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In Christ Alone must be one of my favorite songs, if not THE favorite. It awakens my senses to worship. It quickens my pulse, the Lifeblood in me, given to me. I hang on every word as if it were resonating on my own vocal cords. I think I can smell the aroma of prayer just from the Spirit inside me speaking to the Father. Oh, it does far more than just encourage me.
In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My comforter, my all in all
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
Here in the love of Christ... so very simple, moves my core to worship, to a different place in my mind. I feel like worshipping in every fiber of my being, where I long for that different place, that next life, one of complete outward focus.Where I will no longer be busy with earthly needs and tasks. Where the things I call mine right now are but specks of dust in an afternoon sunbeam. Where my song is in unison with a multitude, a continuous crescendo of voices, singing, crying adoration to the King.
In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless Babe
This gift if love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
'Til on the cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For ev'ry sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ... I live
Here in the death of Christ, I live... reminds me of the Life given to me through the murderous torture and crucifixion of my Beloved. The Man whose skin was clawed and stripped by the sharpened instruments of my sin. The One who carried my wondering past engraved on a tree through a wondering path of mockers and scorners. The King whose crown I wove with deceitful lips and sharp lying words.
There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then, bursting forth in glorious day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost it's grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ
This is where I want to move, somewhere, anywhere, just get up! To be closer to Him, freer to feel Him, able to worship Him. It's like a rumble in me that I don't want to contain, I want to release it, but it is not meant to be released. It is meant to be shared, it cannot be released for I haven't the ability to hold it. I am the one being held. It is the joy of my Beloved's grasp on me, His ever enduring fingers from which I cannot be pried.
No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
'Til He returns or calls me home
Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.
Here is where I feel as if all of me is speaking with Him. I am reminded of my freedom and my imprisonment. My freedom from the ties of sin that kill. My imprisonment to the Source of my freedom, that which I freely and wholeheartedly seek, desire, want, need, long for. I love the loose bound chains that keep me near to Him. He does and has commanded my destiny. Not that he dictates, or makes me do anything. He, as Merriam-Webster defines "commands", has always and always will "exercise a dominating influence over" every person. We are constantly influenced by His craftsmanship, creation, orchestration of the earth and heavenlies. Many, many are influenced by peer pressure, though not all are swayed by Divine pressure. Few are those who hear His voice in a meadowlark or see His love in the protective manner of a lioness with cubs. Few are those who feel His arms in difficulty or praise His name in the mundane and the exciting alike. But those of us who do, we enjoy walking through life as if in a picture. A hand painted personal work of art. Made with the caressing strokes of a lover on the canvas of our soul.
