We Are One in the Spirit

Ok, another song that’s not from this week’s service…

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
And we pray that all unity may one day be restored
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yes they’ll know we are Christians by our love

We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand
We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand
And together we’ll spread the news that God is in our land
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yes they’ll know we are Christians by our love

We will work with each other, we will work side by side
We will work with each other, we will work side by side
And we’ll guard each man’s dignity and save each man’s pride
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yes they’ll know we are Christians by our love

All praise to the Father from whom all things flow
And all praise to Christ Jesus, His only Son
And all praise to the Spirit who makes us one
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yes they’ll know we are Christians by our love

GEMS is a nationwide, non-denominational group that gives girls everywhere the chance to meet the Savior. We have a group at our church that meets every two weeks. We sang this song at our GEMS meeting on Thursday night.

Being the music person that I am, I absolutely loved the arrangement on the CD we sang with. The song is in a minor key, and it started very mysterious sounding, almost Enya-like, then came in with heavy electric guitars, almost Evanescence-like!

We also had hand motions for it, things like putting our hands together in the middle of a circle for we are one in the spirit, acting like we are shoveling for we will work with each other, and covering our eyes for save each man’s pride.

The final verse is what really got me. While the tempo doesn’t slow down, we sang the last verse in what might be considered… half time? Two beats where there were normally one? And we had very slow, deliberate motions of lifting our hands and bringing them back down. On the final all praise to the Spirit who makes us one we all raise our hands and grab hold of the people beside us, and sway to the music. I looked around the sanctuary at all of the girls there and was overcome with the sight.

Looking out over our group, I realized that a third to a half of our girls did not attend our church. They came with friends and attended school together, but came from various church backgrounds. Within my 7th and 8th grade class alone, I discovered I had girls from a Christian Reformed Church, a United Reformed Church, a Community Church, Resurrection Life (a large non-denominational church), and an Assembly of God/Pentecostal church. And here they all were, holding hands raised to God, singing we are one in the Spirit, and they’ll know we are Christians by our love. WOW!

If only that unity could carry over into the rest of their churches. Sometimes denominations get so frustrated with each other because of petty theological differences. But who cares if when you get baptized you are sprinkled with water or you are dunked in a river?? All that matters is you believe in the Lord Jesus! Yes we need to try and understand these other parts of the Christian life, but we should not get so worked up about them that we miss the big picture, the main point.

I can only pray that I might instill this sense of unity in my girls during the time I have with them…

I Will Lift My Eyes

Ok so my song for this week is not one we’re singing in church. I even had a different song from our service all picked out to write about. But God had other plans, and every time this song came on the radio the last week it’s just tugged at my heart… it’s by Bebo Norman.

God, my God, I cry out, Your beloved needs You now
God, be near, calm my fear, and take my doubt
Your kindness is what pulls me up
Your love is all that draws me in

I will lift my eyes to the Maker
Of the mountains I can’t climb
I will lift my eyes to the Calmer
Of the oceans raging wild
I will lift my eyes to the Healer
Of the hurt I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You

God, my God, let Mercy sing Her melody over me
God, right here all I bring is all of me
Your kindness is what pulls me up
Your love is all that draws me in

I will lift my eyes to the Maker
Of the mountains I can’t climb
I will lift my eyes to the Calmer
Of the oceans raging wild
I will lift my eyes to the Healer
Of the hurt I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You

Cause You are and You were and You will be forever
The Lover I need to save me
Cause You fashioned the earth and You hold it together, God
So hold me now

I will lift my eyes to the Maker
Of the mountains I can’t climb
I will lift my eyes to the Calmer
Of the oceans raging wild
I will lift my eyes to the Healer
Of the hurt I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You

My grandpa passed away last weekend. He’s not my true blood grandpa, he’s actually a step-grandpa. You see, my dad’s parents got divorced (after 4 kids) and my grandma remarried when I was a year and a half old. I still see my other, real grandpa (who has since remarried too), and I’ve just grown up used to the fact that I have a total of 3 sets of grandparents.

Divorce is very common on my dad’s side of the family. Between his parents and 3 other siblings, only one original couple is still together. Even my oldest cousin has been divorced and remarried. As far as I know, none of them are Christians. They’re all great people, but I don’t think they have made Christ the Lord of their lives. I worry about my dad at times. I know he made a commitment to Christ awhile ago, but I don’t see him living it every day.

And so it’s with a heavy heart that I’ve thought about all of this the last few days, and this song continues to pop out at me. I’ve heard it many times before now, I even have the lyrics memorized from when Rocky and I had thought about introducing it to praise band a few months ago. So why is it striking such a strong chord with me now?

The psalmist wrote, “I lift my eyes unto the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” This song has such a simple message, and is the prayer of many people’s hearts… God my God, I cry out! Your beloved needs You now… I guess that’s how I’ve felt recently. As I wrestle with mid-winter blues and the stresses of work, and realizing it’s been two years since my dad first told me he was filing for divorce, and now losing Grandpa Jim… whom I really didn’t know all that well, but seeing my grandma hurting so much hurts me too.

All I can do is cry out… God be near, calm my fear, and take my doubt. And all it takes is lifting my eyes? That doesn’t sound so hard. I think of the Israelites when they wandered in the desert for 40 years, and one time after their complaining God sent poisonous snakes to bite the people. Then Moses made a bronze snake and set it up on a pole, and all the people had to do was to lift their eyes to the snake and they would be healed.

It sounds so easy. Do I have the faith that God will truly heal my hurts, and all I need to do is look up to Him?

Be Thou My Vision

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart
Nought be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best thought, by day or by night
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word
I ever with Thee, and Thou with me, Lord
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise
Thou mine inheritance, now and always
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art

High King of heaven, my victory won
May I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all


There are many old hymns like this one that I know so well I often just sing the words without thinking. And this one in particular has lots of old English language that usually just skims over my brain without comprehension. I mean, come on – “Nought be all else to me, save that Thou art”??

So I took the time to slightly rewrite the verses to try and better understand them – they are no longer in poetic form and definitely don’t rhyme, so as hard as it is, I try to read it without hearing the tune. Maybe it could be thought of like a letter…


Be my vision, for you are Lord in my heart. Everything else means nothing to me – everything except you. You occupy my best thoughts during the day and at night. When I’m awake or asleep, your presence is the light that guides me.

Be my wisdom, and my truthful words. I am always with you, and you are with me, Lord! You are my great heavenly Father, and I am your child. You dwell within me, and together we are one.

I do not desire riches, or praise from people (which is empty of meaning anyway!). You are my inheritance, today and forever. You, and only you, have first place in my heart. You are the High King of heaven, and my greatest treasure.

You are High King in heaven, and have won my victory! Please let me experience heaven’s joys, for you are the bright Sun of heaven! Your heart and mine are one in the same, and whatever comes my way, please continue to be my vision, for you are ruler over all.


I started to wonder, what does it mean for God to be my vision? What am I asking for? Another word I think of in relation to God as my vision is God as my guide. Psalm 25:4-5 says, “Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.”

I do desire for God to teach me and guide me. I want to do his will. But sometimes I’m scared of where that will take me. If I ask God to be my vision, then I’m asking to see right into his very heart and to make his desires mine. It might be out of my comfort zone. It might be things I’ve never done before or places I’ve never gone. Is that a risk I’m willing to take?

I just noticed that each of the verses to this song have something to do with God and me being closely knit together… Thou my best thought… Thy presence my light… I ever with Thee and Thou with me Lord… Thou in me dwelling… Thou and Thou only first in my heart… Heart of my own heart… Intimacy with anyone is a scary, vulnerable thing, but intimacy with God? To be so close that His thoughts are what occupy my mind day and night? To be so close that when I speak it’s really His words coming out of my mouth?

If I truly pray the words to this song, where will that take me?

Why a blog?

Well I've been out of the blogging scene for a little while, but now I have motivation and a definite goal in mind. I've never been good at keeping a diary or recording the everyday events that happen in my life. So instead, my goal is that this blog will be more of a reflection, a place to simply post my thoughts. I've decided to get more involved in God's Word this year, and really study the applications to my life.

I plan to do that through music. I absolutely love music, and I'm involved in the praise team at my church. Every week or so I'd like to pick a song we're working on for Sunday's service (or maybe just one that's caught my attention from the radio) and really research it and look at the meaning of the lyrics. I want to find Scripture that matches, and just ask myself what this song means in my life.

Let's see how it goes...