"For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" 2 Corinthians 4:5-6

Lyrics

O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

Sources: HymnTime.  Crich Baptist. BelieftNet.  Gospel Coalition.  Lectionary. 

"Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple." Luke 14:33

All to Jesus I surrender,
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.  

Chorus: I surrender all,
  I surrender all.
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
    I surrender all.
2
All to Jesus I surrender,
Humbly at His feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken;
Take me, Jesus, take me now.
3
All to Jesus I surrender,
Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me feel Thy Holy Spirit,
Truly know that Thou art mine.
4
All to Jesus I surrender,
Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power,
Let Thy blessing fall on me.
5
All to Jesus I surrender,
Now I feel the sacred flame.
Oh, the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory to His name!

Born into a Christian home, author Judson W. Van DeVenter (1855-1939), became a Cristian in his late teens.    He was a musician through and through, mastering 13 different instruments, as well as singing and composing music.  (source)

This song was born from resolving a conflict in his life, as Van DeVenter says

As an evangelist he travelled throughout the United States, England and Scotland, this hymn is one of 60 that he wrote.  When he retired from being an evangelist he worked as a professor of Hymnology for four years. He retired to Florida, staying active in his church.

Dr. Billy Graham wrote a tribute for him, in a book called Crusade Hymn Stories:

Welcome DaLynn to the blog today.  DaLynn is a lovely lady with a heart for God and his people.  Her guest post touched my heart, my prayer is that it will touch yours as well.  If you have a pastor.. Pray for him, talk to him, let him know he is not alone. 

It's IMPORTANT.

Dear Pastor,

How are you today?

Really. How are you? I know it's your tendency to say that everything is fine. I know that your concern is for me, for my family, and for the other families in the congregation. It's your mindset, and your gift, to always be putting others first. That's servanthood; that's ministry.  You're doing what you're called to do.

But in order to fulfill that calling, dear pastor, you need a refill. While you're shepherding the people, feeding God's sheep, who is feeding you?

I hope that you've found a circle of friends that can uplift and encourage you. I hope that you have those one or two special people in your life whom you can call mentors - spiritual mothers and fathers that you trust and can turn to in a time of crisis or when it's you who needs the godly counsel. If you don't have these people in your life, dear pastor, please seek them out! Reach out to people in your community, or people in your past. There are many communities online these days where you might find a circle of friends if nowhere else fits your situation.

When you don't have the nutritional substance you need to function and survive, it's extremely difficult to give that same substance to others. Don't forget to feed yourself too, pastor. Yes, the Lord is our strength and our provider, and yes you need to be spending time in the presence of God for much of that. But don't forget that he created us for the purpose of fellowship - with Him, yes - but He designed us to need camaraderie. There's no substitute for the edification that like-minded believers provide for one another.

And you need it. Whether you recognize it or not.

All the people need what you carry, because it's God's assignment for you and He has equipped you to meet those needs. You recognize that and do it well, most days. I know that you know that some days, it's not as easy.

Partly, dear pastor, that's because you have a life too! Are you remembering to shepherd your own family first? Are you remembering that it is they who are your first priority? If you spent time in your own home as a guest and watched yourself with your family, what https://www.weebly.com/editor/main.phpadvice would you give to make home life easier? Can you take your own advice?

Remember to shepherd your own family first. It's this that will bring peace, and it will bring confidence, and it will allow the hand of God Almighty to work through you in the areas where He has called you to minister to others.

Dear pastor - dear, sweet pastor -

You don't have to do this alone.

You shouldn't be doing this alone. You aren't alone. You're the remnant, and God trusts you. You're right where you're supposed to be, doing right what He's called you to do, and you're doing it the right way. Keep trusting, keep fighting, keep praying, keep seeking His face. Keep letting Him use you, and remember to also let Him keep filling you. You are loved!

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” John 1:14

Lyrics:

1 O Word of God incarnate,
O Wisdom from on high,
O Truth unchanged, unchanging,
O Light of our dark sky:
we praise you for the radiance
that from the Scripture's page,
a lantern to our footsteps,
shines on from age to age.


2 The church from you, dear Master,
received the gift divine;
and still that light is lifted
o'er all the earth to shine.
It is the chart and compass
that all life's voyage through,
mid mists and rocks and quicksands,
still guides, O Christ, to you.

I found two versions for the third verse:
The Scripture is a banner
before God’s host unfurled;
It is a shining Beacon
above the darkling world.
It is the Chart and Compass
that over life’s surging tide,
Mid mists and rocks and quicksands
, to You, O Christ, will guide.

OR this one which we sing in our church
It floateth like a banner
  Before God’s host unfurled;
It shineth like a beacon
  Above the darkling world;
It is the chart and compass
  That, o’er life’s surging sea,
’Mid mists and rocks and quicksands
  Still guide, O Christ, to Thee.

4 O make your church, dear Savior,
a lamp of burnished gold
to bear before the nations
your true light as of old.
O teach your wandering pilgrims
by this our path to trace
till, clouds and darkness ended,
we see you face to face.

Written by William Walsham How who was the son of William Wybergh How.  He was born Dec. 13, 1823, at Shrewsbury, and educated at Shrewsbury School and Wadham College, Oxford (B.A. 1845).

He eventually became a bishop as well as an author of several books such as the Commentary of the Four Gospels and Plain Words for Children.

He was known as the Poor Man's Bishop as he chose to serve among the slums of
London, rejecting offers to serve in prestigious churches.

How wrote 54 hymns altogether.   He said, “A good hymn should be like a good prayer—simple, real, earnest, and reverent.”  (source)

Hidden, the world prompt for today is hidden.

As I sit here pondering that word, what comes to mind Papa and Mama, is how God tells us to hide his word in our hearts.

To write them down  in the hidden resources of our minds and hearts.

Hide his word.

And I think about that and it comes to mind about how out of our hearts comes our speech, and how our speech shows the state of our hearts and I'm humbled, and shamed and thinking to myself that I haven't hid enough of God's word in my heart.

Do you feel the same?

Do you hear what comes out of your mouths sometimes and wonder to yourself.. is that really me speaking?   Am I really a child of God if I can say such things?

It's a struggle for me.   Watching my tongue, The book of James speaks to this truth as well, tame the tongue  because it steers the ship. 

And it inspires me and perhaps it also inspires you to think on ways and find ways to hide God's word in your heart.   To find ways to keep that tongue tamed.

What so often works well for me is to repeat a verse in my head until it turns into a song.

I recently read a blog post about a lady talking about purpose and how so often we as women misunderstand what our purpose truly is.   I found it an interesting read and you can find it here.

It brought me back to a song I wrote once, but it felt too personal to share with the church I was part of at the time.   It was based on Esther and the chorus went like this

"For such a time as this
for such a time as this
what purpose have for me to do?

For such a time as this
For such a time as this
Oh Lord what would you have me do?

With short verses with lines such as this
"Would you have me read the bible, to the shut in down the street?
Would have me give a lonely child something good to eat?

It was a song filled with questions and wonderings about what the Lord God would have of me, and a slowly dawning realization that as long as I continue to hide God's word in my heart and follow his guidance (as found in scripture) that I would be doing what he wants me to do "For such a time as this".

So what think you?    What questions do you ask of God about his purpose for your life?   How are you hiding God's word in your heart to help you with that?

Come join us won't you?   Five minute Friday is a fun word link up party, held on Fridays.  Learn more at Kate's.  :)

“God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” 1 John 4:16

Lyrics

Love divine, all loves excelling,
Joy of heaven to earth come down;
Fix in us thy humble dwelling;
All thy faithful mercies crown!
Jesus, Thou art all compassion,
Pure unbounded love Thou art;
Visit us with Thy salvation;
Enter every trembling heart.


Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit,
Into every troubled breast!
Let us all in Thee inherit;
Let us find that second rest.
Take away our bent to sinning;
Alpha and Omega be;
End of faith, as its Beginning,
Set our hearts at liberty.


Come, Almighty to deliver,
Let us all Thy life receive;
Suddenly return and never,
Never more Thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
Serve Thee as Thy hosts above,
Pray and praise Thee without ceasing,
Glory in Thy perfect love.


Finish, then, Thy new creation;
Pure and spotless let us be.
Let us see Thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in Thee;
Changed from glory into glory,
Till in heaven we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise.

I chose two different tunes to show case this hymn, neither is the tune that we sing regularly with this hymn in our church. in fact, there are six tunes this hymn is sung too!   Amazing eh?   For more info GO HERE.  The important part is the words to the hymn though right?

Written by Charles Wesley, a prolific hymn writer, who was the 18th of 19  children, born into a musically oriented family.    He could write up to 10 lines of song per day, his brother John acting as his editor (source).   He was a preemie, thought to be born dead, lying still wrapped in wool for the first few weeks of his life.  Initially educated by his mother, he later attended Westminster School and later Oxford.

First published in 1747 in his brother John Wesley's collection, rather dauntingly entitled Hymns for those that seek, and those that have, Redemption in the Blood of Jesus Christ. (source)  Some think this song was inspired by a popular pagan song of the day "Fairest isle, all isles excelling".

He was ordained in 1735, ministering in Georgia for a year, then returning to England dejected at his lack of success, God used this time though to help the Wesley Brothers to be more alert to the state of their souls, leading them to deepen their faith.   His songs were wildly popular within his Methodist denomination.

Wesley frequently composed verse while riding from Church to Church on his preaching tour, jotting down rough notes so he could transcribe them later.   (source)   He was a man with a poet's heart, easily taking his thoughts and putting them into verse.

When I read that Charles Wesley wrote 8,989 hymns I was staggered.   That's A LOT OF music!!!!   He composed some of the most memorable and lasting hymns of the church: "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," "And Can It Be," "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing," "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling," "Jesus, Lover of My Soul," "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today," "Soldiers of Christ, Arise," and "Rejoice! the Lord Is King!"  (source)

It's fascinating isn't it?   To learn about some of these authors of hymns?  :)

Lyrics

In sweet communion, Lord, with thee
I constantly abide;
My hand thou holdest in thine own
To keep me near thy side.

Thy counsel through my earthly way
Shall guide me and control,
And then to glory afterward
Thou wilt receive my soul.

Whom have I, Lord, in heav'n but thee,
To whom my thoughts aspire?
And, having thee, on earth is nought
That I can yet desire.

Though flesh and heart should faint and fail,
The Lord will ever be
The strength and portion of my heart,
My God eternally.

To live apart from God is death,
'Tis good his face to seek;
My refuge is the living God,
His praise I long to speak.

All I can find out about this lovely hymn/prayer is that it was written by William U. Butcher.   He was a 19th Century fellow who lived the United States.

I know, it's not much, but it is a lovely hymn and I hope you enjoyed listening to it.  :)

His children shall have a place of refuge. Proverbs 14:26

Beneath the cross of Jesus
I fain would take my stand,
The shadow of a mighty rock
Within a weary land;
A home within the wilderness,
A rest upon the way,
From the burning of the noontide heat,
And the burden of the day.

O safe and happy shelter,
O refuge tried and sweet,
O trysting place where Heaven’s love
And Heaven’s justice meet!
As to the holy patriarch
That wondrous dream was giv’n,
So seems my Savior’s cross to me,
A ladder up to Heav’n.

There lies beneath its shadow
But on the further side
The darkness of an awful grave
That gapes both deep and wide;
And there between us stands the cross
Two arms outstretched to save
A watchman set to guard the way
From that eternal grave.

Upon that cross of Jesus
Mine eye at times can see
The very dying form of One
Who suffered there for me;
And from my stricken heart with tears
Two wonders I confess;
The wonders of redeeming love
And my unworthiness.

I take, O cross, thy shadow
For my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine
Than the sunshine of His face;
Content to let the world go by,
To know no gain or loss,
My sinful self my only shame,
My glory all the cross.

 Elizabeth C. Clephane wrote the words to this hymn.  The words were published post-humously in the Family Treasury, a Scottish Presbyterian magazine, in 1872, titled Breathing on the Border.

Ms. Clephane was a Scottish lass, who lived for only 39 years.  She was a sickly lass known to have a cheery outlook on life.   She was a devout Scottish Presbyterian and in her community was known as "The Sunbeam".  She enjoyed writing poetry, unfortunately most of them were published after her death, in a magazine called The Family Treasury.    Her parents died when she was young, her father being a sherrif.  Along with her sister, she ministered to the poor and needy in her neighbourhood of Melrose.   

The publisher of "The Family Treasury" had these words to say in regards to the poem that became the hymn Beneath the Cross of Jesus.    “These lines express the experiences, the hopes and the longings of a young Christian lately released. Written on the very edge of life, with the better land fully in view of Faith, they seem to use footsteps printed in the sands of time, where these sands touch the ocean of eternity. These footprints of one whom the good shepherd led through the wilderness into rest, may, with Gods blessing, contribute to comfort and direct succeeding Pilgrims.” (source)

Sources:
Cyber Hymnal.   Discipleship Ministries. Lectionary.  Gaffney Ledger.

Psalm 104:1-7: “Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty, wrapped in light as with a garment. You stretch out the heavens like a tent, you set the beams of your chambers on the waters, you make the clouds your chariot, you ride on the wings of the wind, you make the winds your messengers, fire and flame your ministers. You set the earth on its foundations, so that it shall never be shaken. You cover it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. At your rebuke they flee; at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.” 

Sources:
Share Faith. Discipleship Ministries.  Hymnary.  Christianity.com.  Wiki. Bartleby.com.

Oh.. my sweetheart made me laugh tonight.  I am NOTORIOUS for messing up my pronunciation of words.  I held up George M. Ella's book entitled William Cowper and said "you need to read this book on William Cow-per".   He smiled with his "ever so patient smile" and said "It's William Cooper and glad you liked it hun".   I just laughed and then we got into a discussion on Old English and how they pronounced things differently.  

ANYWAYS... As I said.. Good book, it's not what I call a novelization of William Cowper life, it's more of a factual treatise.  An interesting book and I learned so much about the man, his struggles, his joys and most importantly his faith.   Books like these help broaden one's faith as you see it lived out in the lives of others.

Scattered throughout the book are little pictures.   Most of them were images of people that were part of his life.   A few were of building that were an important part of his life.

I have to admit, I found it interesting to read about how Cowper was one of the people featured in the Olney Hymnal.. I keep running into that hymnbook as I work through my hymn studies.  This hymn below was one of his.

Lover of nature, William Cowper saw it as an expression of God's wonder, and had no problem with combining those two thoughts in his poetry.

From dearth to plenty, and from death to life,
Is Nature’s progress when she lectures man
In heav’nly truth; evincing, as she makes
The grand transition, that there lives and works
A soul in all things, and that soul is God.
The beauties of the wilderness are his,
That make so gay the solitary place
Where no eye sees them.   No fairer forms
That cultivation glories in, are his.
He sets the bright procession on its way,
And marshals all the orders of the year. (p.100)

William Cowper was not bound to the conventions of the day, preferring to write his verse without flowery text or societal expectations.  Fighting against the slave trade, aiding the poor, criticizing the church, translating the classics and more.

There is much more William Cowper than one might expect and it was a pleasure to learn more about this man.

Seeing how others lived out their life of faith helps me to broaden my horizons.  :)