Month: October 2023

Peace Through Troubled Times – News & Events

On By KateIn Devotionals, Peace Through Troubled TimesLeave a comment

What makes you anxious? What disrupts your world or turns it upside down? I have to admit that watching the news does this to me. I can actually feel the anxiety level rise within me like a thermometer! The only way I can stop this from happening is to remove the problem! I can hear some of you now saying, “You can’t hide your head in the sand”! And you would be right.

The only solution to this is to choose what news channel or website to follow. As most of us have come to realize, the news media broadcasts what it is told to broadcast. We no longer have objective news which state both points of view. So to keep ourselves sane and unafraid, we must saturate our lives with the Word of God. It is there you will find peace and encouragement.

The following verse was given to Joshua when God commissioned him to lead Israel after Moses. Can you imagine Joshua’s apprehension when this happened? Moses was a leader above leaders, but yet still a man. We know this because God did not allow Moses into the promised land because of his disobedience. Joshua lived through enslavement in Egypt, the ten plagues, the parting of the Red Sea and the 40-year wandering through the desert. But at that point, Moses was still God’s man – Joshua wasn’t ready to be the leader … yet.

Jos 1:9  Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

Aren’t we Christians also commissioned? Jesus Christ said to “go ye therefore.” Everything we say and do impacts both the saved and the lost. It impacts them both because they are looking at our testimony. Our testimony should cause the lost to thirst after what we have: peace in the midst of the storms of life. Our testimony should encourage the saved to be faithful, strong and of good courage just as we are.

However, when the circumstances of life cause us to feel anxious and troubled, we must find the root cause. Some things we can take care of and remove them from our lives. While others cannot be removed. For example, watching the news about the war in Israel is unsettling and upsets me. However, it causes me to consistently have a heart of prayer. The fact that we are seeing end time prophecies fulfilled before our very eyes should be encouraging. But not everyone sees these headline news as encouraging. Some get absorbed with worry. The same God who told Joshua not to be afraid or dismayed is the same God of today. (Hebrews 13:8)

Are you dismayed and afraid, Reader? Tell the Lord about it and once He delivers you from that fear, glorify Him by telling others!

Psa 50:15  And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

I once was a worry-wart and fretted over everything. Once I was born again, the Lord removed that burden from my shoulders. I was able to trust in Him and am able to tell you about it.

Pro 3:5-6  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  (6)  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

If you are not truly born-again, there is coming a time when it will be too late for you to repent and be saved. It is no coincidence that God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved if you are not already. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab You Can Be Born Again and Know It!

Hymns 2.0 –

On By KateIn Devotionals, Hymns 2.0Leave a comment

Lyrics (click here to hear instrumental)

I heard an old, old story,
How a Savior came from glory,
How He gave His life on Calvary
To save a wretch like me;
I heard about His groaning,
Of His precious blood’s atoning,
Then I repented of my sins
And won the victory.

Chorus
O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.

I heard about His healing,
Of His cleansing pow’r revealing.
How He made the lame to walk again
And caused the blind to see;
And then I cried, “Dear Jesus,
Come and heal my broken spirit,”
And somehow Jesus came and bro’t
To me the victory.

Chorus
O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.

I heard about a mansion
He has built for me in glory.
And I heard about the streets of gold
Beyond the crystal sea;
About the angels singing,
And the old redemption story,
And some sweet day I’ll sing up there
The song of victory.

Chorus
O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.EUGENE M. BARTLETT SR.

The History Behind the Hymn

In 1939 at age 53, Eugene Bartlett’s world changed drastically. He suffered a paralyzing stroke that left him unable to walk or even speak and for the most part, he was bedridden. Many felt the stroke ended his teaching ministry, yet it was during these dark days that Eugene would write his best-known hymn, Victory In Jesus. While looking back over his life he began to think back to the night he was born again and the rich life he had since that night. He picked up a pen and began what would become his best-known song. He began with the following words, “I heard an old, old story, How a Savior came from glory, how he gave his life on Calvary to save a wretch like me”. Realizing that the love of God had sustained him and brought him to where he was that day, he is quoted as saying he felt the prompting of the Holy Spirit to add another verse. He wrote, “I heard about his healing, of his saving power revealing, how he made the lame to walk again and caused the blind to see”. When he completed the song, he looked back over it and seen it was a story of redeeming power from start to finish. He wanted the song to be joyous. And while written during the darkest period of his life he chose to make the melody full of happiness and enthusiasm.HTTPS://BACKSTORYSONGS.COM/2019/10/31/VICTORY-IN-JESUS/

A Lesson for Me

1 Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

Victory is usually viewed in light of wars or overcoming a challenge or race. But in the Christian’s life, victory is provided by Jesus Christ, the Lord. He not only conquered sin and death, but He gives us the victory through faith in Him.

I heard an old, old story,
How a Savior came from glory,
How He gave His life on Calvary
To save a wretch like me;
I heard about His groaning,
Of His precious blood’s atoning,
Then I repented of my sins
And won the victory.

Message for today

The benefit of Christ’s victory is given to each person who is born-again. At that point, our corruptible spirit and body has been given an incorruptible spirit and body. That is the whole meaning of born again. (John 3:3, 7; 2 Cor. 5:17)

1Cor 15:54  So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

1Cor 15:55  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

1Cor 15:57  But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

When a Christian is born again, he than changes direction from heading down the road to destruction and Hell. The new direction becomes moving toward living forever with the Lord. Death is no longer scary but is simply moving from one location to another. It’s like leaving the living room and walking into the kitchen. It no longer has a “sting of fear” for the believer but is a welcomed event because once our eyes close in death, they open in Heaven! Praise be to God!!

I heard about a mansion
He has built for me in glory.
And I heard about the streets of gold
Beyond the crystal sea;
About the angels singing,
And the old redemption story,
And some sweet day I’ll sing up there
The song of victory.

Don’t you want to wake up to behold the streets of gold and a crystal sea? Don’t you want to be rid of the fear of where you will spend eternity? It will be Heaven or Hell. There is no other choice, Reader. You can either be singing the song of victory with the other saints in glory or you can be weeping and gnashing your teeth in everlasting pain and suffering. It’s a choice … your choice, so you can’t blame anyone but yourself; nor can you blame God. He will have the final word.

If you are not truly born-again, there is coming a time when it will be too late for you to repent and be saved. It is no coincidence that God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved if you are not already. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab You Can Be Born Again and Know It!

Hymns 2.0 – To God Be The Glory

On By KateIn Devotionals, Hymns 2.0Leave a comment

Lyrics (click here to hear instrumental)

1 To God be the glory, great things he has done!
So loved he the world that he gave us his Son,
who yielded his life an atonement for sin,
and opened the life-gate that all may go in.

Refrain:
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord,
Let the earth hear his voice!
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!
Let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father through Jesus the Son
and give him the glory, great things he has done!

2 Great things he has taught us, great things he has done,
and great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son,
but purer and higher and greater will be
our joy and our wonder, when Jesus we see. [Refrain]

Fanny Crosby

The History Behind the Hymn

Frances Jane Crosby’s hymns have historically been among the most popular songs sung most churches. Crosby (1820-1915), who became blind as an infant, was a lifelong Methodist.

She began composing hymns at age 6, became a student at the New York Institute of the Blind at 15 and joined the faculty of the Institute at 22, teaching rhetoric and history. Her hymn texts were staples for the music of the most prominent gospel songwriters of her day.

She was a prolific hymnist, writing more than 8,000 hymns and gospel songs, with more than 100 million copies printed. She is also known for her teaching and her rescue mission work. By the end of the 19th century, she was a household name.

Crosby was known as the “Queen of Gospel Song Writers”and as the “Mother of modern congregational singing in America”, with most American hymnals containing her work. Her gospel songs were “paradigmatic of all revival music”, and Ira Sankey attributed the success of the Moody and Sankey evangelical campaigns largely to Crosby’s hymns. Some of Crosby’s best-known songs include “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour”, “Blessed Assurance”, “Jesus Is Tenderly Calling You Home”, “Praise Him, Praise Him”, “Rescue the Perishing”, and “To God Be the Glory”. Some publishers were hesitant to have so many hymns by one person in their hymnals, so Crosby used nearly 200 different pseudonyms during her career.

Wikipedia

A Lesson for Me

Psa 19:1  To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

Psa 29:3  The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters.

Psa 30:12  To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

To God be the glory: it’s a statement which comes from many lips but is it a statement that comes from the heart? If there was any one person who was a living example of a true glorifier of God, it was David of the Old Testament. As a shepherd boy, he grew intimate with the Lord God while he was in the fields tending to his father’s flocks. We can see his spiritual growth throughout the Book of Psalms.

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord,
Let the earth hear his voice!
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!
Let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father through Jesus the Son
and give him the glory, great things he has done!

Message for today

The Lord is in the midst of turmoil and heart ache for the believer. I’ve said it often that I don’t know how the unsaved make it through life’s hardships! God is always ready to help when one cries out to Him. It is during these times that we come to a realization of just who He is. He is not some statue or good luck charm. He is the Creator of the universe and deserves our praise!

When our eyes focus on God, we no longer dwell on our own problems in life but on praising Him, loving Him, and glorifying His name! Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Psa 108:5  Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth;

I strive to read the Book of Psalms and the Book of Proverbs every month along with my daily reading. One can find balm for the aching heart, joy in the midst of trials, and instructions on everyday life right there in those two books.

The Bible is a Book of instruction and direction, filled with wonders! But most of all, we find Jesus within its blessed pages. We find salvation and the wondrous works of God! We start out in life with a spirit that will dwell in one of two places for all eternity: Heaven or Hell. During our lifetime, it is our job to decide where we want to spend it. The Bible gives us all the information we need in order to get saved, to learn about God, and to live our daily lives! Everything we need is right there!

Great things he has taught us, great things he has done,
and great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son,
but purer and higher and greater will be
our joy and our wonder, when Jesus we see.

If you are not truly born-again, there is coming a time when it will be too late for you to repent and be saved. It is no coincidence that God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved if you are not already. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab You Can Be Born Again and Know It!

Hymns 2.0 – Wonderful Grace of Jesus***

On By KateIn Devotionals, Hymns 2.0Leave a comment

put a picture

Lyrics (click here to hear instrumental)

insert lyrics here

The History Behind the Hymn

Insert history

A Lesson for Me

Insert bible verse(s) here

text

Insert verse from hymn for teaching

Message for today

Insert message

insert bible verses

wrap it up

Insert verse in hymn

If you are not truly born-again, there is coming a time when it will be too late for you to repent and be saved. It is no coincidence that God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved if you are not already. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab You Can Be Born Again and Know It!

Hymns 2.0 – Abide With Me

On By KateIn Devotionals, Hymns 2.0Leave a comment

Lyrics (click here to hear instrumental)

  1. Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
    The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide;
    When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
    Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me.
  2. Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
    Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
    Change and decay in all around I see—
    O Thou who changest not, abide with me.
  3. I need Thy presence every passing hour;
    What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s pow’r?
    Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
    Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.
  4. I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
    Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness;
    Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
    I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.
  5. Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
    Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies;
    Heav’n’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
    In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
Henry F. Lyte, 1847

The History Behind the Hymn

It was composed one Sabbath evening in 1847 out of a deep sadness that had settled down upon its author, the Rev. Henry F. Lyte. He had conducted his last communion service that day at the close of a pastorate of twenty-four years at Brixham, England. A fatal illness had already seized him and he was about to leave England to prolong his life, if possible, in the South.

Toward evening he walked down his garden path to the seaside and there thought out the imagery and many of the lines of his famous hymn. Into this he has woven the sense of change and of helplessness that one must feel in the presence of death, and also the trustful dependence upon Jesus Christ, the “Help of the helpless,” which every true Christian must feel in that solemn hour.

Returning to his home, he wrote out the hymn, perfecting its lines and giving to the Christian world one of its tenderest prayer-hymns. He left at once for the south of France, and soon after his arrival in Nice his strength failed him, and whispering the words, “Peace! Joy!” while he was pointing his hand heavenward, he died.

“Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee; In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me!”

Carl Price’s One Hundred and One Hymn Stories

A Lesson for Me

Isa 40:31  But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

I am certain that I am not the only one who has felt as Pastor Lyte did during his final trial. I absolutely love Isaiah 40:31! I don’t believe it is speaking of physical strength here. This kind of strength can only be given by the LORD Himself! Let’s face, I have nothing in me that will put me on top when I am smack dab in the middle of a trial. So what is this “renewed strength”? It is a spiritual boost, if you will, that the Lord gives me when I have reached the end of my rope. The Lord shows up when I feel as though I am hanging by the smallest strand. It is at that very moment that I feel Him. Whether it is through a Bible verse, a phone call from a friend, or His beautiful creation as I walk in the park.

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide;
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me.

Message for today

Are you at the end of your rope, Christian? Do you feel as though you cannot take one more burden or you will be crushed beneath the weight of it all? I doubt very much that any trial can be as horrible as what the Apostle Paul withstood. 2 Corinthians 11:23-28 tells us what he went through but his faith did not waiver. He experienced whippings, imprisonment, beaten with rods, stoned, shipwrecked, weariness, painfulness, hunger, thirst, cold, naked and so much more. I am not trying to belittle anyone’s hardships and trials. Every one of us has a trial that the Lord has allowed us to go through. Each trial molds and draws us to His side.

2 Cor 1:3-4  Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;  (4)  Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

Every trial we experience should have a two-fold result:

  • To help others who are going through the same trial, and
  • To obtain our own comfort from the God of all comfort!

Praise the Lord that I do not serve an inanimate object, like gods made with hands. We serve the Lord Jesus Christ, the One who created us and fashioned us in our mother’s womb! He knows every fiber of my being. My Saviour condescended to my human level so he could experience everything a human being experiences. This same Lord knows your pain; He intimately knows every detail. Therefore, when you run to Him as Pastor Lyte did when he wrote this hymn, you will receive the same comfort as he did.

I need Thy presence every passing hour;
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s pow’r?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.

As I have cried to my Lord many a time, I need thy presence, He has not failed me once! He has brought me through the clouds of despair and given me sunshine in my soul. I cannot, nor will not, look elsewhere for my strength but at the feet of the One who can strengthen me as I wait on Him.

If you are not truly born-again, there is coming a time when it will be too late for you to repent and be saved. It is no coincidence that God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved if you are not already. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab You Can Be Born Again and Know It!

Hymns 2.0 – I Need Thee Every Hour***

On By KateIn Devotionals, Hymns 2.0Leave a comment

put a picture

Lyrics (click here to hear instrumental)

insert lyrics here

The History Behind the Hymn

Insert history

A Lesson for Me

Insert bible verse(s) here

text

Insert verse from hymn for teaching

Message for today

Insert message

insert bible verses

wrap it up

Insert verse in hymn

If you are not truly born-again, there is coming a time when it will be too late for you to repent and be saved. It is no coincidence that God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved if you are not already. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab You Can Be Born Again and Know It!