Acts 2:40 “And he testified with many other words and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” Today's episode is a bit different. Today, I talk about the lyrics of the song "Honestly, I think we just need Jesus" by Terrian. This is a song about how crazy the world has gotten and how much we need Jesus. I haven't been able to get the song out of my head so I thought I would share it with you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Honestly, I Think We Just Need Jesus!
Acts 2:40 “And he testified with many other words and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”
I chose this scripture verse today because where it says, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” There is a song that I have heard on the radio more and more recently, and these last few days, it is running repeat in my mind. I can’t seem to get it out of my head. I am not sure I want to get it out of my head as the words that are running through my head are Honestly, I think we need Jesus by Terrian. Since I can’t seem to shake this song, and then I read the verse above this morning, I think the Lord wants me to share it with you. I will place a link for the song in the show notes, as she does a much better job singing it than I do. I also love that she is young and yet can still see that we need more Jesus. I will go over the lyrics of the song with you today.
The song starts with:
I got a front-row seat to the madness
I pick up my phone every mornin' out of habit
I've been fiendin' for the drama, yeah, I said it
I'm addicted to the rush, need a medic
How many of us pick up our phones or turn on the news first thing when we wake up? How many of us want to know what is going on in the world before we even stop and spend our time with God? I use my phone for an alarm, so I would turn off my alarm, and then I would check my messages, emails, and Facebook before I would sit down with the Lord and spend time with Him. I have gotten better; now, I just check my messages, mostly to make sure my kids got home safely. Sometimes I still check my emails, but I am getting better and usually save that for later.
I love how the songwriter points out that we usually pick up our phones out of habit. This isn’t just first thing in the morning. We do this all throughout the day. I bet we all spend more time than we would like on our phones. I also like how they bring our attention to the fact that we are “Fiendin’ for the drama” and “addicted to the rush.” It seems we are drawn to the conflict and the drama more than the good things that are happening. I don’t know if that is because we crave drama or because that is all the news tends to show us. Either way, there is good and bad going on in the world, and it is up to us to choose which we seek out and focus on.
The song goes on to say:
When I take a step back, I can see it
All the pain, all the fear we've been feelin'
Losin' sight of the thing that we're needin'
That we're needin’
This is a great reminder that sometimes we need to take a step back. When we do we see that we are focusing on all of our pain and fear that we are feeling instead of focusing on the one who can take all that pain and fear away. When we watch the news or listen to all that is going on in the world, we tend to get overwhelmed. We can also start to feel a sense of hopelessness. We can feel a sense that the world is going crazy, and there is nothing we can do about it. However, we are never hopeless because we are children of God, and we can always turn to Him, and He can save us. There is nothing too hard for God to handle.
Next, the song says:
Honestly, I think we just need Jesus
Honestly, I think we just need Jesus
Have we all gone mad? Have we lost our minds?
What used to be wrong, we say that it's right
Honestly, I think we just need Jesus
This is the part that gets stuck in my head. I can’t think of a truer statement. I can see how our country is falling apart because we keep removing God from more and more things. This country was founded with God. He was a part of the government; yes, Church and State were separate, and yet God and State weren’t. God was invited into the Constitution; he was invited into the Pledge of Allegiance. He was invited into our courtrooms. God was welcome everywhere. Now, it seems He is welcome nowhere.
I also love how the song says, “Have we all gone mad? Have we lost our minds? What used to be wrong, we say that it’s right.” We have all thought this for a long time now and it is nice to hear it in a song so we know we aren’t the only ones who think it. This world does seem to have gone mad and it does seem like we are all losing our minds. Some of the things that seem to be ok in the world today still shock me. I think this song points out very real and honest questions. Have we all gone mad? Have we all lost our minds?
Take a good long look in the mirror
Search my heart and soul, make it clearer
Help me take your love, trade the bitter
Leave it in the dust, help me leave it in the dust, Lord.
I think it would be a great idea if we all stopped and took a good look in the mirror. What are we doing? Not what is the world doing, what are we doing? Are we staying true to God in this crazy world? Are we staying above all the drama and walking in the light of Christ? Are we being love and hope to everyone we meet? We are all called to be “little Christs” to all we meet. Are we doing so? Are we loving everyone, even those who aren’t like us? Even those who aren’t living their lives the way we think they should? Even those who we don’t like. God said to love our enemies. Are we doing that?
The next line says, “Search my heart and soul, make it clearer.” Do we want God to search our hearts and souls? What would He find? I do like how it says to make it clearer. With all that is going on in this world, and all this world says is ok, the water we wade into can get muddy. I don’t think the world makes it easy or clear how we should live our lives. We need to focus on God and ask God to help make it clear to us what He wants from us and how He wants us to live.
It also says, “Help me take your love, trade the bitter. Leave it in the dust, help me leave it in the dust, Lord.” It can be easy to become bitter. We live in a broken world, and people offend us all the time. Things aren’t fair, and sometimes good things happen to bad people, and bad things happen to good people. This can make us bitter. We need God to come in and replace our bitterness with His love. We need His help to walk away from the bitter and leave it in the dust.
We've been preachin', we've been drinkin' in the vanity (in the vanity)
Now it's got us questionin' our sanity (sanity)
And we wonder how we get all this anxiety
It's clear to me
Yep, I think we have all probably questioned our sanity at some point over the last few years. I definitely think there is a lot of vanity in this day and age as well. With everyone having phones and taking photos every moment of every day, we have become obsessed with how we look and what we have. We want to make sure our life looks as good online as everyone else’s life does. This leads us to do and say things that aren’t always true. We act online like our lives are perfect and yet so many of our children and adults are hurting inside but don’t reach out and get help because everyone else seems like they are doing so good. This definitely makes us question our sanity because our life is falling apart, and everyone else seems to have it all together. I love the line that says, “And we wonder how we get all this anxiety.” Exactly!! All of the things I just talked about, along with the news, the decline of our country, the division in our country, and we wonder why everyone is so anxious.
After the song repeats the chorus about us just needing Jesus, it goes on to say:
We turn away (we turn away)
We're running back to you (oh-oh)
Covered in grace (covered in grace)
God, You can make us new (make us new)
Yes! We are like a revolving door. We turn away from the Lord and then turn back to Him, then we turn away, and then we turn back. I love how the author of this song understands that even when we do this, we are covered in grace. God will always accept us back in. He is not angry with us that we have turned away, He is happy that we have turned back. God is always there with open arms waiting for us to turn back to Him. God is the only one that can make us new. We may think we have done too much, we have really messed up this time, and there is no hope for us. There is always hope in the Lord. He can make us new, He can make our country new, He can make our world new. We just have to invite Him in and ask Him.
The song ends by repeating the chorus. I will leave you with those words.
Honestly, we need, we need You, Jesus (we need You, oh)
Have we all gone mad? Have we lost our minds?
What used to be wrong, we say that it's right
Honestly, we need, we need You, Jesus
Oh, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
We need You, Jesus, Jesus
Oh, Jesus
Jesus, Jesus (we're running back)
(We're running back to You) Jesus
We're runnin' back to You, oh (Jesus)
Yeah, Jesus, Jesus
Make us new
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we love you, and we are sorry we turned away; please help us to turn back. We are sorry our country is falling apart. Please show us how we can help to bring you back into our country. Please put in our hearts what you are calling us to do. Please help us to stop searching for the drama and start searching for you. Help us to be your love and light to others instead of spreading the drama and the worry. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I would like to ask a favor. I have been talking about my mentoring program for a while now. It is on Tuesday nights at 8 PM EST on Zoom, and I record it, so if you aren’t able to make it live, you can watch the recording. Maybe mentoring is not for you, and yet you may know someone who might benefit from it. My favor is that you pass the information along to them. CLICK HERE for mentoring. You could just copy it and then paste it into a text message or email. Also, you could just direct them to the walkboldlywithjesus.com website, and the link is right on that first page. If you would like to join mentoring, but just don’t have the $30 per month, please reach out to me. I don’t want a lack of money to hinder my ability to grow closer to the Lord. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Also, can I please ask for some prayers? My middle son Noah is going in for surgery today. Please pray for a successful surgery, healing of all headaches, and a speedy and pain-free recovery. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day.
Today’s Word from the Lord was received in January 2024 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group or about these words, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is “I am here for each one of you, my children. I never abandon you. You are precious in my sight. You are my great delight.”