When I was typing out the words to the songs on this album, I found myself crying. I had chosen the songs as much for the meaningful depth of their words as for how beautifully musical they are. I was fairly familiar with the words, but reading them once again, they sank all the way deep into my heart, and I couldn’t hold back the tears.
I also think of the right choices these people made in their relationships with God that have paved the way for those of us who are living now. The Lord commands the honoring of the previous generation in the sixth of His ten commandments, with no qualifications attached . . . in other words, regardless of how worthy or unworthy the people are. And He commands actually showing it : “Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the Lord.” (Leviticus 19:32) Do you know anyone who always stands up when an old person enters the room? Probably not! Looking at the verse closely, God seems to attach our very reverence for Him to how we show honor to our senior citizens.
The Psalms are the songbook, or “hymnbook” built right into the center of the Bible. Its lyrics have guided and taught and expressed the heart of people throughout centuries of our Judeo-Christian faith. King David, having written most of those songs, depends on the past, the trust in God learned through the years by people in his Godly heritage, whenever he faces the insecurities of his present troubles. But he also sings ‘new songs’ to the Lord, expressing what he learns for himself in his very real intimacy with God.
One of the signs preceding the fall of all civilizations is a disintegration of respect for the traditions and the older generations. On the other hand, a civilization will also die if it aborts its young or doesn’t reproduce itself by having enough children. A fruit tree will die if you cut its roots, and it will be somewhat useless if it bears no new fruit. So in the musical “fruit” or expression of our relationship with God, let us not put on the shelf or euthanize the priceless old songs, but treasure their wisdom, teach them with great respect to the younger generations, and be so grateful for the anchoring security they give. And let us not prevent the birth of new songs, that fill our lives with joy like the birth of a baby. They affirm hope that God has as individual and fresh and new and thrilling a relationship with Him for each of us as He has had with His saints in the past!
Before I share a short meditation about what each song has meant to me, I want to include a thanks to the musicians on the album in greater depth. There wasn't space in the CD booklet to do justice to how phenomenal these guys are. I couldn't even begin to write charts for what I was hearing in my head, so I would just play the violin part of each song as Jonathan and Kevin played their guitars, and say, yeah, yeah, yeah, that chord, yeah that one's right!! Then they would play so beautifully, it really took my breath away. Everything they did was by ear. But there's so much in the way they voiced their notes that one could never chart. The way Jon played "Alleluia" is too gorgeous to be true. And Kevin knew exactly how to play the soul of the country and folk style songs. Jon put down the Spanish style "How Great Thou Art" several years ago in just ten minutes, and the beautiful intros to "Solid Rock" and "Jesus Medley" flowed naturally right out of his heart. Kevin would hear something just once, play it through once, and record it! Even though I had the chords and ideas in my head, they had the telepathy gift, did the work, and expressed with incredible feeling the true heart of this music way beyond what I could have ever written. Thankyou, guys, for developing the talent God gave you to the max!
Nathan and Laurie, their children, and their relatives really helped this 'Chicago girl' feel at home in Nashville with their open Italian-Greek home. Back in 1995, Nathan played this wonderful string line and chords to 'I Will Be Yours' on the first try. He embellished the run and the chords far more beautifully than I originally had in mind. On the first try!
Mark Burchfield, Sam Levine, and Mike Duchette listened only a couple of times to the songs they were a part of and just instantly played what came naturally. How do these musicians do that!? Having been classically trained on violin and piano with a little training in playing by ear on piano, I was baffled with the kind of talent the studio musicians have in Nashville. Recording and country music talent is astounding. Kevin and Terry, his engineer, 'countrified' this 'Chicago girl' thru their genius with country and mountain music style. After I played up real high at the end of "Great Is Thy Faithfulness", Terry said in his Tennessee accent, "Dawgs howlin' all over town." These here country folk don't let you take yourself too seriously now! Jon and his brother, Mark, with their engineer, Randy, were so patient, it made it easy to express the music. You enter a time warp with them and can take as long as you need to to get it right. They never lose patience. I am humbly grateful to God for the privilege of having these amazing people to work with!!! Thankyou!!
Great is Thy Faithfulness
Can you imagine how Jeremiah felt when Nebuchadnezzar overcame his beloved Jerusalem, tearing down its walls and destroying the Temple? The entire way of life, the culture of his Jewish people, was demolished. As their priest and prophet, Jeremiah had warned his people that this would happen because they had rejected God’s ways. God’s clear mandate spelled out in detail in the book of Deuteronomy had come true. Their spiritual life, symbolized in the Temple practices, and their physical protection, symbolized by the city walls, were torn down, literally gone, leaving them completely vulnerable. But, it was their choice. They didn’t want God involved in their lives, so He let them go ahead and experience what life would be like without Him . . . without the inner protection of His spiritual life, and without His outer protection over their physical lives.
But in the middle of Jeremiah’s Lamentations . . . his weeping for Jerusalem and his people, he rests in God’s unconditional love and shares his unwavering hope in chapter 3: 22,23: “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed. His compassions (mercies) never fail and are new every morning. Great is Thy faithfulness.” The prophet reminds that even in the middle of tragedy or chastisement, God not only doesn’t withdraw his love, His very nature blesses.
There is something about the “clean slate” of a new day, the early morning before anyone else is up, sometimes even before the sun is up, that makes this verse come alive in my life. After having devotions each day (yes I’ve missed some days) for these 30 years, I’ve found that it’s best for me to be alone with God before I talk to anyone or do anything, (with the exception of brewing my Starbucks Colombia coffee and having a warm mug of that wonderful smell in my hand when I open my Bible!) Having the Lord as my first thought waking up, instead of all I have to do or people I need to be with seems to keep God as the center and source of my life . . . as He really is! It has firmly prioritized (I wish there was a less formal word!) all of my days, so my Heavenly Father is first in my heart in everything each day brings. And having Him as my priority continues to give each hour of the rest of my day that clean-slate, morning freshness.
The stunning promises or guarantees God made in Deuteronomy to those who would put Him first seem almost too good to be true. But they are absolutely true. And the consequences of disregarding Almighty God are just as true. Besides really loving having God in my life, I do want His promises, not the “consequences”. And, like Jeremiah, I also want God’s blessing for my family, friends, country, and the rest of the world. But I think my country is soon going to have to go through the devastating consequences of putting God on the shelf instead of first. My prayer is that those of us who do love God will know Lamentations chapter 3 very well and see His blessing in tragedy and His compassionate new mercies every morning. He will never be unfaithful!
I Love You Lord / Sweet Hour of Prayer
“I love the Lord, for He heard my voice; He heard my cry for mercy. Because He turned His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live.” Psalm 116:1,2 This verse states as simply and profoundly as possible the relationship we have with God while on this earth. For me, it is the whole Bible boiled down. It’s like an element in the study of chemistry. You can’t break the substance down any further. I think of Richard Wurmbrand, the Jewish believer, pastor in Rumania, who during the Communist dictatorship of Causescu, was tortured in prison 14 years for preaching the gospel! He says in his book “Tortured For Christ”, that during those years he forgot how to write, even how to sign his name. He forgot every verse of Scripture he had memorized. But the phenomenal presence of Jesus during the torture sessions was so real, God kept him faithful, alive, and sane.
Not many of us will go through circumstances that severe. But all of us will go through things in our time here on earth, when no solution or comfort is in sight. The thought even crosses our minds, where’s God!? I thought He said that He cared! Is the Bible untrue? Does He even exist?! If we still reach out to Him, call on Him, cry out to Him, He will hear. Once you’ve experienced desperate need of God and the unmistakable consciousness that He has heard your cry, you become so close to Him, literally tied to Him. You can never go back. You are His.
Trust and Obey / ‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus
“So sweet” is a very, very true description of how it feels to trust someone completely. By comparison, all of us have known the sour, bitter, cold feeling in the gut when someone we know has been untrustworthy. There are so many things to trust everyday . . . the house you live in to hold together, the ground you walk and drive on to not split apart or sink. The air you breathe, food and drink you use, you trust to not be harmful. You have to trust the car or train you ride in, the elevator you take, the building in which you work, the plane you fly in across country, the city or countryside where you live to be peaceful and safe. You’d go mad if you couldn’t take those securities for granted.
How much more important is it to be able to trust the people in your life, those at work and with whom we do business, our government people, our local service folks - electric, phone, and water companies, without whom we couldn’t have our normal lives? Then how about those to whom we make our hearts vulnerable, our friends and relatives, immediate family members that we live with everyday, and most of all, one’s husband or wife? With how we all flub up in being trustworthy with each other, is it any wonder there is a lot of insecurity and defensiveness out there? When the national statistics tell us that an unbelievable number of fathers don’t live as fathers with their families and that over half of the people in the most trusting commitment - marriage - give up on it, it makes you feel like you don’t dare take trust for granted or walk securely in your relationships.
God knows how fragile normal life and relationships are. Anything can happen at anytime. Look at 9/11. But He promised that two things would be utterly, eternally trustworthy - unchangeable, impossible to fail, totally secure. You probably already know the answer . . . His Word and His love. “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” Isaiah 40: 8 Jesus also stated in Mark 13:31, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Words will never pass away.” Think about it! The ground disappears beneath our feet, the sky dissolves before our eyes, billions of galaxies in outer space evaporate, but the Words of God we read everyday are still there and He still loves us enough to want us to be with Him for eternity. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35-39 Now that’s trustworthiness!!
I cringe, remembering the times I’ve failed people’s trust in me. Yes, they’ve forgiven me, but I still cringe. And I wince at the memories of people failing my trust in them. We’re all human and will fail, and we will forgive each other. The Psalms are the center book in the Bible. Chapter 118 is the center chapter, and verse 8 is the center of the whole Bible. You know what it says? “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.” God is saying that this is the central issue in life. Humankind will fail, but God won’t. I can trust Him, that is why I can obey Him.
But then God, once He has our total trust, says, ‘trust that I can work all things together for good...’ Romans 8:28,29 Trust others within the context that God is perfectly in control. Always have an open spirit. Don’t become closed and mistrusting in general towards life and people, because God will work out devastating situations where people fail us for His good purpose. The most profound example of this is Joseph’s story in Genesis 37:1-36, 39-45. As Joseph learned to trust that God could use untrustworthy family members to accomplish His much larger purpose, Joseph could say to his awful brothers, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.” And he wouldn’t even allow them to feel bad for what they did (45:8-15)!! God had needed him to be the greatest administrator of all time during the worst of famines covering all civilization, but He had to prepare Joseph in His own unique way, using the awfulness of other people to mold Joseph into a trustworthy, submissive, but extremely powerful character.
This does not mean that trusting yourself into God's hands, you are an automatic doormat to everyone. Jesus said in John 10:17, 18 “The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life - only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord.” The Apostle Peter explained these words about Jesus in his letter, then later trusted his own life to God at the hands of terrible men, and was hung upside down ‘til he died on a Roman cross.“To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you and example, that you should follow in His steps...’He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.’...When they hurled their insults at him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, he made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.” 1 Peter 2:21-23
My prayer is that when I fail others’ trust, or people betray my trust or each other’s, that it will not cause all of us to love less or close up. But instead may we use it as a reminder that God is perfectly in control. That He can turn it into good. That He may even have a plan so vast, that as with Joseph, it will infinitely, beautifully overshadow our disappointment in people. “ All things work together to those who love God, who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28
In the Garden
When God first made us, He had Adam and Eve caring for a garden, named Eden. It was located in the “fertile crescent” among the 4 rivers of Genesis 2:10-14, now the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in present day Iraq and Kuwait. Actually the whole planet was lavish green and a potential garden. It is delightful to me that God’s plan for Adam, Eve, and all of us was to “subdue the Earth” . . . tame it! In fact it was His second command, Genesis 1:28. Caretakers of the Garden Planet. What an awesome beginning for mankind.
But we all know that Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden. Everything except one tree belonged to them. But they took what was not theirs, in disobedience to their Creator, and passed on an eternal inheritance of spiritual death, losing for all of us the transparent oneness with God.
But God loved His creation so much that earth’s history has become the story of His plans for forgiveness. So, in another garden, Gethsemane, Jesus gave what was His, His rights, His will, and the ultimate - His Life - in obedience to God. It was there that Jesus said , “Not my will, but Thine be done.” And He won back for any of mankind who would trust Him, eternal forgiveness, and He reclaimed our original inheritance - spiritual Life - a growing oneness with our Creator.
The barren, desolate moonscape we see on T.V. showing what the Garden of Eden has become in the Iraqi desert is quite a stark analogy, picturing the excruciating truth of what our hearts are like without oneness with God. But Jesus says our hearts can again be like a garden. He says in Matthew 13:8,23, Mark 4:8,20, and Luke 8:8,15 that if we are “good soil” (able to be cultivated, not hard or filled with rocks and weeds), seeds of truth that He plants will grow up inside and multiply into a huge crop that can feed many. He says in John 15 we are like the branches that draw nourishment from Him (Jesus is the “vine”), and bear fruit that can also feed many. That’s where spending time alone with our Creator, Caretaker, Gardener comes in. He prepares the good soil, plants and grows the seeds, and prunes and nourishes the branches, gathers the crop and fruit, and multiplies them to feed a needy world. “As the rain and snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it withour watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is My Word that goes out from My mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:10,11 God’s Word is pictured as constant nourishment for our souls like a tree thriving on a riverbank in Psalm 1. I’ve heard that when the desert of Iraq and Kuwait is watered that the green that springs up is especially vibrant. Why would we even think of dying of spiritual thirst when He said in John 4:13 that His water is like a fountain inside, there for drinking all the time. The Bible is so readily available! Please read it! Please spend time getting to know God! Our hearts can be a Garden of Eden here on earth, not just in Heaven!
This was one of my Grandma Herleikson’s favorite songs. She and Mom and my Grandma Murk passed on their love for gardening to all of our family. I’m more aware of God’s loving hand on my shoulder when I’m tending flowers or mowing the lawn, walking mountain or forest trails, or even scuba diving than any other time, knowing I am one with my awesome Creator of His beautiful garden planet.
Spirit of The Living God / May the Mind of Christ My Savior / Breathe on Me Breath of God
Rather than share my own comments on these wonderful songs, I just want to type out the Word of God itself. It is so clear, so wonderful, so transforming. I heard a terrific little analogy. To have your mind changed by the Holy Spirit, your life transformed, think of yourself literally on an operating table next to Jesus, who is also on an operating table. The Holy Spirit is taking your brain out of your head and replacing it with the brain of Jesus. Jesus’ way of thinking, His automatic responses, His purpose, the way His brain controls His body, His life itself has now become yours.
This is what having devotions is all about. It’s a brain transplant!
“The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who lives in you. Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation - but not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For, if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of Sonship. And by Him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.” Romans 8:6-17
“If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. ‘May this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus’: Who, being in very nature, God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the Name that is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in Heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:1-11
I Will Be Yours
While singing in another country in April, l994, our transportation had hopelessly broken down. We had three weeks and 21 meetings ahead of us and no vehicle. I relaxed and thought, “Lord, every moment of our time, every ounce of our energy belongs to You. This is in Your wise hands. This tour is Yours. I have no worries, no complaints,”. . . and this little song came into my heart.
Yes, it was for the best. The tour was completed with a surprise gift from God, through a friend, of transportation perfectly suited to our needs.
And of course the song covers everything in my life. Psalm 73:25 “. . . and on earth there is nothing I desire besides You.”
Solid Rock
One of my favorite places in America is Sedona, Arizona. Yes, I know the ‘New Agers’ have claimed it as their “headquarters”. That doesn’t phase me or my God who created all that breathtaking beauty. In fact, it’s not surprising at all that those who seem to be seeking for something “spiritual” outside of themselves have gravitated to a place of such uncommon wonder. To have such humongous, majestic rock formations everywhere you look in such a subtle, peaceful, strange red color, is constantly overpowering and inspiring. They give a sense of security and eternity. You know just by being there, that there is way more to life than just yourself.
But to know personally the One who made those unearthly rocks, and to know from studying science that He made them, along with the rest of the earth, for us, is the greatest thrill of all. You don’t worship the symbols of His love, His creation; you worship Him in spirit and in truth. If He can create something that huge and secure and timeless as the Sedona rocks, think of how much more huge and secure and timeless He Himself is.
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” Romans 1:20
“You are My witnesses. Is there any God besides Me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.” Isaiah 44:8b
How Great Thou Art
Every year on August 12th, if the sky is clear, from 10 pm to midnight we all go out to our dock and lay down, facing the stars to watch the Perseid Meteor shower. My niece, Joanna, was just five years old when her amazement with the fiery streaks of meteors flashing across the vast black-velvet sky moved her to say, “This makes me cry.” Her precious, simple, heartfelt response to her Creator’s wonders and the words of this song speaks for all of us when God’s unfathomable greatness is too overwhelming for our own words.
“He determines the number of stars; and calls them each by name.” Psalm 147:4
“To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls them each by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing . . .” Isaiah 40:25-31(the rest of this passage is awesome!)
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” Psalm 19:1-4
Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow / Praise You / Alleluia
When going through major trauma (at least it feels major to me!), I most often look up II Chronicles 20. It’s the story of King Jehoshaphat leading God’s people into an impossible battle against three other nations. “ ‘You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out and face them tomorrow and the Lord will be with you.’ Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord. Then some Levites ...stood up and praised the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice. ...Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise Him for the splendor of His holiness as they went out at the head of the army saying, ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for His love endures forever.’ As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men...who were invading Judah, and they were defeated...no one had escaped.” Whenever I read this assuring chapter, I find myself bursting into the first song of this violin medley...”Praise God from whom all blessings flow!” Yes, my major traumas become minor memories as God works out each situation for His glory.
The Word of God is central, and guess what is central to the Word of God. Praise! Worshiping Him . . . musically! The Psalms - the songbook of the Bible - is right in the middle of all 66 books. Pouring out our hearts to God, crying out to Him, calling on Him, telling Him all the wonderful things about Him that we’re so grateful for, is all set to music! We sing with the Psalmist about everything in our lives and relate it all right to God. God wants all of my emotions, my whole heart. He wants the part of me that falls in love. God is love. He says through King Solomon in Proverbs 4:23 that I should guard my heart more than any other thing because it’s the source of everything in life. What moves my heart moves my life. Music, the emotional expression of my heart towards God, goes hand in hand with worshiping Him. But if my daily life does not show my love of God, then all of the emotions and music are just lip service and utterly displeasing to Him. That’s why I love the song, “Praise You” . “. . . Let my life, O Lord, praise You.”
I’d Rather Have Jesus / Give Me Jesus / Jesus Is All The World To Me
This, to me, is the reason for this album, or anything I do in life. Since God is everything to me, all of life is more wonderful. It is what God designed life to be in the first place. . . a love companionship with Him. Life becomes full color instead of black and white, three dimensional instead of flat. It has complete purpose and total fulfillment. But the normal goals and enjoyment of the average human life have been changed for me by the presence of Jesus’ Life in me. It is almost unexplainable unless you know Jesus personally.
Gradually, in direct proportion to the amount of time I spend alone with God, learning about Him, what He’s like, what He wants, how He loves, I grow into that indescribable oneness with Him that He intended for each person that He made.
In Acts 4:13 it was pointed out that the first disciples were ignorant, untrained men. But it was noted that they were who they were because they had been with Jesus. The word for “with” Jesus, describing His relationship with His disciples, is like drawing a pencil line on a paper, then drawing another line on top of it. You can’t get any closer. Spending some time everyday during devotions in the 4 gospels, I am growing to understand Jesus and my life changes tremendously.
Realizing how much God loves me, so I gladly let go of my selfishness and return His love, then letting go of my temporal desires, so His presence and love floods in, becomes a continual cycle. It’s sometimes easy, sometimes very painful. But wholeheartedly following Jesus always brings the sense of belonging and more transparent intimacy with God. (To just obey God is halfheartedness . . . to love to obey God is wholeheartedness.) God says in I John 2:15,17 “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.”
“. . .Take the world, but give me Jesus! . . .”
Living for Jesus / No Other Argument
Dying for Jesus, as He died for us, is the ultimate in showing our total dedication to the Lord. “Greater love hath no man than this, than a man lay down his life for his friends,” John 15:13. But God explains through the Apostle Paul in the Love Chapter, I Corinthians 13:3, that if I don’t have love, martyrdom doesn’t gain anything . . . it’s just an outward show, not a true commitment of the heart. Sometimes living daily, moment by moment for the Lord can be more difficult than dying for Him physically. Living for Jesus is a constant ‘dying’ to self. Putting His purposes first, His will instead of my own, is very much a ‘laying down of my life’. And it’s not just in obeying His spiritual occupational ‘call’ for my life. As I Corinthians 13 shockingly spells out, spirituality that shows outwardly is worthless if it doesn’t have love as it’s source or if we are unloving towards others. The New Testament letters are saturated in the message that our love for God shows itself in our living in love with others, dying to selfishness. I John 4:7-21 is the most blunt . . .“Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. . . If anyone says ,”I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.” People can be horribly difficult, and unplanned circumstances can seem to ruin life. But I am promising as I play this song, “my heart shall be Thy throne”. When God is King of my heart, I obey my King, in every way there is to ‘die to self’ . . . daily with others, and all the way to the ultimate . . . martyrdom. My obedience needs no explanation, no argument . . . just the spectacular fact that Jesus died for me is reason enough.
The Old Rugged Cross
My Mom would sing us to sleep with hymns as lullabies when we were little. When I was three years old and my brother Bill was two, he cried when Mom sang the Old Rugged Cross. Not understanding the words, he still comprehended the spirit of the music. He would ask her to not sing it anymore, it was so sad. . .it hurt so bad.
Written in 1913, this song was so moving it became literally ‘radio’s favorite’ for decades. Folks would call in, even to secular radio, requesting it be played.
I’ve noticed that in all of God’s words through the Apostle Paul, the cross is lifted up as a battle standard like a flag, to lead the way, to rally around, to glory in. It is amazing if you meditate on it literally.
As an art major in college, I was greatly disappointed with the untrue portrayal of Jesus’ appearance on the cross throughout all of art history. Jesus had to have had more than the typical picture of a few scratches on Him as He hung on that hideous display of the cross. Think about it! With all the insane, frothing wrath of Satan towards God poured through the Romans’ beating, and the personal, raging hatred of the tyrannical Romans for the unsubmissive Jewish nation, I believe most of the skin was ripped off of Jesus. He was a shredded mass of pulp hanging on that cross! He had to have bled to death. Isaiah 52:14 says that He was virtually unrecognizable as human. “Just as there were many who were appalled at Him - His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and His form marred beyond human likeness -”
That’s how much my God hates sin. . .my sin. I should have been hanging there. But Isaiah 53 goes on to explain how Jesus took my place so I could be one with God and have that Garden of Eden fellowship restored. The whole thing is just unspeakable. There has been nothing more profound in all history. When I really think it through, it leaves me breathless and speechless and motionless, yet totally compelled to have no other focus in life because His motive was that He actually loves me and wants me. How could anyone turn down that much love or consider anything in life more valuable!! “I will CLING to the old rugged cross!!”
It’s stunning that such an unthinkable horror as Jesus’ cross has become our most treasured symbol of God’s beautiful love. Who in the world would put a statue of an electric chair on our church steeples, or make beautiful jewelry of someone burned at the stake to hang on pretty chains around our necks, or have beheading blocks with an axes in them at all gravesites? Think of what the cross, a gross place of public execution, has become! I have been taught and believe that it was the presence of the Lord Jesus there that transformed horror into beauty and hate into love . . . the grotesque to be remembered no more. How much more beautifully will His presence transform the most horrible, hateful, and grotesque life.
“God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corin- thians 5:21
“He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.” I Peter 2:24
So Send I You / Until Then
When Jesus shocked His frightened, bewildered, disillusioned, huddled group of disciples by suddenly appearing ALIVE after such a gruesome death, He first calmed them down with His “. . .peace be with you. . .” Then immediately He said, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
That’s an incredible order!!! He is saying to all of His disciples, including me, ‘O.K., let’s get to work; now it’s your turn.’ All that Jesus stood for and did is now my calling!
Do I realize the implications of that?!
“Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for Me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matthew 16: 24-26
“. . . any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:33
“. . . So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants, we have only done our duty.” Luke 17:7-10
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter (finisher) of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:2,3
" . . .SO SEND I YOU, TO LOSE YOUR LIFE IN MINE . . . "
Current Thoughts:
Sharing my heart about the violin album songs.
Violin Tragedy
The Love Chapter Part I
The Love Chapter Part II
Songs from the violin album.
Morning Devotions
Developing talents and using them for God.
Murk Family Trio, Cassettes and CD's, Jim's Writings,
From Mom's Heart, Portraits of the Lord Jesus,
Thoughts from Beverly, Ferndale Christian Retreat Center,
Family Letters, Angel Foundation Ministries