Open Heaven Releases “I Love You, Jesus”
Worship group Open Heaven releases their new song “I Love You, Jesus” today on all digital retail and streaming service providers via DREAM Worship. The 4th song to be released from their upcoming fall LP release, this live song is both hopeful and encouraging.
The song was produced by Scotty Mearig and co-written by Alexis Keesee, Amy Freudiger, Erik Parise, and Zach Traylor.
“I Love You Jesus” was written by the Open Heaven songwriting team, including Erik Parise, Alexis Keesee, and Amy Freudiger. While ministering during a youth camp week, Erik found himself sleepless at 2am. “I thought I might as well get up and worship, but my guitar was quite far away in the main building of the camp.”
His mind tried to keep him in bed. “I heard coyotes and thought, do I really want to walk in the dark to go down there? But I decided I wouldn’t let the darkness veer me away.”
Making his way down to the general assembly building, Erik said to the Lord, “I wish I could just sing and write a song about how much I love you.” In that moment of just him and the Lord, out of his mouth came the melody and words to the chorus, I Love You Jesus.
The songwriting team later added lyrics to the verse and found the bridge from a spontaneous moment in a weekend service several months prior. The song is purposefully very easy to sing and remember. As Amy, the team’s pastor said, “The gospel is simply this, that God loved us first, so now we can have fellowship with Jesus.
But we must become like little children so as not to overcomplicate it! There are many things that try to keep us away from worshipping God, but face-to-face fellowship is at the core of Christianity. The message of this song is simply trying to express that simplistic passion: a love for God above all else. This is a whole-hearted anthem of devotion.”
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Erik says that the first time he heard the song in church service, he got teary-eyed. “My wife and I had just had a baby, and I was on paternity leave. I remember getting to come into the weekend service and enjoy worship. Then Titus (who sings on the recording) led ‘I Love You Jesus.’ As he was singing the song, my memory took me back to that moment of walking through the darkness to worship and be alone with Jesus.”
He glanced over at his newborn son, feeling the love a father has for his children, and he had a greater realization of Jesus’ love for us. Amy says, “He is our Father. And what’s amazing is that He’s singing back to us, ‘I love you, I love you child, with all of my heart…’”
The Open Heaven team hopes that as you sing this song, you realize you are never alone, that Jesus is closer than your next breath, even through the darkest night. And they pray it takes you to a place where it’s just you and Him. In fellowship.
