Once wrote a song called Friendship, and today while I was playing the guitar with God, got inspired to write a second verse to it, to reflect some of the things I learnt about Him recently. I'll include verse one just for completeness.
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So a little bit about the background and meanings behind this song.
I was looking out of my Minden room's window one day after the rain, and the lush greenness that came about in the distant tall trees and mountains delighted me. It then occurred to me that -- God created so many different types of trees and when you put them all together next to each other in the scenery, it was breathtakingly exquisite and perfectly united. It was only humans that kept fighting with each other due to politics, personal gain, and trying to grasp authority and power, even in a church.....
There are many things that I realise that I don't know when I keep tracing the source and asking "why" and "how did it come about" till the end. The wide sky contains the beauties in the world, but this wide sky also contains lots of different people. Under this sky, there is someone who comes from every world -- the world of arts, philosophy, finance, mathematics, sports, religion etc. There's not much that I know, but despite that, I know who the Creator is, and who is the one who 藉着他权能的万有托着诸世界 everyday and makes these wonderful things survive.
Then it goes on to the chorus, where I hope that God has found me His friend, as I've found God a friend cuz through the thick and thins, especially during those GNLC times when I shut myself behind my room's doors and just cried, He was the only One who knew my heart. Because I didn't want my sheep to fall because of my weaknesses or trials because of all the opposition we met at GNLC and how tired I was, there were many things I couldn't even tell my little sisters, but God knew all these secrets. And I know, God will always accept me. Even if I accidentally sin, God will disapprove of my sins but will always accept me. Sometimes when I am that tired and that pained to the point where I can't even manage any words, I know that I don't even have to try to ask God to stay beside me, cuz He is just right here.
I ask God why, why life is this difficult, why is it that although we do our best in spreading His authentic Word in depth we don't get the revival in numbers although we see revival in quality, and why is it that people don't understand or see value in what we're doing back in GNLC days. I kept asking and no answer. I can't explain why I am where I am, but then in the end, I understood something more important -- that God has the answers even if I don't, and that is ok with me. So I told God, it's ok, I don't need to know everything. Sure, I'll find out when I get back to heaven the answers to all my questions cuz I can ask Him face to face, but right now, I trust that His ways are perfect and if He leads and I follow, it must be the straightest road I can ever find, and one that I can live without regrets. So if I follow, it will be the most right and I have confidence in Him, so even if no answers, it's ok by me, cuz my shepherd will not lead me wrong.
God is the One who knows my heart -- what is my heart? how is my heart like?
Mum once told me when I was young about king David (the king Israel most admires) -- David is a man after God's own heart. A man who comes after God's own heart, so close, to the point where God would share His secrets with David that He has not told anyone else about too. Mum also talked about this story about a little girl, who went to church and when it came to offering time, everyone was passing the offering bag around, but because the little girl came from a poor family, she did not have money to put in the offering bag. So what did she do? Instead, she ran into the church kitchen, and took out a large plate. She put the plate on the floor and stood in it. She said "I don't have money, but I will give my entire self to God as my offering."
---- So when hearing this story (have heard it from mum about... 2-3 times? Very long ago, when I was very very young in Singapore and Taiwan), I told God every single time -- "I wanna be that girl -- who gives her entire self to You, and seeks after even Your own heart."
It's through all these things that God has let me know that He is really with me, and that's why I can trust and put my confidence in Him.
-----------
Verse 2 background:
Was reading Eunice's planets/stars Christian book, and met a page where it says "A God who just Spoke all these stars into existence is truly fearsome". Then it occurred to me.. that I really didn't understand why God wanted to make me using His hands. He could have just spoke. But He took the effort and time to shape and mould me... If that is not Love, I don't know what it is..
He didn't just stop at making me, but He prepared salvation for me, despite not preparing salvation for fallen angels. With His Word that became flesh, He attracts me like a magnet, drawing me to Himself, and Sanctifying me through progressive sanctification which is the continual baptism of the Holy Spirit (His wash is not a once off thing. It's continual). And sanctifying of my 'self' is a sanctifying in all aspects of what makes me me -- emotionally, conscious, mind, spirit, culture, mouth/words, actions, motives, thoughts....
I can't explain how God just draws me to Himself each day and teaches me so much as He leads and I submit and live a clean, holy life, or how He's made the different worlds I participate in really vast and wide with lots of people from all different thought and emotional and cultural etc backgrounds. But what I can do is to admit that God is God and bow down and worship His Christ just as the heavenly hosts all worshiped The Christ when The Father asked them to. This is the defining difference between us and satan, because satan was prideful, he refused to worship Christ and God banished its place in heaven, and there was no more place for it. Then when on earth, satan still wanted Christ to bow to it, but Jesus Christ said "you must worship your God only". When Christ came to earth in that ugly human body, Father repeated saying "you must all worship Him" still. So we Christians are different from satan in that Christ is our salvation but Christ is satan's doom.
In God I have found a Friend, and note that in this song I've used "friend" when pointing to me, and "Friend" (at the end) when I'm pointing towards my Trinity God, because it is an unequal friendship, an unequal partnership, just like it was unequal when Abraham made the covenant with God in Genesis 15 -- such that Abraham was freaked out to almost death, knowing that if he even dared walk in the trough of blood, he'd be a goner, cuz there was no way he could keep his promise not to ever sin. This unequal friendship is founded upon who God is Himself, as the Rock and my Salvation.
------------
Now the actual song itself::
Friendship
G Major
v1.
With one Word -- You made this beauty, oh Lord,
how much it amazes me.
With one thought You showed me how You created things
in perfect unity
Bridge1.
I can't explain how the sun rises each day,
or how You've made a sky that's so wide
But what I can do is testify that: ---
through the years You've made these wonders survive!
(Chorus)
I hope You've found a friend in me,
as I've found a friend in You --
One who knows my heart,
I can tell all my deepest secrets and
know that You will accept (me), I don't even have to try;
'especially when I just want You by my side.
You're with me --
You're not some far away God who doesn't really care
and I know -- that you Have the answers;
for as I walk You let me know --
I'm truly in Your presence,
That's why in You I place my confidence.
v2. (newly added from here on)
With Your hands You made me wonderfully,
how much it amazes me!
With Your Word You draw me to You
and sanctify my self from now till eternity.
Bridge2.
I can't explain how Your Light leads me each day,
or how You've made the worlds vast and wide;
but what I can do is to revere You as the
heavens did bow to Your Christ.
---
(Back to Chorus)
I hope You've found a friend in me,
as I've found a friend in You --
One who knows my heart,
I can tell all my deepest secrets and
know that You will accept (me), I don't even have to try;
'especially when I just want You by my side.
You're with me --
You're not some far away God who doesn't really care
and I know -- that you Have the answers;
for as I walk You let me know --
I'm truly in Your presence,
That's why in You I place my confidence.
And so in You I place my confidence.
In You I have found a --- Friend.
=====================================
25.4.12 add: w00t! I've finally got organised and recorded the friendship on guitar/vocal
Source: http://soundcloud.com/dlittlethings/sets/friendship-verse1-verse2
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So a little bit about the background and meanings behind this song.
I was looking out of my Minden room's window one day after the rain, and the lush greenness that came about in the distant tall trees and mountains delighted me. It then occurred to me that -- God created so many different types of trees and when you put them all together next to each other in the scenery, it was breathtakingly exquisite and perfectly united. It was only humans that kept fighting with each other due to politics, personal gain, and trying to grasp authority and power, even in a church.....
There are many things that I realise that I don't know when I keep tracing the source and asking "why" and "how did it come about" till the end. The wide sky contains the beauties in the world, but this wide sky also contains lots of different people. Under this sky, there is someone who comes from every world -- the world of arts, philosophy, finance, mathematics, sports, religion etc. There's not much that I know, but despite that, I know who the Creator is, and who is the one who 藉着他权能的万有托着诸世界 everyday and makes these wonderful things survive.
Then it goes on to the chorus, where I hope that God has found me His friend, as I've found God a friend cuz through the thick and thins, especially during those GNLC times when I shut myself behind my room's doors and just cried, He was the only One who knew my heart. Because I didn't want my sheep to fall because of my weaknesses or trials because of all the opposition we met at GNLC and how tired I was, there were many things I couldn't even tell my little sisters, but God knew all these secrets. And I know, God will always accept me. Even if I accidentally sin, God will disapprove of my sins but will always accept me. Sometimes when I am that tired and that pained to the point where I can't even manage any words, I know that I don't even have to try to ask God to stay beside me, cuz He is just right here.
I ask God why, why life is this difficult, why is it that although we do our best in spreading His authentic Word in depth we don't get the revival in numbers although we see revival in quality, and why is it that people don't understand or see value in what we're doing back in GNLC days. I kept asking and no answer. I can't explain why I am where I am, but then in the end, I understood something more important -- that God has the answers even if I don't, and that is ok with me. So I told God, it's ok, I don't need to know everything. Sure, I'll find out when I get back to heaven the answers to all my questions cuz I can ask Him face to face, but right now, I trust that His ways are perfect and if He leads and I follow, it must be the straightest road I can ever find, and one that I can live without regrets. So if I follow, it will be the most right and I have confidence in Him, so even if no answers, it's ok by me, cuz my shepherd will not lead me wrong.
God is the One who knows my heart -- what is my heart? how is my heart like?
Mum once told me when I was young about king David (the king Israel most admires) -- David is a man after God's own heart. A man who comes after God's own heart, so close, to the point where God would share His secrets with David that He has not told anyone else about too. Mum also talked about this story about a little girl, who went to church and when it came to offering time, everyone was passing the offering bag around, but because the little girl came from a poor family, she did not have money to put in the offering bag. So what did she do? Instead, she ran into the church kitchen, and took out a large plate. She put the plate on the floor and stood in it. She said "I don't have money, but I will give my entire self to God as my offering."
---- So when hearing this story (have heard it from mum about... 2-3 times? Very long ago, when I was very very young in Singapore and Taiwan), I told God every single time -- "I wanna be that girl -- who gives her entire self to You, and seeks after even Your own heart."
- ---- And so as I grow up, life became difficult, hard, tiring, and I suffer from (quite) a few health complications too, including a slipped spinal disc at L4/L5, the chronic back pain tests all my patience to the absolute limit, to the point where I just simply cannot bear it anymore and beg God to alleviate it with tears in my eyes (I seldom pray for healing of this back pain as I'm convinced this in me is just like Apostle Paul's thorn in his flesh -- this suffering is there to make me stronger and more humble before God).
- ----- so when suffering all this difficulties and being really really tired as I struggle to make ends meet financially, it becomes a significant challenge for me to keep that first Love, that first, innocent faith I pledged before God. Till this day, I look at myself, and thanks to God's unending love and plentiful redemption and mercy and grace, I renew that first Love, and now say-- "God, You know my heart. That heart to give my all to you as an offering. That heart to walk with You with a faith that can be verified through all these disasters and struggles so that the world may know::: That there is a God, and that He is greater than all these difficulties in life. Lord, You know that I want to be after your own heart just as king David captures Your delight."
Hence "I hope You've found a friend in me, as I've found a Friend in You -- one who knows my heart -- I can tell all my deepest secrets and know that You will accept me, I don't even have to try, especially when I'm tired to a point I can't manage any more words but I just want You by my side... and You're with me -- You're not some faraway God who doesn't really care, and I really know that You have the answers, for as I walk my life, You let me know that I'm truly in Your presence, not anybody else's presence (I have You as my shepherd, I shall not lack anything), and that's why in You, I place my confidence, and in You I trust; In You, I have found --- a Friend."
It's through all these things that God has let me know that He is really with me, and that's why I can trust and put my confidence in Him.
-----------
Verse 2 background:
Was reading Eunice's planets/stars Christian book, and met a page where it says "A God who just Spoke all these stars into existence is truly fearsome". Then it occurred to me.. that I really didn't understand why God wanted to make me using His hands. He could have just spoke. But He took the effort and time to shape and mould me... If that is not Love, I don't know what it is..
He didn't just stop at making me, but He prepared salvation for me, despite not preparing salvation for fallen angels. With His Word that became flesh, He attracts me like a magnet, drawing me to Himself, and Sanctifying me through progressive sanctification which is the continual baptism of the Holy Spirit (His wash is not a once off thing. It's continual). And sanctifying of my 'self' is a sanctifying in all aspects of what makes me me -- emotionally, conscious, mind, spirit, culture, mouth/words, actions, motives, thoughts....
I can't explain how God just draws me to Himself each day and teaches me so much as He leads and I submit and live a clean, holy life, or how He's made the different worlds I participate in really vast and wide with lots of people from all different thought and emotional and cultural etc backgrounds. But what I can do is to admit that God is God and bow down and worship His Christ just as the heavenly hosts all worshiped The Christ when The Father asked them to. This is the defining difference between us and satan, because satan was prideful, he refused to worship Christ and God banished its place in heaven, and there was no more place for it. Then when on earth, satan still wanted Christ to bow to it, but Jesus Christ said "you must worship your God only". When Christ came to earth in that ugly human body, Father repeated saying "you must all worship Him" still. So we Christians are different from satan in that Christ is our salvation but Christ is satan's doom.
In God I have found a Friend, and note that in this song I've used "friend" when pointing to me, and "Friend" (at the end) when I'm pointing towards my Trinity God, because it is an unequal friendship, an unequal partnership, just like it was unequal when Abraham made the covenant with God in Genesis 15 -- such that Abraham was freaked out to almost death, knowing that if he even dared walk in the trough of blood, he'd be a goner, cuz there was no way he could keep his promise not to ever sin. This unequal friendship is founded upon who God is Himself, as the Rock and my Salvation.
------------
Now the actual song itself::
Friendship
G Major
v1.
With one Word -- You made this beauty, oh Lord,
how much it amazes me.
With one thought You showed me how You created things
in perfect unity
Bridge1.
I can't explain how the sun rises each day,
or how You've made a sky that's so wide
But what I can do is testify that: ---
through the years You've made these wonders survive!
(Chorus)
I hope You've found a friend in me,
as I've found a friend in You --
One who knows my heart,
I can tell all my deepest secrets and
know that You will accept (me), I don't even have to try;
'especially when I just want You by my side.
You're with me --
You're not some far away God who doesn't really care
and I know -- that you Have the answers;
for as I walk You let me know --
I'm truly in Your presence,
That's why in You I place my confidence.
v2. (newly added from here on)
With Your hands You made me wonderfully,
how much it amazes me!
With Your Word You draw me to You
and sanctify my self from now till eternity.
Bridge2.
I can't explain how Your Light leads me each day,
or how You've made the worlds vast and wide;
but what I can do is to revere You as the
heavens did bow to Your Christ.
---
(Back to Chorus)
I hope You've found a friend in me,
as I've found a friend in You --
One who knows my heart,
I can tell all my deepest secrets and
know that You will accept (me), I don't even have to try;
'especially when I just want You by my side.
You're with me --
You're not some far away God who doesn't really care
and I know -- that you Have the answers;
for as I walk You let me know --
I'm truly in Your presence,
That's why in You I place my confidence.
And so in You I place my confidence.
In You I have found a --- Friend.
=====================================
25.4.12 add: w00t! I've finally got organised and recorded the friendship on guitar/vocal
Source: http://soundcloud.com/dlittlethings/sets/friendship-verse1-verse2
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