Posts Tagged With: Christianity

What Matters Most?

Posted on February 19, 2024 by Daniel

In this clip from a speech, Brad Pitt says:

“I don’t know if any of what we do matters in the end. What I do know that matters is the people we hitch ourselves to and the indelible mark they leave upon our very being. I was reading a passage recently where a character was asking, “Which is most important, the journey or the destination?” and the other replied, “It’s the company.” And I couldn’t agree more.”

I have watched many Youtube shorts and this one made such an impression upon me to such a degree that it merited a blog post – an investment of a few hours of my day writing and refining a proper reflection and response. (Buy me a coffee here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/daniellovett)

So let’s address the first thing Brad says: “I don’t know if any of what we do matters in the end.”

Ecclesiastes is a book Solomon wrote that begins by declaring everything meaningless. There is a verse in Ecclesiastes that says, “Most of what God has given for us to do is busywork”.

My response and question to this remark is this: Are there things God allows us to do that are more than meaningless and beyond the busywork? Are we capable of activity that is elevated beyond simply the maintenance of our own existence?

I shared this clip with my songwriting class yesterday and asked them these questions. As a wholistic songwriting coach who is interested in writing songs that matter, I wish to impress upon my students that songs come from who you are. Songs come from an inspired place within your soul that are in touch with the Divine Source of all inspiration. We write songs that matter with Jesus as our songwriting partner. As he said, “Apart from me, you can do nothing… and I have appointed you to bear much fruit… fruit that will remain.”

Jesus, or in his own language, Yeshua, is introduced by his best friend John as the Logos in John 1:1

Logos can be translated as “Meaning”.

Ha! Isn’t that something? Yeshua is the One who brings meaning to our existence. But the only way this is going to happen for anyone is found in a phrase that Solomon includes at the end of his treatise on the meaning of human existence: to “fear God”. I bring this up because I must. This was a hard learned lesson I have often reflected upon in my 47 cycles around the sun.

Solomon wrote: “And this is the end of the matter: Fear God and keep his commands.”

Is he hinting at his discovery of what does bring meaning to life? Is he finally declaring, as a service to humanity, what actually matters?

I have learned in my studies that to “fear God” means “reverential trust”. Reverence means to give Jesus the proper respect that is due him. He is Lord. He’s the boss. He is the Master. He is the Leader in the Divine Dance of Life. We let him lead. We submit to him as our Master. He is the only Master Jedi… the only One… and we are all the Jedi apprentice padawans. He is the Husband and we are the submissive humble wife in this scenario.

The Lord greeted me one Sunday morning with the words: “Today I am going to teach you about the fear of the Lord.”

“Okay”, I responded… and waited for him to say more.

“Later…” he replied.

I went off to church and a few minutes before going on the stage to lead the church in worship, he spoke: “Okay, it’s like this…”

“Wow… okay.. so this is happening now. Great!”

“The fear of the Lord is exampled by what John said about me”, Jesus said, “Recall when he said of me, ‘He must increase and I must decrease’? He humbled himself and became small so that I could loom large… You do the same.”

And so I did. I got out of the way that day and Jesus loomed large. We had a brilliant and powerful time of anointed worship.

May Jesus loom large in our life today. Say it with me would you?

“Jesus, loom large in my life today.”

Ask Jesus to lead your dance of life. As the Scripture says, “Set apart Jesus as Lord in your life.”

The second part of Solomon’s prescription was: “Keep his commands”. I love how John highlighted this in his first letter when he reminded us of Jesus parting words to his disciples before going to the cross: “Love one another… love one another as I have loved you.” John added that “his commands are not burdensome.” Indeed, hasn’t Jesus promised that his yoke (his teaching) is easy and his burden (what he commands) is light?

So what can we do that matters? Is it possible to focus our entire lives around what matters? Can we saturate our days with love? Repeat after me:

“Yes we can!”

Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you.” This means we are hitched to him to work with and alongside him. He is the lead ox in this scenario. Anything we do that matters (including writing songs that matter) are only going to happen with Jesus as the one we hitch ourselves to. He is ultimately the one who brings the meaning to our life as we keep company with him.

“What if we hitched ourselves to Jesus? What if he is, first and foremost, the company we keep? What would it look like to have Jesus as you best friend?”

I am reminded of a few Scriptures. One verse talks about how God has promised never to leave us or forsake us. Jesus says, “I am with you always”. This means that Jesus is already upholding his side of this friendship. He is keeping company with us. You already possess an amazing relationship with God and it’s not your fault:

“So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends with God.” Romans 5:11 NLT

In Revelation 3:10 Jesus, when speaking to believers says, “I stand at the door and knock. Whoever hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and we’ll share a meal together as friends.”

The veil has been torn. We all have access to the holy of holies. This is what some call the secret place where we can fellowship with Jesus and our loving Father in ABSOLUTE Peace. Safe. Secure. “Wrapped in the arms of your Father’s tender hug”. (Those are lyrics I wrote today for a new song I am calling Love Psalm 2024.)

What does that mean to you?

It says to me that I you and I have been purchased at a very high price. You and I have been valued by the blood of God’s only begotten Son, our best friend Yeshua. You and I have been made holy. You and I have One who is responsible for us. Our Creator, our Good Shepherd and Overseer of our soul, has taken responsibility for us. We are safe in his care.

I encourage everyone to open the door and invite Jesus in.

Holy Spirit seems to be indicating to me that Jesus is making a reference to Song of Solomon in that revelation 3:10 verse. Is this really to be interpreted as a Divine romance between each and every one of us and God? Is Jesus not spoken of as our Groom? Are we not spoken of as the Bride? It seems he is hinting at the fact that we are more than friends. To what level of intimacy does Jesus want with each and every one of us?

I invited my songwriting class kids to ask God this question:

“Jesus, what kind of relationship do you want to have with me?”

I invited them to inquire of their own heart:

“What kind of relationship do I want with God?”

I reminded them that you can have as close of a relationship with God as you have ever witnessed anyone have with Jesus. Even in Scripture. God is no respecter of persons. Elijah was a man just like us. Jesus best friend John was a man just like us. You too can be the disciple whom Jesus loves.

I was in a nursing home this morning doing a concert and, before I started, I observed a woman lean over to another woman who could no longer talk and said, “I love you. You are my very best friend. I love you.” She said this just to make her feel loved and special that day. She meant it. I closed my eyes to take it in so this moment could leave an indelible mark in my memory. It’s moments like this that make you realize what matters in life. The love you give. The genuine love you give.

John wrote, “Those who live in love, live in God and God in them.”

If you have found any of this inspiring, connect with Jesus to receive more revelation on this.

To wrap this blog post up I’d like to share the lyrics of another song I wrote:

Who You Are

VERSE 1:
I feel safe when I’m with you
And after all that we’ve been through
You’ve proven yourself worthy of my heart

So I’m practicing your Presence
And I lay down all my resistance
To experience the joy of who you are

CHORUS:   Who you are, who you are, who you are, Jesus (2x)

VERSE 2:
Great and Merciful High Priest
You’re the One who always sees
Every need within my soul, you satisfy

In your love I’m born again
My Good shepherd, my best friend
Always when I see you, I can’t deny

CHORUS:    Who you are, who you are, who you are, Jesus (2x)

BRIDGE :   You are the only One, my destiny,  my meant to be         
You are the only One,  who I adore, who I’m meant for 

VERSE 3:
So I’m practicing your Presence
And I lay down all my defenses
To experience the joy of who you are… 

CHORUS:     Who you are, who you are, who you are, Jesus (2x)

BRIDGE :   You are the only One, my destiny,  my meant to be         
You are the only One,  who I adore, who I’m meant for 

(Buy me a coffee here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/daniellovett)

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You Also Were Included

Posted on September 23, 2016 by Daniel

“…And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit…” Ephesians 1:13 NIV (read more)

This was the Scripture that greeted me this morning. Thank you Holy Spirit.

Yesterday I came across an old journal entry that I would never want my kids or grand kids to ever find or read. It articulated fairly clearly how messed up my identity crisis had really become. It was real and raw and authentic… but completely wrong. It revealed how thoroughly I had believed the enemies lies.

I spent yesterday wondering how much of my sense of identity is still more inspired out of the pit of hell rather than the heart of God. I didn’t have much hope for the latter.

And then the Scripture. Can we read it again?

l-443734

You Are INCLUDED In Christ! I Am Included IN CHRIST!

So what is our identity in Christ?

I’m so glad you asked. That was the first thing I asked as well. Great minds think alike I guess. I looked it up and found this helpful graphic:

0488ea2f8a72bce24c8465f8df277b80

Those last few points were very eye-opening for me.

“You are declared righteous by God.” You are not a sinner. Because God says so.

“Your identity comes from what God has done for you and what God says about you.”

“Your belief about yourself determines your behavior.”

So ask yourself, will I continue to believe the enemies lies? Or will I believe God?

Someone has highly recommended the theologian Dr. C. Baxter Kruger. So yesterday I looked him up for the first time. I watched this very insightful video:

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When Death Takes Me Down

Posted on October 17, 2013 by Daniel

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” (Psalm 116:15 KJV)

I had this Scripture rolling around in my mind as I stepped into the Nursing Home yesterday to share some music with the residents. As I came in I was informed by a nurse that there was a resident who was passing away. I asked if I could play a song for her. She asked the family and they invited me in.

As soon as I stepped into the room she took her last breath. Soon, they were listening for a heartbeat… nothing. She was gone.

It is hard to process watching someone pass away before your eyes. As the family sobbed one woman was reading the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount. As she finished, I offered a song. We sang Amazing Grace and then by request How Great Thou Art. I had played this song (her favorite) on so many occasions before for this woman and now it was for her gathered family.

I got the chills as I thought about how she might be observing us hovering in the room. It was a sobering moment. The faith and love of the surrounding family spoke volumes about who this woman was and of the faith and love she had passed down. Jesus has her covered. If she trusted that, then she’s in glory. Simple as that.

Some Thoughts

Do you ever think about how frail life is? We take it all for granted and we think we are so strong and are the masters of our own destiny, don’t we? Truth is, we are all just a few short breaths and heartbeats away from eternity.

Due to a certain vitamin deficiency (magnesium) I would sometimes get heart palpitations. My heart would stutter and flutter. Sometimes I got light-headed. When this first happened to me more than a year ago I was terrified! I thought my heart stopped and I fell to the ground and begged Jesus, “Have mercy on me! I don’t want to die!”

When this has happened since, I calm myself and just take the moment to receive the Lord’s grace, forgiveness and love. I realize he has my days in his hands and I exist for his pleasure, and I die for his pleasure as well. I trust his perfect timing in this and as much as I enjoy life and my family I’d welcome the promotion.

I know I’m going to be with Jesus. I know I’m going to paradise… forever.

This isn’t because of anything I have done to deserve or earn it, but simply because I trust Jesus. He has me covered. My salvation is secure. For me the biggest questions have been answered.

As I was running in the park the other night I wondered if I will hear, “Well done good and faithful servant. Enter the joy of your Master” from the LORD Jesus.

I expect so. Everything we have done for him by his Spirit will be remembered while all our sins are forgiven and forgotten. What a deal.

Of course everything not done by his Spirit but by our own efforts or for ourselves will be burned and we will suffer great loss, but, for the believer, our spirits will still be received into glory (but as through fire). Because of Gods great love he has made it impossible for him to reject the believer because he has made himself one with us and he cannot deny himself. But John makes it clear that the true believer will not continue to make a practice of sin. There is great tension in this and it causes us to examine our own faith and life and areas that we need to repent of.

I thank God for the tension. He never intended us to coddle ourselves in carefully scrutinized and dissected theology. No. We are all on trial every day of our lives until our last breath. Will we embrace and pursue Jesus and his love and let this effect who we are and how we live? Or  will we live for ourselves and pursue the world and it’s passing pleasures?

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12 ESV)

His word is a constant challenge to our hearts as he intended it to be. My question for you. Are you letting it challenge you? Or are you running?  If your heart stopped right now would you be in terror or have peace? Are you ready to take your last breath?

“When death takes me down and I breathe here no more
My anthem will sound on that eternal shore
I’ll join with the angels in heaven on high
I’ll sing Praise the Lord, He is the light”
(I Saw The Light Lyrics, David Crowder/ Hank Williams)

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Jesus rose from the dead… so what does that mean to you?

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Daniel

Here is a video I did pondering the resurrection of Christ, Lazurus, and ultimately you and I.

empty tomb

What does it mean to you that Jesus rose from the dead?

Please join the conversation. I’d love to hear what the resurrection means to you! Leave a comment

“If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. . . . [and] we are to be pitied more than all men” (1 Corinthians 15:17, 19.)

I loved the following video so much I had to include it to this post:

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My Hitchhiking Adventure With God – The Journey “Home” (Part 4)

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Daniel

As with any story, it is best to start at the beginning:

Here is Part 1 of My Hitchhiking Adventure With God (not to be missed!)

PART 4 – the final chapter:

The YWAM directors (a husband/wife team) just so “happened” to be going on a vacation the following day to Monroe, Louisiana (though I suspect they formed their plans around me). They gave me a ride north to Highway 20 to a rest area on the way to YWAM in Lindale.

While waiting by the ramp at the rest area, a woman walked up to me and propositioned me for a threesome sex with her and her boyfriend. She had such a look of shame on her face and could hardly get the words out that she came to ask me. She told me that her boyfriend had put her up to it.

I talked to her about Jesus and prayed with her and she went back to tell her boyfriend that I was some sort of preacher. A few minutes later I went over to their RV not knowing what exactly I was going to say but wanting to say something to them both that might make some difference in their lives. What came out my mouth surprised me. I said, “Do you know why Jesus was baptized? He came to identify with us as sinners. He came to save us sinners from all our sinful ways. He came for all the sick and broken people like you and me.”

As a side note, I have since come to believe that everything Jesus has done is on our behalf. His was a substitutionary life for all of us. He kept the Father’s law of love on our behalf. His baptism was also on our behalf. For everyone who failed to obey his command of baptism, or couldn’t for whatever reason, do not fear, for he was! His death became our death to sin! His burial became our burial to the old sinful life! And best of all, his resurrection became our resurrection to new life in the Spirit! It’s all about Jesus! Everything he did, and everything he is becomes our salvation. Just as his name “Jesus” means: “I AM salvation”! – I just googled “I Am Salvation” for an image, and the image of my video popped up:

I caught a ride with a truck driver back to the YWAM ranch in Garden Valley. As I walked back into the camp I saw a few of the friends I had met. They were happy to see me and I related to them how the trip went. Maybe an hour passed and then my mom showed up to give me a ride home. Had someone called her? I still don’t know how she knew to meet me there. But I figure that she had told them to call her immediately if her crazy son ever showed up there again.

Everyone had indeed thought I had lost my mind and gone off the deep end. Of course I knew I hadn’t so it didn’t really matter what anyone else thought. I knew I was following Christ. One of the ladies back at GFA was praying for me and received the following Scripture for me:

images-2“Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.” Romans 14:4 NIV

This Scripture has helped me through the years not to judge other servants of God. It isn’t our place to judge and the Lord is able to make them stand. That goes for you and for me.

What I haven’t mentioned thus far is that I had been in a long distance relationship with a young lady named Catherine at the time of this little adventure. We had met about nine months prior and we both knew from the first day that we were destined for each other. Catherine was the daughter of a long time friend of my moms when we had lived in Wisconsin some 18 years earlier.

God had made it clear to the both of us that we had found our perfect God-ordained match. But, at the time, I was resisting this. I wanted to please God (and was afraid of God) so desperately that I wanted to forsake marriage altogether for the sake of service to God. I was convinced that this would please God more. I had to have a life that pleased God to the utmost or I was convinced my life was a waste and that God would just move on to someone else who would be willing to give everything up to follow him.

A month passed after coming back to the Dallas area. I tried teaming up with YWAM in Dallas but it seemed like a mess. They weren’t really doing much of anything except trying to convert the Mormons who would come to visit and try to convert them. I would often go down to Deep Elum or places like that to witness on the streets. I would talk to anyone on the street about Jesus and ask to pray with them. I remember one time at a stoplight getting out of my car and witnessing to the people in the car behind me. At the time I was making plans to go to Mexico on another crazy mission for God, and then later to Sydney Australia to the YWAM base there to evangelize at the upcoming Olympics.

In March I finally got around to obeying what the Lord had told me while walking toward Shreveport. He had told me to buy a one-way bus ticket to Wisconsin. I bought a round trip ticket for two weeks (I never did use the second half of the ticket). The clerk at the Greyhound bus station in Dallas couldn’t spell Manitowoc so I just had them send me to Milwaukee instead. I had never discussed with my mom or anyone else what God had told me about going to Wisconsin.

Meanwhile back in Manitowoc, Catherine was praying for me and for our relationship.  God told her, “Daniel is coming on April 5th.” She marked her calendar and believed God all the while in spite of all my rejection and resistance (we were not on speaking terms at the time). Her mom tried to tell her not to get her hopes up.

I called up Cindie, Catherine’s mom, a week or so prior to my trip and said, “I know something you don’t know.”

She said, “No you don’t. You are coming on April 5th.”

I had to look at my ticket and sure enough it had me arriving on April 5th. I asked her, “How did you know that?” Then she told me her side of the story.

So I came to Wisconsin on a Greyhound bus with my $100 guitar and some clothes and belongings in some very ugly luggage that my mom was glad to part with. I never did use that second ticket and that is how I came to live in Wisconsin.

God works in mysterious ways.

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