While reflecting on the impact of #GoodFriday, I received this Prayer from my friend Scotty Smith and felt led to share this with all of you.  I hope this prayer blesses you the way it has blessed me today.

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A Prayer for Good Friday

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34 {NIV)

Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matt. 27:46 (NIV)

“It is finished.” John 19:30 (NIV)

Dear Lord Jesus, for years I struggled calling the day of your crucifixion “good.” How presumptuous on our part. That there had to be a day when you—the eternally glorious Son of God, would be made sin for us, is not good at all. But at the same time, that you would freely and gladly give yourself for us on the cross, is never-to-be surpassed goodness—quintessential goodness.

Oh, the wonder of it all. From the cross, and from your heart, came these two impassioned cries. “Father forgive them” (Luke 23:34) and “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46). The first required the second. The second secured the first. Together, they humble our hearts and fuel our worship.

And then there’s the third cry. “It is finished.” Nothing is left undone, concerning our salvation and for the transformation of our world. Once and for all—perfectly and fully, we have been reconciled to God. You became sin for us, than in you, we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21)—the Just for the unjust, the Beautiful One for the broken ones, the Lamb of God for the rebels from God.

Lord Jesus, a millions years into our life in the new heaven and new earth, we will still be stunned with awe, worship, and gratitude for the greatness of your sacrifice and love for us. Because you were fully forsaken, we are forever forgiven. Because you exhausted God’s judgment against our numberless sins, we now live by the gift of your perfect righteousness. Bow our heads in humility and raise our hands in praise. So very Amen we pray, in your all-glorious, all-grace-full name.
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Thank you Scotty!  Read more from Scotty here.

I LAY ME DOWN – Live Video and Devotion Premiere:

When Isaiah was called by God to be a prophet his first response was, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips…” (Isaiah 6:5). Isaiah was “undone” – wrecked, ruined, lost – his heart was literally broken over the fact that he was not perfect. He had sinned against the One Who called him.

But God already knew that when He called Isaiah.

Just like He already knows our fear and failure, pride and hatred, and whatever else we think we are hiding from Him.

In Isaiah’s case, God used a burning coal to cleanse him: “With it he touched my mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for’ ” (v. 7).

And in the very next verse Isaiah delivers his famous line. God asks, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And Isaiah replies, “Here am I. Send me!”

Just like that, he goes from being undone by sin to undone by holiness.

The same can be true for us. We can be wrecked by the mistakes we make daily. Or we can be wrecked by the infinite supply of love and mercy made available to each and every one of us. Not through burning coals upon our lips but through the sacrifice that Jesus already made for us when He died 2,000 years ago on the cross.

There’s only one thing God asks for in return – YOU!

Let this be your Isaiah moment. Bow before Him in wonder, confess anything you have hidden, feel the sweet embrace of His mercy and cry out, “Lord, Take my all and nothing less!”

• At Your feet
• I bow in wonder
• At Your feet
• I place my crowns
• Let surrender be the only sound
• At Your feet
• I lay me down

I LAY ME DOWN is featured on Michael W. Smith’s new album, SOVEREIGN.  Get your copy wherever you purchase / consume music.

ALL ARISE – Live Video and Devotion Premiere:

If you’ve ever been in a courtroom, or watched any of the dramas on television, you know that when a judge is about to enter the room the bailiff will say, “All rise, the Honorable Judge (name) presiding.” It is protocol that we rise at the announcement of the judge’s name, or when a King or President or other “important person” enters a room, to show respect for that person and their authority.

There’s a sense of this feeling when we worship, but on an even deeper, more powerful and worthy level. It’s as if the bailiff is issuing this call to worship, as we invite the presence of the Lord into the room with us:

• All, all arise
• At the name
• Of our Savior
• Who is worthy
• You are worthy

All arise because we believe He is there.

All arise to say, “Lord, I’m in awe of you!”

All arise because of His authority.

All arise because He is worthy.

All arise because there is power at the sound of His name.

There is only One Who is truly worthy of this kind of adoration. There is only One Whose majesty is unending. There is only One, the King of Kings, never failing. There is only One, One love alone that overwhelms the grave. And that’s worth getting on our feet for!

• “Let the whole world fear the Lord, and let everyone stand in awe of him.” Psalm 33:8

ALL ARISE is featured on Michael W. Smith’s new album, SOVEREIGN.  Get your copy wherever you purchase / consume music.

THE SAME POWER – Live Video and Devotion Premiere:

Did you know that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us? God’s resurrection power is in us! That is true for everyone who receives Christ, simply by believing and walking in that power.

Take a few moments to reflect on the Truth of God’s Word:

• But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. Acts 2:24
• When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. Romans 6:10-11
• The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. Romans 8:11

God loves each one of us so much that He filled His Son with the power to overcome death so that we could have eternal life. That power is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. And according to Scripture that same power is inside each one of us!

Don’t you just love that? Don’t you just feel the power that comes from those statements! Jesus overcame sin and death, for us, once and for all. It is really done. It. Is. Finished!

As believers it is not in our spiritual DNA to fear eternal death as a consequence of our sins, because God promises us forgiveness and life.

Death could not keep its hold on Jesus. And it can’t keep its hold on us!

THE SAME POWER is featured on Michael W. Smith’s new album, SOVEREIGN.  Get your copy wherever you purchase / consume music.

HIDE MYSELF – Live Video and Devotion Premiere:

In Psalm 57:1, David writes: “Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.”

The disaster that David speaks of is Saul’s pursuit of him. Saul wants to kill David because he can see that God is with him.

Believing in God doesn’t make us immune to trouble. There were many instances in David’s life in which trouble pursued him, just like there are and will be times in our own lives when we need a place of safety, comfort, and help in our time of need.

Where do we run in times of trouble? Where is that hiding place, that place of refuge?

In the midst of the pursuit, Saul says to his men: “Discover his hiding places…” (1 Samuel 23:23). The caves were among David’s favorite hiding places, but they weren’t his only hiding place. He also hid himself where he found his help – in the shadow of God’s wings.

When we run to God for help we find more than a hiding place. We find help, we find peace, and we find rest, because God’s presence changes everything. It changes fear to faith, anxiety to peace, discouragement to confidence, danger to safety.

Faith, peace, confidence, and safety – that is what is available to us when we hide in Him.

Four times in the Psalms David writes about seeking refuge in the shelter of God’s wings. The final time, in Psalm 63:7, he writes, “Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.” Even when his life was on the line, David could sing, rejoice even, and hold tight to the promises of God because he had seen the Lord’s faithfulness.

No matter what you are going through – storms, floods, you name it – you can always run to God. Hold that truth in your heart and you too will find a voice to sing with from the shadows.

HIDE MYSELF is featured on Michael W. Smith’s new album, SOVEREIGN.  Get your copy wherever you purchase / consume music.

YOU ARE THE FIRE – Live Video and Devotion Premiere:

Have you ever been so excited about something that you felt like you were literally going to burst if you didn’t tell someone and tell them right now?

That’s exactly how Jeremiah says he felt about speaking God’s Word:

• But if I say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot. Jeremiah 20:9

Even when Jeremiah tried to keep quiet, he couldn’t. Even though the message he had was a challenging one, he still longed to share it. Even knowing that the people wouldn’t listen to him, God’s word was so powerful it was like an aching in his bones.

• You are the flame that’s growing deep inside
• You are the blazing passion in my eyes
• You are the aching shut up in my bones
• You are the longing that won’t let me go

That’s what God wants for the church. For us to be so filled with His love it would consume us from the inside out. For us to feel like we were going to burst if we didn’t proclaim His love to the nations right now. For us to wake up and begin to reflect who God is. For us to invite Him to be the fire that burns inside of us, and that the whole world would see us burn.

• Let it burn, let it burn now
• From the inside out
• Let it rage, let it rage now
• You are the fire

God, You are the fire!

YOU ARE THE FIRE is featured on Michael W. Smith’s new album, SOVEREIGN.  Get your copy wherever you purchase / consume music.

We are premiering 5 new Live Videos of Michael W. Smith performing songs from his new album, SOVEREIGN over the next 5 weeks.  Check back here for each premiere.

RELEASE SCHEDULE: 

• February 3, 2015 – YOU ARE THE FIRE (Live)
• February 10, 2015 – HIDE MYSELF (Live)
• February 17, 2015 – THE SAME POWER (Live)
• February 24, 2015 – ALL ARISE (Live)
• March 3, 2015 – I LAY ME DOWN (Live)

Just when you think Charlie Daniels 40th Anniversary Volunteer Jam can’t get any bigger, additional megastar performers are announced. Trace Adkins, Ted Nugent, Tracy Lawrence, Craig Morgan, Colt Ford, The Oak Ridge Boys and Michael W. Smith will all be appearing alongside the previously-announced Travis Tritt, Montgomery Gentry, Billy Ray Cyrus, The Kentucky Headhunters, The Outlaws and Lee Roy Parnell. The megastars will bind together to support the needs of American veterans through The Journey Home Project. Tickets to the once-in-a-lifetime event will be available beginning Friday, January 30 at 10 a.m. CST at the Bridgestone Arena box office and all Ticketmaster locations. Due to tremendous growth over its forty years of sell-out success, the legendary Volunteer Jam will take place for the first time at the Bridgestone Arena in downtown Nashville on August 12, 2015 and will be hosted by Sean Hannity and Storme Warren.

In 1974, The Charlie Daniels Band hosted the first-ever Volunteer Jam as a way of celebrating their first hometown sellout concert, never knowing how big the event would become — from being aired as a two-hour TV special produced by Dick Clark Productions, to earning national attention through the Jerry Lewis Telethon, to being broadcast LIVE around the world on Voice of America, the event experienced exponential growth with each passing year. “I’m very excited to continue the Jam tradition,” said Daniels. I hope to see more Nashville Volunteer Jams in the future. I’m very, very excited to continue the Jam tradition forty years later. Ain’t it good to be alive, and be in Tennessee.”

The 2015 Charlie Daniels Volunteer Jam will benefit The Journey Home Project, the non-profit organization that Daniels serves as Chairman of the Board and whose mission is to connect donors to veterans’ organizations that can help meet their health care, education and career needs, as well as The Predators Foundation, which is devoted to funneling the excitement of professional sports towards the needs of the community.  For more information on The Journey Home Project, please visit: thejourneyhomeproject.org. For more information on The Predators Foundation, please visit: predators.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=37108.

Charlie Daniels 40th Anniversary Volunteer Jam presented by Copperweld is produced by David Corlew & Associates in association with Outback Concerts. 95.5 FM Nash ICON and WSM-AM serve as the official radio partners. Ticket prices start at $17.68 with limited VIP packages available.

For additional information on ticketing, visit the Bridgestone Arena box office or Ticketmaster.com.

For more information on The Charlie Daniels Band, visit www.charliedaniels.com.

Michael and all of his team are completely humbled by the support that you have shown his new album, THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS this year.

As we enter the final days of the Christmas Season we wanted to share you a YouTube playlist with you so that you can watch the lyric videos wherever you are…

The Spirit of Christmas is now available on CD in-stores everywhere and on iTunes here.

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WATCH & LISTEN TO THE PLAYLIST HERE:
Watch on YOUTUBE here.