Monday's Message: Fill My Cup, Lord

Fill My Cup, Lord

(Source)

 

       Life was never to be a bed of roses for Richard Blanchard.

       A severe lung problem developed, and Blanchard was left with one-third of his lung capacity. But a diminished physical well-being did not stop young Blanchard.

       In 1953, he became the pastor of a church in Coral Gables, Florida, and one day, was asked by a young couple to perform their marriage ceremony. However, the couple was quite late for their counseling appointment.

       Blanchard told his secretary, I will wait for thirty minutes and I’m leaving. He then went to a nearby Sunday school room and sat down to play the piano for a while.

       He later said, When I was not in the mood to be used of God, God was in a mood to use me. In less than thirty-minutes, as he waited for the young couple, God gave him the inspiring song Fill My Cup, Lord.

       As Richard Blanchard looks back over his life, he declares even though God chose in his providence to impair my physical being, he has in so many other ways ‘Fill’d My Cup.’ 

    

Fill My Cup, Lord

      

(1) Like the woman at the well I was seeking

For things that could not satisfy;

And then I heard my Savior speaking:

"Draw from My well that never shall run dry."

      

CHORUS: Fill my cup, Lord, I lift it up, Lord!

Come and quench this thirsting of my soul;

Bread of heaven, feed me 'til I want no more-

Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole!

      

(2) There are millions in this world who are craving

The pleasure earthly things afford;

But none can match the wondrous treasure

That I find in Jesus Christ my Lord.

      

(3) So, my brother, if the things this world gave you

Leave hungers that won't pass away,

My blessed Lord will come and save you,

If you kneel to Him and humbly pray:

Monday's Message: Thanks to God!

Thanks to God!

(Source)

       The author, August Ludvig Storm, was born in Sweden. As a young man, he was converted to Christ in a Salvation Army meeting. Soon he joined the Salvation Army Corps. He wrote this hymn’s text for the Army publication, Stridsropet (The War Cry), on December 5, 1891.

       The original Swedish version had four stanzas, with each verse beginning with the word tack thanks, having a total of thirty-two thanks in all. The gratitude expressed to God ranges from the dark and dreary Fall to the pleasant, balmy Spring time, pain as well as pleasure, thorns as well as roses.

       At the age of thirty-seven, August Storm suffered a back ailment that left him crippled for life. He continued, however, to administer his Salvation Army duties until his death.

       A year before his death on July 1, 1914, he wrote another poem in which he thanked God for the years of calm and quiet as well as the years of pain. After his funeral, the Swedish War Cry wrote the following:

       It was a delight to listen to his powerful, thoughtful, and well-articulated sermons. And the numerous verses that flowed from his pen are the best that have ever appeared in the Army’s publications.

—Kenneth Osbeck

       ++++++++++

Thanks to God for My Redeemer

      

(1) Thanks to God for my Redeemer,

Thanks for all Thou dost provide!

Thanks for times now but a memory,

Thanks for Jesus by my side!

Thanks for pleasant, balmy springtime,

Thanks for dark and dreary fall!

Thanks for tears by now forgotten,

Thanks for peace within my soul!

 

(2) Thanks for prayers that Thou hast answered,

Thanks for what Thou dost deny!

Thanks for storms that I have weathered,

Thanks for all Thou dost supply!

Thanks for pain and thanks for pleasure,

Thanks for comfort in despair!

Thanks for grace the none can measure,

Thanks for love beyond conpare!

      

(3) Thanks for roses by the wayside,

Thanks for thorns their stems contain!

Thanks for home and thanks for fireside,

Thanks for hope, that sweet refrain!

Thanks for joy and thanks for sorrow,

Thanks for heav'nly peace with Thee!

Thanks for hope in the tomorrow,

Thanks thru all eternity!

Family Friday: Embarrassed

Embarrassed!

          Everyone detests being embarrassed.   Children, teens and adults usually react to embarrassment with the wrong attitude, and those reactions can make an already awkward situation become worse.  Check your parenting style: do you discipline your children in public where they are more likely to be embarrassed, or do you handle matters in private?

          Many times our children learn by example.  Whether you realize it or not, your children are watching your reactions to situations and will mimic you.  How do you respond to embarrassing situations? Maybe you need to take a little time to examine if your reactions are Biblical.  If an incident happens, talk privately to your children and conduct a little training in how to act if they are publicly embarrassed.  Your children may be on their way to being young adults, but they will not learn proper reactions if they are not taught!

          Another aspect of these thoughts is our reason for discipline.  If we are ashamed of our children’s actions, sometimes our sin nature wants them to be shamed in return; this is not a Godly reaction!  All matters should be handled with the same routine in which you normally discipline.  Do not “go off the deep end” because you are embarrassed at your children’s actions.  God is always righteous and fair in His discipline; strive to be that way in your discipline as well.

           

We Pray Wednesday: How to Pray for your Pastor (Part 1)

How to Pray for your Pastor (Part 1)

                One of the people that need our prayers more than any other person that you may know would be a pastor.  Pastors bear their own burdens and the burdens of the many members of their church.  They wear many different hats and sometimes several at the same time.  These men of God need our prayers daily and sometimes several times daily.  This list is not a completelist nor is this thought original with me by any means.  Here are several things we need to pray daily for our pastor.  It may take time to pray through the entire list every day, but praying for some of them over a period of time will be beneficial to your pastor and to you.

1.  Pray that your pastor will love God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. Pray that God’s Spirit will work in his heart in power and that he will value and follow biblical priorities.

2.  Pray that your pastor will cultivate strong character and uncompromising integrity. Pray that his testimony will be genuine and that he will never do anything that he would need to hide from others.

3.  Pray for his personal walk with God—that his soul and spirit will be nourished and strengthened in his quiet time with God, beyond his sermon preparation. Pray that he will spend more time in the Word of God than in reading books and articles.

4.  Pray that your pastor will counsel and teach with discernment through the wise use of Scripture and faith in God’s power to work. Pray that he will be protected from the effects of sinful or negative attitudes that he encounters as he counsels.

5.  Pray for God to protect your pastor’s marriage and keep it strong as a model of Christ’s relationship with the Church. Pray that your pastor will tenderly cherish and lead his wife and that she will respect and encourage her husband, submitting to his leadership.

6.  Pray for God to heal any hurts that your pastor has suffered in the ministry. Pray that he will serve the Lord with gladness and encourage the congregation to worship God with a joyful, surrendered spirit.

7.  Pray for your pastor’s children and especially that the pressures of the ministry will not discourage or embitter them. Pray that your pastor will provide godly leadership in the home, not based on fear of what others will think, but according to scriptural truth.

8.  Pray for God to protect your pastor from the wiles of Satan. Pray that he will not be corrupted as he rubs shoulders with the world in the course of ministry.

9.  Pray that God will build a hedge of protection around your pastor’s marriage and that he and his wife will be aware of the potential for any improper relationships. Pray that their family time will be protected.

10.  Pray that God to guard his heart concerning the use of free time. Pray that he will be morally pure and that he will wear the armor of God so that he will not fall into sexual temptation.

Monday's Message: Count Your Blessings

Count Your Blessings

(Source)

       This beautiful hymn was written by one of the prolific gospel song writers of the past century, a Methodist lay preacher named Johnson Oatman. 

       In addition to his preaching and the writing of more than 5,000 hymn texts, Oatman was also a successful business man, engaged in a shipping business and in his later years as an administrator for a large insurance company in New Jersey.

       It is good for each of us periodically to take time to rediscover the simple but profound truths expressed by Mr. Oatman in the four stanzas of this hymn.

--Kenneth W. Osbeck

  

Count Your Blessings

      

(1) When upon life's billows you are tempest-tossed,

When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,

Count your many blessings-name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

      

Chorus:

Count your blessings-name them one by one;

Count your blessings-see what God hath done;

Count your blessings-name them one by one;

Count your many blessings- see what God hath done.

 

(2) Are you ever burdened with a load of care?

Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear;

Count your many blessings- ev'ry doubt will fly,

And you will be singing as the days go by.

      

(3) When you look at others with their lands and gold,

Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;

Count your many blessings-money cannot buy,

Your reward in heaven nor your home on high.

      

(4) So amid the conflict, whether great or small,

Do not be discouraged- God is over all;

Count your many blessings- angels will attend,

Help and comfort give you to your journey's end

Family Friday: How Was Your Day?

How Was Your Day?

            When your children come home from school, do you have a routine?  Children seem to function better when they have a routine.  Even adults work better when we know what is coming next.  Train your children to do homework and prepare for the next day (i.e. uniforms, lunchboxes, P.E. clothes, etc.)

            Do you ask your children about their day? From personal experience, some children talk easily about their day and some are very reluctant to talk about their day.  Learn to ask leading questions about what they are doing or learning in class.   Children really do want their parents to listen to them; parents just need to learn to ask the right questions.

            Have a plan to talk to your children each day.  Maybe it will be as simple as a conversation at the supper table.  Maybe once a week you could plan to stay up just a few minutes past bedtime with one of your children and ask them if anything is bothering them at school, or if there is anything you can help them work on.

            Go beyond asking “How was your day?”  Really try to find out how things are going with your children.  Take the time to talk to them, then really listen to them!