Adriel's Music Notes

This site is dedicated to chronicling my music writing journey. Posts include personal thoughts, stories behind songs with links to listen and download these songs for free.

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2016 Word of the Year

January 18, 2016 by Adriel 3 Comments

Psalm 51 10Hello, friends and Happy New Year! I hope 2016 is going well for you all so far. I’m looking forward to what this year has in store for you and for me … I know God is going to do good stuff in all our lives! =)

Back at the beginning of 2014, out of the blue, before I even knew that having a “word of the year” was actually a real “thing”, God spoke the word “wait” over my year. And so I waited. I didn’t know what exactly I was waiting for, but waiting was a huge part of my year. It was a character quality that I had to learn a lot about that year, especially in regard to my health, and it wasn’t until the end of that year that I began to see the fruit of waiting. It was definitely worth it. =)

The following year, 2015, I was so excited about the word God put on my heart for the new year: hope. I was walking in the clouds and then reality hit and I must tell you that 2015 was one of the hardest years I’ve experienced. I felt more hopeless than I’d ever felt before and I kept looking for the hope, searching for it, and I couldn’t find it. The thing is, I was looking for it in the wrong places instead of in my Savior. Again, it wasn’t until close to the end of that year at my church’s Women’s Retreat that I finally was able to let go of what I’d been holding on to and hold on to the hope I’d been desperately looking for.

Following retreat, I recognized as I went home that I would need to be extra diligent to not fall back into old patterns of thinking and be faithful to walk in the truth and stand strong against lies I had believed. I knew that I would need a resolute spirit. So as 2016 began, I was not surprised when my word for 2016 was revealed: steadfast.

Steadfast – to be firm, be stable, be established

I thought the weeks following retreat were challenging, but as soon as I knew my word and the new year began, I came under a barrage of missiles from different directions. I can’t tell you how many times the word “steadfast” has echoed in my heart and mind in just the few short weeks of this new year. I have found myself very disheartened, discouraged, in tears, broken-hearted, realizing that I’m not strong enough for what I am facing on my own. I have been noticing more and more that my battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of darkness. I have had to make an effort to recognize that my enemy is not a person, but is the devil himself. And so with that knowledge, I have stood my ground and fought on my knees, praying scripture, and asking God to please help me. I am in the middle of a spiritual battle and giving up is not an option. But I am very tired and part of me would like to just give up and not fight any more.

I loved yesterday’s devotion from Thoughts for the Quiet Hour. It ministered to and encouraged my heart more than I can say and I thought it might encourage someone else:

“Elisha said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see. —2 Kings 6:17

This is the prayer we need to pray for ourselves and for one another, “Lord, open our eyes that we may see;” for the world all around us, as well as around the prophet, is full of God’s horses and chariots, waiting to carry us to places of glorious victory. And when our eyes are thus opened, we shall see in all the events of life, whether great or small, whether joyful or sad, a “chariot” for our souls. Everything that comes to us becomes a chariot the moment we treat it as such; and, on the other hand, even the smallest trial may be a Juggernaut car to crush us into misery or despair if we so consider them. It lies with each of us to choose which they shall be. It all depends, not upon what these events are, but upon how we take them. If we lie down under them, and let them roll over us and crush us, they become Juggernaut cars, but if we climb up into them, as into a car of victory, and make them carry us triumphantly onward and upward, they become the chariots of God. —Smith”

Boy, did that help me get a proper perspective on what I’m experiencing right now! These difficult places can be places of glorious victory, but so much of it depends upon me and how I look at things. Will I look upon them as God’s chariots and horses of deliverance with a definite victory in the future, or will I just get bowled over with defeat and discouragement by the Juggernaut?

Juggernaut! Haha! I love that word! Sometimes you find vocabulary gems in old writings! I actually looked this word up, because I’d never heard it used before. In my defense, it is primarily a British word, and this devotional was put together over 100 years ago. ;)

Juggernaut – a massive inexorable force, campaign, movement, or object that crushes whatever is in its path

Yup. That explains a lot. :P

I’m hoping it will not take this whole entire new year for my heart to develop this steadfast spirit that I am lacking in currently. I hope that this character trait is something that develops more and more in my heart this year and is something that I grow and mature in and see progress in as the year continues. Please keep me in your prayers if you think of me, friends! May your new year bring you closer to Jesus and deeper in love with Him! =)

Learning to be STEADFAST,
Adriel

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“Thrive”

June 29, 2015 by Adriel Leave a Comment

KIRMPlainI was not able to get this put up last Friday, so I am posting it today. The story behind this song is in last week’s installment of Keeping It Real Monday, if you so wish to get the whole entire background. It’s not a pretty story, but it’s real and honest.

In a nutshell, just over a month ago, after a year-long struggle with the Lord over accepting my newly defined identity and drastically altered life resulting from a health crisis 3 years ago, I came to a breaking point and accepted His will for me with a surrendered heart. I’m sure God was like, “Finally!!!” I’ve got to say I am even more so appreciative of one of God’s attributes at this time in my life: longsuffering.

God. Is. Very. Very. Very. Extremely. Incredibly. Longsuffering.

This song was a response to my heart’s cry during my struggle in the most recent months, and that was that I didn’t just want to survive what I was walking through, but I wanted to thrive. I didn’t want my faith to shrivel up, I wanted it to flourish. I didn’t want to love God less, I wanted to love Him even more. But it seemed like the opposite of what I wanted was happening, and that was because I wasn’t viewing my circumstances as I should, and that in turn was causing me to question the character of God, which led me to a place of feeling completely faithless. I just can’t help but love this verse in response:

“If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.”
2 Tim. 2:13

God gave me some very specific directions as I sought Him in my broken place relating to the word “thrive” that kept echoing inside my heart. Below is what the Lord told me I needed to do if I wanted to, indeed, THRIVE:

T. Thankfulness. Practice thankfulness throughout the day. Thank God every day for 10 ways He has blessed me.

H. Hope. Hope in the Lord – not in myself, not in my circumstances, not in my health. Hope in God alone.

R. Resolve. Resolve to live each part of my day with purpose, not pity. Don’t let life pass me by, but live life fully and be present.

I. Imitate. Imitate other who have walked or who are walking through difficulties who do so in a way that glorifies God. Above all others, especially imitate Christ.

V. View. View myself the way God sees me. When confronted with hurtful views of myself, reject the critical thoughts of myself.

E. Eternal Focus. Eternal focus instead of a temporal focus. Keep God’s big picture in mind and even when nothing makes sense, don’t let go that God is everything He says He is and more. Every promise is true.

As soon as I surrendered to the Lord, opening my hands to let go of the expectations, feelings, and wants that were harming me and instead using those open hands to embrace God’s will and plan for me, the peace and joy flooded my heart and life in an unreal way. I started physically feeling better and of course, I was/am amazingly better spiritually. I know that I don’t deserve to be thriving right now, but because of God’s great mercy, grace, and faithfulness, that’s exactly what I’m doing! Praise the Lord! =)

Thrive

And as a side note, a couple days ago when I sang part of the chorus in the car riding with my husband, he asked, “Casting Crowns?” I said, “No, it’s the new song I wrote.” He then alerted me to the fact that Casting Crowns does indeed have a song with the same title and had me listen to it. I’d not heard it before, but the same phrase about not just surviving, but thriving is in there. I just want y’all to know it was not intentionally copied or anything like that. Just keeping myself honest. ;-)

Below you will find the lyrics and video for the song. Keep in mind my voice isn’t the strongest sort that this song needs, but the message is at least conveyed. Many blessings to each of you as you find ways to thrive in the life God has blessed you with! =)

Thriving, not just surviving,
Adriel

“Thrive”
Words and music by Adriel Hong

1. You said You came to give me
Eternal life abundantly
But somehow I’ve lost the simplicity

2. I’ve been longing for my yesterday
Focused on the sorrow and the pain
Instead of the joy and Your blessings

(chorus)
I wanna thrive, not just survive
With eyes of faith and a heart of thanks
I wanna live, not just get through this
I want Your best, not anything less
Oh, I wanna thrive, I want Your life

3. Forgive me for my wandering
For my anger and my doubting
Lord, help me to look
At everything less temporally

(bridge)
Eternally, I wanna see
My life from Your point of view, God
Eternally, I wanna see
My life according to Your truth

© 2015 Adriel Hong Music

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I'm Adriel Hong and I am a child of God and believer in Jesus Christ. I'm also a wife, a homeschool mom, and a Christian singer/songwriter.

I'd like to welcome you to my music notes, a little corner of cyberspace where I share my songwriting journey, which includes free music, stories behind the songs, personal testimonies, music videos, and my musings. I pray that God would bless you and encourage you through this site and the songs that I am privileged to write down for Him. Check out my blog posts, listen to music, watch a video, or just poke around to make your own discoveries! Thanks for visiting and have a very blessed day! =)

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