I have been praying about having something like this for a long time. To not only have a place where I could go and share my heart, but also what the Lord has been speaking to me. A place where my passion for music, love for Jesus and joy for writing could reach a larger audience.

I see a beautiful concept in taking what God is speaking through the people He has called to create music for His kingdom, and actually applying it to our lives, intertwining it beyond pressing play.

Colossians 3:16 says: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

I don’t think that it’s a mistake that Paul says to teach one another through music.

One of the things that has always bothered me is that, to some people, a song is just a song. Especially in Christian music. When truthfully, that is just not the case. My desire for people is that they would hear a song as SO much more than just a song and hearing it as a word from God that is for your life and for the lives of others around you.

I'm excited to take on the challenge for NewReleaseTuesday.com to pull from the inspiration of music that "teaches and admonishes" and to find out: What does God say about this? What is He showing me? How does it correlate with what I am going through right now?

Introducing "Life Beyond the Lyrics."

This whole series can be summed up by the title alone.

Just as an author writes a book, so songwriters do music. Sometimes the songs will come from personal experiences in their own lives or in the lives of friends and family. Sometimes the songs even come from other inspiration--seeing an injustice and wanting to correct it, wanting to address a matter that keeps getting ignored. Songwriters pour out of themselves to create the music we enjoy today, just as much as a writer would pour out their ideas and creativity into a story. Think of each song as a musicians own little four minute novel.

I look forward to sharing my heart with NRT readers, but more than that, seeing how God is going to speak into each and every individual life through His word, and the words He has called others to create.

One of my prayers is that you will walk away from this ongoing devotional encouraged, challenged, inspired and changed by the word of God. That every time you come to the end of the page, that you would find yourself taken to the music, and finding life behind these words.

I welcome your comments as we journey together beyond the lyrics.

From NRT Founder, Kevin McNeese:
Sarah has only been a member of the NRTeam for seven months, but her impact on our community can be felt far and wide. I've been reading her blogs, reviews and posts for months, engaged and encouraged by her passion for sharing God's love with others while embracing NRT as her one of her main creative outlets online.

Like every other member of our staff here at NRT, the timing felt right to invite her to take on a larger stage here at NRT. That invite was confirmed as she was praying for a larger platform to share her writing as well. God's timing is always perfect.

NRT is about Christian entertainment. But just like the music, books and movies that we talk about, we are first and foremost about the changing power of Christ in our lives. This is why we continue to create and develop engaging devotionals. Sarah joins other great devotional writers here at NRT to continue to connect the song to the source. I'm thrilled she has taken on the challenge and I know the results will be relevant, exciting, encouraging and refreshing.

Please join me in welcoming Sarah to our amazing staff here at NRT.