He Was Always There

©2004 Deborah Bolack

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~4 bar intro~

It seems so long ago, the day that I was saved,

As I retrace the steps I've made on my meand'ring way.

At times it seemed I stumbled through a darkened forest maze,

and only glimpsed the Sonlight, filtered through a misty haze.

~

But, He was always there, waiting patiently.

Yes, Jesus always cared, and always walked with me.

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Though often I would say, "Some things just don't seem right,"

I didn't heed the still small voice.I let men be my guide,

until my Saviour reached out,and he pulled me to his side.

He said, "Just follow closer, and you'll walk within my light."

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Yes, He was always there, waiting patiently.

Yes, Jesus always cared, and always walked with me.

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Oh, now that I am through that dark and cloudy place,

I've stepped into the Sonlight of my Saviour's warm embrace.

My heart is overflowing with such thankfulness and praise.

I finally know the meaning of God's mercy and His grace.

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Yes, He was always there, waiting patiently.

Yes, Jesus always cared, and always walked with me.

~

Yes, He is always there, waiting patiently.

Yes, Jesus always cares, and always walks with me.

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Psalm 89:13-16 Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand. Justice and judgement are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall be exalted.

Isaiah 2:5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

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Yes, He is always there, and even when we seem to have lost our way, all we had to do was take a step closer, and walk in the light of his word. Our God is faithful and full of mercy and grace!

In the Strength Of the Lord

©2012 Deborah Bolack

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~4 bar intro~

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I will go in the strength of the Lord God:

I will make mention of thy righteousness.

My lips shall rejoice when I sing unto thee,

and my soul which thou hast redeemed.

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In thee O Lord, do I put my trust.

Thou my hope, my fortress, my rock.

I will praise thy truth,

O my God.

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We will strengthen our hands for this good work.

The God of heaven will prosper us.

So gracious and kind, He will never forsake.

In his manifold mercies leads the way.

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In thee O Lord, do I put my trust.

Thou my hope, my fortress, my rock.

I will praise thy truth,

O my God.

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I will go in the strength of the Lord.

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As I searched for a verse for 2012, I somehow ended up in the book of Nehemiah. Reading through the first two chapters, I was struck by the thought that although Nehemiah's job as a cup bearer was perhaps an important one, he definitely was not in a position of leadership. I was encouraged by the fact that he was not a soldier, a preacher or even a teacher, and yet God used him. So, what did Nehemiah have that took him to Jerusalem? He had a burden....a burden that caused him to weep before the Lord and to intercede for his people....to confess their transgressions that had caused them to become a reproach....and he had a desire to do something about it. He saw that there was a need, and God put it on his heart to go.

I continued to search for a verse that said, 'go' and found my verse for 2012 here:

 Psalm 71:16 I will go in the strength of the Lord God: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only.

P.S.  This song was written almost a year ago, but my new computer wouldn't let me upload it. I now have the latest version of BIAB, which is compatible with my computer, so hopefully I'll get back to posting songs again soon!

Apollos Watered, 1 Corinthians 3:6-9

©2011 Deborah Bolack

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When you have tried to share your faith,

 and folks just mock and turn away;

when you've responded to their plight,
 lent a hand and tried to guide;

still their hearts are cold and hard,
and they don't want to trust the Lord,

turn to God's word for our example;
Paul planted, Apollos watered.

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Apollos watered......for the Lord,

sprinkling grace on fallen man.

As labourers together,

we're fulfilling our Father's plan.
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When seeds of faith are cast abroad,
 they often fall on dry, parched ground,

and we don't seem to see results
 of our labour for the Lord.

But we're called to do our part,
in cultivating barren hearts.

We bring the water like Apollos,
and trust God to give the increase.

~

Apollos watered......for the Lord,

sprinkling grace on fallen man.

As labourers together,

we're fulfilling our Father's plan.

~

We gladly bear the water....to the thirsting souls of man.
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This song was written for a movie my son was making. The title is taken from: 

1 Corinthians 3:6-9 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.

 Unfortunately, the movie was never completed. He has all of the footage, but getting a music score proved difficult! There is a trailer to give you an idea of what the movie was about. (Please ignore spelling mistakes in the captions!) 

Thank you for visiting Lyric Devotions. A free pdf of the sheet music is available for most songs. Requests can be made through the contact form on the sidebar.

It's A Beautiful Day, Psalm 118:24

©2012Deborah Bolack

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This day's too short to waste a minute.

Gotta get in the game and live life to the limit.

Won't get sidelined by circumstance;

I'm trusting God to work his plan.

'Cause it's a beautiful day; I'm soaking up the Son's rays,

basking in God's grace and his love.

He took away all my doubts, brushed aside all my clouds;

set my feet on higher ground.

Yes, it's a beautiful day.

Each day's a gift the Lord has given.

Gonna run in life's race and give my all 'till I finish.

When times get tough I'll stay on track,

following Christ, I won't turn back.

'Cause it's a beautiful day; I'm soaking up the Son's rays,

basking in God's grace and his love.

He took away all my doubts, brushed aside all my clouds;

set my feet on higher ground.

Yes, it's a beautiful day.

I'll take time to work, and take time to play;

share God's word and praise his name.

I finally see how things were meant to be.

Can't you see it's a beautiful day!

It's a beautiful day; I'm soaking up the Son's rays,

basking in God's grace and his love.

Yes, it's a beautiful day, beautiful day,

beautiful day.

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Psalm 118:24 This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

This song was written for the movie, Apollos Watered.

Apollos Watered Official Movie Trailer

Visit Apollos Watered on FaceBook to follow our progress.

These Things Ought Not Be

My blog posts have been sporadic to say the least, but I keep thinking of the saying,"If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all," and frankly, I haven't had much 'nice' to say. But it occurred to me yesterday that there are times when some not so nice things need to be said. I have so many things on my heart, but I'm going to try to keep this as short as possible, and I pray that God will give me the right words....words that are meant to help, not to hurt.

In the past few years I've seen and heard of some terrible things happening in churches and in the lives of people I care about....things that shouldn't happen in the church; things we don't expect to happen in Christian families...sins committed by church going people and  sins committed by pastors and missionaries....all of which result in broken people, broken families, broken churches, and worst of all they cause our faith to be mocked. I won't go into the details, but suffice it to say, these things ought not so to be.

In the aftermath of these situations, people are leaving churches....and why should this surprise anyone? What is really sad is what is happening to some of these people beyond the doors of the church. While some of these situations are indeed horrendous, and it's understandable that people are hurt and even bitter, nothing should ever cause us to turn our backs on God or to lose our faith. Question the church's teachings or practice? Absolutely! Find a better way to live out the Christian life? Go for it! But turn to the world and dabble in sin? (or dive headlong into sin?!) Don't be a fool! 
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Romans 6:1,2

 If our faith can be derailed by a  mere man, or even by 100 men, then our faith is in a very sorry state indeed, and we had better take a look at who we've been following....God or a man.
Hebrews 3:8,12,13 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: /Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. / But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

A friend who has gone through his own difficult church situation gives this warning, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Romans 12:9"

For the sake of our children and grandchildren, we MUST keep the faith, we MUST stand for the truth, we MUST be a testimony to those who are watching!

What hope is there in this world if we who call ourselves Christians fall by the wayside? What about God's grace? Is HE not sufficient to bring us through each and every trial we face?

Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.

 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. Joshua:24:15