Once and For All
by Lauren Daigle
God I give You all I can today
These scattered ashes that I hid away
I lay them all at Your feetFrom the corners of my deepest shame
The empty places where I’ve worn Your name
Show me the love I say I believeOh Help me to lay it down
Oh Lord I lay it downOh let this be where I die
My lord with thee crucified
Be lifted high as my Kingdom’s fall
Once and for all, once and for allThere is victory in my Saviors loss
And In the crimson flowing from the cross
Pour over me, pour over me yes
Oh let this be where I die
My lord with thee crucified
Be lifted high as my Kingdom’s fall
Once and for all
This particular song came to me the morning of a transition–the moving out of my middle child to live in the city with her friends. I remember God speaking to my restless, practical mind to “lay it down, once and for all”. Once and for all means, “now and for the last time, finally”. It’s taken me weeks, or maybe even months as I think of all the events leading up to this post, to have the courage to write about “once and for all”. It seems so absolute, and, to be honest, “for the last time” seems impossible. Meaning–Who ever really conquers something “for the last time, or finally?” There is always the residual, or the mishap, or the slip up, or the next “thing”.
I travel a lot in my job. I’m intentional about the time spent–hours on the road, alone, with me and my thoughts. One of my intentions is to listen to praise and worship music and sing. Yesterday, I listened to Lauren’s song above in combination with a message or writing that my parents shared with me called “It is finished” running through my thoughts.
During Lent, we are reminded of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. Jesus, fully man and fully God, showed us that not only does He care deeply for our soul (Fully God), but He also cares deeply about our schedule, our job, our home, our doctor’s appointment, and that nagging feeling (Fully Man). In other words, God knows, like the song shared, that we do a great job building up our kingdoms, our way of doing things, and we struggle. He gets it. He walked this earth experiencing all the same earthly trials you and I experience, but remained the perfect sacrifice.
Why is this so important? We glory in the work of the cross from afar, but God wants you to come up close and experience a revolution. A mighty change that will forever be your mindset as you walk this earth. Jesus spoke seven words, or messages from the cross prior to His death. A google search will give you more details on His provision and care, His forgiveness, love and mercy to the sinner, His feelings of abandonment, and His thirst. My heart desires to write about His Words, “It is finished.”
As you step near to the cross with your insecurities, anger, here we are again issues, sadness, illness…..whatever you carry around with you keeping you from God’s best for you in your mind, body, and spirit, God is saying to you, “It is finished!”
It’s not a passive conclusion but an active recognition and intentional mind shift to not act like God doesn’t have it all under control. We sing Victory in Jesus on Sunday and walk around all week in fear and worry that God has abandoned us and lost His mind. If I believe the Words of Jesus, then I can spend more time living in freedom and becoming more like Christ (loving, merciful, peaceful).
It’s hard.
It means that the next time you are offended or experience an overwhelming crisis in your life, you will whisper to yourself, “It is finished.” You will take action, but your mind is confident in the work of Jesus. I mean think about it. What else could Jesus do to show you once and for all that I had this, I got this, I will have this! As I listened to the lines….
There is victory in my Saviors loss
And In the crimson flowing from the cross
Pour over me, pour over me yes
Oh let this be where I die
My lord with thee crucified
Be lifted high as my Kingdom’s fall
Once and for all
I asked God to wash over me to the point I die to self and give Him the proper position in my life–my God, my Savior, my perfect friend.
Oh the deep things of our soul work. I re-read this post, and I feel I can’t express in words the joy in knowing “It is finished.” That even in my greatest moments of darkness, God will forever be my once and for all. He is the final, not my human attempts and scrambling.
Let us rest. Let us sing. Let Him be lifted high as our kingdoms fall, once and for all.
ARRESTED BY GRACE 
Loved and needed this our minister keep preaching ” give it to God”. I am trying. I tell myself let it roll over my head, in one ear and out the other. Now I say Lord i can’t deal with this so I’m giving it to you. Love
Get Outlook for iOS ________________________________
LikeLike
Shirley! You have been a faithful sister in Christ and aunt in my life. I know Jesus because of you and so many others teaching me about him as a little girl. It just makes my heart sing to know we will be with each other for eternity and we will see the other side of it is finished!
LikeLike
Amen! What a wonderful message and great reminder of how Jesus paid it all! Thank you for being a yielded vessel used by our wonderful Lord and Savior! Completely letting go is hardcore but with God ALL things are possible!
LikeLike
I’ve missed you on this blog! It’s so good to hear from you again. I love our spiritual connection and your continued love for Jesus in my life.
Anna
LikeLiked by 1 person