Shouts of Grace, written 1/18 through 1/19/04

On 8/2/94, I was sentenced to two 30 years sentences. One for Armed Criminal Action. The other for Murder. On 8/3/94, the Missouri Department of Corrections changed my sentence, without the permission of the courts, to 60 years and placed me under life sentence sanctions. 9 1/2 years later and almost 11 years into my bit, I wrote Shouts of Grace.

Upon being sentenced to spend my life in prison, God helped me express my soul through words. In those days, I was so closed in that I couldn't trust anyone. My heart wouldn't allow me, but God gave me His Word to find strength to trust in Him. He's given us His Word.

When I wrote it, I'd been in for over a decade. My D.O.C. time had reached 9 1/2 years. In retrospect, I could say I was relatively late in my bit, but the reality is that I wasn't. At the time, I had no idea when I'd be released. When I wrote it, I had no attorneys and my case wasn't in the courts. All I had was faith. I had faith in His grace. I had set my heart to serve, loved my Lord and believed Psalm 91:14-16's promise.

"Because he hath set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him My salvation."

You might wonder where I got the title and the theme? The answer's in Zechariah 4:6-7.

"Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it!"

You might also wonder at the tone of the words.

Why do I call Him the God of all these things? The answer is in His title. He's God. Now, I know one path of thought is that because He's God that means He's the one doing everything and that Satan really does nothing and isn't to be blamed. Another line of thought is that God does it all, so we should blame Him. And yet another line of thought is that God does good things, Satan does bad things. Here's the thing, God is...God. Whether He's in it, responsible for it or merely the source of strength we need to get through it, He's God and Satan is not.

At the time I wrote this, I wasn't concerned with those debates. I'd done that before, and found nothing but excuses. Over the years, I'd come to understand that God's power and influence over creation is far above my ability to understand, but His heart? hhhhhmmmm...that was different. His heart was revealed on the Cross. His heart was revealed in the purpose of His power displayed (1 John 4:7-9), so ...I praised Him. I shouted to Him. And I thanked Him that He is God and I am not. ...as I still do.

That night, my concerns were for something more fulfilling. In that hour, my heart was concerned with His deliverance. In that midnight hour, I saw God's powerful desire to set me free, even more than He already had. He had free'd me throughout my stay in prison. He'd free'd me of fear and rage. He'd free'd me of the walls inside me. I had faith He would free me of the walls around me (which He did 5 years after I wrote this song). I desired whatever freeing He had for me on 1/18, 1/19/04.

"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." Matthew 5:6 

 Shouts of Grace

written 1/18 through 1/19/04, in the midnight hour

by Joshua C. Kezer, copyrights 2004

#1 

There has come a time in our lives

When we must make a decision

To shrink back or stay the course

To believe the lie or that He is risen

Now I believe God is in control

And I believe we will rise above this

Just as I believe Jesus is Lord

And I believe Satan is defeated (2x)

(chorus)

With shouts of grace (grace), shouts of joy (yeah)

Let the river flow and overflow

and gain control

With shouts of grace (grace), shouts of joy (yeah)

Let the world come and bow before Your throne

With shouts of grace

#2 

Can we see Him and what's all around us?

Do we see the angels.....surrounding where we are?

Open our eyes, Lord, and show us Your bounty

Make us to see, Lord, Your host standing guard

Build up within us a praise that is mighty

Make us to shout, Lord, an overcoming blow

Flow through us a wind that is living

Let us see, Lord, new life in the bones (2x)

(chorus)

With shouts of grace (grace), shouts of joy (yeah)

Let the river flow and overflow

and gain control

With shouts of grace (grace), shouts of joy (yeah)

Let the world come and bow before Your throne

With shouts of grace

(chorus extended) 

We will look to You, God of the mountains

God of the valleys

We will trust in You, God of the weak

God of the strong

And we will praise Your name, God of the plagues

God of the Blood

And we will follow You, wherever You lead

Wherever You go

Yes, we will bow before You, for we know

You are in control

God of grace

(instrumental pause)

With shouts of grace, shouts of grace

With shouts of grace, shouts of grace

grace, grace, grace (3x)

There has come a time in our lives

When we must make a decision

To shrink back or stay the course

To believe the lie or that He is risen

I hope you find strength in it, as I do every time I read it and reminisce on that night. I hope you're free'd, as I was. I've known dark night's of the soul. That wasn't one of them.
_______________________________________________________________

Prior to this, I'd shared this with a few others. Now, many of you. It excites my heart to know that people from all around the world will now share in this experience with me. Every time I check my stats and find that a new section of the world has read my blog, I get excited. To go from being inside a maximum security prison to maintaining a blog that reaches across the globe is definitely a sign of God's "grace".

I hope each of you takes the time to comment on this entry. Some of you may find it difficult to do so. I've been told that the blog isn't letting some people comment. Some of you might try going to the follow button at the top of the blog and choosing to follow the blog via that option. I think it will allow you to post a comment, once that's done. ...whether you speak English or not or if you're a Christian or not. Thank you for reading my blog.

Blessings in the name of Jesus Christ,

Josh