Who are YOU?!

Over the past few years, I have been drawn to the music of Matthew West. His lyrics speak to my heart, and he touches on issues that many people will not even get near. Many of his songs are based on stories that he hears from his listeners. He just released a new album titled “Into the Light.” On our way to get Kaley from ballet last week, I plugged my phone into Kalon’s truck to be able to listen to all the songs on the album. As soon as “Hello, My Name Is” came on, I knew it was going to be my new favorite song. It speaks so much truth and connects to everything that has been on my heart to communicate to all of you beautiful ladies over the last three years. This song was based on the story of a young man named Jordan who was caught up in a web of addiction. When he wrote to Matthew West, he said he used to identify himself as a drug addict. He had been a star athlete in high school and college, but then he got injured. He got hooked on prescription pain medication. His life spiraled downward quickly to the point that he was kicked out of college and lost his scholarships for sports. He got involved with the Teen Challenge Recovery Program where he met Christ. He went back to school and earned his master’s degree from the same college that kicked him out. He is a teacher and a coach now. He finished telling Matthew West his story by saying “My name is Jordan, and I am a child of the one true king.”

This story could be told by many of us based on the individual web of circumstances we found ourselves tangled in during the course of our lives. I pray that we would all end by stating who we really are “Daughters of the One True King.” Below are the lyrics Matthew wrote based on Jordan’s story.

Hello, my name is regret
I’m pretty sure we have met
Every single day of your life
I’m the whisper inside
That won’t let you forget
Hello, my name is defeat
I know you recognize me
Just when you think you can win
I’ll drag you right back down again
‘Til you’ve lost all belief
These are the voices, these are the lies
And I have believed them, for the very last time
Hello, my name is child of the one true King
I’ve been saved, I’ve been changed, and I have been set free
“Amazing Grace” is the song I sing
Hello, my name is child of the one true King
I am no longer defined
By all the wreckage behind
The one who makes all things new
Has proven it’s true
Just take a look at my life
What love the Father has lavished upon us
That we should be called His children
I am a child of the one true King

Those of you who know me well know why this song speaks so much to me. We have all felt the burden of REGRET and DEFEAT. Matthew personified those words in the song in a way that shows what we give them the power to do. It’s the whisper that tries to tell us that we will never rise above our past that we will never ever amount to anything. It is a battle that we each fight, just as I relayed the battle that Kelley family is facing in last week’s blog. Those are lies….they are not TRUTH…..HIS TRUTH.  We all have a choice. We can continue to get our identity from our past and our struggles or we can get our identity from Him. Do we still mess up??? Yes, but that is where grace and mercy comes in. Do we extend it to ourselves and keep walking or do we wallow back in the muck and mire of our past??? Admit to Father that you were wrong and then walk in freedom. Claim that you are a Saint who made a mistake. A saint is a holy one….one who is set apart. That is who you are.

Around the same time that I heard this song, I also read a post from Tim Chalas, the youth pastor at Grace Life Fellowship in Baton Rouge. The senior pastor, Frank Friedmann, posted this on his Facebook page. Tim  zeroed in on the problem we have with getting truth to come into our minds.

It is often said, "I know it in my mind, but I have got to get it to my heart."

According to that great modern day theologian Tim Chalas, that is not true. It is the wrong battle and that is why so few people win that battle. The truth is that God has already placed life, joy, peace, righteousness, goodness, love, mercy etc... IN MY HEART (Cf. Ezek 36, Jer 31)... The real issue is getting it from my heart to my mind. The battleground in the New Covenant economy is the mind. That is where the enemy seeks to defeat us, by placing thoughts in our minds that are contrary to truth. That is why the exhortations of the New Testament are ALWAYS to set the mind, fix the mind, renew the mind... NEVER to fix the heart, or set the heart. The key to victorious living in a New Covenant economy is NOT getting truth from our mind to our heart, but getting truth from our heart to our mind. Phil. 4 says to think on the things that are good, lovely, true, etc... and the God of peace shall be with you. The only way to win a battle is to fight the right battle...

What more can I say after that??? We need to fight the right battle. On those days when you feel too weak to fight, call on your sisters in Christ who love all of you so much!!

Fighting along with you,

Suzanne