Monday, May 19, 2014

What Grace is Mine

What grace is mine; that He who dwells in endless light,
Called through the night to find my distant soul.
And from His scars poured mercy that would plead for me;
That I might live, and in His name be known. Reversion of O'Danny Boy sung by Damaris Carbaugh


Listening this morning to Nancy Leigh DeMoss on her Moody Program "Revive Our Hearts" and heard an interview Nancy had with singer Damaris Carbaugh.
I want to share some of that interview with you.

Damaris: I tell people, if you want to know if you love the Lord, get around people who do. I realized I was very far. The Lord said, "It’s not that you don’t believe in me; that you don’t know all these things. It’s that you don’t love me. Because if you loved me, it would be, 'What Lord? What do you want?
Nancy: How quickly we say we love the Lord without asking, does our life make it look like we really do?
Damaris: I realized I love my life. I just wanted God to bless my plans. When He began to show me that the blood of Jesus saved me, but it also bought me, I think deep down I knew.
Nancy: Were you afraid you’d lose the career you loved?
Damaris: Absolutely. I thought, I know what this is going to mean. You don’t want me to do what I want to do. It was, this stinks. I’m not kidding you, Nancy. I was also ashamed. I realized I was so wrong. The head was understanding, but my heart wasn’t ready to embrace it. But He got my heart to understand. I said, "Oh God, You have to fix my heart." That’s why I love His Word. He can take a heart of stone and make it a heart of flesh. "I don’t want to want what I’ve wanted. If you can change this heart, I’m yours."
Nancy: Like right away?
Damaris: A big chunk changed. I remember coming back to my sister and saying, "I can’t do it anymore. . ."
She said, "Oh thank You, Jesus. The Lord has things for you that you can’t even imagine."
I was arrested; I’m guilty, and I had no argument. There was a journey there. Then God said, "Get in my Word." It reminds me of my courtship with my husband. I fell in love with Rod through the letters he wrote me. I felt like God was saying, "You want to fall in love with me? Then read Me!" The Lord told me, "The reason your heart hasn’t been in the right place is because you haven’t been in the Word." I was in the Word, but I wasn’t in it. I loved hearing it, but I didn’t live in the Word.
Nancy: I’m thinking about another song on this new CD called "What Grace Is Mine." I think I introduced this song to you several years ago. It's by Kristyn Getty, who's a good friend of this ministry. She had just recorded it. I played it for you when we were in Colorado together, several years ago. You said, "I need to put that on my new CD.
Damaris: I’ll thank you for all of eternity that you played that for us, Nancy. Not only is the music beautiful—everybody knows the music to "O Danny Boy." They consider it one of the most beautiful melodies ever written. But those words. Oh my goodness. That first verse is just amazing to me.
"What grace is mine; that He who dwells in endless light, called through the night to find my distant soul." And here's the line that kills me. "And from His scars poured mercy that would plead for me, that I might live, and in His name be known.”

I realize that what God wants from you is Love. How do we love the Lord? We sing about Him, we tell everyone about Him and we worship Him!

1 comment:

  1. It really is all about relationship...before anything else. :-)

    ReplyDelete