God Hears Our Prayers

Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was
in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.

Psalm 4:1

 

 

We must have faith, as David did, that God hears us.  Christians depend upon God for much, mostly through our prayers we throw ourselves at His mercy.  We trust Him to answer our prayers, to give us relief from distress and to show us mercy.  It is a simple verse with simple truths with profound implications.  I think, for the most part, we have lost the sense of such dependence.

Shea--He has Jesus Now

One of the giants of American Christian music, George Beverly Shea passed into heaven this past Thursday at the age of 104. Shea, a member of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Team, has not only shared the gospel message in song all across the world, but he has helped strengthen American churches.

Many Christians may not know it, but Shea introduced "How Great Thou Art" to America.  The song was written in 1885 but remained in obscurity until Shea, having bumped into a friend on Oxford Street in London who handed him a copy, started singing the song with his rich bass voice.  The song is now a staple of American Christianity. 

I grew up hearing Shea.  Mom's old stereo console cabinet had many records, some of which where those of Shea and Cliff Barrows.
 
Shea was given a poem by his mother in 1922.  He set the words to music and gave us the following song:

I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold;
I’d rather be His than have riches untold;
I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands,
I’d rather be led by His nail pierced hand.

Than to be a king of a vast domain
Or be held in sin’s dread sway,
I’d rather have Jesus than anything
This world affords today.

I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause;
I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause;
I’d rather have Jesus than world-wide fame,
I’d rather be true to His holy name.

He’s fairer than lilies of rarest bloom;
He’s sweeter than honey from out of the comb;
He’s all that my hungering spirit needs,
I’d rather have Jesus and let Him lead.


Well, Mr. Shea.  Thank you for your service to the King.  You have Jesus now in a way you've never known. 

Cotton Mather and teaching children

I don't think that Cotton Mather, a puritan preacher from the very late 1600s, had 21st century Sunday School teachers in mind when he wrote a brief article entitled "The Education of Children."  But I couldn't help thinking on the dozens upon dozens of people who have helped shape my spirituality and understanding of the Bible.  So bravo Sunday School teachers of children!  May God use you greatly tomorrow as you pour a piece of your life into children.

Here's in the ending of Mather's article.


But the Freedom with which this Address is made unto you, is not so great as the Fervour that has animated it. My Fathers and Brethren, If you have any Love to God and Christ and Posterity; let [Godly] Schools be more Encouraged.
If you would not betray your Posterity into the very Circumstances of Savages, let Schools have more Encouragement. But in the Anguish, the Despair of Success to be otherwise found by this Address, I will Turn it from you unto the Almighty Hearer of Prayer.
And, O thou Saviour, and Shepherd of Thy New-English Israel: Be Entreated Mercifully to look down upon they Flocks in the Wilderness. Oh, give us not up to the Blindness and Madness of neglecting the Lambs in the Flocks. Inspire thy People, and all Orders of men among thy People with a just care for the Education of Posterity. Let Well-Ordered and well-instructed and well-maintained Schools, be the Honour and the Defence of our Land. Let Learning, and all the Helps and Means of it, be precious in our Esteem and by Learning, let the Interests of thy Gospel so prevail, that we may be made wise unto Salvation. Save us, O our Lord JESUS CHRIST. Save us from the Mischiefs and Scandals of an Uncultivated Offspring; Let this be a Land of Light, unto Thou, O Sun of Righteousness, do Thyself arise unto the World with Healing in thy Wings. Amen.

Good Friday

Today, I praise and worship my Savior because of His sacrifice for me.  Without His love, His commitment to His Father's will in redeeming sinners, I would have remained in my sin and alienated from Him.

One hymn comes to mind.  It was written in 1945 by a man named Norman Clayton, so in terms of hymns, its pretty new.  It says powefully:




My hope is in the Lord Who gave Himself for me,
And paid the price of all my sin at Calvary.
For me He died, For me He lives,
And everlasting life and light He freely gives
.…..
No merit of my own His anger to suppress.
My only hope is found in Jesus’ righteousness.
For me He died, For me He lives,
And everlasting life and light He freely gives
.…..
And now for me He stands Before the Father’s throne.
He shows His wounded hands and names me as His own.
For me He died, For me He lives,
And everlasting life and light He freely gives
.…..
His grace has planned it all, ‘Tis mine but to believe,
And recognize His work of love and Christ receive.
For me He died, For me He lives,
And everlasting life and light He freely gives.

Hymn by Norman Clayton (1945)

Two of the greatest pastors from church history speak to the death of Jesus, commemorated today by many Christians.

Augustine
for us he was unto thee both the Victor and the Victim,
and therefore Victor, because he was the Victim
for us he was unto thee both the Priest and the Sacrifice,
and therefore the Priest, because he was the Sacrifice
...I meditate upon the price of my redemption

Confessions X, xliii

Charles Spurgeon
The Lord of life and glory was nailed to the accursed tree. He died by the act of guilty men. We, by our sins, crucified the Son of God. We might have expected that, in remembrance of his death, we should have been called to a long, sad, rigorous fast. Do not many men think so even today? See how they observe Good Friday, a sad, sad day to many; yet our Lord has never enjoined our keeping such a day, or bidden us to look back upon his death under such a melancholy aspect.

Instead of that, having passed out from under the old covenant into the new, and resting in our risen Lord, who once was slain, we commemorate his death by a festival most joyous. It came over the Passover, which was a feast of the Jews; but unlike that feast, which was kept by unleavened bread, this feast is brimful of joy and gladness. It is composed of bread and of wine, without a trace of bitter herbs, or anything that suggests sorrow and grief. …

The memorial of Christ’s death is a festival, not a funeral; and we are to come to the table with gladsome hearts and go away from it with praises, for "after supper they sang a hymn"


　

John Bunyan on the Lord's Day

 
"Have a special care to sanctify the Lord's Day; for as thou keepest it, so it will be with thee all the weeklong. Make the Lord s day the market for thy soul; let the whole day be spent in prayer, repetitions, or meditations; lay aside the affairs of the other part of the week; let thy sermon thou hast heard be converted into prayer. Shall God allow thee six days, and wilt thou not afford him one? In the church be careful to serve God, for thou art in his eyes, and not in man's."


Psalm 95


1 O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.

3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.

5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.

6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.

7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

Boy Scouts Cater to America's Homosexual Culture

Later today, the governing board of the Boy Scouts of America will vote whether to include homosexuals in their scouting program.  The past decade BSA has been stalwart in their repudiation of the Gay Agenda.  They have faced criticism, defunding and many court battles.

Now, they are poised to surrender.  The path they are taking sounds very American.  They are thinking about rescinding their "national" policy and leaving the decisions whether to include homosexuals to the "local" level.  But the reality is that local chapters will be unable to fund lawsuits that will inevitably flood the courts, alleging discrimination.  Gays want access to young men and any local chapter denying them will be hit with well-funded pro-homosexuals.  A decsion by the board to change its national policy will have the effect of changing the entire program.

Please pray that the leaders will not change their position and that they will retain a national policy reflecting their traditional, God-based values that have been at the heart of the scouting program for over 100 years.

And pray for America.  Pray for our repentance over this national sin.

Jesus our Mediator

Hebrews 9:15

And for this cause He [Jesus] is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

Jesus, the Son of God, our Savior is our mediator. Not Mary His mother, or any early priest or prelate. Only Jesus can bridge the gap between you and God...a gap that your sin has caused. A gap that will remain constant and eternal unless you put your faith in Him. Often, we read about 'mediation' in the sporting world when the players union is threatening a strike. But spiritual, we have sinned against God and have alienated Him from us. We've created a rift by not following our contract.

We can rely on our own defense whatever it may be. We can rely on our church membership or on a religious family member and a philanthropic affiliation. But the Bible says that Jesus, not those things previously mentioned, is the mediator.

And He mediates by means of death. His death. His blood. His sacrifice. That is the way of redemption. Not through His healing, or His teaching or His moral life. Only through His death are we redeemed and forgiven.

John Gill wrote “What he bore were 'sins'; all kind of sin, every act of sin, and all that belongs to it; its filth, guilt, and punishment, even the iniquity of all his people; which must be a prodigious weight, and than which nothing could be more nauseous: his bearing them supposes they were upon him, though not in him, imputed, though not inherent; that he did not sink under them; that he made an entire satisfaction for them, and bore them wholly away, both from the persons of his people, and from the sight of justice.”

Trust in Jesus, dear friend. He is the only way you can be reconciled to God.