Search This Blog

Monday, July 31, 2017

Monday's Message: In the Garden


In the Garden
 
       Here is the account of how this beautiful hymn was written—from the hymn-writer C. Austin Miles himself:
       One day in April, 1912, 1 was seated in the dark room, where I kept my photographic equipment and organ. I drew my Bible toward me; it opened at my favorite chapter, John 20--whether by chance or inspiration let each reader decide. That meeting of Jesus and Mary had lost none of its power and charm.
       As I read it that day, I seemed to be part of the scene. I became a silent witness to that dramatic moment in Mary's life, when she knelt before her Lord, and cried, Rabboni!
       My hands were resting on the Bible while I stared at the fight blue wall. As the light faded, I seemed to be standing at the entrance of a garden, looking down a gently winding path, shaded by olive branches. A woman in white, with head bowed, hand clasping her throat, as if to choke back her sobs, walked slowly into the shadows. it was Mary. As she came to the tomb, upon which she placed her hand, she bent over to look in, and hurried away.
       John, in flowing robe, appeared, looking at the tomb; then came Peter, who entered the tomb, followed slowly by John.
       As they departed, Mary reappeared; leaning her head upon her arm at the tomb, she wept.  Turning herself, she saw Jesus standing, so did I. I knew it was He. She knelt before Him, with arms outstretched and looking into His face cried, Rabboni!
       I awakened in sunlight, grip­ping the Bible, with muscles tense and nerves vibrating. Under the inspiration of this vision I wrote as quickly as the words could be formed the poem exactly as it has since appeared. That same evening I wrote the music.

 

In the Garden

      
(1)I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses;
And the voice I hear,
falling on my ear,
The Son of God discloses.
      
CHORUS:
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.
      
(2) He speaks, and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
And the melody
that He have to me
Within my heart is ringing.
      
(3) I'd stay in the garden with Him
Though the night around me be falling,
But He bids me go;
through the voice of woe,
His voice to me is calling.

Friday, July 28, 2017

Family Friday: Lead with your Head




Lead With Your Head
 
Do you ever have those days when you just don’t feel like acting as a
parent should act?  Do you ever want to just act like a child and have fewer
responsibilities?  I can answer both these questions for myself: YES! Most likely,
you have, too.  However, that is not how God instructed us to act. When I just
feel like “doing my own thing”, I must choose to lead by the knowledge of God’s
Word, not by my feelings.
  As a man, Jesus knew what it was to feel weary.  I’m pretty sure there
were times he was frustrated with his followers for their lack of understanding
or for failure to follow His instructions.  Many people misunderstood Him, and
some even hated Him.  At times, we parents may feel misunderstood and
unloved, too.  This is when we must choose to lead with our head, not our
heart.  
  There are many verses about how our heart will deceive us and cause us
to believe lies about others and the situations around us.  If I choose to follow
my heart, I will act childish, get my feelings hurt, and do what seems best for
me.  If I choose to follow the principles of God’s Word, I will dwell on His
goodness, consider others before myself, and demonstrate Godly actions.
Choose to lead with your head, not your heart!

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Thoughtful Thursday: He is so good to me!

I read the following devotion in "a daily WORD" by Paul Chappell.  It was a blessing to me, so I asked for permission to share it with our readers to hopefully allow it to be a blessing to you also.




Nahum 1:7 
The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him."
Corrie Ten Boom was in a concentration camp in Germany with her sister during World War II.  Years after the war, as she reflected on God’s goodness, she wrote, “Often I have heard people say, ‘How good God is! We prayed that it would not rain for our church picnic, and look at the lovely weather!’ Yes, God is good when He sends good weather, but God was also good, when He allowed my sister, Betsie, to starve to death before my eyes in a German concentration camp. I remember one occasion when I was very discouraged.  Everything around us was dark, and there was darkness in my heart.  I remember telling Betsie that I thought God had forgotten us. “No, Corrie,’ said Betsie, ‘He has not forgotten us.  Remember His Word: For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him.’”
Have you ever praised God’s goodness when skies were blue, but questioned Him when the storm clouds rolled into your life? We easily praise God when things go well but neglect Him when we find ourselves in trouble.
We sometimes think the Christian life is a life of relaxation, happiness, and ease.  While there is joy and ease of burdens, God never said the Christian life would be a breeze.  We still face loss, trials, difficulties, and tough times.  It is often when things aren’t going exactly as we planned them, that we think God isn’t being good to us.  But just the opposite is true!  God always has our best interest at heart!  Everything He does is for our benefit –even trials.
Have you questioned God’s goodness during a trial? Don’t allow Satan to take your focus off God and onto difficulties.  Never forget that God has saved you from eternal punishment and has blessed you with so many things! Remember that God is always good no matter what happens in your life.

Monday, July 24, 2017

Monday's Message: Wonderful Grace of Jesus


Wonderful Grace of Jesus

   Haldor Lillenas was born in Norway. He immigrated to America as a child and lived in South Dakota for two years before settling in Astoria, Oregon.
   Mr. and Mrs. Lillenas traveled extensively throughout this country, conducting evangelistic meetings as well as furnishing songs and choir music for many of the foremost song leaders of that era.
   It was while pastoring the Church of the Nazarene at Auburn, Illinois, between 1916 and 1919, that Haldor Lillenas wrote Wonderful Grace of Jesus. He said—
   “In 1917, Mrs. Lillenas and I built our first little home in the town of Olivet, Illinois. Upon its completion, we had scarcely any money left to furnish the little home.
   “Having no piano at the time, and needing an instrument of some kind, I managed to find, at one of the neighbor’s home, a little wheezy organ which I purchased for $5.00. With the aid of this instrument, a number of my songs, were written which are now popular, including ‘Wonderful Grace of Jesus.’”
   “Wonderful Grace of Jesus was first published, in 1922, in the Tabernacle Choir Book, for which Mr. Lillenas was paid the grand sum of $5.00. Although we generally sing this hymn with an inspirational, brisk tempo, Mr. Lillenas often complained that most congregations sang the hymn too fast. A song should be performed in such a fashion that the words can be comfortably pronounced without undue haste, he often said.
—Adapted from Kenneth Osbeck
 
  

Wonderful Grace of Jesus

  
(1) Wonderful grace of Jesus, Greater than all my sin;
How shall my tongue describe it, Where shall its praise begin?
Taking away my burden, Setting my spirit free,
For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.
  
Chorus:
Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus,
Deeper than the mighty rolling sea;
Higher than the mountain, sparkling like a fountain,
All sufficient grace for even me;
Broader than the scope of my transgressions,
Greater far than all my sin and shame;
O magnify the precious name of Jesus,
Praise His name!
  
(2) Wonderful grace of Jesus, Reaching to all the lost,
By it I have been pardoned, Saved to the uttermost;
Chains have been torn asunder, Giving me liberty,
For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.
  
(3) Wonderful grace of Jesus, Reaching the most defiled.
By its transforming power Making him God's dear child,
Purchasing peace nad heaven For all eternity-
And the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.

Monday, July 17, 2017

Monday's Message: Search Me, O God

 

He was a professor in the School of World Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary where he taught courses in the history of missions to career missionaries.
       James Edwin Orr was born in 1912. His education includes earned doctorates from universities in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, including the Doctor of Philosophy from Oxford University and the Ed. D. from U.C.L.A. in 1971.
       In his many travels, Dr. Orr has visited a hundred and fifty countries, including the Soviet Union, and has been in two-thirds of the world’s six hundred major cities.
       Despite these numerous life-long accomplishments, J. Edwin Orr will no doubt be best remembered as author of a simple, revival hymn text—“Cleanse Me.”
       Dr. Orr recalls that he wrote the Cleanse Me text, in 1936, during an intense movement of the Holy Spirit at the Easter, revival convention in Ngaruawahia, New Zealand—
       For some time prior to this Easter campaign, an attitude of unusual expectancy had been prevalent among these people. Prayer meetings spread throughout the city with much fervency, and intercession led to wide-spread confession and reconciliation among the believers. Great numbers of unconverted students professed faith in Christ. The next night was given over to exultant testimony, with singing such as one expects in heaven.
       The revival news soon spread throughout all of New Zealand. Dr. Orr reports that as he was leaving New Zealand, four Aborigine girls approached and sang for him a beautiful Maori Song of Farewell.
       Mr. Orr was so impressed with the beauty of this Polynesian melody that soon afterward he wrote new verses to the tune on the back of an envelope. The text was based on the familiar words of Scripture found in Psalm 139:23-24:
       Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
       Further campaigns by Dr. Orr throughout Australia in the 1930s and later in nearly all of the English-speaking world, soon popularized this prayer hymn everywhere.
 
       ++++++++++

Search Me

 
(1) Search me, O God, and know my heart today;
Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray.
See if there be some wicked way in me;
Cleanse me from every sin, and set me free.
 
(2) I praise Thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin;
Fulfill Thy Word and make me pure within.
Fill me with fire, where once I burned with shame;
Grant my desire to magnify Thy name.
 
(3) Lord, take my life, and make it wholly Thine;
Fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine.
Take all my will, my passion, self and pride;
I now surrender, Lord-in me abide.
 
(3) O Holy Ghost, revival comes from Thee;
Send a revival, start the work in me.
Thy Word declares Thou wilt supply our need;
For blessing now, O Lord, I humbly plead.

Friday, July 14, 2017

Family Friday: Family Comes Together


Family comes together
For always and forever
In sickness and in health
In poverty or in wealth
Family comes together
For always and forever
Without any reason
Anytime or any season
Family comes together
For always and forever
In death or in life
In happiness or in strife
Family comes together
For always and forever
In anger or in kindness
Whether all seeing or in blindness
Family comes together 
For always and forever
Whether for work or for play
They somehow find a way
For family to come together
Because families are forever

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

We Pray Wednesday: Prayer Testimony - Allen Family




Written by John & Cherie Allen

In December, I traveled to Golden State Baptist College to meet Jonathan, a young man who had taken a special interest in my daughter, Hannah.  He and my daughter were graduating in May of the next year.  He had intentions of going back to his home church and then starting a new church in Yerington, Nevada, a town thirty minutes away.  I communicated my expectations that I wanted a summary of what he was planning to do and how he was going to support my daughter before I would grant approval for them to get engaged.  I was also concerned over the fact that Hannah was suffering from fatigue and significant joint pain from what doctors had diagnosed as lupus.  We prayed together and I gave my blessing for them to enter into courtship.  From this point forward, my wife and I prayed that God’s will would be done and that he would guide Jonathan and Hannah.
As time passed, I learned that my requirement for a plan was a bit of a surprise to Jonathan.  Jonathan kept me posted as God’s plan and provision unfolded.  His home pastor made arrangements to rent a building in Yerington that had been a small church and they began meeting on Sunday afternoons.  Jonathan put his plan together, and I gave him my blessing for them to get engaged.  Meanwhile, Hannah was in so much pain as a result of the lupus that she decided that she couldn’t continue in college and would have to come home.  The college very graciously made arrangements for her to complete her student teaching through Central Baptist School in Baton Rouge.  She was able to complete the requirements toward her degree and walked with her class in May.  We were able to get Hannah to a doctor who prescribed natural means of treating her lupus and her symptoms all but went away over time as long as she was faithful in taking her supplements.  This was a huge answer to prayer in knowing God had given us a natural way to treat Hannah’s health issues and seeing her functioning normally again was a miracle of God’s grace.
Upon Jonathan’s graduation he served as co-pastor of Harvest Baptist Church in Yerington, Nevada over the next few months before becoming the pastor.  His income was provided by the offerings of the church, which was clearly not enough to support a family.  However, an older couple not affiliated with the church decided to offer their rental property free of charge after remodeling much of it.  Again, God answered our prayers for their provision.  Jonathan and Hannah set a wedding date and on October 14th they were married.  They are enjoying their life together and are constantly amazed at how God has provided to meet their needs.  And, Cherie and I are so blessed and our faith strengthened as we see God’s provision and care for our children as they leave our home.

Monday, July 10, 2017

Monday's Message: Day by Day


Day By Day 
              
       The waves of revival that swept the Scandinavian countries during the latter half of the nineteenth century were greatly influenced by the wealth of fine hymns which flowed from the pen of Lina Sandell.
       Born on October 3, 1832, in Sweden, Lina was a daughter of a pastor. When she was twenty-six years of age, she accompanied her father on a journey to Gothenburg, but tragedy occurred before the destination was reached. The ship gave a sudden lurch and Lina’s father fell overboard, and drowned before the eyes of his devoted daughter.
       Soon many songs began to flow out of her broken heart.  Her songs reflect a simple child-like trust in Christ, and deep sense of His abiding presence in her life, including “Day By Day.”
 
       ++++++++++

Day By Day

 
(1) Day by day and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,
I've no cause for worry or for fear.
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what He deems best-
Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.
      
(2) Every day the Lord Himself is near me
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me.
He whose name is Counselor and power.
The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
"As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,"
This the pledge to me he made.
      
(3) Help me then in every tribulation
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith's sweet consolation
Offered me within Thy holy word.
Help me Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E'er to take, as from a father's hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
'Til I reach the promised land.