Hymns

Meet You in the Morning!

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments 
But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.
John 21:4 NKJV

Have you ever wondered what we would look like, sound like, or feel like in Heaven? Will we recognize each other in our transformed eternal bodies? Will the old be young? Will children be full grown? Will the plain among us be beautiful and the short ones tall? Even here on earth, the disciples did not recognize Jesus, until He gave them something to do, “Cast your nets on the other side of the boat.” Where had they heard that before? It had such a familiar ring: and then it clicked, at least in John’s memory, “It is the Lord!” Though I don’t know how theologically accurate these lyrics are, I love how Alfred Brumley sums up our meeting in Heaven. “You will know me in the morning, by the smile that I wear.”

Jesus revealed Himself to Thomas by His wounds, and in the book of Revelation He is still called, “The Lamb that was slain.” (See Revelation 5:6; 5:12; & 13:8) But, we will be changed, our tears dried, wounds healed and sorrows will flee away. All that will be left behind will be the joy of our faith in Jesus and our love for Him and one another. So, maybe, just maybe, you will know me in the morning, by the smile that I wear! Have a blessed weekend all, and I hope you enjoy this rendition of the chorus from that hymn which we sang at Life Care this Friday.

Come Thou Fount

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For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. Not as the result of works so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV

Maybe the reason this now ancient hymn strikes a chord in my heart is that the tumultuous life of young Robert Robertson was a lot like my own. Wandering far from the fold of God, was an understatement in both our lives. But into the middle of my mess, and on a collision course with disaster, God intervened, when someone offered me a ride while hitchhiking if I would just go to church. In Robert’s case, he and some ne’er-do-well friends, made plans to go to laugh and mock at a meeting where the famous evangelist George Whitefield was speaking. God must have chuckled, because there Robertson fell under the conviction of the Holy Spirit under Whitefield’s preaching, and not long afterward, committed His life to Jesu Christ. Then, just two years later, at the age of 22, the wonderful lyrics, of Come Thou Fount were born as Robert wrote:

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to me
Let Thy goodness like a fetter
Bind my wandering soul to Thee
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here’s my heart O take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above

That great debt of grace, only paid by the precious blood of Jesus is what binds us in love to Him forever, if we give our hearts to Jesus Christ. I pray that our simple rendering of this wonderful hymn, will be a blessing to you all this Sunday. Have a wonderful Sunday, and may you find rest and peace in His grace.

Higher Ground

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I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 
Philippians 1:23 ESV

About ten years ago, I used to pay a weekly visit to an elderly couple from our church, who were no longer able to come to the Sunday services. Since they enjoyed singing, so I would always bring my guitar. Though their apartment was small, they made room for a cage where they kept two little parakeets, and the highlight of our singing sessions was when those two parakeets joined in. During the slower hymns, they would tweet to each other and dance on their perch, but whenever we sang the hymn, “I’ll Fly Away” they got so excited that they flew right out of the open cage door and sat up above the kitchen cabinets, where they joyfully tweeted with all their might!

That memory from years ago came back to me yesterday with the passing of yet another dear friend into the presence of Jesus. It reminded me that while we are here on earth, we are in a body that like the bird cage is not our permanent home. We can sing and praise the Lord the best we can from our low perch, but at the time that God chooses we have an appointment to keep with Jesus. Because of His death and resurrection, our cage door has been opened and when we hear His voice, we will spread our own wings and fly up and away. There He has prepared a high and heavenly new perch from which we be able to sing a hymn of praise forever – on that highest ground of all!