Isn't It Beautiful?

Have you ever seen such a beautiful sight?
The clouds with the stars, in the midst of night.
Have you ever seen such a sky so blue?
I could only see these, spending it with You.

We've seen what the people in the world are about.
Some make us happy, and others scream and shout.
Luckily, it doesn't matter, how we feel towards these guys,
I lift my hands, and send my praise, seeing You in the skies.

The sun, the trees, the rocks, the Earth. All Your creations.
Being with You in these, Jesus, gives me quite the sensation.
The seas You've made have brought me great joy.
Even while looking at them, as just a little boy.

Some see Your beauty, and still look on in dismay.
As for me, sweet Jesus, it brightens up the day,
All of us, You know, have our fights with sin.
This means not to us, since You have let us in.

We know not the plans, or days you've set before us.
We just sing aloud, and let others join our grateful chorus.
You're there every time, Lord, whenever a friend is needed
Though it seems sin has won, You, Lord, have succeeded.

Be our strength, O Lord, our strong and mighty tower.
When we struggle, O Lord, send us peace in power.
Our ears can hear, and I'll bet our eyes can see.
There is nothing, Lord, You've withheld from me.

We shan't continue living, in our own worldly way.
Instead, we give our lives, all for You each day.
So real we've seen Your work. and each day we believe.
Everything You do, Lord, our eyes and ears perceive.

Let Your Spirit fill me, Lord, when you see it right.
It doesn't matter to me, if You come, day or night.
Still one thing stands with me, the want to be seen
Take this from me, Lord, and send the light to Thee.

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I'm not quite sure where this came from, but I guarantee it probably won't happen much


Love you guys.
TJ

Songs and their voices

We all love music. I honestly have never met, and probably will never meet, someone who doesn't like some form of music. Music has always been a big part of my life, and it continues to affect me as I listen for some sort of direction in some songs.

I tend to use some worship music in order to maybe hear God speaking to me. Music has always had a way of doing that for me, and I will never understand why. God just chooses to speak to me through the music that has been written to worship Him.

My big thing with music nowadays is that people will take a song that probably has a sense of worship in it, and use it to describe how they feel, or manipulate the meaning to fit the way they want it to be. I am viewing it like we not only have Americanized, or Westernized Christianity. We have Westernized the easiest way of worshipping God.


My biggest example is God Gave Me You, by Dave Barnes. When I first heard this song, I thought that it was more of a love song written by a guy for a girl, but then when I look at it, it is the picture of God giving us Jesus, and the Holy Spirit for when we are in good times and when we are in bad times. "God gave me you for the ups and downs." I believe that most people who listen to this song will hear it, and they won't think about Jesus. They would only think about that certain guy or girl, and say God gave me this person for the ups and downs. The thing is, God may have given them to you, but chances are, when there is a song written for God, it isn't about a man or woman, but it is about worshipping the Lord.

Even the song "By Your Side" By Tenth Avenue North can be taken as a simple love song. The first time I heard it,  I just thought that there was no other meaning than some girl (when I first heard it I was in a relationship, so I was thinkin about her) who will be by my side, wherever I fall or mess up. The thing is though, this song is the perfect picture of God not letting us fall away from Him. By giving us Jesus, God has shown us that He is in fact by our sides, wherever we fall, in the dead of night, whenever we call. I don't understand how I could have made that into a regular love song, because it has such a deeper meaning than someone is going to be there for me. (Side note: the girl who showed me the song no longer cares for me at all soooo). God is really the only person who is going to be by our side, whenever we fall. He will be there in the dead of night. He'll pick us back up on our feet.

Just a thought.

I love you guys.
TJ

Commitment.

I don't know if I've posted about this yet, but FCA is doing this thing for the new year where we pick a word for the year, and make it the "theme" for the year 2012. I chose the word "Commitment". For a number of different reasons, but I think that the reasons I can use this word for me are continually growing each and every day.


1: Commit more and more to the Lord, who has already committed Himself totally and fully to us.

2:Commit to my schoolwork like I should have been, it's kind of like a "reverse Senioritis" deal. Going Ham the last 2 years of high school rather than the first two, and dropping off.


3: Commit to my friends in many different ways. Whether this be showing them the love of the Lord, lovingly correcting them when they screw up, and I can show them where, helping them out regardless of whether or not I know how, or even just serving with or for them.


4: Commit to myself. I've been struggling with things like people telling me "You're wrong" or "You're a child". Truthfully, I don't resent these statements, but I do think they are 100% wrong at times. I'm Committing to stand up for myself, Committing to show those who are around me that it doesn't matter how young I am, I still have intellect, and I am just as smart as they are, maybe just in a different way. I also am going to commit by leading EVERYONE by example.


Basically there are many reasons that I chose this word, but I think it's time that people knew that I am not okay with the way that things are going, and have recently been going. I will go to whatever lengths the Lord is willing to take me to in order to show people that I am not just another kid who will submit to any challenges. I will not let the enemy get the best of me. I will not show people the glory of TJ. I will show them the glory of the Lord, because that is the only reason that I can do the things that I can do anyway. I can't type this without the Lord, soo.




I also am going to commit myself to my friends in a way that involves: No fear in the sense that I am going to tell them what I REALLY think about them, or the things that they are doing. I'm sick of living in that fear. I will also commit to friends when I am talking to them about the Lord, because there is no way that when I am talking to kids who don't know Christ, that I can screw up the Lord's words. I am not that powerful. God will always prevail in those situations. 


Basically, I am tired of fear, I am tired of not living a life fully committed to the Lord. Things are going to change, and with the Lord's help, they will change when they are supposed to change.


Thanks for reading.




 I love you guys. 
TJ

You are powerful.

I see you're not having a good time. I see you're having some down thoughts, and it seems to me that the world has gotten to you. You've gotten down, and things have made life hard. I'm here to tell you that this was never how it was meant to be. You were never made to be sad. The pain in your heart should never have met with the joy that we are meant to have with our heavenly Father. You may know that. You may have known that for a long time. I am not used to your being down. You're normally a happy person, who never thought otherwise. You knew there would be struggling times, but you had joy. Now when I look at you, and see where you're going, I can't say it's the same as when we first met. Or even when we were closer. Even when I didn't know you, you were a stronger person than I. You knew it, understood it, owned it. Now I'm seeing a cry out for help, and the Father will send His angels down to help.


Just Be still, and know that He is God.

No, this is not pointed at one person specifically.

I love you guys
TJ