January 30, 2008
Come Away
Song of Solomon 2:10-13
Sitting in the bath, having some alone-time with God, reading a commentary on the Song of Solomon, the Lord gave this song to me. What really captured my heart was the phrase “winter has gone, all the rains have passed away.” The Lord allows us to go through seasons in our lives, seasons that oftimes seem like an eternity of winters where we die a thousand deaths, but the springtime always comes. The Lord is always there calling us to become more and more intimate with Him. Come Away.
The Lord Has Seen You
A missionary from Kenya that we called Mama Ruth, taught me a song in Swahili that said, “Ameneona, Ametuona, Ameneona,” meaning, He has seen me, He has seen you, He has seen me. This song radically touched me and caused me to ponder the fact that although we feel alone, the Lord sees us and hears our cries to Him. He knows us and loves us because we are His children—He is the loving Father. My wonderment gave birth to this song.
Dear Friend
A girlfriend of mine emailed me in desperation one day, stating that she felt overwhelmed in her life and needed great amounts of prayer. I began to pray for Sandy and another friend who God put on my heart, Jina. I felt overwhelmed by the greatness of the emotional distress on these two ladies. Muttering prayers while practicing the guitar, produced this song, which both of my friends dearly loved. Chris included it in this album because he said the church lacked a song with this theme. Often we don’t know what to pray, except to say, “Lord, I’m giving my friend to YOU. Please help her.” I hope more of you are blessed as well.
In Jesus’ Name
Isaiah 61:1-3
At a woman’s retreat with Calvary Chapel San Juan Capistrano, the leader asked me to intercede for a woman in my room—to go in our room and pray the blood of Jesus over the entire room, as she was concerned that this woman had been spiritually oppressed. That prayer turned into this song, which is the case most times for me. Chris asked me to add another verse, and the rest of the passage seemed logical. This song is a staple at our home fellowship and prayer meetings.
Christ In Me
Galatians 1:15-16, Colossians 1:27
This song was birthed out of pondering the passage in Galatians which said that it pleased God to reveal His Son in me. IN me? Wow! This statement blew my mind. That night I wrote this song and shared it with the women’s Bible Study at Calvary Chapel Laguna Niguel. Christ IN us, is what makes us have HOPE. We just can’t ever comprehend the value of this precious gift!
Behold the Lamb
John1:29
I’ve never really been especially proud of this song which is quite ironic. It was one of the first songs that I had been given by the Lord. It was this song which the Lord used to put it on the Worship Leader’s heart at Calvary Chapel San Juan to give me a chance on the worship team for the Easter Sunday Service, for which he decided to keep me on the team. Being on the worship team is what gave me the opportunity to work with Chris and opened the door (one of several) which birthed this entire CD. Mercier adores this song and I hope that you enjoy it as well.
Call Unto Me
Jeremiah 33:33
“Call Unto Me” is also one of my very first songs. I make a habit of reading through the Bible, starting simultaneously in Genesis, Psalms, and Matthew, and read forward until I am finished with the Bible and I begin again. Most of the time I have no idea what I am reading. However, I was praying and conversing with the Lord asking Him to reveal to me something from Jeremiah and this was the first passage in Jeremiah that ever spoke to me. Jeremiah 29:11 seems to have more fame, but this verse blew my mind, and it still does. We have no idea what the Lord will do for us, if we will just call to Him.
I Will Bless the Lord
The Lord gave me this song early on and Ben Camp, my piano teacher at the time, put the chords to this song, as he did to most of the songs on this CD. Often we think we should praise the Lord when we feel good, but it is just the opposite. When we choose to worship, is when He fills us with His Spirit. He is worthy of our praise and that is enough reason to worship. The Psalms are a good source of prayers and songs that David and the other Psalmists wrote to express themselves to the Lord. Whenever I am down, I turn to David, the worship leader of worship leaders.
Be Strong and Brave
Joshua 1:9
While spending some alone time with God, musing over Joshua, the book we were about to begin in women’s Bible study, I wrote this song. However, this song cut like a knife to my very soul and divided me in a radical way. My piano teacher, Ben Camp, had been telling me to show (play) my songs to Chris every week I would see him. I wouldn’t. I was afraid. I was afraid my songs were lame, afraid he would laugh, afraid I would be humiliated. I didn’t trust in the Lord. I wasn’t trusting in the gifts from the Lord—the songs that originated from HIM. As I sung this song the Lord spoke to my heart: You are not strong. You are not brave. You are not courageous. Don’t be afraid of the giants in the land. You don’t have to be afraid of Chris. Play this song for him. I emailed him that Monday and told him I needed to play him this song on Thursday when he came to lead worship. I did. He listened and wanted to hear other songs, thus this CD, produced by him. Praise the LORD. Even when we are unfaithful, He is faithful to us, because He cannot deny Himself (1 Timothy 2:13).