From The Inside Out
Recently in a service we sang the song from Hillsong United: From The Inside Out. I was touched by the words and tried to find the story behind the song.From the Hillsong United website: “Our heart is simple: To encounter our God; be changed from the inside out; so that as the Church, we would go out and change our world. Its about coming together with hearts as one; losing our-selves in worship to our creator, and finding our purpose in creatively meeting the real needs of humanity.”Lord, you know me. You know my sins. You know how easy it is for me to rebel. You see my heart when I look like I am surrendering but in my heart I am complaining, grumbling and pitying myself.So I invite you in. Come into my heart and conceive a new, true life. Make sure I am fit inside all the way to my skin. Let me not lose sight of your love. Help me to keep in step with you. You hold me together. Otherwise I would fall to pieces. I would be unable to move forward. I would crawl into a black hole and cower. I have no strength without you. I only know how to lean on you.Free me from all those dead-end efforts to make myself respectable. Let me live all out for you. You, Lord, are generous in love. You are full of grace and mercy. You pull me up to stand tall in your presence so I can look you in the eye.Psalm 26:2-3 Examine me, God, from head to foot, order your battery of tests. Make sure I’m fit inside and out So I never lose sight of your love, But keep in step with you, never missing a beat.Psalm 41:12 You know me inside and out, you hold me together, you never fail to stand me tall in your presence so I can look you in the eye.Psalm 51:1-6 Generous in love – God, give grace! Huge in mercy – wipe out my bad record. Scrub away my guilt, soak out my sins in your laundry. I know how bad I’ve been; my sins are staring me down.You’re the One I’ve violated, and you’ve seen it all, seen the full extent of my evil. You have all the facts before you; whatever you decide about me is fair. I’ve been out of step with you for a long time, in the wrong since before I was born. What you’re after is truth from the inside out. Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.Hebrews 9:11-15 But when the Messiah arrived, high priest of the superior things of this new covenant, he bypassed the old tent and its trappings in this created world and went straight into heaven’s “tent”—the true Holy Place—once and for all. He also bypassed the sacrifices consisting of goat and calf blood, instead using his own blood as the price to set us free once and for all. If that animal blood and the other rituals of purification were effective in cleaning up certain matters of our religion and behavior, think how much more the blood of Christ cleans up our whole lives, inside and out. Through the Spirit, Christ offered himself as an unblemished sacrifice, freeing us from all those dead-end efforts to make ourselves respectable, so that we can live all out for God. From the Inside Out by Hillsong United – Listen Here.A thousand times I’ve failed Still your mercy remains And should I stumble again Still I’m caught in your grace My heart and my soul, I give You control Consume me from the inside out Lord Let justice and praise, become my embrace To love You from the inside outYour will above all else, my purpose remains The art of losing myself in bringing you praiseMy heart, my soul, Lord I give you control Consume me from the inside out Lord Let justice and praise become my embrace To love You from the inside outEverlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise From the inside out, O my soul cries out My Soul cries out to You
