Joanna Beasley released her debut album My World after advancing to the final 80 contestants on American Idol. Joanna's desire is to continue serving and pouring into others as Christ pours into her. Creating an atmosphere of worship and a place where her audience is focused to hear God speak to them, Joanna is ecstatic to bring her new music, her heart and the message of Grace to the world. 

Joanna's worship album, Loud Love, is loaded with melodic and worshipful songs speaking the Truth of the Word of God into the hearts of today's culture. The album includes new recordings of some of Joanna's favorite worship songs. Don't miss her gorgeous covers of "Rooftops" (Jesus Culture) and "I Will Rise" (Hillsong). Both songs are absolutely incredible prayers exclaiming God's loud love for us, flawlessly delivered by Joanna's sweet and sincere vocals. 

We know from the Bible that David danced before the Lord with joy, and that God delights in our praises and calls us to bold and unashamed about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That's what this song is all about. I had the chance to speak with Joanna about her recording of "Rooftops."

Please tell me the personal story behind recording this song.

When you are picking songs to record that you didn't personally write it is challenging because you want to find a song that speaks to you and fits the direction you are going and the message you want to share. It is really cool, as I came across this song in leading worship, that I wasn't planning on including the song when I recorded my album, but the more I heard it and worshipped along with the song, the more it resonated with my heart and my spirit. 

Specifically, there are two lines that I love. One is constantly singing, "I am Yours." I remember spending time with the Lord and meditating and letting Him speak to me in quiet time, and one of the things I've realized is that I don't have to be anything but His. In a world where everything is about what you do, who you know, what you look like, and what you are writing, it can get easy to get wrapped up in those things. My husband and I pick on our attitudes that we strive for the need to be doing more and more all of the time. In reality, we can do more, because of Jesus Christ, not in an attitude of condemnation, but in an attitude of empowerment. That comes from realizing that I am the Lord's and I don't need to be anyone other than who He created me to be. 

I don't need to be a pop star, or in the secular music industry. It was empowering when the Lord showed that to me. As I was meditating on those words, "I am Yours," I realized that when you are His, everything flows out of you. That's the Gospel. You have the words to say, and you're fulfilled in what you do and you impact others because that's how God designed you. 

The other part of the song that captured me is the word grace. We live and move because of God's grace. In the song it sings, "Knowing that Your perfect grace has brought me to this place." The past several years has turned out quite differently than we expected. The Lord took us to letter "z" in our plans, and although we were really confused we had a peace about it. We learned so much about ourselves and about the Lord. His goodness and love and grace and unmerited favor has completely and radically changed our lives, but has brought joy and peace and growth. We are excited for what the Lord has next for us. 

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

Ephesians 3:17-19 (NIV): And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 1:9-12 (The Voice): He has enlightened us to the great mystery at the center of His will. With immense pleasure, He laid out His intentions through Jesus, a plan that will climax when the time is right as He returns to create order and unity--both in heaven and on earth--when all things are brought together under the Anointed's royal rule. In Him we stand to inherit even more. As His heirs, we are predestined to play a key role in His unfolding purpose that is energizing everything to conform to His will. As a result, we--the first to place our hope in the Anointed One--will live in a way to bring Him glory and praise.

What is the takeaway message for listeners?

It's so funny, and I feel like I keep saying this but I'm excited for people to see the music video for the song, and to see how fun and live-giving worship really is. Worship can be so many things. It doesn't have to be singing a song with your eyes closed and your hands in the air which I love. I'm a very expressive person and I love singing. Another way to express yourself can be to have fun with your friends and dance and thank God for His goodness, proclaiming the truth of the Gospel whether on an airplane or in a conversation from stage. I'm excited for people to see what worship can look like. 

For this song, what I want people to hear and know and apply to themselves is to remember that when we say to God, "I am Yours" and we are trusting in God's will for our lives, paraphrasing that the Bible says in Ephesians 1 "that it was His good intentions to make know to us the mysteries of His will." In marriage and big decisions, the prayer is always about knowing God's will. The amazing thing about the Lord is that God has made known the mysteries of His will to us in the Person of Jesus. Jesus talked about how He is the exact replication of the Father and did everything under the authority of His Father. Jesus is loving, kind, giving, serving, and He showed us how we are incapable to meet His requirements. He made a way for us through Himself to make us right with God. It's amazing that He loves us that much. He is God but He came to serve.

When we are wondering about God's will, it can be an exciting, joyful adventure because we know His plans are good for us. God is always working on our behalf. When I align my mind with His Word, I see that He wants to fulfill the desires of my heart. He wants to show me His will through Jesus. He has good plans for me. He loves me with an everlasting love. It is all good. I can trust, even in the unknown that God is good. It is not a chore for me to talk about my husband. It is the same with the Lord, with all of His good intentions and love for us. I just want to share about Him with people. Go back to the Word, and it makes it easy to find the words to share with people and to know His will for your life.

Lyrics:
Here I am before You, falling in love and seeking Your truth
Knowing that Your perfect grace has brought me to this place
Because of You I freely live, my life to You, oh God, I give
So I stand before You, God
I lift my voice cause You set me free

So I shout out Your name, from the rooftops I proclaim
That I am Yours, I am Yours

All the good You've done for me, I lift up my hands for all to see
You're the only one who brings me to my knees
To share this love across the earth, the beauty of Your holy worth
So I kneel before You, God
I lift my hands cause You set me free

So I shout out Your name, from the rooftops I proclaim
That I am Yours, I am Yours
All that I am, I place into Your loving hands
And I am Yours, I am Yours

Here I am, I stand, with arms wide open
To the One, the Son, the Everlasting God

Joanna Beasley has pure and strong vocals that remind me of Jaci Velasquez. She clearly loves our Lord and Savior Jesus with all of her heart and wants to celebrate that fact with every song.  Joanna brings her walk with Jesus into her songwriting. Loud Love is filled with overwhelming biblical truth. After repeated listens, the songs get deeper into the recesses of your heart with the challenging messages of not being ashamed of the Gospel and that you can have joy and worship loudly about the love of God in your life.

This song celebrates the truth from Ephesians and Romans about grasping "how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ." Allow the fullness of Christ's love to indwell in your heart and proclaim the truth of this song. Know that being His is enough. We are all part of one body with different gifts. 

I sing "Rooftops" at the top of my lungs in total devotion to God. God's love and grace is something worth shouting about from the rooftops. I am very moved by the lyrics, "So I shout out Your name, from the rooftops I proclaim that I am Yours, I am Yours, All that I am, I place into Your loving hands and I am Yours." Amen to that!

(Watch the music video here.)