Break Every Chain

It's Sunday so I thought I'd change things up a bit today and share a song which I have found powerful. The following song is called "Break Every Chain" from the Jesus Culture - Awakening album. The lyrics are repetitive but so powerful!

 

There is power in the name of Jesus

There is power in the name of Jesus

There is power in the name of Jesus

To break every chain, 

Break every chain 

Break every chain

All sufficient sacrifice
So freely given
Such a price bought

Our redemption
Heaven’s gates swing wide

There’s an army rising up
There’s an army rising up
There’s an army rising up
There’s an army rising up
To break every chain
To break every chain
To break every chain

I don't think I can really extend on that... everything I want to say has been said in the lyrics. So I'll share a bit of my own personal testimony of broken chains.

We all know chains are used to keep us tied up to something, we cannot get free. The enemy will use all sorts of things to chain us up, to keep us from receiving the life God had intended for us to have. I was once tied up in my own chains, chains which I personally, was too scared to remove. I had chains around my heart, which had been hurt and broken by a number of people. Friends and family had hurt me in ways that I never had expected. The enemy had convinced me that I didn't need anyone else. I was convinced that if I let anyone in again I would only be hurt further so I let the enemy have his way. I chained up my heart, I was determined never to let anyone in again. 

But...

Then came along Jesus. From the moment I stepped into church with my friend, I felt the pull. It was a good pull, it was a pull that told me I was where I belong. Once I was there, I was convinced I was where I was supposed to be, but I was still not willing to let anyone get too close. 

Then one day, I had an amazing encounter with God. I experienced Him in a way that I had never experienced before. He opened my eyes to realise that I had closed myself off from people and from Him. I knew that it was time to let go. It was time to release those chains, but even though I had put them up, I wasn't able to break them myself. I was scared, and the only way to get through it was with Jesus. 

All it takes is for us to ask, and Jesus CAN and WILL break those chains. He is all powerful. His name is higher than any other, all it takes is a little faith and great things can happen. 

He broke my chains, they are no longer holding me back. I have now made so many more meaningful friends, my relationship with my family is no longer difficult. The biggest change is that I now know that I can love without fear of being hurt. Without my heart being chained up, I can let Jesus in, I can let Him do a work in me, I can let Him show me how to love and allow Him to love me. There are still times when I may get hurt, but I'm not afraid, and my hearts stays open. When it was closed off, I was unable to accept God's love, but now with those chains gone, His love flows in me always and I'm not worried about the hurt that may come my way because I know that God will never leave me or hurt me.

Thankful for: Phones

I like to be thankful for things that most people wouldn't think of being thankful for. Today I am thankful for phones. I know there are all sorts of ways of communicating these days, mail, email, phone call, skype, in person. But for me, the phone is a very handy thing to have. I have family that live on the other side of the country, and although I have lots of ways to communicate with them, I find the phone is the greatest blessing of all. There are times when you just want to hear that familiar voice of a family member, but when they are a 5 hour plane trip away, a catch up in person is difficult, mail and email take time, skype and on line chats need them to be on line at the same time as you, but a phone call is usually the most effective. Yes, sometimes they don't answer, but leaving a message will have them call you back as soon as they can. So today, after spending about an hour on the phone talking to all of my family back home I'm thankful for my phone. Without it, talking to my family would be quite difficult. So, I thank God for my phone.