But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57 ESV

The hymn “Victory in Jesus” was requested near the end of our Friday nursing home service, and though I do love this song, it has been quite a while (maybe years!) since I sang it. I was amazed at how my friends at Life Care Center, just lit up and clapped all the way through. Then I looked up a little of the background of this song and discovered that in 1939 when Eugene Bartlett wrote this song, he had been recently paralyzed by a stroke and was confined to bed. Though he had written many other hymns, this one became his most popular and was later sung around the country by his son, Eugene Jr., as he carried on his dad’s ministry.

At the nursing home, I saw how the words and music really struck a chord of hope in the hearts of the residents. Our friends in long-term care, know better than any of us on the outside what it means to look ahead to our eternal victory in Jesus Christ. Rather than focusing on naming and claiming, we are reminded that, Jesus named and claimed us, by His redeeming blood. The Old Testament tells us, “The life is in the blood.”, and today true life and victory can be found nowhere else but in the blood of Jesus Christ. Through HIs blood He purchased our mansion in glory, where, in the words of the song, “some sweet day we’ll sing up there that song of victory!”