I love worship music. It is one of the ways I feel most connected to Christ. Whether I am in Sunday service, driving down the road in my car, or putting away dishes that have been waiting patiently in the dishwasher for days… music is mobile. I will be honest. When I am cleaning, I love to have worship music playing in the background as
I go about the grind that is keeping my house in order ( if you have kids, you get it), but I am not often really connected to the words. It offers more of a comforting hum as I flit from task to task. But then I heard this particular song that full-on stopped me in my tracks. I think certain worship songs can resonate with individuals because of particular life experiences that are reflected in those songs. The first time I heard I Speak Jesus, I let tears fall as I stood in my kitchen holding onto the drying towel that was meant to be wiping off wet dishes. The chore could wait. This song was a meeting time with the King.
Before I get into it, I want you to listen.
Well, what do you think? Goosebumps, yes? Me too. Every. Single. Time.
Why do you think that is? For me, I am reminded of the power and might in the name that is above every name. The name that is the answer to our most difficult circumstances, the name that breaks chains of bondage, the name that covers our families with His protection and presence, the name that can draw us from dark to light, the name that has the power to transform lives and forgive our sins. The Holy name of Jesus!
Unfortunately, how often do we forget the power that comes with that name? We as people are notorious for wanting to do it all our way, for searching for the solution on our terms within what we believe to be our own realm of control. ( Don’t believe me? Just check out the Israelites again, and again, and again.) How often do we come to Jesus as a last resort when all our efforts have failed, rather than calling on Him the moment we feel troubled, stuck, anxious, depressed, entangled in sin, frustrated, and scared?
This is the same God who created the universe and all that is within it! The lyrics read:
'Cause Your name is power
Your name is healing
Your name is life
Break every stronghold
Shine through the shadows
Burn like a fire
And when I reflect on the first line, I think of what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:9 (… “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” Now I am glad to boast about my weakness, so that the power of Christ can work through me.) Do not ever feel like your problems are beyond the power of Jesus! There is no such thing. This is the God who conquered sin and death itself by dying on the cross and rising again three days later. Do not diminish His power because, in the middle of a crisis, you can’t see a way out. He is the way.
This song often leads my mind to ponder the many miracles of Jesus that we read about in the Bible. From a paralytic man being lowered from a roof to reach Jesus and being told to take up his mat and walk home, to the healing of the blind and those with leprosy. There is one account that always touches me though. Take a moment and read Mark 5:25-34. This story allows me to feel her anguish. Years of being on the fringe of society, deemed unclean, and knowing that if she just touched His robe…
She came desperate, she left healed. The change agent? Jesus. And Him alone.
Hebrews 13:8 tells us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. What amazing news for us! Miracles still happen, healing still happens (emotional and physical), addictions can be conquered, and families can be restored even 2,000 years later than when Jesus walked the earth because God does not change.
Jesus is life-giving. He stated in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Again in John 11:25, “… I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” You see Jesus tells us in the red letters that He is life. There is nothing apart from Him.
I love a good bridge, and this song has one of the best. She sings about shouting Jesus from the mountains and the streets, and in the darkness over every enemy. Friend, whether you are on a mountain top shouting praise, in the trenches crying His name and holding on for dear life, or begging for light because the dark threatens to overtake a part of your life. Keep speaking Jesus.
He is peace. He is hope. He is love. And most importantly, He is present.