It would not be a complete worship series without me sharing my favorite worship song of all time. How He Loves is just incredible, especially the John Mark McMillan version. My favorite versions of songs are usually the ones done by the actual songwriters. There are a few exceptions, but I believe the only way to really get the passion and power of a song is to hear it from the lips of the one who lived it. That’s why I like singer/songwriters so much. But that’s another post for another day. 🙂
So… listen below to How He Loves by John Mark McMillan. Then keep reading. If you are reading this in an email, stop by growwhereyoureplanted.com to watch.
This song has always meant so much to me. It’s actually my favorite running song… and my favorite worship song. My I-could-listen-to-it-over-and-over-again-and-never-get-tired-of-it song. My I-just-need-to-feel-that-You-love-me-God song. Below, you’ll find a link to the video of the story behind the song. Since I watched the video months ago, the song has much more meaning to me than it ever has. John Mark wrote the song the day after his best friend died in a car accident. I got chills as I encourage you to watch… and really see the heart and life that was poured into the writing of those powerful words:
This is REAL life, friends. No trying to pretend we don’t struggle with this stuff because we’re “good Christians.” We DO hurt. We DO get angry. We DO question WHY. Probably why this song is so powerful. Out of John Mark’s honesty came anointed words, pleasing to God. There is no other song that speaks to my heart as much as this one does. It’s the song that causes me to literally forget where I am (physically) for a moment… and feel as if I am with Jesus.
He is jealous for me. Really? The God of the universe desires my heart that much?
It’s this phrase that get me the most:
And I realize just how beautiful You are
And how great Your affections are for me
And I’m reminded of Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18…
God loves us so much that He is using our afflictions for His glory! We forget this too often… we stay wrapped up in the here and now. But it’s when we work through and let go of our present pain and allow room for His beautiful future that we really experience God.
Oh… how He loves us… And I don’t have time to maintain these regrets. Thankful for God giving John Mark this powerful song that brings us right to the throne of grace.
About 31 Days of Worship
Every day in the month of October, I will be posting here about worship. Will you join me on this journey? Maybe you are interested in discussing specific topics within the area of worship. If this is you, I’d LOVE to hear from you! You can leave a comment below or send me an email.
At any time during the month, you can see all posts in this series by clicking here: 31 Days of Worship. Also, if you would like to subscribe to Grow Where You’re Planted and receive these posts in your email, you can do that here: Grow Where You’re Planted Updates.
Thanks for stopping by! I enjoy being on this worship journey with you! My prayer is that God will teach all of us to become more focused worshipers throughout this month.
That same phrase gets me too! I really struggled with understanding those lyrics and then one day, in preparation to sing it with the band for our Sunday Gathering, it suddenly made sense and I understood it. So powerful!