"We have the idea that God rewards us for our faith, it may be so in the initial stages; but we do not earn anything by faith, faith brings us into right relationship with God and gives God His opportunity. God has frequently to knock the bottom board out of your experience if you are a saint in order to get you into contact with Himself. God wants you to understand that it is a life of faith, not a life of sentimental enjoyment of His blessings. Your earlier life of faith was narrow and intense, settled around a little sun-spot of experience..., full of light and sweetness; then God withdrew His conscious blessings in order to teach you to walk by faith. ...Faith in the Bible is faith in God against everything that contradicts Him – I will remain true to God’s character whatever He may do. 'Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him' – this is the most sublime utterance of faith in the whole of the Bible." Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, Oct. 31 |
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As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. Jesus to Nicodemus, John 3:14-15 YouTube video "The Old Rugged Cross"
words and music composed by George Bennard (1873-1958) performed by Alan Jackson I own and treasure a small black leather hymnal, passed down from my maternal great-grandmother, who was born in 1856 and lived much of her life in Prince Edward County, Ontario. The word is that she was "very religious" or had "a very deep faith." Since my mother's family were mostly church-goers (but that was the extent of it for most of them), I interpret this to mean that she was born again. If she doesn't already know that her great-granddaughter is also her sister, I hope it will bring her great joy when she finds this out one day.
This morning in my time with the Lord, I found a hymn I had never seen before. The words -- written by Charles Wesley (1707-1788) -- jumped off the page to me like a lover's frenzied shout: "How could You possibly have loved me this much?" I searched online for the accompanying tune and found two or three, including the one listed in the hymnal, but none of them grabbed me on the same emotional level as the words themselves had. Then I found this page, from a company in Texas called Old Fashioned Christian Radio Store, where "O Love divine" (presumably the same one) is part of an instrumental collection by Mathew Burtner called "Hear My Prayer"; the page includes a short preview of each tune on the CD. I've searched unsuccessfully to identify the composer of the music, but I'll try to track this down so that I can share it with you. In the meantime... this tune is a perfect match for the exquisite love song Charles Wesley wrote to his Saviour over two hundred years ago. Here is a clip of the tune, as performed by Mathew Burtner: "O Love divine" (The full tune ends at about 1 minute 3 seconds, in case you want to repeat it to listen along with each stanza.) Here are Charles Wesley's lyrics, as they appear in my little Methodist hymnal.* (The last two lines of each stanza are repeated.) O Love Divine! what hast Thou done? The incarnate God hath died for me! The Father's co-eternal Son Bore all my sins upon the tree: The incarnate God for me hath died; My Lord, my Love, is crucified. Behold Him, all ye that pass by, The bleeding Prince of Life and Peace! Come, sinners, see your Saviour die, And say, was ever grief like His! Come, feel with me His blood applied; My Lord, my Love, is crucified. Is crucified for me and you, To bring us rebels back to God; Believe, believe the record true: Ye all are bought with Jesus' blood; Pardon for all flows from His side; My Lord, my Love, is crucified. Then let us sit beneath His cross, And gladly catch the healing stream; All things for Him account but loss, And give up all our hearts to Him; Of nothing think or speak beside -- "My Lord, my Love, is crucified." _____________ * William Briggs, Methodist Hymn Book (Toronto: Methodist Book and Publishing House, 1917).
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All thy sins were laid upon Him, Jesus bore them on the tree;
God, who knew them, laid them on Him, and, believing, thou art free. Joseph Denham Smith (c. 1817-1889) Praise reflection archives
May 2020
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...take root downward and bear fruit upward.
2 Kings 19:30 |