JESUS IS MINE

         It is so easy for us to become attached to the "joys" of this life whether they be things or even relationships.  But as life goes on these things that once brought "joy" to our life begin to fade and pass and we find that only our relationship with Jesus is all that is really meaningful and lasting.  

          And as we commit all of these earthly joys to him, our heart should cry out "Jesus Is Mine".   Jane Catharine Lundie (1921-1884) wrote this hymn in 1843. She married famed Scottish preacher and hymn writer Horatius Bonar that same year. Though he was thirteen years her senior, they had a loving marriage, and fruitful ministry together for over four decades. 

          She wrote other hymns, but Mrs. Bonar is chiefly remembered for this one, originally entitled "Jesus, All in All", now known as "Jesus Is Mine" or "Fade, Fade Each Earthly Joy".  The Bonars knew the reality of fading earthly joys.  Of their nine children, five died young.  Bonar himself was sorely afflicted during the last two years of his life.  So they knew what it meant to yield all to the Lord and His will.  

          It is an outlook that Jane Bonar expresses so beautifully and passionately in her hymn, repeating twelve times the key phrase, "Jesus is mine." Though many things (even good things) crowd into our days, our desire should be "that in all things He may have the preeminence" (Col. 1:18). By comparison, the things of this world are merely "perishing things of clay, born but for one brief day"    

          This song speaks of an intimate fellowship with our Lord both here and in eternity.  Stanza one suggests that Jesus should be more important to us than any earthly joy while stanza two indicates that Jesus should be more important to us than anything that would tempt us away from Him  Stanza three suggests that Jesus should be more important to us than whatever is found in the darkness of night and stanza four says that Jesus should be more important to us than everything related to mortality.  

          Are the words of this old hymn your experience and your desire?  And can you claim the words of the final verse, "Farewell, mortality, Jesus is mine!  Welcome, eternity, Jesus is mine!  Welcome, oh, loved and blest, Welcome, sweet scenes of rest, Welcome, my Savior's breast, Jesus is mine!"

1.     Fade, fade, each earthly joy,

Jesus is mine!

Break every tender tie,

Jesus is mine!

Dark is the wilderness,

Earth has no resting place,

Jesus alone can bless,

Jesus is mine!

2.     Tempt not my soul away,

Jesus is mine!

Here would I ever stay,

Jesus is mine!

Perishing things of clay,

Born but for one brief day,

Pass from my heart away,

Jesus is mine!

3.     Farewell, ye dreams of night,

Jesus is mine!

Lost in this dawning bright,

Jesus is mine!

All that my soul has tried

Left but a dismal void;

Jesus has satisfied,

Jesus is mine!

4.     Farewell, mortality,

Jesus is mine!

Welcome, eternity,

Jesus is mine!

Welcome, oh, loved and blest,

Welcome, sweet scenes of rest,

Welcome, my Savior's breast,

Jesus is mine!

Listen to it here.    MINE

CONSTANTLY ABIDING (TH)

TIMELESS HYMN  - Another revised and repeated blog of one of the great hymns of the faith originally shared on August 1, 2010.

  

          This year is the 70th anniversary of our church and  I am now the oldest living charter member.  I have many memories of the early years when we struggled to get established.  

          In those days we didn't have very many musicians so we were happy to use almost anyone who was willing to sing or play.  That included my family.  None of us were trained, but we learned to sing hymns as soon as we could sing. We didn't have a car until I was in second grade and, if I recall correctly, we didn't  even have a radio in our first car. So everywhere we went, we would sing together as we traveled. As a result, I grew up knowing the words of all the verses to hundreds of hymns. 

          For some reason the hymn "Constantly Abiding" was one that together we sang several times as "special music" in church.  Maybe it was the words, maybe it was the harmony or the back time in the chorus, but whatever it was, we enjoyed it. My mother sang soprano, my dad bass, I sang tenor, and I think my brother and sister either sang melody or else harmonized. 

          I could not find out much about the background of this hymn. It was written by Anne Murphy (1878 - 1942) whose husband ran a pottery business in Ohio. However, she was widowed around 1929. Having lost her wealth, she then moved to California to live with her sister. I don't know what her music background was or even if she wrote other hymns. I can only guess that this hymn was written as a personal testimony to the hard times she had endured after her husband's death. She must have experienced the peace that she writes about that believers can experience in times of trial. She must have experienced the constant abiding of the Holy Spirit in her life. And she knew that some glorious day her Savior would take her to her heavenly home. So I do believe this was her personal testimony.

          Is it yours?  Have you experienced the peace that the world can't give or take away?  Can you say with the hymn writer, "Jesus is mine"?  Concentrate and meditate on the words of this hymn as you read them and also as you listen to it.

(1)    There's a peace in my heart that the world never gave,

A peace it cannot take away;

Though the trials of life may surround like a cloud,

I've a peace that has come here to stay!

Constantly abiding, Jesus is mine;

Constantly abiding, rapture divine;

He never leaves me lonely, whispers, oh, so kind:

"I will never leave thee"— Jesus is mine.

(2)    All the world seemed to sing of a Savior and King,

When peace sweetly came to my heart;

Troubles all fled away and my night turned to day,

Blessed Jesus, how glorious Thou art!

Constantly abiding, Jesus is mine;

Constantly abiding, rapture divine;

He never leaves me lonely, whispers, oh, so kind:

"I will never leave thee"— Jesus is mine.

(3)    This treasure I have in a temple of clay,

While here on His footstool I roam;

But He's coming to take me some glorious day,

Over there to my heavenly home!

Constantly abiding, Jesus is mine;

Constantly abiding, rapture divine;

He never leaves me lonely, whispers, oh, so kind:

"I will never leave thee"— Jesus is mine.

Listen to it here.    LISTEN

SPEAK, LORD, IN THE STILLNESS

         Do you find that your life has become more busy, hectic and stressful?  Do you find it hard to find time to get everything done?  Do you long for periods of quietness to rest and meditate?    I imagine that this is a problem that we all deal with today, although isolation during the pandemic may have changed some of that.  
         But we do need to find quiet times to sit and listen for the Lord's voice. We need to quiet our heart and wait expectantly for His voice.  Psalm 27:14 tells us "Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.".  We need to be quiet in our hearts and expect to hear His voice.  Now he will not speak to us in a direct, supernatural communication but He will speak to us through His Word.  So, whenever we approach God's Word, whether in our private study or in hearing it preached by another, we should quiet our hearts and say, "Speak, Lord, in the Stillness."  
          This was the experience and desire of Emily Grimes Crawford (1864-1927) when in 1919 she penned the words to The Quiet Hour which later became known as Speak Lord in the Stillness.  She was a missionary serving in Pondoland, South Africa.  There she married Dr. T. W. W. Crawford, an Anglican minister.  The tune (Quietude) was composed by Harold Green (1871-1930) who was also a missionary in Pondoland.  Green provided this music for Mrs. Crawford's words around 1925, about five years before his death on the mission field. 
          The song quickly became a favorite at the Keswick Convention in northern England and appeared in The Keswick Hymnbook of 1936 in England. From there it found its way into the Inter-Varsity hymnbooks of England and America.  
          The hymn suggests that we should listen to God's Word because it is the Lord speaking, because it gives power, because it is life, because it brings us into His presence, because it helps us yield to Him and because it fills us with the knowledge of His will.  Isaiah 58:11 is a reminder of the message of the prophet Isaiah to Israel,  "The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail".  And while Isaiah didn't say it, this is true even during a pandemic.
         May we be reminded to find that quiet time daily to spend with the Lord and may the words of this hymn be our prayer as we do this.

1.     Speak, Lord, in the stillness,

  While I wait on Thee;

Hushed my heart to listen,

  In expectancy.

2     Speak, O blessed Master,

  In this quiet hour;

Let me see Thy face, Lord,

  Feel Thy touch of power.

3     For the words Thou speakest,

  They are life indeed;

Living bread from heaven,

  Now my spirit feed!

4     All to Thee is yielded,

  I am not my own;

Blissful, glad surrender,

  I am Thine alone.

5     Speak, Thy servant heareth,

  Be not silent, Lord;

Waits my soul upon Thee

  For the quickening word.

6     Fill me with the knowledge

  Of Thy glorious will;

All Thine own good pleasure

  In Thy child fulfill.

7     Like a watered garden,

  Full of fragrance rare,

Lingering in Thy presence,

  Let my life appear.

I had some difficulty finding a link for this hymn because none of the ones that I could find were the tune that I remember.  Apparently many tunes have been used over the years.  So here is one for you to listen to.    STILLNESS

BLESSED BE THE FOUNTAIN

          "In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness" (Zech. 13:1).   This prophecy of Zechariah uses the word fountain in connection with cleansing from sin.   "...For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.'" (Hebrews 9:22) 
         Sometimes this Gospel song is called "Whiter Than The Snow", using the first line of the chorus. The song conveys a clear message of the death of Christ on the cross and the cleansing available to sinners through the blood of Christ.  The text of this hymn was written in 1881 by Eden Reeder Latta (1839-1915). I recall how it used to be one of the favorite songs years ago in our Sunday evening services when I was growing up, but I don't know when I last heard it sung. 
         Latta inherited his musical talent from his parents. His father was a noted singing teacher, his mother was an excellent vocalist and his older brother, William O. Perkins, was also a hymn tune compose.  Mr. Latta composed this week's hymn for a Dr. Henry Perkins in Chicago, who then provided the music. The song gained immediate popularity. Not only was it published in many song books, but it was also translated into other languages for the use of missionaries.  It is said that Latta wrote about 1,600 hymns during his life, writing many for musicians who then added the tunes.  Many of his texts were purchased by William Ogden, a boyhood friend, who completed the hymns. It is said that on one occasion he actually wrote nine hymns in one day for a James McGranahan.  I
         In this week's hymn choice Mr. Latta shares the need for ta fountain of blood for a world of sinners.  But he also makes the need personal.  "Only by His stripes we are healed. Tho I've wandered far from His fold, bringing to my heart pain and woe"  The second verse shares how the fountain flowed and how Christ suffered for this to happen.  In the final verse he again makes the need personal.  "Often has my heart gone astray."  But his response is "Jesus, to the Fountain of Thine, leaning on Thy promise, I go;  Cleanse me by Thy washing divine, And I shall be whiter than snow."  We need to remember that there is only one way in which we can be reconciled with God and cleansed from our sin and that is through the blood of Christ.  Have you experienced the cleansing that this hymn shares? 

1      Blessed be the Fountain of blood,

To a world of sinners revealed;

Blessed be the dear Son of God -

Only by His stripes we are healed.

Tho I've wandered far from His fold,

Bringing to my heart pain and woe,

Wash me in the blood of the Lamb,

And I shall be whiter than snow.

Chorus:

Whiter than the snow,

Whiter than the snow,

Wash me in the blood of the Lamb,

And I shall be whiter than snow.

2      Thorny was the crown that He wore,

And the cross His body o'ercame;

Grievous were the sorrows He bore,

But He suffered thus not in vain.

May I to that Fountain be led,

Made to cleanse my sins here below;

Wash me in the blood that He shed,

And I shall be whiter than snow. 

Chorus:

Whiter than the snow,

Whiter than the snow,

Wash me in the blood of the Lamb,

And I shall be whiter than snow.

3      Father, I have wandered from Thee,

Often has my heart gone astray;

Crimson do my sins seem to me—

Water cannot wash them away.

Jesus, to the Fountain of Thine,

Leaning on Thy promise, I go;

Cleanse me by Thy washing divine,

And I shall be whiter than snow. 

Chorus:

Whiter than the snow,

Whiter than the snow,

Wash me in the blood of the Lamb,

And I shall be whiter than snow.

Listen to it here.   FOUNTAIN