39 And He came out and proceeded as was His custom to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples also followed Him. 40 When He arrived at the place, He said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation." 41 And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and [began] to pray, 42 saying, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” [Luke 22:39-42 NASB]
In 1981, God used the ministry of The Second Chapter of Acts to change my life. In 1992, Buck Herring called and asked if I would mind Annie singing my song, “We Will Worship”. Of course I needed time to pray about it – NOT! One day, several months later, a friend called me and said, “Listen!” What I heard was Annie’s version of “We Will Worship” – as she sang it live on the CBN television show, Heart to Heart with Sheila Walsh. I was so overcome with gratitude to the Lord for bringing this to pass that I went straight to the piano and this song, “Jesus, I Love You”, poured out.
“We Will Worship” speaks of lifting our hands in worship to the Lord. Yet, I realized it was He who first lifted His hands in worship (obedience to His Father) for me! It is out of gratitude of all He has done that I gladly lift my hands as a sign of surrender to and identification with the Almighty God!
This song came as I realized I could never come near to the degree of passion Jesus demonstrated for me when He lifted His hands in surrender on the cross to pay for my sins…when I realized that the lifting of my hands in surrender to Jesus was the least I could do and nothing to be ashamed of! I cannot lift my hands that high…but I will try. I cannot sing a love so as sweet as the one He sang in surrender for me…but I will try.
5 For there is one God, [and] one mediator also between God and men, [the] man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony [given] at the proper time. 8 Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension. [1Timothy 2:5,6,8 NASB]
Let us never be ashamed to surrender to Jesus in physical expressions of worship or in the laying down of life for Him and His kingdom. Let us never cease from expressing our love for Him. I challenge you with this: to the degree that you have experienced the love of Jesus, express your love back to Him with that same depth of passion. At least try…it’ll do your soul good!
Dennis Jernigan
To listen to the song and the podcast version of this blog, go to http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/jesus-i-love-you/
Picture courtesy of https://pixabay.com/photos/cross-christ-faith-god-jesus-2713356/
Jesus, I Love You
Words & Music Dennis Jernigan
June 9, 1993
Verse
Your love reached to the sky
With arms stretched open wide!
You took my sin and died!
O, how could I ever thank You?
The sweetest melody
In perfect harmony!
A love song just for me!
O, how could I ever thank You?
I want to thank You for my life!
Chorus
But I cannot lift my hands that high!
All that I know is I must try!
You lifted up Your hands to die
To tell me You love me!
But I cannot sing one note that sweet!
Words that I say seem incomplete!
But living or dying I’ll repeat.
“Jesus, I love You!
Jesus, I love You!
Jesus, I love You!
Jesus, I love You!”
Verse
Lord, my heart is longing
To tell You how I feel!
You make my life worth living!
So with my life, I will thank You!
And I am ever grateful
For Your cleansing blood!
No praise would be enough,
So with my life I will thank You!
I want to thank You for my life!
Chorus
But I cannot lift my hands that high!
All that I know is I must try!
You lifted up Your hands to die
To tell me You love me!
But I cannot sing one note that sweet!
Words that I say seem incomplete!
But living or dying I’ll repeat.
“Jesus, I love You!
Jesus, I love You!
Jesus, I love You!
Jesus, I love You!”