deliver me, oh god!

maybe someday
you'll loose the chains and leave me free to love
to know
to feel

oh, GOD! deliver me from this
a p a t h y
all these feelings i no longer desire

i am thoroughly convinced
that feeling the pains of the world is
easier to bear
than feeling nothing at all.

oh, GOD! strip away at the
barricades in my soul
and make me

something worthwhile.

redemption

the things i've left behind have left a multitude of stains
i've still got sinful blood that won't stop flowing through my veins
with nothing left to hold onto and nothing left to give
the only song i sing is one that wonders why i live

yet Redemption is flowing from Your side
You say You'll dry the tears i cry and i,
i wanna be with You
and my heart is beating faster inside
as i think of how Your love died
just because You wanna set me free

but Lord! i'm just a wayward child, i'm an undeserving soul
and i'm not sure i can take back all the things those lovers stole
and You say "My child, those things don't even mean a thing to Me.
the only thing I want to do is set your spirit free."

still, Redemption is flowing from Your side
as i continue asking why
I should even deserve to be here with You
the guilt, it longs to take my peace
but in You, i find my soul released
because Your heart is solely fixed on me.

so i wash my face, my hands, my all, in Your pure and holy blood
and Your joy, it rushes through me like an all-consuming flood
can i ever truly pay back all the things You've done in me?
Your salvation now means more than what it ever seemed to be

so Redemption is flowing from Your side
replacing all the tears i've cried and i,
i wanna be with You
for the first time in my life i feel
that Your grace is becoming real
and i will ever love You.

more than all i could ever need
more than anything to me
Your Redemption is the reason that i'm free

as i look back on my life, i see the things that could have been
and i smile, because my life could not have known a better end
Your truth sustains, Your love remains, Your heart has taken mine
and the love between You and me is the forever kind

and Redemption is flowing from Your side
as You pull back the clouds and split the sky and i
i'm running after You
the world grows dim and i fall to my face
and i can't think of a safer place
than in the arms of the One who saved my life.

to god be the glory!

knees knocking, hands shaking
my mind is running mad and my body is quaking
i’m not sure i can do this, never been so dependent
it’s gonna take a miracle to be able to finish standing.

the notes escape my lips, my heart is racing
my breath is shallow and my insides are aching
i know He’s gonna see me through it
but it’s gonna take a miracle to be able to keep singing.

in sickness and in health is my vow as the bride
even in my weakest hours, in Him i claim to abide
so i get up on this platform, trying to bring him the glory
and it’s gonna be a miracle if i finish this alive.

i’m singing praises despite the enemy’s attempt
at least i’m walking in the Lord, if even with a limp
and i’m trying to give Him all i have, even if it's my lifeline
and it’s gonna be a miracle for me to take the win.

and the music is fading the song is over
and the Lord seems to feel just a little bit closer
i’m right at the finish line, i’m so glad that i won
and i can see that it’s a miracle that i’ve still got more.

so i look back on this moment, i’m going crazy
because the grace of the lord amazes me
i was down and out, i was on my last leg
but He gave me a miracle, and so i’m going to sing.

white knight

she sits on the front porch at night.
just sits in the little white porch swing
with her skirt wrapped all around her,
as she sits curled in a ball.
and she's trying to figure out how to know love.

all the boys down the street
ask for her number
plead for dates
bargain for her heart.
and she gives it to them...

but only as a way to pass the time before the white knight
comes riding up to her front porch to save her
from suburbia, from the dull, delusional life
she's been trapped in for her 17 years.

the "i love yous" and the one night stands
are nothing to her.
daddy never showed her what patience was all about.
god, he couldnt even control his own curiosity.

so she just meanders aimlessly down the streets
trying to find the knight in shining armor
that will never exist if she doesn't figure love out.

and that's all she really wants.

to hold it in her hands and know how it feels
when her heart races from one gentle brush of his lips.

to taste her lover's sweet kisses and let her heart race five million times faster than ever before.

to see his captivating eyes peering into the depths of her soul and realize he's got her figured out.

to smell his fragrance and anticipate his return.

to hear his whispers, his confessions of love, and to finally understand those four letters that she never knew.

to know that it's okay when her mind flutters, when her body shakes, when her hands tingle, when her heart jumps out of her chest. because she's finally found it.

but she's trapped within the shallow fragments
of a life trying to hide the fact
that she's never known love.
she's hiding behind the boys, the sex, the seduction.

and all it's doing is tearing her apart inside.
and forcing her to sit on the front porch at night.
to just sit in the little white porch swing
with her skirt wrapped all around her,
as she sits curled in a ball.
and she's trying to figure out how to know love.

she's stuck within herself.

the portrait of the woman once was.

her eyes inviting, her smile aglow,
her beauty captivating the whole world to know
her heart on canvas, her feelings to show
the portrait of a woman once was.

she had a purpose, for people to see
the true perception of those who are free
she was created to remind you and me
of a liberty from not so long ago.

the crowds, they came from far and near
to see how this concept of life would appear
her face full of joy and absent of fear
was what they sought, and once could find

but as time progressed, her eyes grew tired
it seemed as though she lost her fire
and something on the inside was dying
this portrait of a woman once was .

then all of a sudden, the smile turned to hate,
the eyes were full of rage and seemed quite irate,
spite written all over her once precious face,
and disappointment fell on us all.

she was no longer beautiful, no glint in her eyes,
what once was cherished was now far from a prize
and she longed for her dying self to be recognized
yet her own vain conceit was her murderer.

her canvas was rotting, her paint had gone dry,
yet she still tried to smile, to run from the lie
she had created, that she was the reason why
people had come from miles around.

but you see, her Creator was where credit was due.
He was her glory, and only He could make her new.
so no matter what, seek what is true
for the woman once was could someday be you.