I double dog dare you to try to sit still while listening to “Happy Dance,” the most fun-loving (and silliest) song on MercyMe’s newest album, Lifer. If this ditty doesn’t get you dancing, you just might be wearing concrete shoes.

Let’s listen to the band’s lead singer, Bart Millard, share the cute story (involving his wife) behind the making of one of the most kid-requested tunes on the album:

Hey, why don’t you get up, put on your dancin’ shoes, raise your hands (if He done changed ya), and get down to this deliriously playful song?

Go ahead! Who cares if someone sees you!

And who knows? They just might join you and get happy, too!

I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing the messages in the songs on this feel-good-because-God-has-already-been-so-good-to-us compilation. Every one of Lifer’s songs exude the best news ever—the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ!

We don’t have to wait until our circumstances get better to celebrate Christ’s finished work on the cross. We can celebrate right this very minute because the best news ever is that the good Lord done saved us and changed us on the inside! We were made brand-spankin’-new when we believed into Jesus and were joined to His life forever (John 3:16; 2 Cor. 5:17).

And, right now, we have the fullness of His joy downloaded in our new hearts (because He lives there twenty-four/seven) just waiting to be uploaded through our believing lives on planet earth (John 15:11; 16:20; 17:13; Acts 2:28; 13:52; Rom. 5:11; 14:17; 15:13; Gal. 5:22; 1 Thess. 1:6; 1 Pet. 1:8-9).

So, what do you say? Are you really going to let your not-so-happy circumstances and the bad news in this world prevent Jesus from doing the Happy Dance in and through your life?

Or are you going to celebrate His finished work and act like He’s telling the truth about who you already are in Him? (Click here for a wonderful article by Bob George, “Christ’s Finished Work on the Cross.”)

Life’s way too short for us Christians to walk around looking like we just sucked all the juice out of a case full of lemons. It’s time we notify our faces of what is already true about our flawless fusion with Christ’s Spirit!

Don’t you think that if we actually believed what God said in His Word was already (there’s that wonderful word again!) true about us Christians, nonbelievers would be knocking down our doors to find out where they could get some of what we’ve got?

And isn’t that what witnessing is really all about?

The only better advertisement of the gospel than a satisfied Christian is a satisfied Christian doing the Happy Dance!

If you have enjoyed this 2017 MercyMe Summer Song Series, I would love to hear about it.

photo credit: Tom Simpson Here we go!! via photopin (license)

P.S.  If you enjoyed this post and want to know more about me and the types of content I will be posting, please visit my About Page.

Have you ever felt like a featherweight in this boxing match called life, being pounded by a daunting heavyweight opponent—also known as the pain and problems that come from living in this fallen world? If so, you don’t want to miss today’s post on the message in “We Win,” the seventh track on MercyMe’s newest album, Lifer. 

“We Win” is written to believers in Christ who feel like the circumstances of their lives have knocked them down one too many times and they aren’t quite sure if they will be able to get back up. It’s written to Christians who are ready to throw in the towel—to admit sure defeat—to give up on a dream, a relationship, or a tough situation they’ve been in for far too long.

Even if you can’t relate—if you feel like you are winning the round you’re currently in—this post is still for you. If you stay in this match called life long enough, you will likely get surprised by right hooks and left jabs that will cause you to lose your footing. Or worse, you may even get knocked out cold.

Let’s listen to the band’s lead vocalist, Bart Millard, tell the story behind “We Win” to encourage ourselves in the difficult round we may currently find ourselves in:

I think this song is a great encouragement and morale booster for the body of Christ. A lot of times, we go through things where we feel like we’ve hit rock bottom and feel like we’re getting knocked around and nothing goes the way we hoped it would go, Millard says.

But we just have to be reminded that we’ve been given this amazing opportunity to live like we’ve read the last page of the Book and know exactly how this turns out. Because in the end, regardless of how tough and difficult things get, if you know Christ, you can say, ‘We win!’

Wow! That’s good stuff!

Believers in Christ have been given an amazing opportunity to live like who God’s Word says we already are—winners!

Now, let’s listen to the full track:

Both the song (and the Book) says that those of us who are in Christ are more than conquerors (one translation says we are super conquerors) :

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. (Rom. 8:35–37 NKJV)

Dear reader, if you are ready to throw in the towel—to give up—in the midst of the circumstances you are currently facing, I want to encourage you to listen to and sing this song out loud over and over until you believe the lyrics.

The One who lives inside you for all eternity has already won this match called life for you!

If you have been encouraged through this 2017 MercyMe Summer Song Series, I would love to hear your story!

1. “Why I Think MercyMe’s Newest Album, Lifer, Is Their Best Ever”
2. “Are You a Lifer in Christ?” – a review of track 1, “Lifer”
3. “Come out, Come out, Wherever You Are!” – a review of track 2, “You Found Me”
4. “Has Grace Got You?” – a review of track 3, “Grace Got You”
5. “Have You Heard the Best News Ever?” – a review of track 4, “Best News Ever”
6. “Because Life Ain’t Always Pretty” – a review of track 5, “Even If”
7. “Bye-Bye Lies!” – a review of track 6, “Hello Beautiful”

P.S.  If you enjoyed this post and want to know more about me and the types of content I will be posting, please visit my About Page.

The title of today’s post is a double entendre—a statement that has a double meaning. If you are one of many redeemed saints who can thankfully and enthusiastically shout to Jesus, “You Found Me!” then “Grace Got You,” and you are now a “Lifer” in Him. And if that’s the case, it all started when you heard and responded to the “Best News Ever”—the gospel of grace in Christ Jesus. Hallelujah!

Now, for the second meaning of the title. Have you heard the MercyMe song, “Best News Ever,” from their newest album, Lifer? If you haven’t, you’re missing out. I began this 2017 MercyMe Summer Song Series five weeks ago by sharing the album’s backstory in “Why I Think MercyMe’s Newest Album, Lifer, Is Their Best Ever.” And so far, I’ve shared the message in its first three tracks:

1. “Lifer” — in my post, “Are You a Lifer in Christ?”
2. “You Found Me” — in my post, “Come out, Come out, Wherever You Are!”
3. “Grace Got You” — in my post, “Has Grace Got You?”

Now, let’s watch Bart Millard, the band’s lead singer, tell the story behind the song, “Best News Ever“:

Millard believes this song—message wise—is the flagship (the most important) on the record:

I will honestly say it’s one of my favorite messages on the record, because it’s the way I grew up. It was, ‘Be all you can be and, you know, you get what you deserve. And work harder and try harder.’ And it’s like, well wait a minute, what if somebody (which somebody did), what if they came and told me, ‘Hey, the work’s already been done; the fight’s already been won. You don’t have to try so hard.’ That’s what makes the gospel not just the good news, but the best news ever.”

The work’s already been done; the fight’s already been won … That’s what makes the gospel not just the good news, but the best news ever. I wholeheartedly agree!

Listening to the story behind the song reminds me of a sad conversation I had with a lady at least thirty years my senior at the grocery store several years ago. She was one of the first people to invite me and Steven to the church we have attended since we moved to Perryton nineteen years ago. We always ended up talking about the Lord every time we saw each other. But I was completely unprepared for what she was going to say to me that day in the pasta aisle.

I said something about looking forward to spending an eternity in Heaven with Jesus, and she looked at me and said worriedly, “I sure hope I make it.”

I couldn’t believe my ears! She loved Jesus with all her heart, yet she did not have assurance that she would spend forever with Him when she passed from this time realm into eternity. How sad that she had spent her entire Christian life not clearly understanding the gospel of grace in Christ Jesus—the best news ever!

I think I said something like, “Sure you’re gonna make it! You’re one of the most Jesus-loving women I know.” She smiled when I said that, but I knew she still wasn’t convinced that her final destination included Jesus. And then we went in opposite directions to finish our grocery shopping.

I wish I would’ve said then what I so clearly understand now:

Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. (Eph. 2:8-9 MSG).

And now I’m wondering if she’s still wondering …

The apostle John tells us in his first epistle that we can know for sure that we have eternal life:

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life (1 John 5:13).”

He who has the Son has the life (because Jesus is eternal life); he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life (because Jesus is eternal life). It really is that simple!

If grace is a party (and it is!), there’s no doubt in my mind that MercyMe’s newest album, Lifer, would be chosen as the official background music for it. It’s not at all hard for me to imagine Jesus, the saints that have gone before me, and a heavenly choir of angels celebrating up a storm to this album’s fun and funky tempo in eight of its grace-oozing songs. And my favorite of the eight is the third track titled “Grace Got You,” the focus of today’s message.

In my premiere post of this series, I shared the backstory of how the band’s lead singer, Bart Millard, experienced a revelation of the good news (the best news ever) of the gospel of grace—after almost two decades of being in the Christian music business. Even though he was singing about God’s grace, he wasn’t embracing and savoring it in his own life. He was—like so many Christians—stuck in a miserable, legalistic mindset, trying to pay for what he had already been given as a free gift (Eph. 2:8-9).

Up until 2012, when he read books like The Naked Gospel and The Cure, Millard just didn’t “get” grace. He was like an impoverished, mouth-watering child, peering through the window of a candy store (the Werther’s commercial comes to mind), longing to unwrap and enjoy the delectable wonders decorating the shelves and counter tops inside. Until … he saw something astounding. His Dad appeared behind the counter and motioned for him to come inside and enjoy the entire smorgasbord of sweets—at absolutely no cost to him (and no stomachache). After all, his Dad owned the candy store and he was a rightful heir!

Now, let’s listen to Millard tell the story behind the song:

“It’s the song that makes you smile, the song that makes you want to be silly,” says Millard.

It certainly made me smile—and want to be silly, not really caring who saw or heard me. The first time I listened to it, I was walking around our neighborhood with earbuds. I couldn’t help but smile and sing and dance. And, as you might imagine, I was “moved” to post my first impression on Facebook:

Let’s listen to this fabulous song.

I don’t think this song will ever get old to me. And I love the rap portion by John Reuben. Kudos to MercyMe for including it!

“Grace Got You” embodies the change Millard experienced the second he realized that God’s love and acceptance of him have absolutely nothing to do with how well or how poorly he behaves. God is just as madly in love with him on his worst day as He is on his best. All because of the finished work of Christ on the cross. In an April 2014 radio interview, “Bart Millard of MercyMe shares his personal journey to grasping grace,” you can hear more of his passion concerning the grace party he and his band are now attending, celebrating, and inviting others to.

As I mentioned in a previous post in this series, I was a performance-based acceptance junkie until I too “got” grace (or realized Mr. Grace, Himself, “had” me from hello). I will never forget that initial honeymoon season in my life when the wonders of His amazing grace overwhelmed me. I felt like Dorothy being swept away from the dull, black-and-white landscape of Kansas to the bright, panoramic spectrum of Oz. And I’m still in Oz over a decade later. It’s not a dream, and I don’t need ruby red slippers—because I’m never going back to Kansas. I’m an extremely grateful lifer in this wonder-filled land called grace!

I invite you to listen to “Grace Got You” (and the entire album) again and again! Let its grace-infused lyrics become a part of your joy-filled journey in Christ. I can’t think of a better way to spend the summer (and the rest of my time on this earth)—celebrating the incredible gift of Grace, Himself, who chooses to indwell me twenty-four/seven and promises never to leave nor let go of me.

If you are a believer in Christ, grace has “got” you for good! So why not come to this eternal grace party and celebrate with me, MercyMe, and countless others who will never be the same since grace “got” us?

Dear reader, I hope you enjoyed today’s new post in my summer song series, “Why I Think MercyMe’s Newest Album, Lifer, Is Their Best Ever.”

I’m wondering, Do you like the song, “Grace Got You”? If so, how does it speak to you?