You Came For Me

In this week's episode, Dennis Jernigan shares the story behind his song,  “You Came For Me” from the recording, Forty Days and Forty Nights - Songs of Contemplation and Intimacy Vol. 1." That mp3 is available at https://www.dennisjernigan.com/store/product.php?c=24&p=2353 The lyrics can be found below.

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You will find the show notes and lyrics below:

 

Welcome to The Dennis Jernigan Podcast, where we journey together towards healing, hope, intimacy, and refuge, ultimately seeking a deeper connection with Jesus. Throughout my years, one truth remains clear: God makes purpose out of everything. He will not waste anything we bring to Him. Not our sorrows, not our wounds, not even our failures. Hey there, I'm Dennis Jernigan, your host, and today I'm thrilled to reveal the story behind my song, “You Came For Me," featured on the album Forty Days and Forty Nights - Songs of Contemplation and Intimacy Vol. 1. Back in 2010, I felt a divine nudge to embark on a challenge I had never attempted before—a forty-day fast. Admiring those who had accomplished such a feat, I found myself teetering between awe and amusement at the thought of completing a forty-day fast. Yet, one day, I felt a compelling urge to begin this uncharted journey. Little did I anticipate the profound revelations and life-altering transformations God had in store for me during those forty days. Having weathered three years of grief and loss, navigated economic downturns, grappled with my identity and relationships, faced major surgery, coped with my daughter's marriage and relocation across the globe, and felt alienated from the Christian music scene, I woke up that morning realizing the urgent need for a comprehensive reboot—mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. From May 3 through June 11, I embarked on a journey consuming only water, fruit, and vegetable juice, shedding 40 pounds in the process. While the physical transformation helped post-surgery, the realignment of my mind, emotions, and spirit towards God set my entire being on a new course. Each morning, I delved into either Psalm 40 or Isaiah 40, and with each meditation, the Lord inspired a new song within me—each promptly recorded as it came to me. These forty songs across four volumes represent the essence of a 40-day voyage of self-discovery. My aspiration for these collections is for you to use them as spiritual reflections in your daily walk of intimacy with Christ. The lyrics and corresponding Scriptures are accessible on this website, serving as a roadmap to help you rediscover your identity in Christ and unearth hidden treasures in your relationship with Him. If you ever consider embarking on a fast of your own, I enthusiastically recommend Dean Briggs' book, Consumed: 40 Days of Fasting, Repentance & Rebirth. Dean's guidance offers a soul-nourishing, Christ-centered approach to a spiritual fast, providing you with encouragement and strength along the way. Today I am sharing the story behind the song, You Came For Me, which, now sounds funny to say, came to me on May 5, 2010 or day 3 of my 40 Day Fast, as I meditated on Psalm 40:2a in the NASB which says, He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay… Whenever I mediate on the Word of God, I take it very personally. Due to the deep hunger pangs of my physical body, it didn’t take long for my soul to begin to experience very similar hunger pangs I sensed in my thought life, my emotional life, and in my spiritual life. For the first 22 years of my life I had felt trapped - hopelessly trapped - mired in the unforgiving muck of my own depravity. My mind began to flood with the realization of just how far I had fallen away from the Lord as a young man and just how stuck I had been in my sin. I remember feeling so alone in my younger days, trying to make sense of my sexual identity and feeling completely abandoned; feeling that if I were to suddenly disappear, no one would ever even notice, much less