Be My Strength

Be my strength

Be my song

Be my salvation

You are my God

I will hide

Myself in You

My refuge, my fortress

I am safe with You

Hallelujah!

Our God reigns!

Hosanna!

Our God saves!

Give thanks to the Lord

For He is good

The Lord is with me

And His love endures

M. Ens

Aug 26, 2010

I wrote this song last year during the final week of moving out of our house before moving up to Canada for training.  We finished moving out of our house on the evening of Aug. 30 and drove off for Canada on Sept. 1.  Phew!

God has been teaching me lately more about what it means to hide myself in Him.  I can't really put words to it yet, but am thankful that He is with me to protect me, shield me, comfort me, strengthen me...  He is always here.  Always present.  Always available.  Always strong.

Always in me.  And I'm always in Him.

Mind blowing, people.

John the beloved disciple put it this way (emphasis mine):

1 John 4:13-20

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

¹³ This is how we know that we remain in Him and He in us: He has given to us from His Spirit. ¹⁴ And we have seen and we testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. ¹⁵Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God—God remains in him and he in God. ¹⁶And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.

What a beautiful mystery...

I Cannot Help but Praise You {Day 5 of Songs from My Heart}

This morning it was rainy and gray. We got home yesterday from a packed trip to Missouri, Kansas & Oklahoma visiting a bunch of people and churches and even a school to share with them about our call to Peru. It was tiring but really good. And upon preparing to come back (I'm starting to feel strange calling Fresno "home") I was sort of expecting to feel overwhelmed today. With all the things there are to do in the weeks ahead as we anticipate leaving for Peru just after Thanksgiving (we hope!) there is a mountain of stuff for God to get done. : ) Much, much to do! 

I usually come home from trips worn out and less than enthusiastic about cleaning up and unpacking and getting back into the normal routine. I often end up fighting to not get depressed. But today, to my surprise, I woke up in a good mood! Not fighting the blues and grays like I expected. Instead for most of the day I've had joy and peace that doesn't make any sense. Could be denial, but I'm gonna choose to believe it's God's wild grace and proof that if I trust Him and walk with Him He'll guard my heart with peace that is beyond comprehension.

Which leads me to today's song. It was written several years ago & roughly recorded (as in I cringe a few times when I listen to it!) in 2009.  : )  Click here* if you want to listen to it.

*Might I suggest you right click and select "open in new window" or new tab to listen and read along at the same time. Or right click and select "save link as" to download.)

I Cannot Help But Praise You

I cannot help but praise You (3x)

‘Cause You’ve done so much for me

You’ve given me peace

You’ve given me life

You’ve given me power to stand in the strife

You’ve given me joy

You’ve rescued my soul

Your love is amazing and there’s so much more

I cannot help but praise You (3x)

Because of who You are to me

You’ve filled me with hope

You’ve shown me your truth

With every sunrise your mercy is new

You’re changing me Lord

You’ll show me your way

As I seek You day by day by day

Your love gives me joy, peace, patience, kindness

Goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control

And as I abide in You, You abide in me

Until there’s so much fruit it over-overflows

And for eternity I’ll praise You

For eternity I’ll praise You (2x)

As I bow before Your throne

Singing “Crown You with many crowns!”

           And Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord

           The Lord God Almighty upon the throne

           You are worthy to receive

           Honor, glory, praise and power for eternity!

So for eternity we’ll praise You

For eternity we’ll praise You

For all eternity we’ll praise You

And You’ll reign forevermore!

M. Ens 6.1.07

GREAT IS THE LORD

GREAT IS THE LORD

Psalm 48, Deut. 33:12

Great is the LORD, and most worthy of praise

In the city of our God, His holy mountain

It is beautiful, the joy of the whole earth

Is Mt. Zion, the city of the Great King

            God is in her walls, He has shown Himself to be her fortress

            As we have heard, so we have seen:

            GOD MAKES HER SECURE FOREVER

In your temple, O God, we’re amazed by Your great love

We’ll sing Your praise, to the ends of the earth

Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in Him

For He shields her all day long

            And the one the Lord loves rests between His shoulders

            For this God is our God forever and ever

            He will be our guide to the very end

Remember what He’s done

Tell the next generation

So they will know our God

            So they will rest in Him

                        And tell the world of His unfailing love

M. Ens   3.24.2010

Not By My Might

Last night was our last stop in our whirlwind tour of MO, KS & OK.  We've shared/spoken/visited at about 12 or 13 events in the last 11 days and it was a lot of fun.  The kids still have a bit of homework to finish up (ugh) but we are really thankful for the time we've had to share about this journey of ours and our dreams for the future.  Doing it all with our teammate Stacy made it even better.  : )  It was our first time doing anything as a team and even though it was only part of our team (there are at least 3 others who are on our team as well) it was a great glimpse of the joy working together is going to bring.  PRAISE GOD!

Last night at our last sharing time at Watershed Church in Kansas City, MO, I felt led to share this song with them.  So I thought it would be an appropriate one to share with y'all today.  ; )  I wrote it during the crazy summer of 2010 when we were working hard on moving out of our house so we could start training in Abbotsford and I KNEW there was NO WAY we would be able to get out of our house without God's help and strength and supernatural power at work in us and around us.  This song was one of the ways I could remind myself of that and plead with God for Him to show me His power at the same time.  And as always, He did indeed come through!!!

Not By Might

Zechariah 4:6 “…'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.”

Exodus 9:16 “But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”   

(Chorus)           It’s not by my might

                                It’s not by my power

                                But by your Spirit, oh Lord Almighty

                                It’s not by my strength

                                It’s not by my wisdom

                                But by your grace I stand

David didn’t slay Goliath

‘Cause he was good at throwing stones

Gideon didn’t win the battle

By strength of his own

The walls of Jericho fell by your hand

As your people walked by faith

Moses didn’t set the people free

Peter didn’t walk on water

Your people never won the victory

But by your Spirit’s power

                Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief

                In my weakness show me your power

                You have raised me up so that

                I might proclaim your name

                In all the earth

M. Ens  7.16.10

Mark 9:23-24  " 'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes." 

Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"

Day 3

Before the Throne

Originally posted March 21, 2011

**************************

A couple of Septembers ago, I was in awe of the invitation God gives us - to approach God's throne of grace boldly!  Back in the Old Testament times, if the High Priest entered behind the curtain into the Most Holy Place, he had to carry burning incense with him so the smoke would conceal the atonement cover (aka mercy seat) of the ark where God's presence rested - OR HE WOULD DIE.  Wow. (Leviticus 16:12-13)  

I have always been moved by what God did when Jesus died on the cross for us - that He reached down from heaven and tore that curtain in two from top to bottom!  To go from "you can't come in here or you'll die" to an open invitation is stunning.  God has shown me the reason it means so much to me is because more than anything else, I long for intimacy with God.  I don't always realize that's what I am longing for, but it's there at the bottom of it all.  And the curtain being torn is my invitation to intimacy with my Savior and King.  Wow.

So, that September, I was feeling like I would love to write a song about it but couldn't figure out even where to start.  Then God gently suggested that I start with some of His words.  Aaahhh...  of course.  Hebrews 2:15; 3:1; 4:14-16; 10:19-23; 13:5-6; Micah 7:18; Eph. 2:4-5... 

And the song was born.  

BEFORE THE THRONE OF GRACE  (click here to listen to it)

We have a great high priest

Jesus Christ, the Son of God

He came from heaven to earth

He knows our struggles and how weak we are

Yet He was without sin

And through His body, invites us in

CH:     Let us come before the throne, the throne of grace

With confidence before our God

Let us boldly approach the throne of grace

With confidence before our King  (1^st time, go to V2)

To receive mercy and find grace

To help us in our time of need

You offer mercy, You pour out your grace

You always help us in our time of need

So let us draw near to God

With sincere hearts, full of faith

Guilty consciences clean

Captives set free from the power of death!

Hold onto your hope (hold on to your faith)

God our Father is faithful!

BR:                 So we say with confidence

“The Lord is our helper.”

He will never leave us

We will not be afraid.

God, You delight in mercy

By your grace we are saved!

We will fix our thoughts on You

For You have called us by name

To receive mercy…  etc…

(So I cry)  Lord, have mercy on me!

Hebrews 2: 15; 3:1; 4:14-16; 10:19-23; 13:5-6 ; Micah 7:18  ; Eph. 2:4-5 

Song by Melissa Ens

9.12.09

31 Days of Songs from My Heart {Day 2}

Breathe

Be still my soul
Breathe and know
My God loves me
He loves me
Jesus loves me

Trust in His love
Rest in His grace
Everlasting
Unchanging
Never failing

Be still
Peace
Be still

****************

Emily @ Chattingatthesky.com is frequently inspiring me.  She and some almost 600 others are participating in a 31 Day blogging challenge/marathon/party...  To blog for 31 days in October about something.  Anything.  When I first heard the idea I thought pretty quickly about sharing my songs.  So I'm going to try to do that.  Sometimes I hope I'll actually get a recording up here as well so you can HEAR it instead of just read the lyrics - but I can't do that every time.

Or tonight. : )

Sometimes you'll get an explanation about the song and what it means/meant to me and sometimes you won't.

Like tonight.  : )

We're at the tail end of our whirlwind tour of Kansas, Oklahoma and even a little bit of Missouri. So breathing is about all I am going to try to do for now.  And if I can get an internet connection tomorrow, I'll post another song for y'all to read.

See ya tomorrow...  : )

31 Days of Songs from My Heart {Day 1}