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“Testify” is a song of regret and confession. I strayed from God. I left my first love. I committed adultery and idolatry in my heart….and I was grieved. Much like Peter after he denied Jesus 3 times. The gospel of Luke says that “Peter wept bitterly”. I’ve wept bitterly before over things that I have done. During the time of this song, I was so grieved and so ashamed. I was grieved that I had strayed from the One who had given me everything, even His own Son. I was grieved that I went after many lovers of many kinds and broken God’s commandments. And I was ashamed to even be seen by God…covered in sin. Under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, I went to Jesus and said, “Lord, You are the only One who can help me now. You are the only One who can restore this relationship with my Father in Heaven. It was by Your blood that I first came to know Him, and it is by Your blood that I can know Him now. Testify for me. Go before Your Father and plead my case. He will accept You because You are perfect, and without stain, and holy. And because You dwell within me, He will accept me…because of You.” Job struggles with this same thing. In Job 9:32 and 33, he says,

“For God is not a man as I am that I may answer Him, that we may go to court together. There is no umpire between us, who may lay his hand upon us both.”
Oh Job, but there will be! “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.” Matt. 1:21

We do have an umpire…a mediator. His name is Jesus, and forgiveness of sins is found only by His blood. God forgave me, as He is so faithful to do if I confess my sin. And He will forgive me again, because as long as I am in this tent of flesh, I will sin. Paul cries out in Romans chapter 7, “Wretched man that I am! Who will save me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

So, until this perishable puts on the imperishable and until this mortal puts on immortality when we are all changed in the twinkling of an eye…we must abide in Him. Stay in His word…every day. Do His perfect will every moment. And when we sin, “If we confess our sin, He is faithful to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”.
Thanks for reading.
Joy

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This song was actually written by three other writers which was specifically chosen to use as the first radio single from the album.

The analogy I always use when talking about this song is one of me and my Dad. I can remember as a little girl holding my Dad’s hand. Inevitably, something would attract my attention, and I would immediately let go and attempt to head in that direction. But I never got there. Why? Because my Dad was still holding on to me. You see, even though I had let go of his hand, he still had a firm grip of mine. I wasn’t going anywhere. And though this never happened, I can imagine that if someone had come along and tried to snatch me from his grip, they would have been unsuccessful. My Dad’s hands were big and strong…much bigger than my hands. I knew that I was safe in my Daddy’s care, and I still am. I am older now, but his hands are still bigger than mine. I am confident that even today, he would never let go of me.

Let me tell you that my father is a wonderful and accurate example of our Heavenly Father. He is loving, ever watchful, protective, and strong. When we become children of God through His Son, for He is the ONLY way, we are forever in His grip. Even when we let go of His hand…out of fear of our circumstances, or temptation, or whatever it may be…His hands are much bigger and they will not…can not let us go.
Thanks for reading.
Joy

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A small part of the first verse and the chorus were the first parts that came to me in this song. It initially began as something that I was writing for a friend who was in the middle of God’s silence, as we’ve previously discussed in former blogs.

It was around Christmas a couple of years ago. She had to sing at our church for a Christmas concert and we had spoke on the phone earlier that same day. She expressed to me her confusion, and sadness, and her unanswered questions, and basically, her feeling alone. We hung up the phone and I sat down to write….

“Why do you carry on this way,
As if the weight of the world,
Is yours to bare…”

And then

“Behind every face,
In every crowded room,
From behind the stage,
I’ll be watching you.
And when the curtains close,
Why won’t you notice Me,
I’ve loved you long before the show,
Behind the scenes.”

After writing those words, I just knew they were for her. So, I send her an email of what I had just written and simply told her that I felt like God wanted me to share them.

I make my way to church that night for the Christmas concert. Our church held services in a small college auditorium. We didnt officially have a church building of our own. Anyway, I sit down in my seat…look up…and there are big, red, velvet curtains hiding the entire stage. My jaw dropped as I sat there stunned gazing at the curtains I had just written about a few hours earlier. In all of the services that I had ever attended, they had never used those curtains before that night. In fact, I don’t think I even knew they existed. Well, that night answered a few of my own questions. Questions like…does God really pay close attention to His children? And…is He really intimately aware and involved in every aspect of our lives big and small? Because sometimes I feel as if my issues are too small for God to care about…if that makes sense. But that night, God let me know that He really is aware and concerned with everything and anything that concerns us. Those curtains were a sign to me and to my friend….something personal that God knew would get our attention and draw our hearts in amazement at how intimate God is with His children.

I’ve only had one experience like that, which revolved around another song called Traces of You, but we will get to that one in a couple of weeks.

Seeing those curtains, and realizing how real God really is, just reinforces what the song is all about.
Now let me say that I, in no way, encourage people to determine the presence of God in their lives based on experiences with the senses. God has given us His written Word. He has given us His Son, of whom Hebrews says is God’s final Word. We do not need sensual (sight, taste, feeling, etc.) experiences nor are encouraged to seek them. We are commanded to live by faith, not by sight. BUT, I do believe that God truly is our Heavenly Father and sometimes reaches out to us in remarkable and personal ways.

Sorry guys. I have to put those disclaimers in there. Sometimes people read between the lines and get the wrong idea. I certainly do not want to lead people astray!

So, that is how the song the song came to be. Thanks, again, for all the comments I have received about how you so enjoy the stories behind the songs. We have 10 left, and the best one will be the last! Hope you stick around.

Joy

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At the time that Dont Look Down was written, I had been a Christian for roughly 2 years. During those 2 years, I had made many blunders. The honeymoon was officially over. God took me off the baby bottle and said, “Joy, it’s time to be a big girl”. Well, I failed. Those 2 years were riddled with mistakes, sins, betrayels, and so on. Finally, I said, “God, I am tired. I am tired of trying. I am tired of failing. I can not do this anymore. And, frankly, I don’t want to do this anymore. I am not cut out for this. It is too hard.” Honestly, I wanted out. Isn’t that crazy? I mean, when you think about it…that I wanted to give up everything that God is? But I did. Or at least, I thought I did.

Then, God gave me a new song…as He so often does.  

“I know you’ve been here before. I’ve seen your scars. The price…it’s too high. What if you fall again? Then I’ll fall too. Straighten up. Eyes ahead. Look for me. You don’t have to be scared. Don’t look down.”

This song is pretty self explanatory. I don’t want to ruin it with cheesy, cliche explanations.

The point is…there is something bigger going on here. There is more about this salvation stuff than we realize. God made a covenant with us. A covenant is binding. It is irrevocable. Once the covenant has been made, it can not be unmade. That covenant was Jesus. God can not leave us…abandon us…or forsake us. Through good and bad, God can not leave us. We were bought with blood. That can not be undone. Once we truly, sincerely enter a relationship with Christ…it is forever…no matter what. Now hear me on this…that does not give us license to sin! Jesus says that if any man truly loves Him, he will obey Him. We dare not take His love, His sacrifice, His blood for granted! But it does give us grace in the moments when we still fall short of His holy standards.

God has said through His word…through His Son…that His love and His promises for us are eternal…if we will just keep our eyes upon Him. Nothing else matters. It doesnt matter if we are surrounded by hell on earth! God has said that He will never leave us. And His word is true. In fact, it is the only thing that is true.

Thanks for reading.
Joy

Wow! You guys have posted some really good insight to the “Colors” blog post. Thank you! I needed to hear alot of that. I think it is good to hear and listen to what God has revealed to others. Especially in moments of trying times, we get so closed in and surrounded by our situation, our pain, our heart aches, that someone else’s point of view is almost like gold.

So, my next question….does God’s love hurt? Or better yet, not all the time, but CAN God’s love hurt? After all, God’s love is way different than ours.
Your turn….
Joy

“Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these things?
HE who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name.”
Isaiah 40:26

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So, my idea with these “Story Behind the Song” blogs is to just go straight through the list on the album. That would make “Faith Dont Fail” next in line, but seeing as how Ive already posted the story behind it in an earlier blog, I wanted to give you guys something new. Now, “Colors” isnt on the album, but I really identify with this song all too often, and I believe others do as well.

One of the many mysterious things about God is His silence. And oh how it seems to come at the worst possible times in my life…like today. Honestly, today has been a really rough day, and God’s silence seems to be louder than His voice ever has…as it was at the time that I wrote this song. The question is…is God really silent? Or like the song says, is it the loudness of all the other voices that His gets drowned out? I dont have the answer. Thats why the song doesnt have an answer either. I still dont fully understand when God gets quiet. Does it make me doubt His love? Honestly, it has in the past. We’ve all doubted God. But I know the Lord’s nature. I know our Heavenly Father loves us more than we will ever know. After all, the Bible says that Jesus is an exact representation of the Father. The word exact leaves no room for error. It means exact….like.. the two are one….exactly the same. Jesus came to show us His Father’s nature. So, we know that God loves us, but yet at times may choose to remain silent.

Would anyone like to shed some light on this subject? I think it is very important for us as followers of Jesus to understand the quiet times. So who would like to take a stab at it?

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Hey friends!
We are gonna start a series called “Story Behind the Song”. Every Tuesday, we will post a new blog that tells the story of a song from the album. Today is Tuesday you say? Well lets get started then!

“Cost of Being Free” was the second song I wrote after coming to know Christ. I can remember that song coming to me so easily. It basically wrote itself. I was so amazed that God had showed me that I was a new creation…that everything I had ever done had been cast into the sea. After asking for His forgiveness, He had promised to never hold those things against me. Its kind of a before and after song…who I was before, contrasted with who I am today.

That was an easy one, wasnt it? This song is probably the most light hearted song on the album. In the weeks to come though, we will get into subjects such as sin, betrayal, sorrows, the end of time, dead saints, running from God (as if!), and so on. So, hope to see you back here next week. As always, thank you for reading.
Joy

I just want to take this day to honor, if only by words, all of our Veterans and active duty military. They have done more for this country than any human leader, any human government. Other than God, they are our protectors and they receive the least credit. Here in America we honor athletes and scholars and celebrities, all of whom were given their talents by God. But rarely, in the eyes of the people, are the true heroes held in the same regard. It is character and integrity and selflessness that should be prized in our culture and in our world. Not talent. 

My grandfather served in WWII. He later gave his life to Christ and became a minister. He is still alive today. I have included pictures of him way back when in the 1940’s. He is a man of character, integrity, selflessness….and a man of God. And that is a hero.
Thank you, Veterans, for giving so much.
Joy

So, how do you great Americans feel on the day after our historic election? And even all of you who live abroad. Did you watch the coverage yesterday? Me…..I was pretty much glued to either the TV or the AM radio.

I spoke with a young lady named Rachel who lives in the UK and she said that even there it was a huge deal! Everyone, everywhere, I do believe had their eye on our country….to behold the outcome that, in my opinion, was quite obvious. I do know, without a doubt, that it was God who appointed our new President, to serve His purposes. Not ours.
So, what are your thoughts?
Joy