why are you crying - We cry because we can't handle it anymore. We cry because we don't have the answers. We cry because life isn't going our way. But Jesus went to prepare a place for us....a Holy City...the NEW Jerusalem. Where there will be no more sorrow, no more tears, and no more pain. But we must put our trust in Him in order to experience the Holy City....So why are we crying? We should be rejoicing that one day we will have a new body...we will be like Jesus...
Let me lift up your face - This is all about trusting Jesus. I have the HARDEST time with trust. I have allowed people in my lives who have betrayed my trust and who still continue to betray it. The word "trust" means to have confidence or faith in. All to often we put our confidence and faith into man and flesh and things of this world instead of putting our faith and confidence into the One who can take all of our pain away. There is only one that we can FULLY trust and that is Jesus. Hebrews 13:5 says "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." I can imagine right now, God standing in front of me right now, putting His hands on my face, staring me in the eyes saying.."Tiffany, I will never leave you nor forsake you. I can deliver you from everything that keeps you from Me. I can restore your heart and allow you to trust again." But first I know that I must learn how to WHOLEHEARTEDLY trust and seek Him because He is the only way that I will truly be able to trust again.
Just don't turn away - Wow...what words..."Just don't turn away" Why is it that when we reach our low point, we realize it's because we've turned away. For whatever reason, we felt we could do it all on our own. I have to constantly remind myself EVERYDAY that I can't do it on my own. The minute I turn away from God, everything falls apart. Even if its just for a second. I've had to realize that this life is not my own. My life was bought for a price that can never be fathomed.
Why are you looking for love - Ouch....this happens to all of us. Earthly love can get the best of us. Trust me, I know all too well. I do know for certain though, that in order to happy...truly happy and content and trusting and everything else that a TRUE marriage should be, it must be created by God. He is the reason for existence. He is a mighty God. I have struggled with this same question from God for soooo long! I was always looking for someone to complete. Someone that I could give my heart to. And guess what has happened. My heart has been broken, over and over and over and over again. That is not how God designed love. God does not want us to give pieces of our heart to just any guy that comes along. God is calling me to be single right now. I know this. God has a reason for everything and His plans overthrow my plans. I would love to be married right now. I would love to have a family right now. But for whatever reason, God is saying otherwise. It will happen when it's supposed to happen.
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough - This goes back to being content. If we were TRULY content in Jesus, we wouldn't be searching for something else in our lives. Our lives would be satisfied and fulfilled. Even though it is human nature to desire more in our lives, we have to know what is of God and what isn't. Are your desires based on your own wants and needs or Gods wants and needs. I'm guilty of not truly giving up my wants for what God desires. I struggle with this daily. Why do I feel like I can handle the job better than God? He wants to handle everything for me. He wants to be enough for me. He wants to be everything that I will ever need. This life is but a vapor. This life is short. I know that without a doubt. The death of Sabrina has changed me like I can't even imagine. One breath. That's all it is. We are just one breath away from eternity.
To where will you go child - In my life, I'm constantly on the go. I'm always doing something or going somewhere. Sometimes it's almost like I feel like I can run away from my problems. But guess what. They are there. They go where I go. Jesus is the same way. It doesn't matter where I run to, He is always there. He is always by my side whether I think He is or not. He questions me and says "Where will you go if you will not go towards Me." There isn't any other place that I want to be than safely under His amazing, heavenly embrace.
Tell me where will you run - Jesus doesn't want me or you to run away. He wants us to run towards Him. At Sabrina's funeral, one of the songs I chose to play was "Footprints in the Sand" by Leona Lewis. It tears me up to listen to it. I wish everyone would listen to the words of this song. Yes, it is based on the Footprints in the Sand poem, but the words come alive when they are sang. There is a part that says "when I thought I lost my way, You give me the strength to carry on..." These words burn into my heart and soul when I hear them. Instead of running away, let Him pick you up and carry you. May there only be one set of footprints. Because then it is that moment that Jesus is not only walking beside us throughout our journey, but there are a few times along the way that He has to pick us up and carry us through our trials and burdens and temptations. And He won't let us out of the safety of His arms until He knows it's safe for us to be put back on our feet.
To where will you run - Once again, He is questioning why we run away from Him...
'Cause I'll be by your side - Once again, He will never leave us nor forsake us. God's word is always true. It is always faithful. It is always the one thing that we can count on in life. There have been so many times in my short walk with Christ that I have forgotten that He is by my side. I have forgotten that He said He will never leave me. It is then that I am constantly reminded of His amazing presence. In most cases, it's almost like He is tapping me on the shoulder saying "Hey Tiff....don't forget, I'm still here. I'll never leave you."
Wherever you fall - Romans 3:23 says "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." The same word, "fall" yet just in this case 2 different meanings. In one way it makes me think of wherever I am at, that I can drop to my knees and pray my heart and soul out to Jesus. Jesus will be there to hear me. Wherever I fall on my knees, it doesn't matter. He is there to pick me back up again. On the other hand, to me, it also means when I have sinned. As a Christian, it doesn't mean I'm perfect. It doesn't mean that I won't ever sin again. No one is perfect. Only our Father, who is in Heaven, is perfect. When I have reached perfection, that is when God will call me home. My hour will be up and I will take my last breath. If I sin, I have to repent of my sin and have TRUE repentance. Unfortunately, on numerous occasions I have tried to repent on my own terms. This has only gotten me in trouble. This is something I'm praying earnestly about. With Jesus' amazing strength, He is molding me into a likeness of Him. He is teaching me what is really means to be a Christian. To be Christ Like.
In the dead of night - It doesn't matter what time it is. Even if it's in the dead of night, He is there for me. Like the Bible says, when Jesus comes back, He will come back like a thief in the night. A lot of people fear the night. I embrace it.
Whenever you call - All I have to do is call on Jesus and He is ALWAYS there. I can't express it enough. When God speaks to me, it is absolutely amazing. Until you have truly experienced it, you won't understand it. God's discerning voice is like no other. At any time that I'm in need, it seems that He is always there...ready to take the call. Ready to answer. Many times it may not be the answer I want to hear, but it will be the answer that fits His plans. Not my plans.
And please don't fight these hands that are holding you - There have been so many times that I have had a spiritual fight with Jesus. With so many things in my life, I have thought that I could handle them my way. I thought that I could take care of things my way. But Jesus has always been there for me, holding on to me, so that I wouldn't fail miserably. Jesus has allowed me to have my own free will. And each time I mess things up, notice I said I and not Him, He is always there to pick me back up again. That is what is amazing about my Jesus. No matter what, He is always there.
My hands are holding you - He will forever be there for me.
Look at these hands and my side - Do you know the torture that Jesus went through so that we wouldn't have to die a sinner? Do you know the pain and suffering that Jesus bore for us? Do you know that when Jesus' side was pierced and water eventually was pouring out, it was because He had already shed ALL of His blood. He didn't just shed some blood for us, HE SHED ALL OF HIS BLOOD FOR US! Have you ever known of anyone to shed ALL of their blood and die, so that someone else might live?
They swallowed the grave on that night - The night that Jesus was crucified, He knew He was going to conquer the grave. He knew that by being obedient, He was going to SAVE each and everyone of us from our sins. Unfortunately, so many people die without ever having a personal relationship with Jesus. So many people die without having a Savior to lean upon. Jesus went through TORTURE so that our sins could be forgiven. The weight of the sin of this world, rested on His shoulders. And He was alone. Not one person tried to help Him down off that cross.
When I drank the world's sin - Like I said earlier, He carried the ENTIRE weight of the world's sin on his shoulders. It took a PERFECT sacrifice for our sins to be forgotten. Jesus was an amazing obedient sacrifice for this world. Look how we are repaying Him. People curse His name, people deny His teachings, people deny Him. This week someone said that he didn't believe that one being could be responsible for everyone's sin. But there was. God's plan was that in order for our sins to be forgiven, He had to have a perfect, clean, pure sacrifice. In order for that to happen, he had to have someone be born to a virgin. Jesus paid the price for ALL of us. Not just a few, but for all.
So I could carry you in and give you life - By dying on the cross, Jesus gave us life. He gave us the hope that we might live in Him. We have a choice. We have a choice to choose eternal life or choose eternal death. Which do you choose?
I want to give you life - Jesus is constantly reiterating that He wants to give us life. Not just the life that we are born with, but that we might have life and have it abundantly. This does not mean materialistic life. This means a life like unto His. We are to live like Jesus did and we are to do as Jesus did. And what's even more amazing, is the road is going to be bumpy. There are going to be trials and tribulations along the way. Jesus was crucified for what He believed, how should we be so different. I'm grateful for the hard times in my life. Suffering brings thanksgiving. Without suffering, there would be no compassion. There would be no thankfulness. There would be no love. There would be no hope. If Jesus wouldn't have suffered for us, we would be hopeless right now. We would be crying and desperate to figure out where we would spend eternity. But one thing is for sure. When you confess your sins and ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, you will know where you will spend eternity. I know where I'm doing to spend eternity, do you?
Cause I, I love you - What greater love, than for Jesus to lay down His life for us. The gospel is such an affirmation of love.
I want you to know - He is constantly trying to get our attention. He wants us to know that there is another way. We don't have to die and have eternal death. We can die an earthly death so that we might live. We will spend eternity worshiping and praising our Lord and Savior. What a glorious time that will be!
That I, I love you - Jesus is constantly pouring His love out on me. Could it get any better than that? Not hardly. The love that Jesus is constantly showing me is one that can never be touched. He is the author and creator of love. And He has shown what true obedience is.
I'll never let you go - He's always by my side. He will never leave me. His arms are always around me, guiding me into the directions of His plans for my life.
Jesus, thank you for being so obedient and giving Your life for me. When the burdens in my life are too hard to carry, thank you for reminding me that my load will never be as much as yours was. The burden of shame and guilt for all of the sins of the world, was much more than anyone else could ever bear. But You carried that burden with open arms. You are the Highest of Highs. You are my King. You are my Everything! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Why are you striving these days - Life is always about striving for something better. With everything we do in life, we always want more. Why?? Why can't we ever be content? Jesus tells us that He is enough for our lives. When will we ever be content with knowing that what Jesus has taught us is the reality of life. He allows the longing in our hearts so that we will turn to Him, not turn to people or things.
Why are you trying to earn grace - Jesus paid a price for our sins. By being obedient, He paid our sin debt. It is a free gift of salvation! Why do we always feel like we have to earn it from Him. He chose to provide it to us freely.
Why are you crying - We cry because we can't handle it anymore. We cry because we don't have the answers. We cry because life isn't going our way. But Jesus went to prepare a place for us....a Holy City...the NEW Jerusalem. Where there will be no more sorrow, no more tears, and no more pain. But we must put our trust in Him in order to experience the Holy City....So why are we crying? We should be rejoicing that one day we will have a new body...we will be like Jesus...
Let me lift up your face - This is all about trusting Jesus. I have the HARDEST time with trust. I have allowed people in my lives who have betrayed my trust and who still continue to betray it. The word "trust" means to have confidence or faith in. All to often we put our confidence and faith into man and flesh and things of this world instead of putting our faith and confidence into the One who can take all of our pain away. There is only one that we can FULLY trust and that is Jesus. Hebrews 13:5 says "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." I can imagine right now, God standing in front of me right now, putting His hands on my face, staring me in the eyes saying.."Tiffany, I will never leave you nor forsake you. I can deliver you from everything that keeps you from Me. I can restore your heart and allow you to trust again." But first I know that I must learn how to WHOLEHEARTEDLY trust and seek Him because He is the only way that I will truly be able to trust again.
Just don't turn away - Wow...what words..."Just don't turn away" Why is it that when we reach our low point, we realize it's because we've turned away. For whatever reason, we felt we could do it all on our own. I have to constantly remind myself EVERYDAY that I can't do it on my own. The minute I turn away from God, everything falls apart. Even if its just for a second. I've had to realize that this life is not my own. My life was bought for a price that can never be fathomed.
Why are you looking for love - Ouch....this happens to all of us. Earthly love can get the best of us. Trust me, I know all too well. I do know for certain though, that in order to happy...truly happy and content and trusting and everything else that a TRUE marriage should be, it must be created by God. He is the reason for existence. He is a mighty God. I have struggled with this same question from God for soooo long! I was always looking for someone to complete. Someone that I could give my heart to. And guess what has happened. My heart has been broken, over and over and over and over again. That is not how God designed love. God does not want us to give pieces of our heart to just any guy that comes along. God is calling me to be single right now. I know this. God has a reason for everything and His plans overthrow my plans. I would love to be married right now. I would love to have a family right now. But for whatever reason, God is saying otherwise. It will happen when it's supposed to happen.
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough - This goes back to being content. If we were TRULY content in Jesus, we wouldn't be searching for something else in our lives. Our lives would be satisfied and fulfilled. Even though it is human nature to desire more in our lives, we have to know what is of God and what isn't. Are your desires based on your own wants and needs or Gods wants and needs. I'm guilty of not truly giving up my wants for what God desires. I struggle with this daily. Why do I feel like I can handle the job better than God? He wants to handle everything for me. He wants to be enough for me. He wants to be everything that I will ever need. This life is but a vapor. This life is short. I know that without a doubt. The death of Sabrina has changed me like I can't even imagine. One breath. That's all it is. We are just one breath away from eternity.
To where will you go child - In my life, I'm constantly on the go. I'm always doing something or going somewhere. Sometimes it's almost like I feel like I can run away from my problems. But guess what. They are there. They go where I go. Jesus is the same way. It doesn't matter where I run to, He is always there. He is always by my side whether I think He is or not. He questions me and says "Where will you go if you will not go towards Me." There isn't any other place that I want to be than safely under His amazing, heavenly embrace.
Tell me where will you run - Jesus doesn't want me or you to run away. He wants us to run towards Him. At Sabrina's funeral, one of the songs I chose to play was "Footprints in the Sand" by Leona Lewis. It tears me up to listen to it. I wish everyone would listen to the words of this song. Yes, it is based on the Footprints in the Sand poem, but the words come alive when they are sang. There is a part that says "when I thought I lost my way, You give me the strength to carry on..." These words burn into my heart and soul when I hear them. Instead of running away, let Him pick you up and carry you. May there only be one set of footprints. Because then it is that moment that Jesus is not only walking beside us throughout our journey, but there are a few times along the way that He has to pick us up and carry us through our trials and burdens and temptations. And He won't let us out of the safety of His arms until He knows it's safe for us to be put back on our feet.
To where will you run - Once again, He is questioning why we run away from Him...
'Cause I'll be by your side - Once again, He will never leave us nor forsake us. God's word is always true. It is always faithful. It is always the one thing that we can count on in life. There have been so many times in my short walk with Christ that I have forgotten that He is by my side. I have forgotten that He said He will never leave me. It is then that I am constantly reminded of His amazing presence. In most cases, it's almost like He is tapping me on the shoulder saying "Hey Tiff....don't forget, I'm still here. I'll never leave you."
Wherever you fall - Romans 3:23 says "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." The same word, "fall" yet just in this case 2 different meanings. In one way it makes me think of wherever I am at, that I can drop to my knees and pray my heart and soul out to Jesus. Jesus will be there to hear me. Wherever I fall on my knees, it doesn't matter. He is there to pick me back up again. On the other hand, to me, it also means when I have sinned. As a Christian, it doesn't mean I'm perfect. It doesn't mean that I won't ever sin again. No one is perfect. Only our Father, who is in Heaven, is perfect. When I have reached perfection, that is when God will call me home. My hour will be up and I will take my last breath. If I sin, I have to repent of my sin and have TRUE repentance. Unfortunately, on numerous occasions I have tried to repent on my own terms. This has only gotten me in trouble. This is something I'm praying earnestly about. With Jesus' amazing strength, He is molding me into a likeness of Him. He is teaching me what is really means to be a Christian. To be Christ Like.
In the dead of night - It doesn't matter what time it is. Even if it's in the dead of night, He is there for me. Like the Bible says, when Jesus comes back, He will come back like a thief in the night. A lot of people fear the night. I embrace it.
Whenever you call - All I have to do is call on Jesus and He is ALWAYS there. I can't express it enough. When God speaks to me, it is absolutely amazing. Until you have truly experienced it, you won't understand it. God's discerning voice is like no other. At any time that I'm in need, it seems that He is always there...ready to take the call. Ready to answer. Many times it may not be the answer I want to hear, but it will be the answer that fits His plans. Not my plans.
And please don't fight these hands that are holding you - There have been so many times that I have had a spiritual fight with Jesus. With so many things in my life, I have thought that I could handle them my way. I thought that I could take care of things my way. But Jesus has always been there for me, holding on to me, so that I wouldn't fail miserably. Jesus has allowed me to have my own free will. And each time I mess things up, notice I said I and not Him, He is always there to pick me back up again. That is what is amazing about my Jesus. No matter what, He is always there.
My hands are holding you - He will forever be there for me.
Look at these hands and my side - Do you know the torture that Jesus went through so that we wouldn't have to die a sinner? Do you know the pain and suffering that Jesus bore for us? Do you know that when Jesus' side was pierced and water eventually was pouring out, it was because He had already shed ALL of His blood. He didn't just shed some blood for us, HE SHED ALL OF HIS BLOOD FOR US! Have you ever known of anyone to shed ALL of their blood and die, so that someone else might live?
They swallowed the grave on that night - The night that Jesus was crucified, He knew He was going to conquer the grave. He knew that by being obedient, He was going to SAVE each and everyone of us from our sins. Unfortunately, so many people die without ever having a personal relationship with Jesus. So many people die without having a Savior to lean upon. Jesus went through TORTURE so that our sins could be forgiven. The weight of the sin of this world, rested on His shoulders. And He was alone. Not one person tried to help Him down off that cross.
When I drank the world's sin - Like I said earlier, He carried the ENTIRE weight of the world's sin on his shoulders. It took a PERFECT sacrifice for our sins to be forgotten. Jesus was an amazing obedient sacrifice for this world. Look how we are repaying Him. People curse His name, people deny His teachings, people deny Him. This week someone said that he didn't believe that one being could be responsible for everyone's sin. But there was. God's plan was that in order for our sins to be forgiven, He had to have a perfect, clean, pure sacrifice. In order for that to happen, he had to have someone be born to a virgin. Jesus paid the price for ALL of us. Not just a few, but for all.
So I could carry you in and give you life - By dying on the cross, Jesus gave us life. He gave us the hope that we might live in Him. We have a choice. We have a choice to choose eternal life or choose eternal death. Which do you choose?
I want to give you life - Jesus is constantly reiterating that He wants to give us life. Not just the life that we are born with, but that we might have life and have it abundantly. This does not mean materialistic life. This means a life like unto His. We are to live like Jesus did and we are to do as Jesus did. And what's even more amazing, is the road is going to be bumpy. There are going to be trials and tribulations along the way. Jesus was crucified for what He believed, how should we be so different. I'm grateful for the hard times in my life. Suffering brings thanksgiving. Without suffering, there would be no compassion. There would be no thankfulness. There would be no love. There would be no hope. If Jesus wouldn't have suffered for us, we would be hopeless right now. We would be crying and desperate to figure out where we would spend eternity. But one thing is for sure. When you confess your sins and ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, you will know where you will spend eternity. I know where I'm doing to spend eternity, do you?
Cause I, I love you - What greater love, than for Jesus to lay down His life for us. The gospel is such an affirmation of love.
I want you to know - He is constantly trying to get our attention. He wants us to know that there is another way. We don't have to die and have eternal death. We can die an earthly death so that we might live. We will spend eternity worshiping and praising our Lord and Savior. What a glorious time that will be!
That I, I love you - Jesus is constantly pouring His love out on me. Could it get any better than that? Not hardly. The love that Jesus is constantly showing me is one that can never be touched. He is the author and creator of love. And He has shown what true obedience is.
I'll never let you go - He's always by my side. He will never leave me. His arms are always around me, guiding me into the directions of His plans for my life.
Jesus, thank you for being so obedient and giving Your life for me. When the burdens in my life are too hard to carry, thank you for reminding me that my load will never be as much as yours was. The burden of shame and guilt for all of the sins of the world, was much more than anyone else could ever bear. But You carried that burden with open arms. You are the Highest of Highs. You are my King. You are my Everything! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
