Recently I released Volume 1 of my “Raise The Praise” collection of praise and worship songs. (already have the songs for Volume 2, by the way) And the last song of the first group is called “Give Me The Whole Jesus“. Someone asked me what I meant by “whole Jesus”. So, I’d like to share a breakdown of the lyrics, and what I mean by them, if that’s OK with you.
I’ll go through the words a little at a time and put the explanation in blue.
Give Me The Whole Jesus
Oh give me love…give me justice…
Right there in the first line I talk about the “whole Jesus”. I hear and read so many people (Christians and non-believers alike) who say God is love. While this is true…He’s so much more. Something He strongly represents is justice.
Give me Grace and the strength to endure.
When the world comes against me,
Give me Your Spirit steadfast and sure.
There again is a clearer definition of the Lord’s qualities. He can impute Grace AND strength to endure the trials and tribulations of this world.
Give me words…give me courage…
Give me time and a powerful voice.
The Lord is also called “The Word”. So, He knows, better than I, that my words alone aren’t enough. I also need the courage to write or speak them.
And when many still may hate me,
Give me Your love and I’ll always rejoice.
Jesus told believers the world would hate us…and persecute us…because they hated Him and persecuted Him. But His love was unimaginably revealed in His tortured death on a cross.
For that, I’ll always rejoice.
Give me the whole Jesus;
The whole Good Lord…
The One who shields the child…
The One who wields the sword.
Jesus, and His word is more powerful than a two-edged sword. Yet His compassion for the tiniest, most helpless humans is unmatched.
Give me the whole Jesus
Son of God and man…
Jesus is the only being who is both God and man. He is the second person of the Trinity…God, the Son. He also was born through a virgin woman, a human being, and became a man in the flesh. And one of His favorite titles for Himself was “Son of Man”.
“˜Cause only Jesus saves…
And only Jesus can! Only Jesus can! Only Jesus can!
This is a message I believe with all my heart…especially since Jesus said this very thing about Himself. Here’s a quote from His very own lips, “No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Seems pretty obvious to me.
Then give me dreams…give me wisdom…
The apostle Peter quoted the prophet Joel where Joel said, “Your old men shall dream dreams”. I figure I qualify now. And the book of the Proverbs mention, over and over, how important wisdom is. So I thought, “what good are dreams without wisdom to pursue them?”
Give me peace at the end of my days.
Whether I’m taken in a flash or twinkling of an eye…or I lived out my life and die here on earth…the only true and lasting peace will come at the end of my days here in this flesh.
And give me life…everlasting…
In Your world and in Your higher ways.
When I live in the presence of the Lord, it will be life without end. And that will be true because I’ll be in the presence of the very source of Life. Now, that’s the life described as “have it more abundantly” in the book of John.
So, there you have it…the breakdown of “Give Me The Whole Jesus“, the 12th song on my “Raise The Praise Volume 1” collection of praise and worship songs. You can listen to the song for free. Just click/tap the title.
Be sure and let me know if you enjoyed it.
Stay tuned…
