Welcome to the first Music Monday!!

I wanted to start something fun on my blog and my first thought was doing something with music because music has played a very significant part in my own faith. It is a great way to unplug from the world, learn more about Jesus, and be encouraged in everyday life through music. 

Every Monday, I will pick an encouraging song, go through the lyrics, and discuss it more in depth. I will also highlight all verses that are incorporated in the song and discuss the wisdom behind it and how to apply it to your own life and faith walk.

I will also provide a link to youtube to the song itself and provide a clip of it on my Instagram story. My username on Instagram is divine_dreamers_ . 

I am excited to kick off this first Music Monday with a song that has profound meaning. If you have ever felt like you fall short of God’s love in life and do not feel worthy of His goodness, then this song is for you.

I personally have felt ashamed in my life for mistakes I have made in my past. I felt like I needed to hide from God in those moments because I was not “good enough” to be a Child of God. But that was just a lie I was telling myself and unfortunately believing for too long. God wants us as we are, right now in this moment. He simply just wants our hearts.

So, if you have felt like that or are walking through a season of your life that you are feeling shame, guilt, or think you have sinned “too much” for God to love you anymore , I want you to know I recognize you, because I was there, more than once.  God sees you where you are and all He wants is for us to come to Him in prayer, repent, and talk about our struggles with Him.

Nothing we do or don’t do, will ever change the immense love God has for us.

When I first listened to this song, I truly felt I learned and felt God’s deep love for me. Even though I felt I did not measure up, He still loved me through every stage in my life.

I hope this song touches you as much as it has for me!

Today’s song: “Drops in the Ocean” by Hawk Nelson.

I feel what makes songs powerful, are of course the lyrics, but the instrumentals.

This song starts out so strong. It is written in a way that it is as if Jesus is talking directly to you! That is what makes it feel so powerful.

The first line is, “I want you as you are not as you ought to be.”

I feel this line is what many people face and feel in their lives and faith walks. We feel that we don’t measure up and have made a lot of mistakes in our lives, when we want to be saved and feel like we can’t be. We feel we have to become a better person or a better christian before we can have a relationship with God. I know I have certainly gone through these difficult emotions. But, truly, God wants us as we are. If we were all “perfect” christians, He would not be able to move and work in our hearts/lives. He would not be able to use us and our scars for deeper purposes.

Won’t you lay down your guard and come to me

The shame that grips you now is crippling

It breaks my heart to see you suffering

‘Cause I am for you

I’m not against you

The enemy wants us to feel ashamed so we do not go to God. I have experienced this first hand and hid from God because I thought He wouldn’t want to hear from me anyways because of my sins. But that is a BIG LIE. Like Jesus is saying to you in this song, it breaks His heart to see you suffering.

A lot of people feel God is just judging all of us but that is not true. He does not condemn us but convicts us. There is a huge difference.

He is for us and on our side and never against us in this life.

Next section (Chorus):

If you wanna know how far my love can go

Just how deep

Just how wide

If you wanna see how much you mean to me

Look at my hands

Look at my side

If you could count the times I’d say you are forgiven

It’s more than the drops in the ocean, ooh ooh

Jesus loves us more than anybody. The love cannot be fathomed here on earth.

Then the lyrics, “If you wanna see how much you mean to me, look at my hands, look at my sides.” That refers to the scars that Jesus has because of the crucification on the cross. He paid the ultimate price because He loved humanity and wanted us to be saved from death.

I also like the last two lines in this first chorus:

If you could count the times I’d say you are forgiven

It’s more than the drops in the ocean, ooh ooh

How many drops are in the ocean? There are so many we wouldn’t be able to count them. He wants to convey to us that that is how many times we are forgiven by Him and we are valued more than we know.

Next section:

Don’t think you need to settle for a substitute

When I’m the only love that changes you

And I am for you

I’m not against you

I am for you

I’m not against you

No one can love us more than God. Because God is love and He can change hearts like no other. No one can come to know God and not change from the inside out. And that is a beautiful thing. God loves us too much to not let us become and grow into our best selves.

The rest of the song repeats most lyrics again, so I already explained the key parts.

Verses Incorporated in the Song

Romans 8:31

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

This verse can change our whole perspective on circumstances that occur in our lives. If God is for us in this life, things that happen and people who judge or criticize us won’t seem it matters anymore. This verse has so much freedom in it and can set us free from reactions and feelings that we do not need to put ourselves through.

Matthew 18: 21-22

In the chorus, it says “if you could count the times I’d say you are forgiven”..

In Matthew 18:21-22, Peter comes to Jesus and asks Him how many times he should forgive his brother and sister who sins against him. Peter thought 7 times would be fair.

Jesus responded not 7 but 77 times. He did not literally mean 490 times, but he was conveying that the times cannot be counted how many times He forgives us and how many times we should forgive others in this life as well.

If you feel like you fall short or have sinned “too much”, that is a lie. Jesus will forgive us when we make mistakes and He loves us just the same. I feel like striving to forgive others as free as Jesus forgives us can again, provide a freedom in our hearts that will make us feel lighter. Not forgiving just creates more bitterness and anger in our own hearts and hurts us more than the offender. We should all strive to forgive, like Jesus does when we fall.

I hope you enjoyed the breakdown of “Drops in the Ocean” by Hawk Nelson.

Here is the direct youtube link to the song..give it a listen!

 

Stay tuned every Monday for a new song breakdown!

If there are any songs in particular you want me to discuss in depth, drop a comment below!

Thank you for reading!

All for Jesus,

Steph