There are things that I know and there are times when these things that I know hit me in such a profound way that it changes me completely. I sing songs like "In Christ Alone" where I belt out the lyric "The wrath of God was satisfied." I read the Word of God which says "There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" I rejoice because my faith lies in the resurrection and the truth that Jesus died for my sins and rose that I might live with Him eternally. That's good stuff.

But, this past Sunday when the Pastor was preaching he said these words "If Jesus took the punishment of the world and received the FULL wrath of God at Calvary, Is there any wrath left for my sin?' The answer is NO, there is nothing left for me. So, now when I sing these words... "Till on that cross as Jesus died, The wrath of God was satisfied. For every sin on Him was laid; Here in the death of Christ I live." ...I sing them reminded of the depth of His love and the completeness of Christ's Gospel. God has no wrath left for me for I am in Christ Jesus!

There is a special joy in being part of a Sunday church worship team, especially when you do multiple services. We open up the service with music, we worship, we get to listen to the Pastor preach and then we get to do it all over again, but the second time, we lead the worship from a place of having been preached the Word of God and the words we sing take on a new meaning!

This past Sunday when I sand the song "Man of Sorrows" in the second service, my heart fluttered and my eyes welled as I sang the truth of God's wrath being fulfilled with a deeper understanding and renewed passion. If it were up to me, we would have done five more services, listened his sermon five more times and sang the songs with a new passion every time.

Oftentimes, I sit in my backroom with my piano and make up songs, not to record or sell, but simply as a way to worship my Lord. This is how my music ministry started (sitting at the piano singing prayers to my Savior) and this is what will never change. My songs are prayers to my Lord..... Imperfect, flawed, not completely structured, but simply what comes out as I sit and worship. This is what I prayed today. 

Welcome to my "Backroom Prayers"

"You See Me Through" by Mia Koehne c.2014
You are My savior and I need You every hour.
You part the waters of my sorrow and my doubt.

You see me through
You see me through
You see me through
And I will worship You

Trials and temptations come all common to this world
But God your faithful giving strength to do Your will

You see me through
You see me through
You see me through
And I will worship You

Though I may wander, I may fall
Your grace sufficient for it all
My sin so calloused and so mean
Your mercy flowing like the streams of life
Now I'm alive!

You are My Savior and I need You every hour.
You part the waters of my sorrow and my doubt.

I am on a mini retreat vacation in Chicago staying with my brother and his family. I have no plans...I sleep, I wake up, I laugh with my nieces, watch my nephews play baseball...oh and have a personal massage therapist come to the house...all in a day's work!

This morning as I was sitting at the breakfast table with my brother and sister, we talked we laughed and then I opened my bible and the first verse I read was “No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord." Deuteronomy 23:1. Well, that was a buzz kill to our laughter. Then I read on through Word and got to the place where Moses addresses nocturnal emissions. At this point I thought, how can it get any better? (insert sense of humor.) Not really fun to write about these verses (trust me, there is a reason and I will get to it before I share the verses about women eating their children and their afterbirth) but there was something that struck me deep in my heart through it.

If God addresses things like this, lays out rules, guidelines and how to handle THESE situations....HOW MUCH MORE will he address our daily concerns WHATEVER they are. We simply need to "Seek and read from the book of the Lord.." Isaiah 34:15

2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."

The Word that God has given us, His book, the Bible is life, truth and necessary. It will guide us, teach us, and comfort us in ANY situation. Open it.... you can't live without it LITERALLY.

I would love for you to share about an issue you struggled with and where you found God addressing it in His Word and how it helped you. I would also love to hear if you are struggling to find the answer. Let's search it out together, maybe someone else has struggled and found where God addresses your particular need. It's there!

Let's Praise:
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too." 2 Corinthians 1:3-5