DO YOU KNOW MY JESUS?

          Did I know President Ronald Reagan?  Well I read about him.  I saw him on television. I even voted for him.  I  talked to him on the White House Lawn where I also shook his hand and took his picture,  But did I know him?  No way.  Even though I admired him as a president. I never had a personal relationship with him.  
         In the same way, today many people claim to know Jesus.  Some may even attend church, especially on holidays,  and listen to sermons about him.  But they don't know him. Unfortunately today a growing number of people don't even have an intellectual knowledge of him and who he is.  Actually "knowing Jesus" is incomplete unless it results in a change in our lives.  
         Vesphew Benton Ellis (1917-1988), one of the most prolific and beloved songwriters in Southern Gospel, raised this important question in this week's hymn choice.  Actually the chorus, which is the heart of the song, was written first by William F. Lakey.  Ellis then wrote the stanzas, posing questions about the hearer's life. which lead into the chorus in a natural progression of thoughts. In stanza 1, the song asks,  "Have you a heart that's weary, tending a load of care; are you a soul that's seeking rest from the burden you bear?"  Stanza 2  asks, "Where is your heart, O pilgrim, what does your light reveal; who hears your call for comfort when naught but sorrow you feel?"   Stanza 3 asks "Who knows your disappointments, who hears each time you cry; who understands your heartaches, who dries the tears from your eyes?"  How do you answer these questions? 
         Then comes the important, penetrating question, "Do you know my Jesus?"  My friend, how do you answer that one today?  In Matthew 7:23 Jesus warned that some who claim to follow Him, but who do so in disobedience or insincerity, will hear the tragic words, "I never knew you."  Don't let that be your eternal destiny.

1.     Have you a heart that's weary,

Tending a load of care;

Are you a soul that's seeking

Rest from the burden you bear?

Do you know my Jesus?

Do you know my friend,

Have you heard He loves you,

And that He will abide till the end?

2.     Where is your heart, O, pilgrim,

What does your light reveal;

Who hears your call for comfort

When naught but sorrow you feel?

Do you know my Jesus?

Do you know my friend,

Have you heard He loves you,

And that He will abide till the end?

3.     Who knows your disappointments,

Who hears each time you cry;

Who understands your heartaches,

Who dries the tears from your eyes?

Do you know my Jesus?

Do you know my friend,

Have you heard He loves you,

And that He will abide till the end?

Listen to it here.    KNOW

MY REDEEMER IS FAITHFUL AND TRUE (TH)

TIMELESS HYMN  - Another revised and repeated blog of one of the great hymns of the faith originally shared on June 12, 2011.  

          Faithfulness seems to be an unknown quality in today's society. Marriages fall apart because of unfaithfulness to wedding vows. Employee and employer long time relationships are quickly broken when times get tough. People hop from one church to another and attend only when it is convenient. Churches and even community organizations have challenges functioning because volunteers won't put in time or just quit. Even highly paid athletes jump from team to team for larger salaries. But God's faithfulness endures. He will never change his mind or fail His children. His promises are secure. He is always there, in the good times and the bad times. Hopefully you recognize and can testify of God's faithfulness in your life. It was His faithfulness in a very tragic time that stirred Steven Curtis Chapman to pen the words of this week's choice. Psalm 103:17 (KJV) "But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children;" came to his mind as he stood at the hospital, not as a Christian music singer comforting a little child, but as a father praying for a miracle. He held onto his wife that night and prayed for their 5-year-old Maria, their youngest adopted daughter, who had been accidentally struck in the family's driveway by one of her brothers returning home in his truck. Chapman had tried CPR at his house. The paramedics had tried to revive her but she had been pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. Later he teamed with James Isaac Elliott to pen these words and music.  Today Chapman says that this hymn is the most meaningful of his songs that he sings.  Can you testify too that your Redeemer is faithful and true and every morning His mercies are new?   What a precious truth for the believer!

As I look back on the road I've traveled,

I see so many times He carried me through;

And if there's one thing that I've learned in my life,

My Redeemer is faithful and true.

My Redeemer is faithful and true.

[Chorus:]

My Redeemer is faithful and true.

Everything He has said He will do,

And every morning His mercies are new.

My Redeemer is faithful and true.

My heart rejoices when I read the promise

'There is a place I am preparing for you.'

I know someday I'll see my Lord face to face,

'Cause my Redeemer is faithful and true.

My Redeemer is faithful and true.

[Chorus:]

My Redeemer is faithful and true.

Everything He has said He will do,

And every morning His mercies are new.

My Redeemer is faithful and true.

And in every situation He has proved His love to me;

When I lack the understanding, He gives more grace to me.

[Chorus:]

My Redeemer is faithful and true.

Everything He has said He will do,

And every morning His mercies are new.

My Redeemer is faithful and true.

You can hear it here.    FAITHFUL

HOW SWEET THE NAME OF JESUS IS

          Most folks remember John Newton (1725-1807) as the converted slave trader who wrote the hymn Amazing Grace.  But few know that he also wrote about 280 other hymns, including the one I've chosen for this week.  
          After his conversion, under the influence of George Whitefield and John and Charles Wesley, Newton studied for the ministry.  He was ordained in the Church of England and served in Olney from 1764 to 1780 and at St. Mary Woolnoth, in London, from 1780 to 1807.  It is said that at Olney he gave particular attention to ministering to the people in ways that went above and beyond the weekly worship service. He began arranging spiritual gatherings during the week including one on Thursday afternoons for children. There he would explain the Scriptures to them "in their own little way,"  He also had one in the evenings for adults to allow for extemporaneous prayer and teaching. For these meetings Newton began to compose little bits of verse to be sung, probably as a way to summarize and impress the Scripture lessons on the minds and hearts of his congregants. 
          The hymn "How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds" was published in the book Olney Hymns under the title "The Name of Jesus." It was based on Song of Solomon 1:3: "Your anointing oils are fragrant; your name is oil poured out; therefore virgins love you."  What can the name of Jesus do for you, and for me?  Look at the second and third verses. It is medicine. It can heal the wounds of sin. It is balm. It can give peace. It is food. It can satisfy the hunger of the soul. It is a soft pillow. It can give rest.  It is a sure and tried foundation, on which we can safely build. It is a protection and refuge against our enemies. It is an inexhaustible bank from which we may freely draw.  The fourth verse tells us that the name Jesus stands for One Who is nearer and dearer than any earthly friend can be. One Who is able and willing to guide us, love us, understand us, and to be our all in all.  How exactly the hymn goes on to describe our feebleness of feeling, the coldness of our heart, and to lament the poorness of our expressions of gratitude to this Blessed Saviour, who has done, and is still doing, so much for us!  
         Remember, Newton's hymn, which breathes such devotion to Christ, was written by one who had wandered far into the wilds of wickedness and vice. If the grace of God could so transform him, can it not do the same for us?  God has set the name of Jesus above all other names. Let us exalt it in our hearts and lives. Thus shall we prove increasingly, with John Newton,"How sweet the name of Jesus sounds". "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved" Acts 4:12.

1     How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds

  In a believer's ear!

It soothes his sorrow, heals his wounds,

  And drives away his fear.

  

2    It makes the wounded spirit whole,

  And calms the troubled breast;

'Tis manna to the hungry soul,

  And to the weary rest.

3    Dear Name! the Rock on which we build;

  Our shield and hiding-place;

Our never-failing treasury, filled

  With boundless stores of grace'

  

4    Jesus, our Savior, Shepherd, Friend,

  Our Prophet, Priest, and King;

Our Lord, our Life, our Way, our End,

  Accept the praise we bring.

5    Weak is the effort of our heart,

  And cold our warmest thought;

But when we see Thee as Thou art,
We'll praise Thee as we ought.

6     Till then we would Thy love proclaim

  With every fleeting breath;

And triumph in that blessed Name

  Which quells the pow'r of death.

  

In the Olney collection the hymn contains seven verses. The other verse, not generally quoted, is as follows:

By Thee my prayers acceptance find,

  Although with sin defiled;

Satan accuses me in vain,

  And I am owned a child.

Listen to it here.   JESUS

JESUS CALLS US O'ER THE TUMULT

          Do you ever feel that you just don't have enough time to get everything done?  I think that is common feeling among many of us today.  And why should that be in this day and age when we have so much technology to speed up our work?  The internet, smart phones, e-mails, software, aps, texting and so much more should enable us to get our work done so much more quickly and efficiently.  But they are really taking more of our time.  

          Just watch folks walking around with their phones texting and talking.  Think about the hours folks are now spending browsing on the internet. And what usually suffers?  Usually our time reading God's Word, our time praying, our time serving the Lord, and even our church attendance.  Maybe we need the message of this week's hymn.  "Jesus calls us o'er the tumult of our life's wild, restless sea; day by day his sweet voice soundeth, saying "Christian, follow me"."  

          As a small girl Cecil Frances Humphries  (1818-1895) wrote poetry. Her father was stern, strict, and very rich. One day, he discovered his daughter's secret writings. The family expected him to punish the young child, but instead he gave her a pretty box in which to keep her scribblings and he invited her to read them aloud to the family every Saturday evening.  With this encouragement, the young poet was off and running. As a young woman, she wrote verses to enhance the Bible lessons she taught her Sunday school students.  In 1846, at the age of twenty-eight, she published a collection, Verses For Holy Seasons. Two years later she published another collection, Hymns for Little Children, which included three of her most beloved compositions: "Once in Royal David's City," "All Things Bright and Beautiful," and "There Is a Green Hill Far Away".  

          Her more than four hundred hymn texts were published in Verses from the Holy Scripture (1846), Hymns for Little Children (1848), and Hymns Descriptive and Devotional (1858). Perhaps she was thinking of the contradictions inherent in being a comfortable Christian when she penned the verses to "Jesus Calls Us" one autumn evening in 1852. Her husband had spent the day writing his sermon for Sunday. Over dinner they discussed the scripture, Matthew 4: 18-20, in which Jesus called out "Follow me!" to two brothers fishing in the Sea of Galilee. At once, Andrew and Simon Peter dropped their nets and followed Jesus. Inspired by this conversation, Mrs. Alexander wrote this hymn of discipleship. It was read to the congregation that Sunday following the sermon.  

          Jesus calls us. Us? Yes! we are also called from our obsession with "the vain world's golden store." Jesus is motioning to us, calling us to follow him, challenging us, "Christian, love me more than these" . Will we respond to His challenge as He calls us o'er the tumult of our busy lives?

1   Jesus calls us o'er the tumult

of our life's wild, restless sea;

day by day his sweet voice soundeth,

saying "Christian, follow me."

2   As, of old, apostles heard it

by the Galilean lake,

turned from home and toil and kindred,

leaving all for his dear sake.

3   Jesus calls us from the worship

of the vain world's golden store,

from each idol that would keep us,

saying "Christian, love me more."

4   In our joys and in our sorrows,

days of toil and hours of ease,

still he calls, in cares and pleasures,

"Christian, love me more than these."

5   Jesus calls us; by thy mercies,

Savior, may we hear thy call,

give our hearts to thine obedience,

serve and love thee best of all.

Listen to it here.  TUMULT

MY SAVIOR'S LOVE (TH)

TIMELESS HYMN  - Another revised and repeated blog of one of the great hymns of the faith originally shared on April 25, 2010.

          I admit that I often get frustrated and disappointed when I can't find much information about a hymn which is one of my favorites.  And that is the case with this great hymn.  I did find a few things about the author, Charles Gabriel. Growing up on an Iowa farm, he taught himself to play the family's reed organ. He began teaching singing in schools by the age of 16 and soon became known as a teacher and composer. He served as the music director of Grace Methodist Episcopal Church in San Francisco in 1890-1892. He is known as the most prolific and popular gospel song composer during the height of the Billy Sunday - Homer Rodeheaver evangelistic crusades. He edited more than forty hymnals and helped publish more than eight thousand gospel songs during his lifetime. In 1912, Gabriel joined the Rodeheaver-Hall-Mack Company as its editor and maintained this position until his death in 1932. He often wrote using the pseudonym of Charlotte G. Homer. This hymn first appeared in 1905. Those of us who have been redeemed can join in singing of our amazement that Christ would love us enough to die for us. It is amazing that he would take our sins and our sorrows and make them his very own. The hymn concludes with a triumphant final verse that reminds us of the day when we shall sing His praises around His throne in heaven. How marvelous and wonderful that will be.  Now I still don't know why Gabriel wrote this hymn but I know it has been an encouragement to many, including me, over the years. "O how marvelous! O how wonderful!  And my song shall ever be:  O how marvelous! O how wonderful! Is my Savior's love for me!

1)     I stand amazed in the presence

Of Jesus the Nazarene,

And wonder how He could love me,

A sinner, condemned, unclean.

O how marvelous! O how wonderful!

And my song shall ever be:

O how marvelous! O how wonderful!

Is my Savior's love for me!

(2)     For me it was in the garden

He prayed: "Not My will, but Thine."

He had no tears for His own griefs,

But sweat drops of blood for mine.

O how marvelous! O how wonderful!

And my song shall ever be:

O how marvelous! O how wonderful!

Is my Savior's love for me!

(3)     In pity angels beheld Him,

And came from the world of light

To comfort Him in the sorrows

He bore for my soul that night.

O how marvelous! O how wonderful!

And my song shall ever be:

O how marvelous! O how wonderful!

Is my Savior's love for me!

(4)     He took my sins and my sorrows,

He made them His very own;

He bore the burden to Calvary,

And suffered and died alone.

O how marvelous! O how wonderful!

And my song shall ever be:

O how marvelous! O how wonderful!

Is my Savior's love for me!

(5)     When with the ransomed in glory

His face I at last shall see,

Twill be my joy through the ages

To sing of His love for me.

O how marvelous! O how wonderful!

And my song shall ever be:

O how marvelous! O how wonderful!

Is my Savior's love for me!

Listen to a beautiful rendition   LOVE