As I Should

Today, I would like to share with you this encouragement to pray:

(2) Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. (3) Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about His mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. (4) Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.
-- Colossians 4:2-4 (NLT)

Let us never stop praying.
Grateful

With An Incredible Love, God Embraced Us!

In a message on God's Love, my friend-in-the-Lord, Dr. Harold Graves, Jr., President of Nazarene Bible College in Colorado Springs, Colorado, wept as he read from Ephesians, chapter 2, in the Message Paraphrase of The Holy Bible:

It wasn't so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It's a wonder God didn't lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, He embraced us.
-- Ephesians 2:1-5 (The Message)

Click here: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross - YouTube

God is Love and We Are Loved!
Grateful

The Right Reason to Be Proud!

We are proud that our conscience is clear. We are proud of the way that we have lived in this world. We have lived with a God-given holiness and sincerity, especially toward you. It was not by human wisdom that we have lived but by God’s kindness.
-- 2 Corinthians 1:12 (GWT)

Living Holiness! Holiness Unto The LORD!
Grateful

Therefore, We Do Not Lose Heart!

This chapter from The Love Letter, God's Holy Word, is helping my heart, mind, soul, and strength not to give up the good fight:

(1) God has been kind enough to trust us with this work. That’s why we never give up. (2) We don’t do shameful things that must be kept secret. And we don’t try to fool anyone or twist God’s message around. God is our witness that we speak only the truth, so others will be sure that we can be trusted. (3) If there is anything hidden about our message, it is hidden only to someone who is lost. (4) The god who rules this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers. They cannot see the light, which is the good news about our glorious Christ, who shows what God is like. (5) We are not preaching about ourselves. Our message is that Jesus Christ is Lord. He also sent us to be your servants. (6) The Scriptures say, “God commanded light to shine in the dark.” Now God is shining in our hearts to let you know that His glory is seen in Jesus Christ. (7) We are like clay jars in which this treasure is stored. The real power comes from God and not from us. (8) We often suffer, but we are never crushed. Even when we don’t know what to do, we never give up. (9) In times of trouble, God is with us, and when we are knocked down, we get up again. (10-11) We face death every day because of Jesus. Our bodies show what His death was like, so that His life can also be seen in us. (12) This means that death is working in us, but life is working in you. (13) In the Scriptures it says, “I spoke because I had faith.” We have that same kind of faith. So we speak (14) because we know that God raised the Lord Jesus to life. And just as God raised Jesus, He will also raise us to life. Then He will bring us into His presence together with you. (15) All of this has been done for you, so that more and more people will know how kind God is and will praise and honor Him. (16) We never give up. Our bodies are gradually dying, but we ourselves are being made stronger each day. (17) These little troubles are getting us ready for an eternal glory that will make all our troubles seem like nothing. (18) Things that are seen don’t last forever, but things that are not seen are eternal. That’s why we keep our minds on the things that cannot be seen.
-- 2 Corinthians 4:1-18 (CEV)

(16) Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. (17) For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. (18) So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
-- 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV 1984)

Lord, help us not to lose heart. Renew us inwardly. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Grateful

I Have Lost My Mind

This verse and this song so perfectly define my deepest desires.

For, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach Him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.
-- 1 Corinthians 2:16 (NLT)

Click here: God Be in My Head - Jared Anderson - YouTube

Lord, let it be said of me, that I have lost my mind to gain God's!
In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Grateful

Deception? Carnality Masquerading as Spirituality!

This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.
-- Revelation 12:9 (NLT)

The worst kind of deception is in the realm of the spiritual. Yes, the most subtle deception is flesh (carnality) masquerading as spirituality. It's devastating when the devil enters the church through "God's people." Finally, if we say "we don't need God" we deceive ourselves. The worst kind of a lie is the lie we tell ourselves.
-- James Spruill

Lord, help us to be real believers,
not to be deceived or to be deceivers.
And as You once hurled the devil out of Heaven,
Please, now, chase him far from Your Church!
By the Blood and in the Name of Jesus.
Amen.

Grateful

...And Holiness...

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord...
-- Hebrews 12:14 (KJV)

Click here: HOLINESS IS WHAT I LONG FOR - YouTube

Holiness Unto The LORD!
Grateful

How to Think About Sin

Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
-- James 1:15 (KJV)

This reading of Oswald Chambers' words about sin is very sobering. One line from the reading is "Sin is a defiance that means death to the life of God in us."

Take about 10 minutes to carefully and to prayerfully consider these very essential truths about sin:

Click here: How to Think About Sin - Oswald Chambers (Audio Reading with Text) - YouTube

Sin is doing without God, not just wrong doing, but wrong being.

Lord, I am glad You came to save us from sin to holiness -- to totally turn us from sinning against You to totally worshipping You! You came that Sin might be destroyed, not merely surpressed.
Grateful

With God, In God, On God, For God

When we live authentic Christian lives, our lives are characterized and identified with these two words, "praying always". There is no greater testimony of a true believer than for someone to say "He or She Prays!"

These four realities come forth as undeniable proofs from every life that is lived carefully and prayerfully in the presence of the Lord:

(1) Perseverance with God
(2) Confidence in God
(3) Dependence on God
(4) Reverence for God

And all the people said, "AMEN!"
Grateful

Praying Always Says, "I Need Thee Every Breath!"

Certainly, we live, move, and exist because of Him. As some of your poets have said, "We are God’s children."
-- Acts 17:28 (GWT)

Lord, I am dependent on You and I love that reality. The songwriter said, "I Need Thee Every Hour." But I confess, "I Need Thee Every Breath!" I am Your child. You are my Life! In Jesus' name. Amen.

Click here: Jars of Clay ~I need Thee Every Hour - YouTube

Never stop praying.
- Thessalonians 5:17 (GWT)

Teach me to pray, Lord. "Praying always" is breath to my soul.
Grateful

Be Encouraged! God Cannot Lie!

(15) So Abraham received what God promised because he waited patiently for it. (16) When people take oaths, they base their oaths on someone greater than themselves. Their oaths guarantee what they say and end all arguments. (17) God wouldn’t change His plan. He wanted to make this perfectly clear to those who would receive His promise, so He took an oath. (18) God did this so that we would be encouraged. God cannot lie when He takes an oath or makes a promise. These two things can never be changed. Those of us who have taken refuge in Him hold on to the confidence we have been given. (19) We have this confidence as a sure and strong anchor for our lives. This confidence goes into the holy place behind the curtain (20) where Jesus went before us on our behalf. He has become the chief priest forever in the way Melchizedek was a priest.
-- Hebrews 6:15-20 (GWT)

Let's Be Encouraged... and... Be...
...Grateful

Your Only Son and Your Holy Spirit

Thank You, Father God, for giving to us...
...Your Only Son and
...Your Holy Spirit.

God loved the world this way: He gave His only Son so that everyone who believes in Him will not die but will have eternal life.
-- John 3:16 (GWT)

So how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?
-- Luke 11:13b (GWT)

Father, You are Faithful and Your children are...
...Grateful.

Never Alone

Do not limit the limitless God! With Him, face the future unafraid because you are never alone.
-- Mrs Charles E Cowman, Author of Streams in the Desert

I will not leave you all alone. I will come back to you.
-- Promise of Jesus recorded in John 14:18 (GWT)

Click here: Gaither Vocal Band - He Is Here - YouTube

We are not alone! Hallelujah! He is Here! Now!
Grateful

Note: My dear Daddy, Captain Billy, is 72-years-young today!
I celebrate his life!

Will You Surrender to God the Rest of Your Life?

Last evening I concluded preaching at a student mission camp in Gloucester, Virginia, USA, called "Helping Hands." For a week, 100 students or so volunteer to help the disadvantaged in their community with needed projects ranging from interior painting to yard work.

For three of the camp's evening worship services, I was given the opportunity to share with these precious young souls and their wonderful adult leaders, too. The theme of the camp this year was "Living Sacrifices." I spoke specifically on the destiny, demonstration, and devotion of servant leadership.

After speaking last evening on the perfect prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane, "Not my will but thine be done", I invited the students and leaders to kneel in prayer at the altar. Between 30 and 40 came forward without any pressure whatsoever. They came to surrender to God the trajectory of the rest of their lives to whatever He wants. Many came to me one-on-one after the altar service with tears in their eyes and gratitude for the invitation. One thirteen-year-old named Julia said, "I sense the presence of the Lord in this place." She cried tender tears of gratitude as I affirmed her very true testimony.

This is the song that preceded and followed my message -- "Give Me Faith." As you listen, I ask, "Have you surrendered to God the trajectory of the rest of your life for whatever He wants? Will you?"

Verse 1:
I need You to soften my heart
To break me apart
I need You to open my eyes
To see that You're shaping my life

Pre-Chorus:
All I am, I surrender

Chorus:
Give me faith to trust what You say
That You're good and Your love is great
I'm broken inside, I give You my life

Verse 2:
I need You to soften my heart
To break me apart
I need You to pierce through the dark
And cleanse every part of me

Chorus Bridge:
I may be weak
But Your Spirit's strong in me
My flesh may fail
My God You never will

Click here: Give Me Faith - YouTube

In the hands of God, I will be a grape, not a marble.
Grateful

Why Jesus Was Wounded And Punished

(4) He certainly has taken upon Himself our suffering and carried our sorrows, but we thought that God had wounded Him, beat Him, and punished Him. (5) He was wounded for our rebellious acts. He was crushed for our sins. He was punished so that we could have peace, and we received healing from His wounds.
-- Isaiah 53:4-5 (GWT)

Let us turn from all rebellion and embrace Him with awe.
Grateful

"Let's Start With Jesus" -- Kinlaw's Thoughts

In His book, "Let's Start With Jesus", Dennis Kinlaw describes the design of human beings to be in relationship. He makes a direct correlation between the design of human beings and the grand theme of voluntarily yielding our independence so that we can know God in a right relationship.

“The key to understanding Jesus did not lie in Jesus. It lay beyond him. He lived joyously from Another, through Another, and for Another. Jesus was the divine son of God and a perfect human being, yet he did not find himself complete within himself. He was not the center of his own chosen existence. Since Jesus is the original pattern for the human person, it is safe to say that to be a person, even a perfect person, is to be incomplete, that no person is ever complete in himself or herself. The person’s completeness lies in an other. The Son is not complete in himself. He draws life from the Father and lives life to please his Father. Like the Son, who is named the first born among many brothers, we find our completeness in relation to our Source and our Sustainer.

The secular world has a different plan for and definition of fulfillment. That self-contained, self-directed life is looked to as providing the “center” and focal point of meaning, values, and even existence itself. The elevation of the self to the center of the world leads to the well-being of the self as the goal of living itself in this misdirected view of reality. Understanding Jesus illuminates personhood’s original meaning, to be expressed in relationship and mutuality. Modern social science’s concept of the self is at the polar opposite – promoting the notion of the capacity either to mold or actualize oneself. Like the eternal Son, we find our completeness in relation to our Source and our Sustainer. The person who is alone is not a whole person, because no person is ever supposed to be completely alone.

When Jesus begins to speak to his disciples about the cross, he insists that to find true life one must lose oneself. Self-protection, the refusal to give away oneself, he says, is self-loss and death. A person as a person, human or divine, finds fullness of life only in one beyond oneself. Christ came, died, and was raised again to make possible the reestablishment of fullness of personhood in people like you and me. That Spirit, who raised Jesus from the dead, wants to raise us from the death of living in and out of ourselves. The Spirit begets the very life of Christ within us.”

Holiness Unto The LORD!
Grateful

I Am The Lord's. I Know.

This is a testimony I received in an e-mail:

There is a hymn from the Church of God written by Charles Nalor which I learned to recognize before I could even talk, "Whether I live or die, Whether I wake or sleep, ... I am the Lord's. I know."
-- Bruce Catlett 6/20/2012

Lord, I know I am Yours and You are mine. What peace!
Grateful

Live as God's People. Christ is Your Life.

(3) Since you were brought back to life with Christ, focus on the things that are above—where Christ holds the highest position. (2) Keep your mind on things above, not on worldly things. (3) You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (4) When Christ your life appears, then you, too, will appear with Him in glory. (5) Therefore, put to death whatever is worldly in you: your sexual sin, perversion, passion, lust, and greed (which is the same thing as worshiping wealth). (6) It is because of these sins that God’s anger comes on those who refuse to obey Him. (7) You used to live that kind of sinful life. (8) Also get rid of your anger, hot tempers, hatred, cursing, obscene language, and all similar sins. (9) Don’t lie to each other. You’ve gotten rid of the person you used to be and the life you used to live, (10) and you’ve become a new person. This new person is continually renewed in knowledge to be like its Creator. (11) Where this happens, there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, uncivilized person, slave, or free person. Instead, Christ is everything and in everything.
-- Colossians 3:3-11 (GWT)

Lord, you are first, second, and third place in my life. What I am saying is "You are my life!" Amen.

Christ, You are my Life!
Grateful

Because God's Presence is With Us...

(12) Dear friends, don’t be surprised by the fiery troubles that are coming in order to test you. Don’t feel as though something strange is happening to you, (13) but be happy as you share Christ’s sufferings. Then you will also be full of joy when He appears again in his glory. (14) If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed because the Spirit of glory—the Spirit of God—is resting on you.
-- 1 Peter 4:12-14 (GWT)

Because God's presence is with us and in us,
Hope and peace, joy and love, are here where we are.
God did not carelessly wind the world up and walk away.
He is intimately involved in every detail of our daily lives.

Our courageous choice to trust God totally will be rewarded.
The sufferings we now face are not cruel temptations to confuse us,
But tender invitations for us to Know God more and more,
So when we all get to Heaven we will not be strangers to Him.

Click here: Bobby McFerrin - Don't Worry, Be Happy - YouTube

Grateful

A God Who Saves

Recently, I went in our grown daughter's old bedroom in our family home to pray for her. (She's a young adult now and living in her own place.) I picked up one of her Bibles that she left behind on the nightstand. Opening it, her Daddy was encouraged as I began to pray verses she had previously high-lighted. This verse from the Psalms especially lifted my soul to a higher plane:

Our God is a God who saves...
-- Psalm 68:20a (NIV)

Click here: Our God Saves Paul Baloche Worship Video - YouTube

Jesus Saves!
Grateful

Something, Nothing, or EVERYTHING?

Is Christ something, nothing, or EVERYTHING to us?
-- Andrew Murray

This question posed by Andrew Murray is an essential question. It is a simple, yet profound question that demands an answer.

If we choose Jesus to truly be OUR LORD OF ALL, then we can answer, "Christ is EVERYTHING to us!" And if "Christ is not EVERYTHING to us," then obviously, HE IS NOT OUR LORD AT ALL!

While King Jesus does not demand that we choose Him to be our LORD OF ALL, He surely does deserve to be. He is The Most Worthy One!

Jesus, please be my King of Kings and Lord of Lords today, always, and for forever!
Grateful

Destroyed and Restored

Jesus destroyed our death when He was crucified on the cross.
Jesus restored our life when He was resurrected from the grave.

Now, that's Good News, brothers and sisters.
He was Faithful, so we are..
...Grateful!

"Monday Mornings" -- Transparency :-D

Mondays mornings are what they are. (Get ready for a little transparency from this blog author today.) For me, Monday mornings seem to be the hardest mornings for spiritual and emotional lift-off. Especially cloud-filled Monday mornings. If you know what I mean?

Karen and Richard Carpenter sang a song in the seventies titled "Rainy Days and Mondays Always Get Me Down." While I have nothing against "Rainy Days", the song may contribute somewhat to how I feel about Mondays. However, I sure do admire the transparency of the songwriters, and I have often wondered if that song was written on a cloudy Monday morning?

Maybe Monday mornings are a little tougher for me to navigate, because Sundays tend to be among my favorite days of the week -- often the most favorite day of the week. (I tend to like Tuesdays and Fridays, too.) I mean, worshipping God on Sunday mornings within the fellowship of other God-believers is such a wonderful expression to the Lord I love and such a marvelous exercise for my heart, mind, soul, and strength.

Yes, that probably contributes to Monday mornings moving a little slower for me. After all, in contrast, my Sundays tend to be more overflowing with obvious inspiration than my Mondays, because I get to draw from the strength of Christ's local body being together. The family of God? What a gift!

Anyway, today I thought I would just be transparent. Not meaning to discourage anyone, just saying, "Monday mornings are what they are." So for me, Monday mornings may require a little more faith and a little more prayer and a little more trusting than the others days of the week. And that's all good, because I know that this verse is true on Mondays as well as all the other days of the week as well:

"This is the day the Lord has made.
Let’s rejoice and be glad today!"
-- Psalm 118:24 (GWT)

O, For Grace To Trust Him More! Remember... "Sunday's coming!"
Grateful (2 YouTube Songs below)

Click here: Carpenters - Rainy Days And Mondays - YouTube

Click here: This is the Day That the Lord Has Made - YouTube

Our First Love is to Love First

Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
-- Jude 21 (NIV 1984 Edition)

Hear Oswald Chambers commentary based on Jude 21:

"Keep yourselves in the love of God," says Jude, that is, keep your soul open not only to the fact that God loves you, but that He is "in" you, "in you" sufficiently to manifest His perfect love in every condition (circumstance) in which you find yourself, as you rely on Him.

Revelation 2:4-5 comes to mind:

(4) However, I have this against you: The love you had at first is gone. (5) Remember how far you have fallen. Return to me and change the way you think and act, and do what you did at first. I will come to you and take your lamp stand from its place if you don’t change.
-- Words of The Glorified Jesus to the Church at Ephesus (and to all who have forsaken their first love.)

Our First Love is to Love First... and For Forever.
Grateful

"GREAT DAY!" My Personal Journal

Today's blog post is in part from an edited excerpt from my personal journal, that I sent last evening to a dear friend of mine via e-mail:

Friday was a great day...

Kim and I came down to Bristol, Virginia, with the church bus, seven volunteers in all from our local church and 2,000 pounds of food from our Hope Distributed Food Bank for the soup-kitchen, store-front church here. We helped to feed probably 60-plus at their weekly Friday night meal and was able to fill their empty freezers, as well as joyously stack boxes of food, crates of fresh produce and all kinds of fresh bread really high in their storage room.

So humbling.

We are spending the night. Painting their nursery in the morning, cleaning some, and hope to be back home by 6 p.m.

The local pastor here, David, prays with me every Sunday morning via "texting one another" before we preach in our respective pulpits. When I told him we were bringing 2,000 pounds of food, he replied "GREAT DAY!"

Before becoming pastor here, David was homeless for several months and once went 50-plus days without solid food. Now he ministers to the spiritual needs and feeds the down and out. Many homeless and seemingly hopeless people are recipients of Christ's compassion through this humble pastor.

The Lord has really been big in my concentration over the past 36 hours or so. The older I get the more desperate I become for Him and His favor.

Before I left the little store-front, soup-kitchen church last evening, I picked these words up on a table being prepared for Sunday's worship:

"We've been through fire, we've been through rain
We've been refined by the power of Your name
We've fallen deeper in love with You
You've burned the truth on our lips."

"GREAT DAY!" Good night!
Grateful

Click here: Shout to the North - Delirious - YouTube

Our Enemies Would Have Swallowed Us Alive

This praise chorus based on Psalm 124, has often given me reason to be grateful to the Lord. May it serve to solidify your soul in whatever storm you might find yourself in.

If The Lord Had Not Been On Our Side
By Rob Mathes

If the Lord had not been on our side
All our enemies would have swallowed us alive
If the Lord had not been on our side
All the raging waters and the mighty flood would have swept over us
If the Lord, if the Lord, if the Lord had not been on our side.

Blessed be the Lord
Blessed be the Lord
Who has not given us up
The Lord who is our help
Maker of heaven and earth

(1) “If the Lord had not been on our side...”
(Israel should repeat this.)
(2) “If the Lord had not been on our side when people attacked us,
(3) then they would have swallowed us alive when their anger exploded against us.
(4) Then the floodwaters would have swept us away.
An overflowing stream would have washed us away.
(5) Then raging water would have washed us away.”
(6) Thank the Lord, who did not let them sink their teeth into us.
(7) We escaped like a bird caught in a hunter’s trap.
The trap was broken, and we escaped.
(8) Our help is in the name of the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.
-- Psalm 124:1-8 (GWT)

Grateful

Thou In Me Dwelling, Thou Mine Inheritance

Especially the second and fourth verses of the old hymn, "Be Thou My Vision", is strong in my mind and speaking deeply to my soul. Indeed, I continue to pray these lyrics back to my Lord, having heard them at a wedding ceremony almost a week ago:

Be Thou my Wisdom, Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee, Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,
Thou mine inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

Here's the whole hymn. Be inspired:
Click here: Alison Krauss - Be Thou My Vision [Live] - YouTube

"Thou in me dwelling..."
Grateful

Extra: Click here: 'Be Thou my Vision' Van Morrison - YouTube

On Independence Day in the USA, I Pray...

On this day, July 4th, we remember the birth of freedom in our country, yes independence is still ours in the good, old United States of America. I am indeed grateful to God to be born an American. It is the only homeland I have ever known. I am also more grateful to be born again as a Christian. I am a Christian American, not an American Christian.

Though I am grateful to be a Christian American, I have a heavy burden, in that, on Independence Day in the USA, I pray desperately that our country will once again return to true dependence upon Almighty God. I pray that we will experience a real revival that finds my people returning to their First Love --Jesus Christ. I pray that "In God We Trust" will become a new movement, not just an old motto.

However, I have this against you: The love you had at first is gone.
-- The Word of The Lord in Revelation 2:4 (GWT)

May God bless America and the world with a Holy Spirit revival.
May America and the world bless God with heart-felt repentance.
Grateful

An Obvious Prayer Outline from Psalm 79

This morning I led our Dawn Patrol Men's Prayer Time with an outline of prayer that has been speaking deeply to my own heart. The outline comes from Psalm 79, verse 8b and verse 9:

(8b) Reach out to us soon with Your compassion, because we are helpless. (9) Help us, O God, our Savior, for the glory of Your name. Rescue us, and forgive our sins for the honor of Your name.

Here's the obvious prayer outline the Psalmist modeled for us:
(1) Reach out to us soon...
(2) Help us because we are helpless.
(3) Rescue us for the glory of Your name.
(4) Forgive us for the honor of Your name.

We pray all of this, in the Name of Jesus! Amen!
Grateful

"Tis So Sweet" -- The Rest of The Story

"'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus" is a popular Christian Hymn with music by William J. Kirkpatrick and lyrics by Louisa M.R. Stead. The lyrics were written in 1882. They appeared in Stead's Songs of Triumph.

It is said that Louisa M. R. Stead wrote the lyrics after she watched her husband drown and die. Here is the story behind the song:

It was a beautiful sunny day. Louisa M. Stead, her husband, and her daughter Lily, decided to go for a picnic. They went picnicing on Long Island Sound. While having their picnic, the Steads heard a scream. It was from a young boy. Mr. Stead ran to the rescue. Louisa Stead and young Lily watched helplessly as Mr. Stead and the boy drowned. Their troubles were not over yet, however, and without her husband, Mrs. Stead became very poor and destitute.Yet God never left her. He provided for her always and she and her daughter made it through. Louisa learned to trust God, and thus the words to the song 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus.' Shortly after this incident, Lousia and her daughter Lily moved to South Africa where they became missionaries.

The song is included in many hymnals and has been recorded by many artists.

’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, Just to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise, And to know, “Thus says the Lord!”

Refrain

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him! How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er.
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! O for grace to trust Him more!

O how sweet to trust in Jesus, Just to trust His cleansing blood;
And in simple faith to plunge me ’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!

Refrain

Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus, Just from sin and self to cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking Life and rest, and joy and peace.

Refrain

I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee, Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;
And I know that Thou art with me, Wilt be with me to the end.

Refrain

O for grace (Your favor) to trust You, more, Lord!
Grateful

Do What You Must Do, To Make Me Like You.

It’s the same way with the Son of Man. He didn’t come so that others could serve Him. He came to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many people.
-- Matthew 20:28 (GWT)

Click here: Make Me Like You - The Witness (Steve & Tim Archer)

Lord, I am willing. Do what You must do,
To make me like You, Lord. Make me like You.

I love You, Jesus, my suffering servant. And I am...
...Grateful