Sermon Illustrations on Devotion

Undisturbed Devotion

True devotion requires unwavering focus despite distractions or external threats.

"It is a strange constancy of fixedness that is attributed to the priests at Jerusalem, who, when Faustus, Cornelius, Furius, and Fabius broke into the city with their troops, and rushed into the temple ready to kill them, yet they went on with the rites of the temple, as if there had been no assault. And strange is that other instance of the Spartan youth, that held the censer to Alexander while he offered sacrifice. A coal lighting upon his arm, he suffered it to burn there rather than that any crying out of his should disturb the worship." These instances are a

shame to Christians, that we do not more intensely fix our hearts when we are in the service of God; instead of which, many may be seen looking hither and thither, and turning their heads to the door to observe every newcomer. Even in our private devotions, how soon we are distracted and carried away from the point in hand. Our minds flit and fly, like birds on the hedges, which have scarcely time to settle, for as one passenger moves along the road and then another, they are ready for flight at once. At the sound of every footstep the bird is on the wing, and thus some hearts are the prey of every trifling circumstance. Saints have been undisturbed amid a crowd, while others find their prayers crowded out when they are alone. O Lord, assist me in my communion with thee, that my whole soul may be set upon it, and not a single thought may wander from thee. Let not even pain and care prevent my whole heart from adoring thee.

Benevolence, and Devotion

Giving to support the gospel is an act of devotion, even when unnoticed.

A colored Presbyterian deacon was in the habit of shutting his eyes, while he sang with great unction, "Fly abroad, thou mighty gospel!" and not seeing the contribution-plate. "Oh, yes!" said the plate-bearer; "but you just give something to make it fly."

Bible

Daily Bible reading is a valuable, virtuous way to begin each day.

I have for many years made it a practice to read through the Bible once a year. My custom is to read four or five chapters every morning immediately after rising from my bed. It employs about an hour of my time, and seems to me the most suitable manner of beginning the day. In what light soever we regard the Bible, whether with reference to revelation, to history, or to morality, it is an invaluable and inexhaustible mine of knowledge and virtue.

— John Quincy Adams

Bible

Early love for Scripture shapes character and style through lifelong study.

From the time that, at my mother's feet, or on my father's knee, I first learned to lisp verses from the sacred writings, they have been my daily study and vigilant contemplation. If there be any thing in my style or thoughts to be commended, the credit is due to my kind parents in instilling into my mind an early love of the Scriptures.

— Daniel Webster

Devotion, Acceptable

Simple, faithful daily devotion and integrity can be more pleasing to God than extreme asceticism.

We read a pretty story of St. Anthony, who, being in the wilderness, led there a very hard and strict life, insomuch as none at that time did the like; to whom came a voice, saying, "Anthony, thou art not so perfect as is a cobbler that dwelleth at Alexandria." Anthony, hearing this, rose up forthwith, and took his staff, and travelled till he came to Alexandria, where he found the cobbler. The cobbler was astonished to see so reverend a father come to his house. Then Anthony said unto him, "Come and tell me thy whole conversation, and how thou spendest thy time."—"Sir," said the cobbler, "as for me, good works have I none; for my life is but simple and slender. I am but a poor cobbler. In the morning when I rise, I pray for the whole city wherein I dwell, especially for all such neighbors and poor friends as I have; after, I set me at my labor, where I spend a whole day in getting my living. And I keep me from all falsehood, for I hate nothing so much as I do deceitfulness; wherefore, when I make any man a promise, I keep it, and perform it truly. And thus I spend my time poorly, with my wife and children, whom I teach and instruct, as far as my wit will serve me, to fear and dread God. And this is the sum of my simple life." Latimer.

Devotion, Industry with

Serving God faithfully includes diligence in one’s lawful daily vocation, not idleness.

The inhabitants of the bishopric of Durham pleaded a privilege, that King Edward I. had no power, although on necessary occasion, to press them to go out of their country, because they termed themselves holy-work folk, — only to be used in defending the shrine of St. Cuthbert. Many are much mistaken, thinking if they be once entered into the trade of godliness, they can cancel all indentures to service, and have a full dispensation to be idle in their callings; whereas the best way to make the service of God comfortable to their own souls is their lawful vocations, there being ever some secret good accruing to such as are diligent therein. Spencer.

Devotion, Legend of

True devotion embraces household duties as part of serving God, not just formal prayer.

It is said of St. Francisca Romana, that though unwearied in her devotions, yet if, during her prayers, she was called away by her husband or any domestic duty, she would close her book, saying that "a wife and a mother, when called upon, must quit her God at the altar, and find him in her household affairs." "Now, it happened once, that, in reciting the office of Our Lady, she was called away four times, just as she was beginning the same verse, and, returning the fifth time, she found that verse written upon the page in letters of golden light by the hand of her guardian angel."

Devotion, Office of

Devotion sustains faith and obedience like a clock needs winding to keep running.

If faith be the mainspring, devotion winds up the machinery, and keeps it in continual motion. It is as impossible for the soul to remain strong in faith, and active in obedience, without continued communion with God the fountain of all grace, as it is for a clock to perform its revolutions without being regularly wound up. Jackson.

Devotion, Quality of

God values the sincerity and quality of devotion more than its length or quantity.

A musician is commended, not that he played so long, but that he played so well. And thus it is not the days of our life, but the goodness of our life; not the length of our prayers, but the fervency of our prayers; not the measure of our profession, but the sincerity of our profession, — that is acceptable unto God. Spencer.

Devotedness, Jewish

Jewish priests remained devoted in worship even unto death amid violent attack.

Josephus says, that certain of the Jewish priests, at the time of the taking of the temple, were standing at the altar. They were waving to and fro the sacred censers, and offering their prayers and their victims. The Romans rushed in, sword in hand. There were shrieks and cries, murders and deaths; the pavement was stained with blood: but the priests took no notice whatever, nor would they turn from their sacrifice, till at last they were themselves slain.

Devotedness, Heathen

A Spartan youth endured pain silently, honoring God's presence over personal comfort.

A Spartan youth was holding the censer at a sacrifice when Alexander was offering a victim. It chanced, that, while he held the censer, a hot coal fell upon his hand. The youth stood still, and never clinched, lest by any utterance or cry the sacrifice should be disturbed; for, he said, he was in the presence of Alexander, and he would not have the sacrifice interrupted for him: and thus he bore the pain of the burning coal. Let us remember that Spartan youth, adding, to what he said, "We are in the presence of the Almighty God."

— Biblical Treasury

Devotedness, Ministerial

Ministerial devotion may involve hardship but is preferable to abandoning the calling.

I would rather be Brainard, wrapped in my bearskin, and spitting blood upon the snow, than to be Gabriel. Bishop Hamline.

Learning, Unsatisfactory

True integrity and devotion outweigh mere learning and honor.

Grotius, on his death-bed, exclaimed. "Ah! I have consumed my life in a laborious doing of nothing. I would give all my learning and honor for the plain integrity of John Urick!" This John Urick was a religious poor man, who spent eight hours of the day in reading and prayer, eight in labor, and only eight in sleep and meals.

The Venerable Bede

The Venerable Bede joyfully served God through study and teaching even near death.

In the eighth century, a translation of the Gospel of St. John was completed in the Anglo-Saxon language, by the venerable Bede, who was the ornament of the age and country in which he lived. Referring to the time of his education, he says, "From that period I have applied myself wholly to the study of the Holy Scriptures; and in the intervals of the observance of regular discipline, always found it sweet to be either learning, teaching, or writing."

The circumstances of his death, as described by one of his pupils, are interesting:—"Many nights he passed without sleep, yet rejoicing and giving thanks, unless when a little slumber intervened. When he awoke, he resumed his accustomed devotions, and, with expanded hands, never ceased returning thanks to God. By turns," observes his pupil, "we read, and by turns we wept; indeed, we always read in tears. In such solemn joy, we passed fifty days; but, during these days, besides the daily lectures which he gave, he endeavored to compose two works; one of which was a translation of St. John's Gospel into English. It had been observed of him, that he never knew what it was to do nothing; and, after his breathing became still shorter, he dictated cheerfully, and sometimes said, 'Make haste; I know not how long I shall hold out; my Maker may take me away very soon.' On one occasion, a pupil said to him, 'Most dear master, there is yet one chapter wanting; do you think it troublein all the dignity of woe, approached her with great solemnity, and gently taking her by the hand, thus addressed her :—" So, friend, I see then thou hast not yet forgiven God Almighty." This reproof had so great an effect on the lady that she immediately laid aside the symbols of grief, and again entered on the important duties of life.

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some to be asked any more questions?' He answered, ' It is no trouble; take your pen, and write fast.' He continued to converse cheerfully, and whilst his friends wept, as he told them they would see him no more, they rejoiced to hear him say, ' It is now time for me to return to Him who made me. The time of my dissolution draws near. I desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ. Yes, my soul desires to see Christ, my King, in his beauty.' The pupil, before mentioned, said to him, ' Dear master, one sentence is still wanting.' He replied, ' Write quickly.' The young man soon added, ' It is finished! ' He answered, ' Thou hast well said; all is now finished! Hold my head with thy hands: I shall delight to sit at the opposite side of the room, on the holy spot at which I have been accustomed to pray, and where, whilst sitting, I can invoke my Father.' Being placed on the floor of his little room, he sang, ' Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost,' and expired as he uttered the last words."

A copy of some of St. Paul's Epistles, said to be in the handwriting of this venerable man, is preserved in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge.

King Alfred And His Psalter

King Alfred treasured and sought understanding of Scripture amid hardship.

King Alfred the Great encountered many difficulties in obtaining scriptural knowledge, which we have never experienced, and manifested an attachment to the sacred volume not often seen now. In those dark ages, learning was considered rather a reproach than an honor to a prince. In addition to which, his kingdom, for many years, was the seat of incessant war. Notwithstanding all this, Alfred found opportunity not only to read the word of God, but actually to copy out all the Psalms of David: which book he constantly carried in his bosom. That he profited greatly from reading the Scriptures is no matter of surprise, when we learn, that, after the example of David, he earnestly sought divine teaching, and prayed that the Lord would open his eyes, that he might understand his law. He frequently entered the churches secretly in the night for prayer; and there lamented, with sighs, the want of more acquaintance with divine wisdom. Having drunk into the spirit of the Bible, and experienced the rich consolation it affords, in setting before the burdened sinner a free and full salvation in Jesus, he wished it published to all around; he therefore commenced a translation of the Psalms into Anglo-Saxon, though he did not, however, live to finish the work.

The Child And His Closet

A child's commitment to private prayer leads to the conversion of a visitor.

When the late Rev. Thomas Reader, of Taunton, was but a child of eight years old, he felt the importance of religion, and could not be happy without private prayer. One evening, his father's house being full of company, he had not a convenient place for his secret devotions; but unwilling to omit what he knew to be his duty, he went into his father's wool-loft to enjoy the pleasure of communion with God. At first he felt some childish fears, on account of his lonely situation; but afterwards his mind was so filled with God, and the joys of religion, that he forgot the gloominess of the place. During his childhood, a person being on a visit at his father's, Thomas was appointed to sleep with him. After the gentleman had retired to his chamber, the pious little boy knocked at the door, requesting him to let him go through his room to an inner closet, which he used to frequent for the exercise of prayer. The conscience of the visitor severely smote him: "What," thought he, "is this little child so anxious to obtain a place for devout retirement, while I have never prayed in my life?" It led him to serious reflections, which, through the Divine blessing, were the happy means of his conversion; and he afterwards became a true Christian, and a useful minister of the gospel.

Drudgery

Even unpleasant work can be an act of devotion if done with the right spirit.

It may be that even the work of “holystoning” the deck of a ship could become an act of devotion if done in the right spirit, notwithstanding this seaman’s aversion to it:

“This is what you call the sailor’s prayer-book,” a seaman said bitterly as he kicked a holystone out of the way. “Why is it called that? Well, in the first place, it is called that because in using it, in holystoning the deck, the sailor has to kneel down; and in the second place, because all holystoning is done on Sunday. Don’t you know the chantey?

“‘Six days shalt thou work and do all that thou art able, And on the seventh holystone the decks and scrape the cable.’

“The stone is called holystone because the first holystones were bits of tombs stolen from cemeteries. It’s got a pious, religious sound--holy, and prayer-book, and Sunday and all that--but it is when he is using this stone that the seaman is most profane.”

Ideal, Devotion To An

Peasant actors faithfully portray the Passion Play with sincere devotion, not for profit.

“It is not our aim to shine in the art of acting; that would be presumptuous and ridiculous in simple country people; but it must be the earnest desire of each one to try and represent worthily this most holy mystery.”

Thus spoke Pastor Daisenberger in his sermon to the peasant actors of Ober-Ammergau before the production of the Passion Play in 1870. In these simple, devout words of their minister, Archdeacon Farrar found the echo of the deeply religious feeling which animates the peasants of the Bavarian village, to which so many of the sordid outer world have thronged. There is no taint of commercialism nor worldly ambition, we are assured, in the hearts of these peasant actors. Time and again have they refused lucrative offers to produce their historic drama elsewhere; and they do not, it is said, yield to the temptation to extort money from the tourists who invariably flock to witness the performance. Even the recent floods have given proof how they can bear adversity.

Picturesque

Sacred art aims to inspire piety rather than mere aesthetic beauty.

Thomas Rowlandson, the artist, at one time in his career devoted himself to book illustration, in a series of plates on Goldsmith, Fielding, Smollett, Sterne and other humorists of his day. It was this that led William Combe, then in a debtors’ prison, and who had never met the artist, to write his humorous poem, “Dr. Syntax in Search of the Picturesque.”

Ought not every Dr. Syntax of the pulpit or platform go in search of the picturesque? (Text.)

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PIETY

In considering the pictures of sacred subjects produced in the early ages of faith and simplicity, we must not forget that the chief intention of the artist was to stimulate the piety of the spectator, and not to make a “pretty” picture. Thus it is recorded of the saintly Florentine monk, Fra Angelico (1387–1455), that before he began the painting of a religious subject he fasted and prayed, and that while he was at work on his picture he always remained kneeling.--FREDERICK KEPPEL, “Christmas in Art.”

Interesting Approaches To Becoming Holy

Throughout the ages, believers have come up with some interesting approaches to becoming holy.

1. First, there was Asceticism.

2. The Institutional Church: The Dendrites lived in trees, basing the practice on a verse in James about keeping oneself unspotted from the world. Self-flagellation and contemplation were popular at times.

3. Performance or the Spirit's Power? — The New Testament conveys this message: No excess, but no unnecessary abstinence, either.

I Spend Three Minutes On God Every Night

Letter from a young person to God:

Dear God,

I think of you in my prayers. Along with my mom and my dad, my sister Paula, my grandma, my two grandpas, my aunt Jennie, my aunt Gloria, my uncle Sid, my uncle Jack and my cousins Billy and Sherie.

I spend at least three minutes on you every night!

Love,

Terry, age 8

He Had To Mark The Sacred Spot

He tried vainly to get someone to haul it back for him, but all the wagons going west were already overloaded, and no one would help him. Finally, he bought a wheelbarrow, put the stone in it, and walked those weary miles back toward Fort Kearney, and set the stone up on her grave.

It's a tender story. The man knew that there was something he must never forget. Here was a sacred spot on earth and he must always remember where it was.

________

* The family also went by "Haile". The grave exists today and is well-maintained, though the original marker has been replaced.

Everyday Idols

What competes with God for your affections?

When we allow anything apart from God to rule us, compel us, or control us,

we have created an idol.

1. God's view of Idolatry. Jer 2:28; Hos 13:4; Exod 20:2-5; Dt 7:5,16;

Ezek 6-11

2. Promises, Promises. 1 Cor 10:14; Ezek 14:3; Jer 14:10; 1 Tim 6:10;

Col 3:1-3, 1 Jn 2:15-17

3. Destroying the Destroyers. Ezek 14:5

a. Unveil them. Ezek 8:16

1. Our gifts.

2. Our strengths.

3. Our ministry.

4. Our productivity.

b. Repent of them. Ezek 14:6; Is 30:22

c. Return to unadulterated fellowship with God. Hos 14:1,4;

Ezek 6:9; Jer 3:12-13,22

d. Vigilantly guard against new idols. 1 Jn 5:21

4. At Rest in God.

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How Brother Lawrence Loved God

Brother Lawrence was a cook in a monastery. He learned to press meaning into virtually every action of his day. Note his capacity to see not only meaning but also purpose in his labor:

“I turn my little omelet in the pan for the love of God. When it is finished, if I have nothing to do, I prostrate myself on the ground and worship my God, who gave me this grace to make it, after which I arise happier than a king. When I can do nothing else, it is enough to have picked up a straw for the love of God. People look for ways of learning how to love God. They hope to attain it by I know not how many different practices. They take much trouble to abide in His presence by varied means. Is it not a shorter and more direct way to do everything for the love of God, to make use of all the tasks one’s lot in life demands to show him that love, and to maintain his presence within by the communion of our heart with his? There is nothing complicated about it. One has only to turn to it honestly and simply.

The Story of Janet Elway

The boss wins a much-deserved honor for turning the company around and saving everyone's job. A mother of two accepts congratulations for receiving her law degree. A dark-horse candidate basks in the glow of winning a tough election.

If any of those people are married, I hope they had sense enough to put their mates at the top of the list of those who made it possible. Loyal spouses typically pay a price fully as high -- and often higher -- than the one who gets the applause and fame.

Take the case of Janet Elway as proof. Her husband retired May 2 after sixteen years as a professional football player. John Elway is a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame in five years. He has completed more passes, gained more passing yards, and thrown more touchdown passes than any quarterback already enshrined at Canton. He led his Denver Broncos to Super Bowl championships the last two years.

Elway came into the league as the first choice in the 1983 draft. Billed as the savior of the Denver franchise, he was given a $5-million contract and subjected to merciless scrutiny. The early years were tough. He got off to a shaky start. The fans booed. Know who was taking it as harder than anybody? You guessed it: Janet Elway.

"When I would go into a department store or a grocery store and sign a check, they would say, well, not good things about John," she said. During the 1985 season, she gave birth to their first child. When she was able, she was back in the stands to watch her husband play football. It was a game at Mile High Stadium against Kansas City, and John was intercepted five times.

A man sitting right behind her stood up after the fifth interception and yelled, "You can get your #%*#^* wife pregnant, but you can't do anything else!" Janet turned around and slapped the man square in the face. "It was really embarrassing because the guy didn't know it was me," she said. "He said, 'Out of all these people I have to be sitting by his wife.' He apologized and everything." But the sharper sting that day was still to Janet's heart rather than to some fan's face.

At John's retirement press conference, Janet and their four children were there as a family. The announcement was interrupted by his frequent tears. Janet went to the podium with a box of tissues. She has been there every step of the way.

For all the achievers and doers of this world, a word of counsel: Don't forget the spouse who stayed, was loyal, and bore with the loneliness or neglect. When you're at the top of your game, be sure he or she gets to share the success in full measure.

Congratulations, John. I've enjoyed those fourth-quarter comebacks you could engineer with such skill. And I hope you have planned something special for Janet.

Yesterday He Spent An Hour With Me

Thomas Carlyle had married his secretary, whom he dearly loved, but he was thoughtless and absorbed in his own interests and activities, treating his wife as if she were still his employee.

Stricken with cancer she was confined to bed for a long time before she died. After her funeral, Carlyle went back to his empty house. Disconsolate and grieving deeply, he wandered around aimlessly downstairs, engrossed in thinking about the woman he had loved. After a while he went upstairs to her room and sat down in the chair beside the bed on which she had been lying for months. He realized with painful regret that he had not sat there very often during her long illness.

He noticed her diary. While she was alive, he never would have read it, but now that she was gone he felt free to pick it up and thumb through it pages. One entry caught his eye: “Yesterday he spent an hour with me. And it was like being I heaven. I love him so much.” He turned a few more pages and read, “I listened all day to hear his steps in the hallway. And now its late. I guess he won’t come to see me.” Carlyle read a few more entries and then threw the book on the floor and ran out into the rain back to the cemetery. He fell on his wife’s grave in the mud, sobbing, “If only I had known...if only I had known.”

The Revolution Means Everything

There was a missionary in South-East Asia, who was captured by some guerillas and freedom fighters who were Marxists. He actually walked with them for three weeks through the jungles. And he had quite a good relationship with the group of freedom fighters, and they talked about Marxism and they talked about Jesus and they went backwards and forwards.

When the missionary was released — this guy’s a missionary; he’s gone overseas to share the faith. The leader of the freedom fighters said something very interesting: he said “I see that your message about Jesus is more powerful than ours. But we will win, because Jesus means a lot to you, but the revolution means everything to us.”

And the question I keep asking myself is: Is Jesus my most important hobby or is this business of life and death. That the one who died for me is the one I can’t wait to share with others. And I’m anxious for others and I’m praying God please give me a chance to share , please may it come up with my family. Is that the first thing, does Jesus mean a lot to us or it everything.

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #9422]

A Young Man's Dream Cost Him A Lot

Mark 10:28

There was an old guy at a church that I went to, visited East Germany when it was still a Communist state. And while he was there, he met a young man at a church who came from a family of doctors. Generations had been doctors; and ever since he was child he wanted to be a doctor.

Now apparently in the East German school, about in year ten you get streamed off either into technical type schools or academic type schools. All the way through junior high, he was sharing with his friends about Jesus. He was regularly called up by the principal and told to shut up. When he got near the end of year ten he was told, if you do not stop speaking about Jesus you will be streamed into a technical school, which means that he will never ever be able to become a doctor. And that’s not just financial, that’s his dream for the future. All he has to do is be silent about Jesus until he’s into those sort of academic school.

This old man asked the young guy what did you do?

He said I kept speaking about Jesus and he was now in the middle of a technical high school, his whole dream gone. And then he said to this friend of mine, “I will follow Jesus, Vas est al costet, whatever the cost.”

And following Jesus means becoming fishers of men like him. We need to go and reflect. Will we be those who follow Christ whatever the cost, because it will cost and it will be painful at times. But it is the only thing worth living for, its the only reason why we are left here. To know Christ and to make him known and the question for you and for me, is to work out: is that what we are going to live for? And when you forget will you let brother and sister Christians remind you, and will you set yourself back on to the right course. To make known to others the marvelous things God has done, who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #9582]

Marian Anderson's Mom

Marian Anderson got her start by scrubbing floors for ten cents an hour so that she could buy a pawnshop violin. The church she attended recognized her rare talent and raised money for a professional voice teacher to work with her. When the teacher pronounced her ready, she went to New York where critics crucified her. She returned home to regroup. Her mother and her church encouraged her and paid for more lessons.

Because of the intense racial prejudice in America, she went to Europe and took the continent by storm. She came back to America and sang at the Lincoln Memorial with more than 60,000 people in attendance. She sang "O Mia Fernando," "Ave Maria," "Gospel Train," and "My Soul Is Anchored in the Lord," among other songs.

One day a reporter asked Marian what the most satisfying moment in her life was. Without hesitation, she responded that (it was) when she was able to tell her mother that she did not have to take in any more washing. The reporter asked, "What did your mother give you?"

Marian Anderson responded, "Everything she had."

That's greatness, and giving everything we have is our key to greatness.

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

Mark 15:24

1. When I survey the wondrous cross

On which the Prince of glory died,

My richest gain I count but loss,

And pour contempt on all my pride.

2. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,

Save in the death of Christ, my God;

All the vain things that charm me most —

I sacrifice them to His blood.

3. See, from His head, His hands, His feet,

Sorrow and love flow mingled down;

Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,

Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

4. Were the whole realm of nature mine,

That were a present far too small:

Love so amazing, so divine,

Demands my soul, my life, my all.

[Tune “Hamburg”]

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The Christmas Prayer

One of my most meaningful Christmas memories is the prayer, the petition for God's blessing, with which each year our grandfather would conclude the family festivities.

During the years of my childhood, when we lived close to Grandpa's place in Manitoba, my parents and brothers and sisters would meet with the extended family at Grandpa's farm house for Christmas dinner. It was a large family. Besides the many aunts and uncles, there was a host of cousins and, later on, the next generation of great-grandchildren. It was chance to renew acquaintance with cousins we hadn't seen all year, admire the new babies that had arrived during the past year, and listen in on the adults' talk. After our sumptuous dinner, the children recited, everyone sang carols, and then each of us got a small gift from Grandpa. As the winter twilight set in, and the day was drawing to a close, Grandpa would gather us all together and offer a prayer for his family. He can't have prayed for us all by name because, by the time I could remember, there were too many of us. But there was the absent black-sheep uncle, the adolescents who had come to the crossroads of life and were finding the road rough, the family whose father had multiple sclerosis, and all the usual disappointments and difficult times. He had a special burden for us all. We all listened respectfully while his quiet voice spoke in German those caring words of supplication and benediction. Then it was time to get on our wraps, bundle the children in their snowsuits for the ride home, either by car or horse or sleigh.

We all felt secure as he placed us under God's care and keeping for the coming year.

Doreen Goosen

Abbotsford, BC

Hymn-writers of England: Frances Ridley Havergal (1836-1879)

"The devoted daughter who dedicated her life to praising God."

Occasionally, you have the privilege to meet someone who is really too "good" for this tarnished world - someone who is kind, caring and for whom transitory pleasures and the pursuit of material gain mean nothing. Instead, their whole being is suffused by a love of God which illuminates their personality. Frances Ridley Havergal was just such a person.

She was born in the village of Astley, Worcestershire, in 1836, a few months before the Accession of Queen Victoria. Frances was the youngest in the family of two Sons and four daughters of the Rev. William Henry Havergal and his wife Jane. He was a gifted musician with a wide knowledge of psalmody who composed and published church services as well as hymn tunes and chants. A fervent evangelical clergyman, he had a reputation as an effective preacher and a caring pastor, and was later made an Honorary Canon of Worcester Cathedral.

Frances was a high-spirited and affectionate child with a mop of golden curls, who was dubbed "Little Quicksilver" by the family. She reveled in the countryside around her home and developed a deep love and knowledge of Nature.

Taught both by her sisters and her mother, who had grown up in the Sussex town of East Grinstead where she had been known as the "lovely Jane Head", Frances proved a bright pupil. By the time she was seven years old, she was writing her own hymns and, having inherited her father's musical talents, she was soon writing tunes for them as well.

When Frances was aged eight, the Rev. Havergal was appointed vicar of St. Nicholas's Church in Worcester and the family had to move into the town. Frances desperately missed the garden and countryside surrounding their former home and said she felt like "a caged lark". However, at least she had a room of her own in the new rectory and had the benefit of a view of sky and clouds from her own window which she soon learnt to level as much as the birds and the flowers.

In 1848, Frances's beloved mother died after a long illness. Shortly before her death she had said to her daughter:

"Fanny, pray to God to prepare you for all He is preparing for you." Frances never forgot those words and she later said the message became "a life prayer" for her.

It was eventually decided that Frances should continue her education at "Belmont", a boarding school near Campden Hill in London. The school was run by a Mrs. Teed and it was renowned for its fervently evangelical teaching. Frances, who had many doubts and worries about her faith, found the school provided the spiritual guidance she was seeking and, soon after she was 15, she recorded: "I committed my soul to the Saviour, and earth and heaven seemed bright from that moment."

In 1851 the Rev. Havergal married again. His bride was Caroline Cooke who had been a teacher of Frances at one time, and Frances was brought back from London to a school at Powicke Court, near Worcester. However, she did not stay long as her previously robust health began to fail. Instead she stayed at home with her father and stepmother, travelling with them to Germany in 1852 where the Rev. Havergal wanted to consult a specialist about problems with his eyesight. They stayed for quite some time and Frances attended a school at Dusseldorf, mastering the German language so quickly that she came out top of her school class. An amazing feat for an English girl of 17. Later she stayed with a German pastor and his family and wrote one of her early hymns during the visit.

Soon after the family's return home, Frances was confirmed in Worcester Cathedral in a service which left a deep impression on her. She wrote that when the words: "Defend, O Lord, this Thy child with Thy heavenly Grace, that she may continue Thine for ever" were pronounced over her head "if ever my heart followed a prayer, it did then; if ever it thrilled with earnest longing, not unmixed with joy, it did at the words 'Thine for ever'". She continued ever after to mark the anniversary of her confirmation.

Frances read a great deal, but within the narrow confines dictated by her father's very Puritan tastes. Some poetry was permitted, but he would not allow her to read any classics of English literature - even Shakespeare was taboo! The Bible was the only book he really approved of and as a result Frances virtually knew it by heart. She had a great gift for languages and became proficient in German, French, Latin, Italian, Greek and Hebrew. However, by far the most important language to her was music which she regarded as "a sort of alphabet of the language of heaven - not any more equal to it, of course, than an ABC book is to Milton - but a sort of introduction".

If Frances fretted and rebelled against her rigid upbringing, it is not recorded. Instead, she seems to have been the perfect vicar's daughter, throwing herself wholeheartedly into philanthropy. She started Sunday School and Bible classes and went around the community helping others wherever possible and regarded herself as "a maid of all work in the household of God".

In 1861 her father left Worcester for reasons of health and moved to a living at Snareshill, a Staffordshire village near Wolverhampton. Frances went to live with one of her sisters at Oakhampton, not far from her old home at Astley. There she took on the education of her nieces for nine years until the youngest of them went to school in 1867. By this time Frances was a regular contributor of hymns, poetry and articles to a number of publications and was inundated with requests for her work.

She said that her work had nothing to do with her being "clever" or "gifted" because God spoke the lines to her. He had not given her a poetic chest of gold to do whatever she wanted, but instead kept hold of the treasure and gave her a gold coin every now and again.

In 1867 her father retired to Leamington Spa in Warwickshire and, like the devoted daughter she was, Frances returned to care for her aging father and stepmother. She took a holiday to Switzerland when she was 32 and was awed by the Alps. The tips of the mountains were so near to Heaven and the unsullied snow seemed to represent perfect peace and purity. Frances loved mountainous scenery and made almost annual visits to Switzerland, as well as trips to Scotland and North Wales.

The first volume of her poems appeared in 1869 under the title of The Ministry of Song and she dedicated the book to her beloved father. His sudden death the following year was a great blow to Frances, but she dutifully continued to care for her stepmother until her death eight years later.

Early in 1874 Frances went on a five-day visit to a friend's house. There were about 10 people there, some of whom were unbelievers and others who were lukewarm Christians. She prayed that everyone in the house would be given the blessing of true faith, and her prayer was granted. On the very last night of her visit she was woken up by the governess of the two daughters of the household. They were very upset and confused, but Frances talked to them and suddenly they, too, became firm believers. Frances was so happy that she could not sleep and the words of a hymn formed themselves in her head until they ended with the words "Ever, only, all for Thee!" This was the story behind Frances Ridley Havergal's most famous hymn "Take My Life, and Let it Be". She always sang the hymn to the tune "Patmos" which her father had written, although now it is sung to a variety of different tunes including "St. Bees" by J.B. Dykes, and also "Consecration" which is attributed both to William Havergal and Mozart!

In the same year - 1874 - another book of her work was published. Entitled Under the Surface it proved as popular as the earlier volume. Frances also wrote a number of children's stories which achieved a wide circulation.

After the death of her stepmother, Frances went to live with her maiden sister, Maria, at Caswall Bay, near the Mumbles in Wales. Even though she had recurring bouts of ill-health, her workload seemed to grow rather than diminish. There were increasing demands for her work, as well as the needs of her new community to administer to. It was because she insisted on addressing a temperance meeting on a wet and misty day towards the end of May 1879 that she caught a chill which turned into a fever. Her condition rapidly deteriorated but she viewed her dangerous illness with joy rather than dismay. She knew that she would soon be in her true home, which all her life she had been striving to be worthy of. Frances Ridley Havergal died on 3rd June, 1879.

Two years before her death Frances had written: "I am not one of those terrible 'strong-minded women', I think we have quite 'rights' enough in proportion to our powers and position."

It's a comment that was very typical of a Victorian lady although it would make some modern women cringe. However, despite her modesty about her weakness in resolve and her creative ability, Frances Ridley Havergal proved to be one of the most remarkable hymn-writers of her time. Like the words of her famous hymn, her life was consecrated to God, and she had the will and the determination to live "ever, only, all for Thee".

___________________

Source: This England - Britain's loveliest magazine, Spring 2001

PO Box 52, Cheltenham

Gloucestershire, GL50 1YQ

Book closes on A love story of the Troubles

Northern Ireland conflict - FOR the last 13 years, Noreen Hill has been a devoted wife to her husband Ronnie, nursing him, feeding him, loving him even though he has lain in a coma since he was caught up in the IRA's bombing of a Remembrance Sunday ceremony.

Today, Mrs Hill will bury the man to whom she was married for 44 years. It will close another tragic chapter in the Troubles, but also one of its greatest love stories. Some say that it would, in some ways, have been a blessing to Mrs Hill had her husband died along with the other victims of the Enniskillen massacre.

But she will have none of that, trusting to her faith in God and tending to her grievously injured husband with never a word of bitterness. Through her agonising and often lonely vigil at his bedside, she has been a constant reminder of the way in which the suffering of innocent victims goes on long after the headlines have faded.

Mr Hill, a former headmaster of Enniskillen High School in the County Fermanagh town, died on Thursday, a week away from his 69th birthday. He lapsed into a coma two days after the bomb shattered the peace of the mainly Protestant memorial service at the town's cenotaph. Eleven people were killed and 63 injured in the attack in November 1987. Nobody can now deny that the Provisional murder toll was a dozen.

Mrs Hill has been a constant presence at her husband's bedside ever since he suffered horrific injuries, including a fractured skull, jaw, shoulder and pelvis. It was his hand sticking up through the rubble which saved him. He was seen by rescuers, who dug him out.

She was with him again when he died at the nursing home, which she had bought to care for him full time, at 3am on Thursday in Holywood, Co Down. "We had known from Sunday that he was dying," Mrs Hill said. "We had been taking turns just sitting with him. Ronnie died very peacefully. He just slipped away."

For the first four years after the bombing, Mrs Hill stayed with her husband every night in hospital. She bought the residential home for him and lived in a small flat at the top of the house so that she could be close to him at all times.

In an interview on the 10th anniversary of the massacre, she said: "I don't know who planted the bomb. Someone said, however, that until they get the Lord in their hearts, it won't make any difference. And I pray for them all."

Bin Laden Official Urges Holy War

CAIRO, Egypt -- Osama bin Laden's spokesman on Tuesday called for a holy war against U.S. interests everywhere and praised the hijackers who flew planes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon for their "good deed."

"America must know that the storm of airplanes will not stop and there are thousands of young people who look forward to death like the Americans look forward to life," said Sulaiman Abu Ghaith said.

As the Deer Panteth For the Water

1. As the deer panteth for the water,

so my soul longeth after Thee.

You alone are my heart's desire,

and I long to worship Thee.

Chorus

You alone are my Strength, my Shield;

To You alone may my spirit yield.

You alone are my heart's desire,

and I long to worship Thee.

2. You're my Friend and You are my Brother

even though You are a King.

I love You more than any other,

So much more than anything.

3. I want You more than gold or silver,

only You can satisfy.

You alone are the real Joy-Giver

and the apple of my eye.

*

Eyes Only For Her

Song of Solomon 2:14

O my dove … let me see your face, let me hear your voice. —Song of Solomon 2:14 — Read: Revelation 19:6-10

I was privileged to officiate at Steve’s marriage to Karen. God had brought this couple together, and it was obvious that they were deeply in love.

When the wedding day finally arrived, all preparations had been made. The bridesmaids’ dresses were ready, the flowers were in place, the rehearsal was complete. As the ceremony began, Steve and I walked in first. We stood at the front as the bridesmaids came down the aisle and took their places. The flower girls came next, dropping petals as they walked. They were cute as could be, and all eyes were on them — all except Steve’s. Then I heard him sigh. Karen had stepped into his vision. He hadn’t been concerned about the bridesmaids, or even the flower girls. He was watching for his bride. He had eyes only for her.

The church is Jesus Christ’s fiancée — His betrothed. He loves her with a sacrificial, unending love. He died to redeem her. And the day is nearing when Christ will return to earth to take His bride unto Himself. The joyous marriage supper of the Lamb will follow (Rev. 19:7-9).

As part of the church, we are the bride of Christ. He loves us. He has eyes only for us.

Do we have eyes only for Him? — DCE

From heaven He came and sought her

To be His holy bride;

With His own blood He bought her,

And for her life He died. — Stone

God loves every one of us as if there were but one of us to love. — Augustine

I Still Know Who She Is

It was a busy morning, approximately 8:30 am, when an elderly gentleman, in his 80s, presented to have sutures (stitches) removed from his thumb. He stated that he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am.

I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing that it would be over an hour before someone would to able to see him. I saw him looking at his watch, and decided that as I was not busy with another patient I would evaluate his wound. On exam it was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound.

While taking care of his wound, we began to engage in conversation. I asked him if he had a doctor's appointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry. The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife. I then inquired as to her health. He told me that she had been there for awhile and that she was a victim of Alzheimer Disease.

As we talked, and I finished dressing his wound I asked if she would be worried if he was a bit late. He replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him in five years now. I was surprised, and asked him. “And you still go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?” He smiled as he patted my hand and said, ”She doesn't know me, but I still know who she is.”

I had to hold back tears as he left, I had goose bumps on my arm, and thought that is the kind of love I want in my life.

__________

*

Take Time To Be Holy

1. Take time to be holy,

Speak oft with the Lord;

Abide in Him always

And feed on His word.

Make friends of God's children,

Help those who are weak

Forgetting in nothing

His blessing to seek.

2. Take time to be holy,

The world rushes on;

Spend much time in secret

With Jesus alone.

By looking to Jesus,

Like Him you will be—

Your friends in you conduct

His likeness will see.

3. Take time to be holy,

Let Him be your guide,

And run not before Him,

Whatever betide.

In joy or in sorrow

Still follow the Lord,

And, looking to Jesus,

Still trust in His word.

4. Take time to be holy,

Be calm in your soul—

Each thought and each motive

Beneath His control.

Thus led by His Spirit

To fountains of love,

You soon will be fitted

For service above.

{Tune “Holiness”}

*

The Woman Forgiven

Luke 7:36

Luke 7:36–83 — The Woman Forgiven «Leader information shown in this fashion»

A. 7:36–50 The Sinful Woman

1. The place: 7:36 (NKJV) — Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat.

a. this is a different event than Mt 26:6-13, Mk 14:3-9, Jn 12:1-8

(A) here, in first year or so of ministry; there, at its end

(B) the name of the host, Simon (see verse 40), is the same, but this one was a Pharisee and that one was a leper

b. who was the last host recorded by Luke who invited Jesus to his house for dinner (Luke 5:27-32)? « — Levi (Matthew) the tax-collector »

c. what can we observe about Jesus in this? « — he was willing to meet both sinners and the “righteous” in their own milieu. »

d. note that then, as here and elsewhere, this kind of festive meal was not private, neighbours could drop in and observe

2. The sinful woman 7:37-38 NKJV) — 37 And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, 38 and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.

a. identifying her as Mary Magdalene is entirely speculative

b. the word sinner, in this context, usually means “immoral”

c. no indication of her having met Jesus before

d. alabaster is the shape, rather than a material, of the flask

(A) such a flask so common that it was considered part of a woman’s clothing and could carry on the Sabbath day (Shabbath 6:3)

(B) ointment (KJV) we see is actually perfumed oil

(C) kissing feet – special reverence being shown

(1) sometimes done with a renowned rabbi «

(2) Xenophon records this as having been done to Cyrus – “Then they affectionately kissed Cyrus’ hands and feet, shedding many tears, and at the same time showing signs of joy.” »

e. how did people eat on these occasions? « — they would recline with feet away from table,

(A) so approach would not have been notice

(B) note also that Jewish ladies did not unbind hair in public »

f. where was anointing usually done? « — on head; pouring on the feet a mark of humility »

g. what evidence is there that she was ready for forgiveness?

(A) « faith … she came to Jesus »

(B) « repentance – she stood weeping »

(C) « faith — the washing, the drying, the kissing and the anointing of Jesus’ feet are all loving expressions of faith »

3. Simon’s Thoughts 7:39 (NKJV) — Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.”

a. Greek implies two things, but I think the English does too; what are they?

(A) « Jesus was not a prophet »

(B) « Jesus did not know the woman’s character »

4. Jesus opens the discussion 7:40 (NKJV) — And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” So he said, “Teacher, say it.”

a. what does Jesus words (here, and those following) prove?

(A) « that he was a prophet »

(B) « that he did know the woman’s character »

b. Simon’s reply is coldly polite — “well, go on”

5. The parable and the question 7:41–42 (NKJV) — 41 “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?”

a. a denarius (”penny”) was roughly a labourer’s day-wages

b. parables are stories, real, typical or fictional, that are used to illustrate a certain truth; generally they have only a single point, so that they focus on that truth without confusion; as here, they identify a area of differentiation without dealing with any possible exceptions

c. who would Jesus have Simon identify as the two debtors?

(A) the 500 d. debtor « — Simon »

(B) the 50 d. debtor « — the woman »

d. what is the character of the creditor’s forgiveness? « — it is free – ie., without imposition of penalty or condition »

6. Simon’s response 7:43 (NKJV) — Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.”

a. what word indicates the attitude of Simon’s answer? « — the word suppose suggests a grudging response, wrung out of him by the situation, and perhaps anticipating Jesus’ words »

7. Jesus’ application 7:44–46 (NKJV) — 44 Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. 45 You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. 46 You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.”

a. had Simon seen the woman? … then why the question? « — Simon had missed seeing the attitude of the woman and its glaring contrast with his own »

b. Simon and the woman differ here markedly; how? « — love »

(A) Genesis 18:4, Judges 19:21 « — host should have provided for the washing of the feet of the guest »

(B) Genesis 29:13, 45:15 « — a kiss was a proper greeting for a welcome guest »

(C) Psalm 23:5, 141:5 « — anointing with oil was an act of kindness to a friend; Simon didn’t even use cheap olive oil but the woman used precious fragrant oil »

8. Jesus’ conclusion 7:47 (NKJV) — “Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”

a. is it her love that resulted in forgiveness? « — no for 2 reasons »

(A) « verse 50 tells us it was her faith »

(B) « the parallelism and the preceding parable shows that love is the result of forgiveness not the reason »

b. so, what does her love prove? « — she was already forgiven »

c. why is it important to know the enormity of our sin? « — so that we may be moved to increased love for Christ »

9. Jesus’ confirming words 7:48–50 (NKJV) — 48 Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” 50 Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

a. who is Jesus’ focus upon? « — the woman; Simon and other antagonists have already had their warning »

b. the rabbis say that “Go in peace” is a suitable farewell to the dead, but “Go into peace” (which is what is literally in the Greek) is for the living … this woman was dead in trespasses and sins but is now living!

B. Ministry Assistants 8:1–3 (NKJV) — 1 Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him, 2 and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities — Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, 3 and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance.

1. what two forms of assistance are found here?

a. « the twelve disciples by their presence »

b. « the women by their substance »

Does Your Cat Own You?

Does your cat own you?

Will you stand at the open door indefinitely in the freezing rain while your cat sniffs the door, deciding whether to go out or come in?

Would you rather spend a night at home with your cat than go out on a bad date?

Do you give your cat presents and a stocking at Christmas? Do you spend more for your cat than you do for your spouse?

Do the Christmas cards you send out feature your cat sitting on Santa's lap? Does your cat sign the card?

Do you put off making the bed until the cat gets up?

Does your cat eat out of cut crystal stemware because you both watched the same commercial on television?

Do you microwave your cat's food? Prepare it from scratch?

Do you climb out of bed over the headboard or footboard, so you won't disturb the sleeping cat?

When you are preparing to leave for the day, do you seek out each cat and inform them of your anticipated return time?

Do you sleep with no pillow under your head, because the cat wants to sleep on it?

Do you stand at the computer because the cat is sleeping on the chair?

Do you make sure there's plenty of kitty litter in the house, even though you may run out of toilet paper?

__________

Source: Kitty's Daily Mews, http://www.katscratch.com; Part 2 of 3

*

The Breath of God

His name was Edwin Hatch, a high school principal well over 100 years ago. He later gained fame as a church historian and theologian. The accolades meant little to him for his passion was God.

It was his intimate walk with the Lord that charmed him most. He wrote a great hymn that has long been one of the cries of my heart:

Breathe on me, Breath of God,

Fill me with life Anew,

that I may love what Thou dost love,

and do what Thou would’st do.

Breathe on me, Breath of God,

till I am wholly Thine,

until this earthly part of me

glows with Thy fire divine.”

Only a man who really knew God could ever write such a lyrical prayer and still maintain a clear conscience. The whole song is the overflow of a heart that yearned for God. There is a difference between “liking” God and “yearning” for Him.

David once prayed, “As the hart — or deer — pants after the water brook, so pants my soul after thee.” That comes from a person in travail, from one who has somehow captured a brief glimpse of the majesty of God and who wants the fullness of the Creator within him at any cost. Do we have such seekers today or is God only a vague concept, you know, “somebody up there likes me?”

To some God is not more than “an ever-present help in time of trouble,” an abstract entity, some mystical being of the Mount Olympus legend. Yet to a man like Edwin Hatch, God was his dearest, closest companion. He was his confidant.

Can we pray his prayer today, “Breathe on me, Breath of God?” If so, God will hear. God will answer.

Craving Communion

Psalms 42:1

Psalm 42:1–4 — Craving Communion — « Leader information shown in this fashion »

A. 1 As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, While they continually say to me, “Where is your God?” 4 When I remember these things, I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go with the multitude; I went with them to the house of God, With the voice of joy and praise, With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.

B. We are spoiled here … there are all sorts of lakes and streams in Ontario; but if you were to live in a dry, arid country, then you would be very appreciative as to how precious water really is. In the land of Palestine, while it is a land full of springs, much of it is parched, and fresh water is very valuable. What an apt picture does human thirst make, then, of a soul’s desire for God’s presence. « This psalm was probably composed by David when his throne had been usurped and he had fled in exile from his son, Absalom. »

1. what does the Psalmist miss in his current state in verse 4?

a. being able « to go to the house of the God »

b. taking part « in praising God, keeping the feasts »

2. what was the significance of the tabernacle? « — it was where God had placed His name, where sacrifice was to be made, both for sins and trespasses as well as worship and fellowship; it was here that three times a year Jews went up to attend the feast and rejoice together in the presence of the Lord »

3. do you think this is a voluntary situation? « — no, every fibre of his being cries out (pours out his soul) that he might be there. This is consistent with David being in exile. »

4. why are people asking him, “where is your God?” « — mocking words, just as people mocked Christ; to see David, a valiant servant of God, unable to worship delighted his opponents — how he handled this is found in the rest of the Psalm 42 & 43.

“I sigh to think of happier days

When thou, O God, wast nigh,

When every heart was tuned to praise;

And none more blest than I.” – Treasury of David, Spurgeon »

What's the Problem!

A few years ago a man gave his wife a new Cadillac Catera for her birthday. For weeks she babied and pampered that car; washing and waxing it every couple of days. cleaning it inside and out, everyday. the windows looked like crystal. she sprayed it with “new car” fragrance to keep it smelling new.

So, what’s the problem? Well, her husband was feeling neglected; after all, it was out of love that she received the gift.

Commentary:

Are we so intent on the gifts of God that we’re neglecting the Giver of the gifts?

The Determining Factor

John 21:15

”Lovest thou Me?… Feed My sheep… Follow Me:” (John 21:15, 17, 19).

Well, there it is: “Lovest thou Me?.”… “ Feed My sheep”… Follow Me.” But “Lovest thou Me?” comes first, for it determines all else. When our love for Christ is what it should be, everything else falls into just its right place.

This is true in the matter of our separation. When we really love Him, do we allïù worldly pleasures, unworthy practices, social compromises, in our lives? When we really love Him, as the first and dearest love of our hearts, does the renunciation of anything worthy or questionable greatly pain us? However hard any such renunciation may be to the flesh, if our love to Christ is the supreme thing in us, it so overrides the flesh as to make even the hard easy. To have to live the separated life because we must, as a Christian obligation, is always irk-some; but to live the separated life because we may, as an expression of love to our Heavenly Bridegroom, transforms duty into joyous privilege.

The same is true in regards to our consecration. When we really love Him above all else, is there anything we would knowingly keep from Him? Could we ever say, “Lord Jesus, Son of God, Whï loved me, and gave Yourself for me, I love You more than I love any other on earth or in heaven; but I am not pre-pared to give myself completely to You”? No, we want the entire territory of our personality to be under the control of His scepter. He must have the throne, and wear the crown!

The same is also true in regards to our sanctification. Whatever may be our theory of sanctification or holiness, it is entirely false unless it floods and sways the heart with love to Him. On the other hand, even though we knïù nothing of such theories as “eradication” or “counteraction”, if our hearts love Him so dearly as to yield Him everything, then without our struggling and “claiming the blessing”, He fills us with His sanctifying Holy Spirit, for “perfect love casteth out fear” (I John 4:18); we find ourselves singing,

I’ve reached the land of corn and wine.

Its riches all are freely mine.!

Oh yes, love to Him is really the determining thing. Let us pause to hear again His searching question, deep in our consciousness, “Lovest Thou Me?” Then let us linger again over the lovely mystery of His unquenchable, exquisite love for us. Then we can pray with utter meaning,

Break Thou my nature, mighty, heavenly love;

Clear every avenue of thought and brain.

Flood my affections, purify my will;

Let nothing but Thine own pure life remain.

Thus, wholly mastered, and by Thee possessed,

Forth from my life, spontaneous and free,

Shall flow a stream of tenderness and grace,

Loving, because Thy love now lives in me.

Christ Everything To Us

To the inner circle of His people Christ is everything. Those who know Him best love Him most. Those who make a clean break with sin and the world for His sake find in Him their all-in-all. They can truly say with Charles Wesley: “Thou, 0 Christ, art all I want; more than all in Thee I find.” They can sing with Bernard of Clairvaux: “The love of Jesus, what it is, none but His loved ones know.” Yes, Christ is everything to those who are truly His own; and, should it be asked how and why He is so, our answer is a very ready one.

First, Christ is everything to us in our relationship with God. Many topics fall within the orbit of Christian preaching. The Gospel has its social and political bearings, its national and even international aspects; but first and foremost the message of the Christian pulpit has to do with the relation of the individual soul to God. No question which can ever engage human thought can be more urgent or vital than that. On that, namely, on our individual relationship toward God, depends the salvation of our souls, and our eternal destiny.

Now Christ is everything to us, we repeat, in the matter of our relationship with God. There was a time with some of us when we thought that our own supposed uprightness would win us a saving acceptance with God; but later, when we knew our hearts better, we found ourselves saying with the disillusioned prophet of long ago, “All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags”, and we realised that without Christ as our Saviour we must perish. Others of us imagined that salvation lay in conscientious church membership, in observance of the sacraments, or in striving to live out the Sermon on the Mount. But when we read the Scriptures under the illumination of the Holy Spirit we saw with terrifying clearness that we were undone sinners in danger of Gehenna fire, that no system or sacrament or ethic could save us, and that Christ alone, through His atoning work on our behalf, could be the answer before God for our sin.

Oh, how vital, how precious, how wonderful Christ became to us as soon as we saw Him thus! When, by the eye of faith, we beheld Him on the Cross, bleeding there as our atoning Substitute and Sin-bearer, we exclaimed in Isaiah’s words, “His Name shall be called Wonderful!” And now, in Him, we have found solution for our sin problem, peace with God, rest of heart, and prospect of eternal joys. We have flung all other confidences to the moles and the bats. Christ is everything to us. We now say,

Upon a life I did not live,

Upon a death I did not die,

Upon His life,

Upon His death,

I stake my whole eternity.

The natural man may disbelieve, and the worldly man may scorn, when we preach the Gospel doctrine of salvation through the substitutionary work of Jesus on the Cross; but we who know Him have proved that only there is real solution and salvation to be found.

Devoted To His Own

John 13:1

Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. — John 13:1.

Not only was the Lord Jesus perfectly devoted to His Father, but He was likewise devoted to His own. What rich comfort the child of God finds in our text. How unlike our love which so often ebbs and flows, warm today and frigid tomorrow; is the changeless, eternal love of Christ. — G. M. Landis.

“Mine is an unchanging love,

Higher than the heights above,

Deeper than the depths beneath,

Free and faithful, strong as death.” — Wm. Cowper.

The Object of My Affections: Created Or Creator

Illustration: I love chocolate . if I have one piece, it’s not enough. If there’ s any laying around, I’ll eat more . in fact I will often eat the addictive stuff until it’s all gone. That’s why we don’t have chocolate around our house. We don’t allow anything into our home which tempts any member with something they can’t handle. That’s one reason my family looks forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas . that’s when we bend the rules for them (they hide it . but I always find it).

Commentary: I was commenting on this to our adult Sunday School class when it suddenly occurred to me just how fond I am of chocolate. Wow! What a revelation! I really love the stuff!

The beauty of this revelation wasn’t so much the conviction I should be under (which I am) but rather the realization of just how much I truly love my Father in heaven.

For some reason (which I cannot explain) I had not, in twenty years, had a decent measure by which to judge my love of God (or my wife or kids, for that matter). This was it! An abrupt intellectual and emotional comprehension of the depth of my affection for a created thing caused me to compare one passion with another, which I also knew was very deep . my love of the Creator (yes, wife and kids, too)!

You’ll be glad to know (I certainly was), God beats chocolate by an enormous amount. Every believer should have such an epiphany . perhaps it will be for others.

{Editor’s note: don’t write me about this, I’m still growing in my love of God, chocolate reached its peak long ago}

Twenty Years Ago, One Hit Changed Two Lives Forever

Brad Gaines will do it again early Wednesday morning. He’ll grab some Clorox and glass cleaner, toss them in the trunk of his Buick and head to a little cemetery 175 miles away.

His long, strange trip actually began 20 years ago today.

“I’ll be doing it until I die,” Gaines said.

He goes to visit a friend he never really knew. Then one crazy football play bound them forever. On a Homecoming afternoon, he collided with Chucky Mullins.

Gaines, a tailback for Vanderbilt, got up and headed back to the huddle. Mullins, a safety for Mississippi, never moved again.

His neck was shattered. He died less than two years later.

We read about such things, wince and move on. It’s nobody’s fault. It’s just football.

Gaines knew that on October 28, 1989. He knows it on October 28, 2009.

It doesn’t matter.

“I know it was part of the game,” he said, “but it doesn’t change the fact, you know ...”

He’s tried to explain it a million times why he drives from Nashville to Russellville, Ala. three times a year. If it’s the date of the accident or the date Mullins died or Christmas, Gaines has to make it to the grave that’s marked simply: “Chucky, Man of Courage.”

So what force drives Gaines? Why has he has skipped out early every Christmas or left home at midnight to get back for a morning meeting or barely beat the clock and found himself cleaning Mullins’ grave by the light of the moon?

“There have been times I have had to hitchhike because I ran out of gas, had blown out tires, my car’s broken down,” Gaines said. “But I always make it.”

Everybody from his wife to total strangers has worried and wondered. Perhaps the only person who could truly understand is Mullins.

“It’s almost like it was fate,” Gaines said.

He was a white kid from hoity-toity Vandy. His brothers had played in the NFL. He was a stud running back, the leading receiver in the SEC, a kid whose idea of hardship was getting turned down for a date.

Brad Gaines Mullins was a skinny black kid from a nowhere town. His mother died when he was in sixth grade. He wasn’t particularly fast or strong or talented, but Ole Miss coaches loved his attitude. Mullins would do anything to win.

So it wasn’t surprising that he lowered his helmet and buried it in No. 44’s back. Gaines had gone up to catch a pass. The force from behind knocked the ball loose before he hit the ground.

Gaines scrambled to recover it, but the refs called it an incomplete pass. He didn’t even notice No. 38 wasn’t moving. Before long, the number would literally mean everything to him.

Gaines couldn’t sleep after the accident. He no longer cared about the sport he was raised to love. He didn’t even play his senior season.

He did try to get to know the source of his pain. The first time they formally met, Gaines walked into the hospital room and tried not to visibly shake. Mullins was in a halo contraption with all sorts of tubes attached to his body.

A ventilator was rhythmically hissing at his bedside. Gaines shuffled near the bed, bent over and strained to make out what Mullins said.

“It wasn’t your fault.”

That was Chucky. His spirit never inspired people far beyond the South. Walter Payton visited him. So did Janet Jackson and George H. W. Bush.

More than $1 million was raised for his trust fund. Ole Miss built him a specially equipped house, and he was back in class the next year. Then a blood clot formed in his lung.

Gaines read about it and drove to the hospital in Memphis . Mullins was in a coma, but his friend got there in time to say goodbye. Then doctors removed the life-support system. Gaines went to the hospital roof and wept.

Ole Miss started the Chucky Mullins Courage Award, given each year to a senior defensive player. The winner used to wear No. 38 until the school retired it in 2006.

“You say ‘Chucky,’ and everybody knows what you mean,” Gaines said.

You say Brad, and everybody wonders what that means.

“As I get older I’ve gotten even more emotional about it,” he said. “I don’t know, maybe raising my own kids and how fragile life can be.”

He has four of them now, three girls ages one to 11, and a five-year-old boy. Gaines is a successful businessman but he still drives a 20-year-old Buick his kids hate.

“I wish your car would die,” they tell him all the time.

If it does today, he’ll just start hitchhiking. Gaines has lost count of the trips he’s made to Russellville, but it’s at least 60. None of his kids have ever gone with him. They just know their father has something he has to do.

“When I leave to go to the cemetery, they know why I’m going,” Gaines said. “They see the importance of that, the importance of having love for your fellow man.”

Mullins is buried next to his mother, who died when she was only 32. Gaines will pluck the weeds then clean the dirt and grime off the brown granite headstone.

Then he’ll just sit and talk and pray.

It may seem odd that Gaines carries a picture of Mullins in his wallet. That his phone number still ends with the number 3800. That he just can’t let go.

Why?

“He’s a person I love,” Gaines said, “and I miss.”

It’s as simple as that.

So what will Gaines’ headstone read one day? Is he a Man of Guilt or Craziness or Courage or Compassion?

Whatever it is, Mullins would be proud to clean it.

She Tried To Kill Him Five Times [with 2023 Update]

Have you ever heard the story about Tony Toto, of Allentown, Pennsylvania? He operated a pizza parlor there. Tony Toto survived at least 5 attempts on his life, all arranged for or carried out by his wife, Frances, and her lover.

Twice she arranged for assailants to beat him over the head with baseball bats.

On one occasion she put a tripwire across the basement stairs in their house, hoping that he would trip over it and plummet to his death.

Twice she arranged for him to be shot. The first time she drugged his chicken soup so he would sleep soundly, and he was shot in the head, but miraculously survived. The second time he was shot in the chest, but only sustained minor injuries.

Even more miraculous than Tony’s survival was his attitude toward his wife once he found out she was responsible for all of this. Tony, a self-confessed lady’s man himself, said that he held his wife blameless. When she was found guilty and sent to prison for arranging for his murder, he took their 4 children and visited her every week. Then when she was released from prison, she went back to their red brick home to resume her married life with Tony.

With his arm around her, Tony said in an interview, “We’re more in love now than ever before. I don’t understand why people break up over silly little things.”

Now Tony is probably certifiable, but if someone can get through that, don’t you think you can get through your darkroom of marriage?

=================

UPDATE:

“We have been blessed that we had all these years,” says Tony Toto of his 57-year marriage to Frances. Though “there was that one time when we had a rough time.”

That was in 1983, when Frances, in response to his having multiple affairs, hired someone to kill him. They owned a pizza shop, and she hired teens from there to shoot him — after poisoning him had failed, as well as blowing up his car. The hit men did better when they shot him. “Twice, one in the back of my head,” he remembers, “and one of the bullets went right through my chest.” But that, obviously, didn’t kill him either.

“I don’t think I was thinking straight,” allows Frances. “It was like, it was like a love-hate kind of a thing.”

When Tony got out of the hospital 12 days later, he bailed Frances out of jail — and the couple reconciled, though that was postponed for four years while Frances served prison time. Meanwhile, Hollywood made it into a movie, I Love You to Death. Kevin Kline played “Joey” (Tony); Tracey Ullman was “Rosalie” (Frances).

Now 40 years later, they are more happily married than ever — “love conquers all.”

________

RC/WFMZ Allentown PA

Quoted in "This Is True," issue 1497, 24 February 2023, by Randy Cassingham

He Reads His Bible With His Lips [2 Versions]

Mark 7:6

I read of a man in the Kansas City area who had lost both hands in an explosion. Not only so, but his face was torn and his eyesight completely destroyed. He had not been saved long and one of his greatest regrets was that he could no longer read the blessed Word of God.

Someone told him of a woman in the British Isles who had learned to read the raised Braille type with her lips. He ordered portions of the Scriptures in Braille for himself but, upon their arrival, he was chagrined to discover that the explosion had so deadened the nerves in his lips that no sense of touch remained.

Stooping to carefully kiss the Book, somehow his tongue touched the copy and he realized the possibility of reading the raised type in that manner. A teacher was hastily summoned and the young Christian actually learned to read the raised characters by running his tongue along them. When I read the account, that enthusiastic disciple of our Redeemer had gone through the Bible completely four times – and a number of the books he had read over and over again.

No other book every inspired such devotion!

________

The Biblical Evangelist, Volume 42, Number 2, March - April 2011 . Originally from the book The Wonder of the Word of God (1969), by Dr. Robert L. Sumner.

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http://www.biblecharts.org/thebible/theexampleofwilliammcpherson.pdf

William McPherson was severely injured when a charge of dynamite exploded in front of his face. Although he survived the blast, he lost his eyes, hands and the feeling in parts of his face. He realized how much the Bible meant to him and he greatly needed the its strength. He could not read it in Braille because of his artificial hands. He tried to place his lips on the dots but they were numb. He found he could use his tongue to decipher the Moon Type System of dashes. Although the metal left his lips and tongue bleeding and very sore, he prayed to God to help him continue to learn just one letter of the alphabet. In the 65 years that followed, he read the Bible through four times with his tongue. What love for the Bible! His example leaves us without excuse.

69 Sermon Illustrations on Devotion