I AM AMAZED THAT GOD COULD EVER LOVE ME

        One of the scripture verses that has always challenged me is Romans 5:8, "But God showed His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."  Now I think that most of us could comprehend dying for one that we loved, such as a spouse or a child.  But to die for one living in sin, that is unthinkable and amazing.  And yet, that is what Christ did for us, while we were unworthy sinners.  And that truth is what stirred Alfred Ackley (1887-1960) to pen the words of this song in 1932.  He simply called it, "Amazed".  His brother, Bentley DeForest Ackley, provided the tune.  A. H. Ackley's father taught him music and he also studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London.  A graduate of Westminster Theological Seminary in Maryland, he was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1914.  He served churches in Pennsylvania and California and worked with the Billy Sunday and Homer Rodeheaver evangelistic team.  It is said that he wrote around 1500 hymns.  But this one really celebrates the wonderful love and the amazing grace of God, His great salvation and His eternal blessings.   As we consider all that God provided for us, while we were yet sinners, we too should be amazed that God could ever love us enough to provide salvation for us.  Meditate upon these truths this week and be amazed at what God hath done for us.

1.    I am amazed that God could ever love me,

So full of sin, so covered o'er with shame;

Make me to walk with Him who is above me,

Cleansed by the pow'r of His redeeming name.

2.   I am amazed that God would ever save me,

Naught but the cross could take away my sin;

Through faith in Christ, eternal life He gave me,

Now He abides forevermore within.

3.    I am amazed that God should grant salvation,

To such as I and all who heed His word;

Eternal life to ev'ry land and nation,

This is the wondrous message we have heard.

Listen to it here.    AMAZED