For those who followed along with our devotional postings lately, they are being compiled into a paperback version and a Kindle version. After they finish the editing process we will make them available for your use. We were hoping for a Christmas release, but now are shooting for New Years. We believe that this will be a great resource to start the year off with. Keep us in prayer as we continue to develop resources that will be of benefit to believers worldwide.
praise
Hymn Devotions Day 33 – All Hail The Power of Jesus Name
DAY 33 – ALL HAIL THE POWER OF JESUS’ NAME
What a magnificent tribute to our great King Jesus! Everything should praise His incomparable majesty, from angelic beings to repentant sinners. I love how we are swept away to the throne of God to see Jesus receive the honor and glory due Him.
Edward Perronet leaves out no one in this great hymn. From the seraphim to human martyrs, to the chosen nation of Israel and the redeemed of every nationality, all have reason to praise and glorify Jesus Christ.
As I reflect on this song, I must ask myself – do I praise Him as He deserves to be praised? Do I truly follow Him as a servant should his Master, his Lord? Do I truly magnify His name with my life, my witness?
Oh, that we would always lift up high the name of Jesus. Our wonderful Savior, Redeemer and Friend. The Lord of all lords. The King of all kings. The One who left His throne in heaven to save a wretch like me. What a wonderful day it will be to stand before Him, and watch as He sits enthroned, ruling over the universe. May we never forget the suffering our Lord endured for us, the wormwood and the gall, as the hymn reads. Let us spread out before Him our lives, the good works we have done in His name so that others could see His saving and transforming power. Let us shout to all with ears that Jesus is Lord of all.
What a scene in heaven, as those from Earth join those in Heaven and together we lift up the name of Jesus in praise and adulation. Let us start now and keep the song rolling through eternity.
All glory and praise to the Lamb that was slain. Thank You, Lord Jesus – may all who draw breath seek to praise Your name. Draw us to Yourself so that we may praise You forever.
ALL HAIL THE POWER OF JESUS’ NAME – Edward Perronet
All hail the power of Jesus’ name! Let angels prostrate fall
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all
Let highborn seraphs tune the lyre and as they tune it, fall
Before His face who tunes their choir, and crown Him Lord of all
Before His face who tunes their choir, and crown Him Lord of all
Crown Him, ye morning stars of light who fixed this floating ball
Now hail the strength of Israel’s might, and crown Him Lord of all
Now hail the strength of Israel’s might, and crown Him Lord of all
Crown Him, ye martyrs of your God, who from His altar call
Extol the Stem of Jesse’s Rod, and crown Him Lord of all
Extol the Stem of Jesse’s Rod, and crown Him Lord of all
Ye seed of Israel’s chosen race, Ye ransomed from the fall
Hail Him who saves you by His grace and crown Him Lord of all
Hail Him who saves you by His grace and crown Him Lord of all
Hail Him, ye heirs of David’s line, whom David Lord did call
The God incarnate, Man divine, and crown Him Lord of all
The God incarnate, Man divine, and crown Him Lord of all
Sinners, whose love can ne’er forget the wormwood and the gall
Go spread your trophies at His feet, and crown Him Lord of all
Go spread your trophies at His feet, and crown Him Lord of all
Let every tribe and every tongue before Him prostrate fall
And shout in universal song the crowned Lord of all
And shout in universal song the crowned Lord of all
Oh, that with yonder sacred throng, We at His feet may fall
We’ll join the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all
We’ll join the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all
(John Rippon added final verse in 1787)
Hymn Devotions Day 26 – Thank You, Lord
DAY 26 – Thank You, Lord
I like the simplicity of this hymn very much. I first learned this as a chorus in children’s Sunday School, and only recently became acquainted with the verses.
While it is both right and appropriate to thank the Lord for the things He has done for us, greater still is thanking Him for just being who He is. He is a God of grace and while that is just one aspect of His character, it is definitely worthy to be praised. Now, flowing from His grace, comes our salvation, as the chorus proclaims. That, too, is worthy of praise.
It is this wonderful salvation that makes us whole. It brings us to life spiritually. It allows us to commune once again with our God. It allows us to learn of Him and brings joy and excitement to a life that was once dull and listless.
I especially love the verse that says, “I prove His saving grace.” Yes, I do. If He can save me, He can save anyone. So often I run into people who think they are so bad, have done so much wrong, messed up their life so much, that they cannot be saved. They have lost hope. I simply open the Bible and show them people much worse than they, murderers, blasphemers, those demonically possessed, harlots, thieves and many more whom God called as His own.
Until He returns for me, or calls me home to Him, I will continue to thank Him for His great salvation.
Thank you, Lord, for being who You are. Thank you for deciding to reach down and change my life through Your Holy Spirit. Thank you for Your Son, who paid my penalty and purchased salvation for me. What else have I to say, Lord, than “Thank you?”
Thank You, Lord – Seth and Bessie Sykes
Some thank the Lord
For friends and home
For mercies sure and sweet
But I would praise Him
For His grace
In prayer I would repeat
Some thank Him for the flowers that grow
Some for the stars that shine
My heart is filled with joy and praise
Because I know He’s mine
I trust in Him from day to day
I prove His saving grace
I’ll sing this song of praise to Him
Until I see His face
Refrain:
Thank you Lord, for saving my soul
Thank you Lord, for making me whole
Thank you Lord, for giving to me
Thy great salvation so rich and free
Hymn Devotions Day 25 – O For A Thousands Tongues
DAY 25 – O FOR A THOUSAND TONGUES
For this day, I have chosen to include all the verses that Charles Wesley wrote. This song was his celebration of the one year anniversary of his salvation, and what a great tribute to the Lord it is.
I know that not all of us remember the date of our salvation, but why not make it a practice to designate one day a year (if you do remember the date, use it) to write a poem of thanks to the Lord for His great salvation?
If you cannot write a poem, maybe a prayer or a song or draw a picture of thanks would be possible. Take some time studying Wesley’s poem for inspiration.
Since we don’t have a thousand tongues to sing with, why not use the one we have in a thousand ways? Join with brothers and sisters and together we can raise hundreds of thousands of tongues in harmony to praise the King of Kings.
I particularly love the verse that talks about how Jesus’ blood makes even the foulest sinner clean, even me. When I reflect on my numerous sins, I am amazed that God would want to save me. I am so grateful that His mercy and grace was given to me, the most undeserving person I know. Wesley puts it so well toward the end of his poem – harlots, publicans, thieves – saved is the sinner that believes from crimes as great as mine. Their sins are no worse than mine, their punishment is the same, eternal damnation unless they, just like I, repent and throw ourselves on the mercy of Jesus. How wonderful to know He forgives sins and pardons the sinner.
Lord, help me to use the tongue I have to always praise Your name. Help me use it to witness for You, witness of You, and testify of Your great mercy and forgiveness. Help me to proclaim Your salvation to all.
O FOR A THOUSAND TONGUES – Charles Wesley
O for a thousand tongues to sing My great Redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and King, The triumphs of His grace!
My gracious Master and my God, Assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the earth abroad The honors of Thy name.
Jesus! the name that charms our fears, That bids our sorrows cease;
’Tis music in the sinner’s ears, ’Tis life, and health, and peace.
He breaks the power of canceled sin, He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean, His blood availed for me.
He speaks, and, listening to His voice, New life the dead receive,
The mournful, broken hearts rejoice, The humble poor believe.
Hear Him, ye deaf; His praise, ye dumb, Your loosened tongues employ;
Ye blind, behold your Savior come, And leap, ye lame, for joy.
In Christ your Head, you then shall know, Shall feel your sins forgiven;
Anticipate your heaven below, And own that love is heaven.
Glory to God, and praise and love Be ever, ever given,
By saints below and saints above, The church in earth and heaven.
On this glad day the glorious Sun Of Righteousness arose;
On my benighted soul He shone And filled it with repose.
Sudden expired the legal strife, ’Twas then I ceased to grieve;
My second, real, living life I then began to live.
Then with my heart I first believed, Believed with faith divine,
Power with the Holy Ghost received To call the Savior mine.
I felt my Lord’s atoning blood Close to my soul applied;
Me, me He loved, the Son of God, For me, for me He died!
I found and owned His promise true, Ascertained of my part,
My pardon passed in heaven I knew When written on my heart.
Look unto Him, ye nations, own Your God, ye fallen race;
Look, and be saved through faith alone, Be justified by grace.
See all your sins on Jesus laid: The Lamb of God was slain,
His soul was once an offering made For every soul of man.
Awake from guilty nature’s sleep, And Christ shall give you light,
Cast all your sins into the deep, And wash the Æthiop white.
Harlots and publicans and thieves In holy triumph join!
Saved is the sinner that believes From crimes as great as mine.
Murderers and all ye hellish crew In holy triumph join!
Believe the Savior died for you; For me the Savior died.
With me, your chief, ye then shall know, Shall feel your sins forgiven;
Anticipate your heaven below, And own that love is heaven.
Hymn Devotions Day 17 – Take My Life and Let It Be Consecrated
DAY 17 – TAKE MY LIFE AND LET IT BE
This hymn is a great daily prayer. What a way to start off each morning – asking God to help us consecrate our life to Him. Let us praise Him each day for He is worthy.
It is a great privilege, a noble request for us, to ask Him to use all of our being in His service. From my hands and feet, my speech, my financial resources, my mind, love and will; all that I am and have. Nothing less will do for my King of Glory than my all.
I need the Holy Spirit’s power to constantly, consistently yield myself to God. I need His power to submit my unruly will to His. I need His might to break my stubborn, selfish heart. With all that is within me, I desire to praise His holy name. I long for Him to fully transform me into His image.
One of the phrases I appreciate from this song is found in verse one. The prayer is for God to take both our moments and our days and have them become a seamless flow of praise. Another phrase really jumps out too, probably because I am a minister – Take my lips and let them be, filled with messages from Thee. Oh, yes, let us all bring to a lost and dying world a message from God. To use our mouth in this method is a great way of praising and honoring our God. Right now seems a good moment to start.
Lord, take all that I am and let me praise You. Take every part of my life because You alone are worthy to be praised. You gave me life and breath – let me use that breath and life to glorify Your name. Accept my offer of praise for Your greatness, majesty and power.
TAKE MY LIFE AND LET IT BE – Francis Ridley Havergal
Take my life and let it be
Consecrated, Lord to Thee
Take my moments and my days
Let them flow in ceaseless praise
Let them flow in ceaseless praise
Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee
Swift and beautiful for Thee
Take my voice and let me sing
Always, only for my King
Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee
Filled with messages from Thee
Take my silver and my gold
Not a mite would I withhold
Take my intellect and use
Every power as Thou shalt choose
Every power as Thou shalt choose
Take my love, my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure store
Take myself and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee
Ever, only, all for Thee
Take my will and make it Thine
It shall be no longer mine
Take my heart, it is Thy own
It shall be Thy royal throne
It shall be Thy royal throne
Hymn Devotions Day 8 – Be Thou My Vision
DAY 8 – BE THOU MY VISION
A melodious tune does nothing to soften the impact of the words of this hymn. I cannot honestly say that I don’t heed riches or the praise of man as the hymn writer pens.
Each time I think that I am making progress in those areas, something happens that makes me realize they have far more of a hold on me than I imagined. For every step forward in these areas, I seem to slip back into bad practices and habits far too often.
I pray that like David, in Psalm 46, that God would grant to me an undivided heart. I understand all too well that while I love God, I also still love the things of this world way too much. I understand what Paul was struggling with when he talked about doing things he knew were wrong and not doing the things he knew was right. Only God can help us become a consistent Christian through the power of His Spirit.
If I could capture the vision of God so clearly that His light would outshine everything else, it would help me to lead a life pleasing to Him. I can capture this vision by spending more and more time in His presence. My prayer is to see Him more clearly each day.
What a joy it would be to have a single-minded devotion to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Lord, please become my vision. Help me to see you clearly in this muddled world. Grant to me an undivided heart so I may serve you with all of it.
Be Thou My Vision by Mary Byrne
Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me save that Thou art
Thou my best thought by day or by night
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light
Be Thou my wisdom and Thou my true Word
I ever with Thee and 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
High King of Heaven my victory won
May I reach heaven’s joys, bright heaven’s Sun
Head of my own heart, whatever befall
Still be my vision, O Ruler of all
Hymn Devotions Day 3 – O Worship The King
DAY 3 O WORSHIP THE KING
This majestic song lifts you up in praise to the One seated on the Everlasting throne. The use of adjectives such as shield, defender, friend, maker and redeemer tell us of God’s character.
Here is no aloof God, watching from way off in space. Here is a God intimately involved with His creation. This is, make no mistake, a hymn about the Creator and His creation. It was based on Psalm 104. In a day where evolution is held to be absolute truth, this hymn helps us to unashamedly sing out our belief in a personal Creator God.
The third stanza unapologetically states that God formed the world. The writer has in mind both the Genesis account of Moses and the book of Job, where God tells Job that He put boundaries on the waters.
God’s love and providence for His creation is evident throughout the song. It is because He cares and desires so deeply for us to have a relationship with Him, that we are able to sing of His glory and might.
God is our shield, an ever-present help in times of trouble. He defends us against the slanderous attacks of our adversary. He is our friend as well as our Lord, a mind-blowing concept is ever there was one. Most of all, He is our creator and our redeemer. He made us for Himself and redeemed us for Himself. All praise to the King of Kings, who is worthy of all glory and honor.
As you pray today, thank God for the ways He manifests Himself to you – a shield, defender, redeemer. He is not only your maker, but He will be your friend if you would yield your life to Him.
Thank you Lord, for creating us and the beautiful world we live in. We worship You, King of the Universe, and give you all glory and honor and praise.
O WORSHIP THE KING by Robert Grant
O worship the King, all glorious above
O gratefully sing God’s power and God’s love
Our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days
Pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise
O tell of His might, O sing of His grace
Whose robe is the light, whose canopy space
Whose chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form
And dark is His path on the wings of the storm
The earth with its store of wonders untold
Almighty Thou power hath founded of old
Hath established it fast by a changeless decree
And round it has cast like a mantle, the sea
Thy bountiful care, what tongue can recite
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light
It streams from the hills, it descends to the plains
And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain
Frail children of dust and feeble as frail
In Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail
Thy mercies, how tender, how firm to the end
Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer and Friend
Repentance, Replacement and Ministry
In repentance, a person is not only moved by godly sorrow over actions that offend and displease God to confess them, asking forgiveness, but to also turn from those sins. The New Testament talks about replacing those ungodly actions with their godly opposites. Beyond that, though, the New Testament command us to begin ministering in Jesus’ name in that same area. For example, Paul tells those who are guilty of stealing to not only stop stealing but to work for what they want. Then he goes further and commands them to work until they have an overabundance so that they can share with others who are in need. In another example, we are told to let no unwholesome or ungodly, corrupt speech come from our mouth. Then we are told to replace it with what it is good, giving praise and glory to God. Beyond replacing bad speech with good, we are told to use our speech to edify or build up our fellow believers.
This is the essence of true repentance. Merely feeling sorry and confessing isn’t repentance. Neither is simply replacing the bad with good. It is going beyond and changing habits, starting new ones that advance the cause of Christ that show repentance has taken place. When that occurs we get off the merry-go-round of confessing, crying, promising to do better and spending next week confessing, crying and promising the same old things. We are now doing something positive for God’s Kingdom, ministering to others, changing our lifestyle to reflect that of Christ.
How repentant of your sins are you?
ta ethne 