VIDEO Take Me Home,Precious Lord

Mar 10, 2013

Elvis Presley singing Take Me Home, Precious Lord. Written by the Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey. Elvis had promised his mother Gladys that he would sing” Peace in the Valley” for her on his January 6, 1957 appearance on the Ed Sullivan show. Gordon Stoker of The Jordanaires tells how the producers did not want the young rebel rocker to sing a gospel song, but Elvis insisted. A week later on January 13, 1957, Elvis recorded the song at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, accompanied by Scotty Moore (lead guitar), Bill Black (bass), D. J. Fontana (drums) and The Jordanaires (backing vocals), with Gordon Stoker playing piano.

That same day Elvis also recorded another Dorsey song, “Take My Hand, Precious Lord”. Dorsey wrote it in 1932 in an attempt to ease his overwhelming grief after the death of his first wife and child in childbirth. Mr. Dorsey recorded the song himself in 1939.

Finish the Race! – The Daily Prayer

Finish the Race!

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. 1 Corinthians 9:24

 

We often see the grimacing image of a long-distance runner struggling to cross the finish line. Perhaps they pulled a muscle or had a cramp or got dehydrated. It happens at every level of the sport—from high school to the Olympics. The ethos of crossing the finish line is so ingrained in these athletes that they will not quit. They hobble, crawl, or walk—sometimes aided by a fellow athlete or a family member from the stands—until they finish the race. There is no disgrace. Finishing the race is even more important than winning the race.

Paul used the metaphor of a race to illustrate the responsibility of running the Christian life until we cross the finish line. He never entertained the possibility of slacking off because of old age or infirmity. We run until our time on earth is finished or until Jesus comes again. Yes, younger and stronger may win the speed race. But faithfulness wins the race of commitment to Christ and kingdom.

Prepare now to run the whole race. Commit yourself to finishing strong with whatever strength and abilities you have—until your last breath or your first sight of Jesus.

Our motto must continue to be perseverance. And ultimately I trust the Almighty will crown our efforts with success. William Wilberforce

 

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The Daily Prayer

 

Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. Ephesians 6:18

Singer/songwriter Robert Hamlet wrote “Lady Who Prays for Me” as a tribute to his mother who made a point of praying for her boys each morning before they went to the bus stop. After a young mom heard Hamlet sing his song, she committed to praying with her own little boy. The result was heartwarming! Just before her son went out the door, his mother prayed for him. Five minutes later he returned—bringing kids from the bus stop with him! His mom was taken aback and asked what was going on. The boy responded, “Their moms didn’t pray with them.”

In the book of Ephesians, Paul urges us to pray “on all occasions with all kinds of prayers” (6:18). Demonstrating our daily dependence on God is essential in a family since many children first learn to trust God as they observe genuine faith in the people closest to them (2 Tim. 1:5). There is no better way to teach the utmost importance of prayer than by praying for and with our children. It is one of the ways they begin to sense a compelling need to reach out personally to God in faith.

Daily prayers lessen daily worries.

When we “start children off” by modeling a “sincere faith” in God (Prov. 22:6; 2 Tim. 1:5), we give them a special gift, an assurance that God is an ever-present part of our lives—continually loving, guiding, and protecting us.

Help me to depend more fully on You in every moment of the day and to rest in the assurance that You are always with me.

Daily prayers lessen daily worries.

By Cindy Hess Kasper 

INSIGHT

Ask God to help you model faith and prayer this week to the younger generation—children or grandchildren, youth in your church, or children in your neighborhood.

 

God’s Sovereignty and the Existence of Evil

Genesis 2:7-25, Genesis 3

Throughout the Bible, we see evidence of God’s authority over both humanity and nature. However, many of us have trouble reconciling God’s sovereign control with the existence of evil. Let’s look at what Scripture tells us.

In the beginning, God created a perfect world, after which He declared that all He had made was good (Gen. 1:31). Wickedness was not part of what He’d fashioned. In the heavens, however, an angel known as Satan sought to elevate himself above God and was cast down to earth (Isa. 14:12-14).

God created Adam and Eve in His image. They were made with the capacity to love their Creator and the ability to choose to obey or disobey Him. God had no desire for Adam and Eve to sin (James 1:13), but He allowed their will to be tested. We know the rest of the story. When they disobeyed God, sin entered our world and corrupted mankind. As Adam and Eve’s descendants, we inherited a sinful nature (Rom. 5:12).

The Lord’s permissive will allowed events to unfold as they have. God did not create evil, but He has permitted it to exist and uses it to accomplish His good purposes (Isa. 45:6-7).

When you have questions or doubts about the Lord’s sovereignty, start with what you do understand, study what God has revealed about Himself and His ways, and ask the Holy Spirit to help you believe. A few answers to your questions will come quickly, while some will require diligent study and spiritual maturity. As for the answers to other questions, which God has chosen to keep hidden, we are to walk by faith (Deut. 29:29).

Promised in Writing

“He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)

For those of us who have trusted God for salvation, based on the finished work of Christ on the cross, God has already done for us the most difficult and costly thing He could ever do. He graciously sent His only Son to Earth and then to the cross and the grave in order to make forgiveness and eternal fellowship with us possible. We are now adopted children in His family, joint-heirs with His beloved Son, Jesus Christ (vv.16-17, 29, etc.), from whom we will never be separated (vv. 35-39), “whereby we cry, Abba, Father” (v. 15).

Consider our state when all this was being done for us. It is easy to love a beautiful baby who needs someone to care for it; but we were not at all attractive. We were filthy sinners, born in sin and habitually choosing to offend God’s holy nature by succumbing to “the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3). Furthermore, we were even “enemies” of the cross at the time “we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son” (Romans 5:10). Outside of His eyes of love and grace we would have appeared more like a repulsive maggot than a beautiful baby.

It stands to reason that He who has already done the most difficult, yea, infinitely difficult thing for us out of His great love will continue to manifest that love to us, especially now that we are of His family. As our text tells us, He will “freely give us all things.” With our best interests at heart, He will see that “all things work together for [our] good”for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28).

“What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). JDM

“His glory is great in thy salvation.”

Psalm 21

In another Psalm we find King David exulting in the mercy of the Lord his God.

This has been called the Royal Triumphal Ode. If we can see Jesus the king sweetly prominent in it, we shall be greatly profited.

Psalm 21:2

Souls are saved by Jesus, his people are enriched with all spiritual blessings in him, and this makes him greatly rejoice.

Psalm 21:3

The word prevent formerly signified to precede or go before, and assuredly Jehovah preceded his Son with blessings. Before he died, saints were saved by the anticipated merit of his death. The Father is so willing to give blessings through his Son, that instead of his being constrained to bestow his grace, he outstrips the Mediatorial march of mercy. “I say not that I will pray the Father for you: for the Father himself loveth you.”

Psalm 21:3

Jesus wore the thorn-crown, but now wears the glory-crown. It is a “crown” indicating royal nature, imperial power, deserved honour, glorious conquest, and divine government. The crown is of the richest, rarest, most resplendent, and most lasting order—“gold,” and that gold of the most refined and valuable sort, “pure gold,” to indicate the excellence of his dominion. This crown is set upon his head most firmly, so that no power can move it, for Jehovah himself has set it upon his brow.

Psalm 21:8

None shall escape from the Great King when he comes in wrath. Be it ours at once to accept his love.

Psalm 21:9-12

Vain will be all opposition to Jesus, and terrible the overthrow of his enemies. God forbid that we should be among them.

Psalm 21:13

The whole Psalm is meant to show forth the praises of the Lord Jesus. Isaac Ambrose upon this subject writes:—”I remember a dying woman who heard some discourse of Jesus Christ; ‘Oh,’ said she, ‘speak more of this—let me hear more of this—be not weary of telling his praise; I long to see him, and therefore I love to hear of him!’ Surely I cannot say too much of Jesus Christ. On this blessed subject no man can possibly exaggerate. Had I the tongues of men and angels, I could never fully set forth Christ. It involves an eternal contradiction, that the creature can see to the bottom of the Creator. Suppose all the sands on the sea-shore, all the flowers, herbs, leaves, twigs of trees in woods and forests, all the stars of heaven, were all rational creatures; and that they had wisdom, and tongues of angels to speak of the loveliness, beauty, glory, and excellency of Christ, as gone to heaven, and sitting at the right-hand of his Father, they would, in all their expressions, stay millions of miles on this side of Jesus Christ. Oh, the loveliness, beauty, and glory of his countenance! Can I speak, or you hear of such a Christ? And are we not all in a burning love, in a seraphical love, or at least a conjugal love? O my heart, how is it thou art not love-sick? How is it thou dost not charge the daughters of Jerusalem as the spouse did? I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye shall tell him, that I am sick of love.”

 

Are Worry and Anxiety Trying To Seize or Control You?

Philippians 4:6

Do you ever have moments when anxiety tries to creep up on you and seize your heart? I’m talking about those times when you are thrown into a state of panic about things that concern you—such as your family, your friendships, your business, or your finances. Very often this state of panic is caused by the mere thought of a problem that doesn’t even exist and is unlikely ever to come to pass. Nevertheless, the mere thought of this nonexistent problem troubles you deeply. Soon you find yourself sinking into such a strong state of worry and anxiety that it literally takes you emotionally hostage!

An example would be a wife or mother who worries endlessly about the health of her husband or children. Although in reality they are as healthy as can be, the devil constantly pounds the woman’s mind with fear-filled thoughts about her loved ones getting sick or dying prematurely. This fear acts like a stranglehold that gradually chokes off her life, paralyzing her until she can no longer function normally in her daily responsibilities.

Or have you ever known a successful businessman who lives in constant terror that he is going to lose his money? I’ve known many such men. Their businesses were blessed, stable, and even expanding. But because the devil struck their minds with worry and anxiety about losing it all, they weren’t able to enjoy the success God had given them. Instead of enjoying God’s goodness and His many blessings in their lives, they often lived like beggars, afraid that if they used what they had, they might lose it. This is a strangling, choking fear that steals people’s ability to enjoy what they possess.

Some people are so controlled by fear that they pray fretful prayers instead of faith-filled prayers. I must admit that I’ve had moments in my own life when I’ve prayed more out of fretfulness than out of faith. Have you ever had one of those times? Praying fretful prayers doesn’t get you anything. It is nonproductive praying. God does not respond to fretfulness; He responds to faith.

In Philippians 4:6, Paul says, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Do you see the word “careful” in this verse? It is the Greek word merimnao, which means to be troubled; to be anxious; to be fretful; or to be worried about something.

In New Testament times, this word was primarily used in connection with worry about finances, hunger, or some other basic provision of life. It pictured a person who is fretful about paying his bills; a person who is worried he won’t have the money to purchase food and clothes for his family’s needs or pay his house payment or apartment rent on time; or a person who is anxious about his ability to cope with the daily necessities of life.

This is the same word used in Matthew 6:25, when Jesus says, “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink….” The word “thought” is also the Greek word merimnao. But in this particular verse, the Greek New Testament also has the word me, which is a strong prohibition to stop something that is already in progress.

This strongly suggests that Jesus was speaking to worriers who were already filled with fret and anxiety. He was urging these people to stop worrying. The verse could be translated, “Stop worrying about your life….” Then Jesus specifies that they were to stop worrying about “… what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink….” So again we see the word merimnao used to describe worry, fretfulness, and anxiety about obtaining the basic necessities of life.

We also find the word merimnao used in the parable of the sower and the seed. Matthew 13:22 says, “He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.” The word “care” is the Greek word merimnao, again connected to material worries and concerns.

Jesus says such worry “chokes” the Word. The word “choke” is the Greek word sumpnigo, which means to suffocate, to smother, to asphyxiate, to choke, or to throttle. You see, worry is so all-consuming in an individual’s mind that it literally chokes him. It is a suffocating, smothering force that throttles his whole life to a standstill.

In Luke 21:34, Jesus gives a special warning to people who live in the last days. He said, “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, so that day come upon you unawares.”

When Jesus mentions the “cares of this life,” the word “cares” is the Greek word merimna. This time, however, it is used in connection with the word “life,” which is the Greek word biotikos. This comes from the root word bios, the Greek word for life. It is where we get the word biology. But when it becomes the word biotikos, it describes the things of life— pertaining primarily to the events, incidents, and episodes that occur in one’s life.

Thus, this phrase could be understood to mean that we should not allow ourselves to worry and fret about the events, incidents, or episodes that occur in life. This is a particularly fitting message for people who live in the last days and who are confronted by the incidents and episodes that occur during this difficult time.

So when the apostle Paul writes in Philippians 4:6, “Be careful for nothing…,” he is pleading with us not to be worried about the basic needs and provisions required for life. Paul is also telling us not to let the events of life get to us and throw us into a state of anxiety or panic. To let us know how free of all worry we should be, Paul says we are to be “careful for nothing.” The word “nothing” is the Greek word meden, and it means absolutely nothing!

 

So this phrase in Philippians 4:6 could be translated:

“Don’t be worried about anything—and that means nothing at all!”

So what is bothering you today, friend? What is stealing your peace and joy? Is there one particular thing Satan keeps using to strike your mind with fear? Can you think of a single time when worry and fretfulness ever helped make a situation better? Doesn’t worry serve only to keep you emotionally torn up and in a state of panic?

I urge you to put an end to worry today, once and for all. If you let worry start operating in you even for a moment, it will try to become a habitual part of your thought life, turning you into a “worrier” who never knows a moment of peace.

Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father right now, interceding for you continually. Jesus understands every emotion, every frustration, and every temptation you could ever face (see Hebrews 2:18). So why not make a deliberate decision to turn over all your worries to Jesus today? Rather than try to manage those anxieties and needs all by yourself, go to Him and surrender everything into His loving, capable hands. Walk free of all those choking, paralyzing fears once and for all.

Jesus is waiting for you to cast all your cares upon Him, because He really does care for you (see 1 Peter 5:7). Then once you throw your worries and concerns on Him, He will help you experience the joy and peace He has designed for you to enjoy in life all along!

MY PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, I admit that I’ve allowed fear, worry, fretfulness, and anxiety to play a role in my life. When these negative emotions operate in me, I lose my peace and my joy. I am tired of living in this continual state of worry and fear about bad things that might happen. Jesus, today I am making the choice to turn all these destructive thoughts over to You. I don’t want to live this way anymore. I know this isn’t Your plan for my life, so by faith, I cast all my concerns on You. I release them into Your hands, Lord, and ask You to take them right now!

I pray this in Jesus’ name!

MY CONFESSION FOR TODAY

I confess that I am free from worry, fretfulness, and anxiety. These forces have no place in me. I have surrendered every care and concern to Jesus, and He has taken them from me. As a result, I am free of every burden, every weight, and every problem. Jesus is my great High Priest, and He is interceding for me right now. With God on my side, I can enjoy life as He intended for me to enjoy it. I boldly confess that I am fear-free and worry free and that anxiety has no place in me!

I declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!

QUESTIONS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER

1. What is the one area in your life where Satan most often strikes your mind and emotions with fear, fretfulness, and anxiety? Do you know what triggers this attack of fear and worry?
2. For you to get out of fear and to walk in peace, what steps do you need to take in your life? In other words, what do you need to do differently than you are doing right now in order for you to move into a place of constant peace?
3. If you were going to counsel someone else who was being held hostage by worry, fretfulness, and anxiety, what would you tell that person to do to get free and to stay free?

 

Magnanimous And Gracious

The other morning I awoke with these two words on my mind. Within two hours I had several opportunities to have them tested:

• The hotel clerk failed to rouse Ruth and me for an early morning flight!
• Because the porter mistakenly went to the wrong room and awakened sleeping guests, I ended up struggling alone with our bags! (Ruth was having back trouble)
• The hotel overrode my earlier reservation for a taxi to the airport, thus charging me almost double for an expensive limousine!
• The chauffeur took us to the wrong airport!
• After I carefully placed my suit coat in the overhead compartment, someone threw a suitcase in on top of it!

After arriving home, I decided to look the two words up:

 

Magnanimous — “Manifesting generosity in forgiving insults or injuries. Not given to resentment, or envy. Greatness of soul. High-minded.” I was reminded of Uncle Abraham magnanimously deferring to greedy Lot in granting him the better land. (Genesis 13)

 

Gracious — From the Greek word charis, conveying the idea of being kind; seeking to bless others. The father was gracious to his prodigal son in prematurely giving him his inheritance, and in receiving him back after he had squandered it. (Luke 15:11-31)

 

In the heat of the moment, the test of true godliness is determined not by our actions, but by our re-actions:

 

“He who restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.” (Proverbs 27:17)

 

QUESTION – As we respond to life’s incessant and inevitable irritants, do our lost friends and associates view our re-actions as magnanimous and gracious? If we are serious about winning a hearing among them for the Gospel, that is exactly what they must be observing.