music monday//ever be

Hi, silent and faithful readers! Welcome to 2017! Though I'm a day late to wish you a joyful new year... JOYFUL NEW YEAR guys!!! :D Thanks for quietly reading and tagging along with me on my journey. You rock on so many levels. (wink wink) 😉

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Ok, so to the song. This one has been such a faithful companion of mine. Especially on days and nights when something threatens my security in Jesus. It was my companion on many days in November. The devil was trying his old pranks again and i was like naahhh, I've seen you do this before and I fell for it. Not again! 

So yours truly had this song on repeat literally like the whole day on 21st November. I could write a whole book about that particular week. I'll spare you the details for now. 

Enjoy! Oh, and i love, love, love the kids version of this song by bethel music kids!!! The first time i watched it on YouTube, which was about two weeks ago, I was like wooooooow!!! This is sooooo cooooool! So I've fixed in that video too!

 ever be // aaron shust

Your love is devoted like a ring of solid gold

Like a vow that is tested like a covenant of old

Your love is enduring through the winter rain

And beyond the horizon with mercy for today

Faithful You have been and faithful You will be

You pledge Yourself to me and it's why I sing

(chorus)

Your praise will ever be on my lips, ever be on my lips

Your praise will ever be on my lips, ever be on my lips

You Father the orphan

Your kindness makes us whole

And You shoulder our weakness

And Your strength becomes our own

Now You're making me like You

Clothing me in white

Bringing beauty from ashes

For You will have Your bride

Free of all her guilt and rid of all her shame

And known by her true name and it's why I sing

(chorus)

Your praise will ever be on my lips, ever be on my lips

Your praise will ever be on my lips, ever be on my lips

Your praise will ever be on my lips, ever be on my lips

Your praise will ever be on my lips, ever be on my lips

You will be praised You will be praised

With angels and saints we sing worthy are You Lord

You will be praised You will be praised

With angels and saints we sing worthy are You Lord

And it's why I sing

(chorus)

Your praise will ever be on my lips, ever be on my lips

Your praise will ever be on my lips, ever be on my lips

Your praise will ever be on my lips, ever be on my lips

Your praise will ever be on my lips, ever be on my lips

Ever be on my lips, ever be on, ever be on my lips

the lovely version by bethel music kids. I love it soooo much it makes me wanna cry happy tears. ;) the woods, lake, mountains in the distance, lush green scenery and of course, cute, happy kids in love with Jesus around a camp fire roasting marshmallows. how can i possibly not love it?!

"I will extol the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips." //psalm 34:1

"The Lord appeared to us in the past saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have drawn you with unfailing kindness." // jeremiah 31:3

"But now, this is what the Lord says- He who created you, Jacob, He who formed you, Israel: 'Do not fear, for I have redeemed you, I have summoned you by name, you are mine.' "// isaiah 43:1

I hope I've succeeded in making you fall in love with this song! Thank me later :)
xoxo ,
gen delali.

The way He speaks

A number of months ago when I was still in school, something happened that encouraged me and made me smile. It was nothing dramatic or ‘huge,’ but even in its subtle form, it was and still is a big deal to me. It was an early morning on a Sunday and I was heading to church. I was taking a long sidewalk from my school that leads to a bus stop outside the campus. I can’t really place my finger on all the thoughts I had going on but I’m pretty sure cluttered thoughts about the present and my future and how things will play out were on my mind as they often are.

 

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As I was walking with my jumbled thoughts, and likely anticipating the message which God was going to whisper to my heart in church, the chorus of a song came to me. It was an old song I hadn’t heard in a long while. You know when something happens and you go like ‘that must be God’? That’s exactly what I told myself. The chorus of the song goes like this :

I'm already there
Take a look around
I'm the sunshine in your hair
I'm the shadow on the ground
I'm the whisper in the wind
I'm your imaginary friend
And I know I'm in your prayers
Oh I'm already there 

I'm already there
Don't make a sound
I'm the beat in your heart
I'm the moonlight shining down
I'm the whisper in the wind
And I'll be there until the end
Can you feel the love that we share
Oh I'm already there.

I have no idea where the song came to me from. Like I said, I hadn’t heard it in a long, long while and from nowhere, without making any effort to remember it whatsoever, the song filled my head. I was quite surprised and yet convinced at the same time that God was trying to talk to me using these lyrics although the context of the whole song isn’t necessarily from the viewpoint of God.

I believe God speaks to us all the time. Through the Word, a friend, a movie, a song, a dream and even a complete stranger (this happened to me years ago and yeah, you guessed right. I was totally a lil freaked out. lol) Isn’t God so creative to speak to His children in such different ways?! 

There are other times He speaks to us using repetition. Like, you come across something related to a particular thing so many times you know it just can’t be coincidence. For instance, I usually take part in an online Bible study on twitter and a couple of months back, the book of study was Daniel. When I was in church that week, scriptures from Daniel were part of the main reference scriptures read (no, we don’t read Daniel every time in church), and around that time too, I heard on the radio something about the book of Daniel. If you ask me, this couldn’t have been coincidental. They occurred around the same period that I began to ask myself: what is God trying to tell me specifically in this season of my life from the book of Daniel? I thought through it and came to the wonderful understanding that I might be going through tough stuff which may look overwhelming to overcome, but with God by my side, just like He was in the midst of the fire with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and they stayed alive, just as He protected Daniel from harm by sending an angel to shut the mouths of the lions in the den, that is the same way He is going to protect me. I may go through a fiery furnace or face lions, but I will NOT be harmed. I may experience very uncomfortable situations, but that’s not going to bring me down.

I’m oh, so thankful to God that He thinks about me and cares enough to assure me that whatever brand of crazy going on in my life, He’s right there with me. He really is. And that gladdens this sometimes fretting heart of mine. I need to be attentive and listen to Him all the time so I don’t miss anything. And though I haven’t yet experienced hearing Him literally speak to me like in the Moses and the burning bush scenario, (how I can’t wait for this to happen) I appreciate all the other ways God chooses to speak to me, His beloved. :) Whenever I feel very strongly about a scripture or convicted about something, I know that’s God right there, tugging at my heart.

I don’t know which ways God speaks to you specifically aside the Bible, but I pray that He opens your heart to figure it out and be guided by His loving instructions through every season in your life. And I hope that when someone prophesies to you, you take the time to pray about it yourself to verify if what the person said was actually from God before taking it in, hook, line and sinker. :) (You need to be careful with these things.)

No matter what you’re going through, trust me, I know what pain is. What I go through may not be exactly what you’re going through but dear one, know that God is there with you in the midst of it all. Is it present struggles, uncertainties about the future that leaves you panicking and close to tears? You’ll be just fine. Keep your head up, and listen to His still, small voice. And just like He was speaking to me through that song, know that no matter what you’re facing, He is already there with you. He’s always going to be with us and we shall overcome.

Be encouraged. xoxo

Delali.

A Melody On My Heart

Oh, there’s this song that comforts me. You know, those kinds of songs with lyrics that perfectly express how you feel and you begin to wonder if the artist read your thoughts. There are many of such songs I constantly tune my heart to and today I’m sharing one of them by Kari Jobe.(One of my all time favorite singers.)

Troubles chasing me again,
Breaking down my best defence,
I'm looking, God, I'm looking for You
Weary just won't let me rest and fear is filling up my head.
I'm longing, God I'm longing for You

But I will find You in the place I'm in, find You when I'm at my end,
Find You when there's nothing left of me to offer You except for brokenness.
You lift me up, You'll never leave me thirsty,
When I am weak, when I am lost and searching
I'll find You on my knees.

So what if sorrow shakes my faith,
And what if heartache still remains,
I'll trust You, my God I'll trust You.
'Cause You are faithful and

I will find You in the place I'm in, find You when I'm at my end,
Find You when there's nothing left of me to offer You except for brokenness.
You lift me up, You'll never leave me thirsty,
When I am weak, when I am lost and searching
I'll find You on my knees, my knees.

When my hope is gone, when the fear is strong
When the pain is real, when it's hard to heal
When my faith is shaken and my heart is broken

And my joy is stolen, God I know that

You lift me up, You'll never leave me thirsty,

Find You in the place I'm in, find You when I'm at my end,
Find You when there's nothing left of me to offer You except for brokenness.
You lift me up, You'll never leave me thirsty,
When I am weak, when I am lost and searching
I'll find You on my knees.

God’s Word tells us that He will never leave us, especially in our weaknesses and weariness. His Word says “Cast all your anxieties on Him, for He cares about you.” 1 Peter 5:7

“Come to me all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 

“I have said this to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

When we draw near to God, He draws near to us. James 4:8 He strengthens us when we are too weak to go through our daily battles. He’s such a good God! And He loves you! Be strong. XOXO 

Delali.