{"id":25628,"date":"2020-07-29T13:31:31","date_gmt":"2020-07-29T17:31:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=25628"},"modified":"2020-07-29T13:41:06","modified_gmt":"2020-07-29T17:41:06","slug":"worship-wednesday-lay-down-your-burdens-come-as-you-are-crowder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=25628","title":{"rendered":"Worship Wednesday – Lay Down Your Burdens – Come As You Are – Crowder"},"content":{"rendered":"
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[The piece below is adapted from the Archives. Last night, during an online concert<\/a> thanks to American Awakening<\/a>, I heard\u00a0David Crowder<\/a> sing “Come As You Are”<\/em>. It was a much-needed reminder that although the world is crying shame and blame, Jesus calls us to come to Him “as we are”. No shame. No blame. He knows we are frail. That sin darkens our hearts, but we can be free of that and walk in the light of His forgiveness and love.<\/article>\n
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Today…rest a moment. Let us lay down our burdens and rest in Him. Remembering who He is. The battle is His. He calls us to stand in the battle and to love Him and all around us with His love. We stand with the Mightiest; we stand for His truth. We stand for each other. As the concert organizers for last night’s concert promoted: “We are Better Together.” In Him.<\/strong>]<\/article>\n
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Jesus said, \u201cCome to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.\u201d<\/em> \u2013 Matthew 11:28-29<\/a><\/article>\n
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The decade of my 20s is littered with the debris of a searching, self-centered life. Even as a follower of Christ, the world drew me like a powerful magnet. I was lured by the arguments of those critical of God, the church, and Christianity. After years of standing one foot in the world and one foot in the church, thanks to God never giving up on us, my thinking finally cleared.<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s promises of belonging, significance, and security shattered,\u00a0but not without sending shards of painful memories and regret deep into my heart. The arguments against God turned hollow, emptied of their logic. Those very arguments denied our own personal responsibility for many of the world\u2019s woes. For a season, believing man over God, my course\u00a0in life was spiraling away from the very redemptive purposes of God. Even to this day, it can still be a challenge to look away, to believe that God can’t use me for the sake of another. Or He just wouldn’t.<\/p>\n

Crowder\u2019s song \u201cCome As You Are<\/em>\u201d<\/a> ministers to my heart at every listening. There is nothing so wonderful in life as God and His love and forgiveness. I can\u2019t look back at that prodigal decade without remorse. Yet, because of God, and the truth of His Word, I can lay all that down (again). There is a verse,\u00a0recorded by the Old Testament prophet Joel, that always encourages me: [God speaking]: \u201cI will make up to you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten\u201d <\/em><\/strong>(Joel 2:25<\/a>). He has kept that promise in my life, and I am grateful.<\/p>\n

How God restored me to Himself was through a couple of friends: one, an older believer, and the other, a close friend, who had survived a similar wilderness wandering,\u00a0breaking out of it ahead of me.\u00a0They always come to mind in remembering how God worked in my life back then. David Crowder speaks so clearly about his own journey of restoration:<\/p>\n

\u201cAs it goes with hypocrisy, judgement, dogmatism, and all the rest of it that Jesus put to death, it\u2019s hard to see in yourself what you readily see in others. And into my cynicism and anger my friend began to dream aloud, \u201cWhat if church really was like family. What if we pretended the, \u2018brother and sister, son and daughter,\u2019 stuff was real. What if relationships were thought to be rare and valuable things. What if it was just a bunch of people that loved each other and were simply trying their best to follow this Jesus we read of in scripture. What if we pretended, the \u2018love your neighbor as yourself,\u2019 thing was a better way to live\u2026What if we pretended we are all sinners. What if we pretended grace is real. What if the word \u2018pretend\u2019 felt less powerful than the word \u2018believe\u2019 because we did actually believe. What if\u2026\u201d<\/em> \u2013 David Crowder<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u201cThe meta-narrative of scripture is about innocence lost,<\/strong> it is about displacement, about things not being right and a search for belonging and home and forgiveness and reconciliation, the tension of death and life, what it means to be alive. The story is not about making bad people good, it is about making dead people alive.<\/strong> The story sold is rarely that\u2026<\/em>What if we started believing?\u201d<\/em> \u2013 David Crowder<\/a><\/p>\n

There are those in the world who look at followers of Christ as pretenders. Honestly, there are \u201cchurch folks\u201d that do more to distract than draw others to\u00a0God. Then\u00a0there are those whose lives have truly been transformed. True Christ-followers know how far He has brought\u00a0them from their broken, burdened selves. This world of ours needs that voice of hope \u2013 real hope\u00a0that comes close, as God came close to us through Jesus.<\/strong> In this global wilderness of ours, He calls us to live small and love large, to extend His love as far as He extended it to us.<\/strong> This is the purpose of God\u2019s church \u2013 to love Him and to reflect His glory in a true hands-on witness of His love for all around us.<\/p>\n

Worship<\/a> with me:<\/p>\n

Come out of sadness from wherever you\u2019ve been
\nCome broken hearted let rescue begin
\nCome find your mercy, Oh sinner come kneel<\/p>\n

Earth has no sorrow that Heaven can\u2019t heal
\nEarth has no sorrow that Heaven can\u2019t heal<\/p>\n

So lay down your burdens, lay down your shame
\nAll who are broken, lift up your face
\nOh wanderer come home, You\u2019re not too far
\nSo lay down your hurt, lay down your heart
\nCome as you are<\/p>\n

There\u2019s hope for the hopeless
\nAnd all those who\u2019ve strayed
\nCome sit at the table
\nCome taste the grace
\nThere\u2019s rest for the weary
\nRest that endures
\nEarth has no sorrow
\nThat Heaven can\u2019t cure<\/p>\n

Come as you are
\nFall in His arms, come as you are<\/p>\n

There\u2019s joy for the morning, Oh sinner be still
\nEarth has no sorrow that Heaven can\u2019t heal
\nEarth has no sorrow that Heaven can\u2019t heal.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Written by David Crowder, Matt Maher, & Ben Glover (Lyrics<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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YouTube Video \u2013 Crowder \u2013 Come As You Are (Lyric Video)<\/a><\/p>\n

YouTube Video \u2013 Come As You Are by Crowder Lyric Video<\/a><\/p>\n

YouTube Video \u2013 Crowder \u2013 Come As You Are (Music Video)<\/a><\/p>\n

YouTube Video \u2013 Crowder \u2013 Come As You Are (Behind the Scenes)<\/a><\/p>\n

David Crowder Website \u2013 Read the Family History \u2013 Riveting and Real<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo Credits: Crowdermusic.com<\/a>\u00a0and BPNews.net<\/a><\/p>\n