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.

  • About
    • Bio
    • My Songwriting Philosophy
  • Listen
    • I Exist for You
    • Miscellaneous
  • Videos
  • Contact

“God With Us” – A Christmas Song

December 25, 2015 by Adriel Leave a Comment

Late 2014, I had an overwhelming desire to write a Christmas song. It’s interesting how you go into a composition in one regard not knowing what the end result will look like. On the other hand, there are also expectations you have and more times than not, it turns out being so different than you had imagined. This song was a combination of the two and began from the simple thought of Jesus as a baby and those little hands and feet one day having nails being driven through them. It was a painful picture that was painted in my mind when I thought of it, but I also realized that is the reality.

And so from that thought, other parallels began emerging until finally there was a completed song. It’s a Christmas song that is not jolly or happy, but rather thoughtful and poignant, but also has that element of hope in it because of who Jesus was/is and what He would accomplish in coming to our world as a fragile infant.

We think of babies being innocent, and in a sense, they are. They haven’t known the pain or depth of sinfulness that is in this world, but we also know from scripture that they are “sinful at birth” (Ps. 51:5). But here was Jesus Christ, who was in every sense of the word, innocent. No sin or deceit was found in Him. I think it’s a mercy Mary didn’t know what would happen to her Son in the end. I can’t imagine being a mother holding my sweet baby and thinking about what their tiny, delicate body would endure as an adult as the Savior of the world.

But as believers, we have that aspect of knowing Who Christ the Lord was as a baby and what that meant for Him in later in His life. The celebration of Christ’s birth is very, very special, but it’s just the beginning of the story of our Savior’s life here on earth. Jesus was born to die, but His death would mean our freedom and liberty from sin and eternal life everlasting with the Father. What a miracle!

Rejoicing in the Lord!
Adriel

Share

“To You O My Strength”

September 4, 2015 by Adriel Leave a Comment

Sun & Trees FinalToday’s song has a very simple story behind it. Written back in 2007, I wrote it right after we opened our restaurant. A few songs came out of that experience, some I’ve shared with you already and this is just another one of them. A little background … I was dealing with similar, but not nearly as severe, health problems before opening our store. Weakness and fatigue were constant companions of mine following the birth of our 2nd child.

Journal entry, 2/17/2007:
“I am pondering the amazing peace I have had through the past 2 weeks with the opening of our store and the tremendous stress. It is completely unexplainable that I am doing so well. I am not getting nearly as much sleep or rest as I was getting. There is no moment of leisure. I am constantly working. Somehow, I don’t feel the strain the way I imagined I would. I know this is the Lord. He has carried me. He is still carrying me. I am so amazed by Him.”

I then include the following verses, which this song is based on:

But as for me, I shall sing of Your strength; yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the morning, for You have been my stronghold and a refuge in the day of my distress. O my strength, I will sing praises to You; for God is my stronghold, the God who shows me lovingkindness. Psalm 59:16-17

I hope this song is an encouragement to your heart today to sing praises to the Lord for all that He has done for you. Song and lyrics are below. Have a very blessed day! =)

Singing to Jesus,
Adriel

“To You, O My Strength”
Words & music by Adriel Hong

To You, O my strength
I will sing praises, I will sing praises
For You are my defense
My God of mercy, my God of mercy

(chorus)
I will sing of Your power
Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy
In the morning, in the morning
For You have been my defense
You have been my refuge
In the day of my trouble

(bridge)
I will sing, I will sing
I will sing to You, God
I will sing to You

© 2015 Adriel Hong Music

Share
Next Page »

Subscribe!

Enter your email address below to be notified when new content is added to Adriel's Music Notes

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! =)

Follow me on

This Week’s Featured Posts

The 4 Year Mark

The 4 Year Mark

4 years ago my life changed overnight. I went to bed normal. I woke up in the middle of the night and I was never the same. As I reflect on the desperate months following in which my health would plummet to a critical point, I can finally face the memories, the losses, the guilt, […]

Share

Recent Comments

  • Adriel on 2016 Word of the Year
  • Adriel on The 4 Year Mark
  • Brandi Raae on The 4 Year Mark
  • Josef Sefton on 2016 Word of the Year
  • Josef Sefton on 2016 Word of the Year

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Categories

  • Christian Living
  • Encouragement
  • Family
  • God
  • Happy Music Friday
  • Keeping It Real Monday
  • Music
  • Shout Out
  • Story Behind the Song
  • Throwback Thursday
  • What's New
  • When I Look Back: The Journey

Archives

  • October 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014

Here’s What’s New!

  • The 4 Year Mark
  • 2016 Word of the Year
  • “God With Us” – A Christmas Song
  • Goodbye, Old Woman!

Popular Tags

Christ Christian Christmas communication download Emmanuel encouragement encouraging faith free download fruit of the Spirit God healing hope Inspiration inspirational Jesus journey Keeping It Real Monday learning Lo I Am With You loss love miscarriage music Music Friday online bullying pain patience peace praise promise scripture song suffering testimony testing Throwback Thursday trial trust truth updates video Word of the Year worship

Looking for Something?

January 2021
S M T W T F S
« Oct    
 12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31  

Copyright © 2021 · Beautiful Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in