by David Brenneman
"Christ Be Magnified" by Cody Carnes is one of my favorite songs. When you stand before Jesus it's not going to be about you. Not going to be a resume about what you did for you. It will be about what you did or didn't do for Him.
"Were creation suddenly articulate
With a thousand tongues to lift one cryThen from North to South and East to WestWe'd hear Christ be magnified
Were the whole Earth echoing His eminenceHis name would burst from sea and skyFrom rivers to the mountain topsWe'd hear Christ be magnified
Oh! Christ be magnifiedLet His praise ariseChrist be magnified in meOh! Christ be magnifiedFrom the altar of my lifeChrist be magnified in me
When every creature finds its inmost melodyAnd every human heart its native cryOh then in one enraptured hymn of praiseWe'll sing Christ be magnifiedOh, be lifted high, Jesus
Oh! Christ be magnifiedLet His praise ariseChrist be magnified in meOh! Christ be magnifiedFrom the altar of my lifeChrist be magnified in me
I won't bow to idols, I'll stand strong and worship YouAnd if it puts me in the fire, I'll rejoice 'cause You're there tooI won't be formed by feelings, I hold fast to what is trueIf the cross brings transformation then I'll be crucified with You'Cause death is just the doorway into resurrection lifeAnd if I join You in Your suffering, then I'll join You when You riseAnd when You return in glory with all the angels and the saintsMy heart will still be singing, my song will be the same
Oh! Christ be magnifiedLet His praise ariseChrist be magnified in meOh! Christ be magnifiedFrom the altar of my lifeChrist be magnified in me
Oh! Christ be magnifiedLet His praise ariseChrist be magnified in meOh! Christ be magnifiedFrom the altar of my lifeChrist be magnified in me"
Feelings, emotions, can easily lead to being tempted to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think.
Is your life characterized by people seeing you or do they see Jesus instead?
Is your life about what you've done, what you are doing, where you are going?
Is putting others above yourself a priority to you?
One of King David's laments was of how he used to lead the people to the Temple.
Used to.
We all can get so hung up on driving for what the world says is success that we don't look down to see we left the road that God had us walking on.
Another song breaks my heart to listen to because whereas it used to describe someone I knew long ago, it doesn't characterize them now.
"Something brought you to my mind today
I thought about the funny ways you make me laugh And yet I feel like it's okay to cry with you
Something about just being with you
When I leave I feel like I've been near God
And that's the way it ought to be, yeah
'Cause you've been more than a friend to me You fight off my enemies 'Cause you've spoken the truth over my life
And you'll never know what it means to me
Just to know you've been on your knees for me Oh, you have blessed my life
More than you'll ever know, yeah, yeah, yeah More than you'll ever know, yeah, yeah, yeah
You had faith, when I had none
You prayed God would bring me a brand new song When I didn't think I could find the strength to sing
And all the while I'm hoping that I'll
Do the kind of praying for you that you've done for me And that's the way it ought to be
'Cause you've been more than a friend to me You fight off my enemies 'Cause you've spoken the truth over my life
And you'll never know what it means to me
Just to know you've been on your knees for me Oh, you have blessed my life
More than you'll ever know, yeah, yeah, yeah More than you'll ever know, yeah, yeah, yeah
You have carried me
You have taken upon a burden that wasn't your own And may the blessing return to you A hundredfold, oh yeah, a hundredfold, oh yeah
'Cause you've been more than a friend to me You fight off my enemies
'Cause you've spoken the truth over my life
And you'll never know what it means to me
Just to know you've been on your knees for me Oh, you have blessed my life
More than you'll ever know, yeah, yeah, yeah More than you'll ever know, yeah, yeah, yeah
More than you'll ever know, yeah, yeah, yeah More than you'll ever know
More than you'll ever know"
Something about just being with you
When I leave I feel like I've been near God
And that's the way it ought to be, yeah
'Cause you've been more than a friend to me You fight off my enemies 'Cause you've spoken the truth over my life
And you'll never know what it means to me
Just to know you've been on your knees for me Oh, you have blessed my life
More than you'll ever know, yeah, yeah, yeah More than you'll ever know, yeah, yeah, yeah
You had faith, when I had none
You prayed God would bring me a brand new song When I didn't think I could find the strength to sing
And all the while I'm hoping that I'll
Do the kind of praying for you that you've done for me And that's the way it ought to be
'Cause you've been more than a friend to me You fight off my enemies 'Cause you've spoken the truth over my life
And you'll never know what it means to me
Just to know you've been on your knees for me Oh, you have blessed my life
More than you'll ever know, yeah, yeah, yeah More than you'll ever know, yeah, yeah, yeah
You have carried me
You have taken upon a burden that wasn't your own And may the blessing return to you A hundredfold, oh yeah, a hundredfold, oh yeah
'Cause you've been more than a friend to me You fight off my enemies
'Cause you've spoken the truth over my life
And you'll never know what it means to me
Just to know you've been on your knees for me Oh, you have blessed my life
More than you'll ever know, yeah, yeah, yeah More than you'll ever know, yeah, yeah, yeah
More than you'll ever know, yeah, yeah, yeah More than you'll ever know
More than you'll ever know"
- "More than You'll Ever Know" by Watermark.
Our lives should indeed be less and less about self and more and more about Christ in us.
It's extremely heartbreaking when those who cared about us enough to go through the lions den with us have drifted themselves and don't see it or want to see it. When they used to always asking to pray with me and now I never see them asking to when we do speak.
Christ be magnified was the song I woke up to in my mind today. I love the reminders that the Spirit gives me of what my own priorities need to be. Just like the earlier lessons this week from a book called "Freedom of Self-forgetfulness". How Paul taught that we indeed should think less of ourselves and more and more about Christ Jesus. How he considered it all loss for the sake of the Gospel. His education, he was highly educated in the Law. Essentially could be considered a professor or in today's terminology a Doctor of Theology. He cared not about it. He cared not about titles. Didn't want people regarding being baptized by him or Peter or anyone else to be of any significance. He wanted everyone to put knowing Jesus as more important than anything else. He didn't even trust himself because he wasn't aware of anything within his life that was wrong.
What are you doing to magnify Christ Jesus in your life? When you look at what you're doing, are you pointing yourself AND others to Jesus? Are you thinking of self more than you're thinking of your walk with Jesus? Is lifting others up in Christ more important than the things of this world say are important?
On the walls of my den are reminders to pray, pray, pray. My heart will always be better after spending time with Jesus. My life is always better for doing so.
I don't ever want anyone to say of me of how I used to be strong in my walk with Jesus. My Dad's memorial has it inscribed "Always Faithful". I want that to characterize my life. My health is somewhat important but not central to my walk with Jesus. He will take care of me as long as I am keeping my eyes fixed on Him. My hope in this coming year is to think about me less and to build up what I have in my relationship with my Savior. I want to pursue a job where I am able to help people with the talents and abilities that God's given me, hopefully pointing them to Jesus. As the challenge given to a group of men was a decade or so ago, so I am striving to dare to be an Andrew. "Here's Jesus! Come and see!"
My time going to work and quite often on the way home is spent in prayer over many people. Praying for broken relationships and praying for good days for those in the faith that I know. Prayer was important to Jesus enough to be repeated dozens of times in the Gospels. "Let’s pray" echoes in my mind today when things come up.
How's your prayer life? Does prayer characterize your walk with Jesus?
Does praying hold any meaning for you?
Are you putting less emphasis on you and more on Christ in you?
Christ be magnified...Christ be magnified in me...
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