The Jesus Way

The Jesus Way

Phil Wickham delivers the truth spot on, landing it into open ears and hearts and souls from the get-go in this powerful new song. This week we feature for our practice of praise Wickham’s new song, The Jesus Way. I hope you love it as much as I do!

The very first lines of this stunning anthem deliver the goods. Did I really say anthem? Yup! And I think it will be just that — keep on reading, give it a listen, and see if you agree.

Take a peek at just one stanza:

I choose surrender
I choose to love
Oh God my Savior
You’ll always be enough
I choose forgiveness
I choose grace
I choose to worship
No matter what I face

Phil Wickham

Isn’t that amazing? And the tune is inspirational, as well. You find yourself wanting to sing it over and over, confessing aloud your dedication to our Savior.

The First Line

When this song popped up on my Pandora feed yesterday, it caught me up short.

Woah. What did you just say, Phil? Hit me hard, why don’t you, right from the get-go?

I’ll tell you what, it got my attention.

You want to know one of the very hardest things to do in all of life?

You know, that zero-option, direct order from the Almighty to His people then, now, and for all time?

You want to know what you are called to do this very minute?

Forgive — that is the Jesus Way

Yup. You guessed right. We gotta forgive. Catch Wickham’s lead verse!

If you curse me, then I will bless you — If you hurt me, I will forgive…

And if you hate me, then I will love you

I choose the Jesus way.

Phil Wickham: The Jesus Way

And these beautiful lyrics just keep preaching it: this grace, this embrace to the one who would strike. The lyrics call us onward, toward the better way, toward God’s way.

Called to be Like Jesus

And good lyrics should, don’t you think? Good lyrics ought to call us out, call us up, and call us onward.

• We need to be called out of our complacency, our smugness, our self-obsession, our fear.
• We need to be called up to accept the challenge — that one we said “yes” to, when we first bowed the knee, that call to obedience.
• We need to be called ever onward, forward, into surrender, into a life that looks only and always to Him.

It is past time for the sanctification of the people of God. We must grow up in Him. We must choose the Jesus way.

What Phil Says

Phil himself finds the words impactful. Look at what he says about this song.

I think this song has already had the biggest impact on my life personally of any song I’ve ever written. It has blessed me and it has certainly challenged me. This song is a line in the sand song. A declaration of who I follow and what that means though I fail and fall short of the goal often and rely so desperately on His grace through it all.

I can not wait to sing this with the church. To stand together for love, grace, forgiveness, humility and righteousness in a world where it feels like those beautiful qualities are in increasingly short supply. This song comes out May 19th and I invite all on the path of following Jesus to join me in singing it as both a declaration of who we are and a prayer for who we want to be.

Phil Wickham, Instagram

By the way, if you are struggling with how to forgive someone in your life (most of us struggle, actually) take a listen to this Chip Ingram message. He shares here some really powerful, practical steps on this important topic.

So that’s it for today! Give it a listen…do you, too, see it as a powerful new anthem for the church, one we will keep on singing, right up until that day when Christ returns? Me, too!

See you next time!