I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. 2 Timothy 4:7-8 ESV
Even as a young person, I always kind of liked this song, though it really was neither my style nor my story at the time. I kind of figured it had been written by one of the old fuddy-duddys at some church far away and long ago, but it did have a sweet feeling to it. Recently when I began singing it for the residents at various of the nursing homes which I visit, I began looking into the origins of the composition and was shocked to discover that it had been written by Bill and Gloria Gaither before they even turned thirty!
That is the way it is with God’s inspiration. He shares His riches with those whom He likes, and they have a timeless appeal, precisely because the music comes from Him. I hope you will be touched and blessed by my simple rendering of the Gaither’s classic, “The Longer I Serve Him The Sweeter He Grows”. I also pray that as you embark upon the challenges, difficulties and adventures of the New year, that you will discover how sweet and great a blessing it is to be serving Jesus no matter what your age!
Anyone wanting to serve in nursing home ministry would do well, to consider finding a team to do that ministry with. Lone ranger types of service are fine if no one else is available, but the biblical example is always teamwork. Jesus called twelve disciples; He sent them out two by two and when He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, He brought three of them with Him. We have a wonderful team that has been helping at Life Care for a few years, who sometimes share their testimonies, and last week our friend Gena shared hers. Everyone at the home knows and loves Gena as she has been volunteering there for over a year. She comes in about three days a week for a few hours and spends time visiting, encouraging and praying with the residents. Then, when we have our Friday morning service, Gena passes out songbooks, opens in prayer and serves communion. So, when she went through a heart procedure last week, and her daughter experienced a seizure everyone was praying for her as they would for a family member. I hope you will be blessed as you listen to her special message of how God brought them both through.
"So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another." Romans 12:5 ESV
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Romans 12:1 NLT
I love the way that one of my friends opens in prayer at our men’s meeting, saying, “Thank you God for another day that was never promised.” I love it because it reminds me that as I begin my day it is a gift that God has freely given. Whether I am sick or well, able to pay the bills or looking at an overdraft message from the bank, the hours that lie ahead are evidence of God’s grace. I love that prayer because it reminds me of the Hymn, “I Surrender All,”. Full surrender, or as today’s verse says, giving our bodies as a living sacrifice, is the perfect response to God’s grace. It tells us that rather than using our day however we please, an “I surrender all” attitude, is the only way to truly worship God, But to be honest, there are days when I couldn’t sing words like, “worldly pleasures all forsaken,” or, “I will ever love and TRUST Him.” because I like to reserve something for myself. Instead of trusting the hand of God, I rush around trying to do things on my own. Or I decide that there are a few worldly pleasures that I deserve and when the Holy Spirit convicts me by speaking in His still small voice, I turn down the volume and plow ahead with my own plans. But God in His great mercy and faithfulness has a way of getting our attention when we stray. Just like sheep who wander far from home and get tangled up in thorns or stuck at the bottom of a pit, we discover that our way was not so great after all and that maybe God was right. What a blessing that when we have fallen, we have a Good Shepherd. Though He has been seeking us all along, He has had to wait for us to stop our struggling, and surrender to His will, Then He begins to untangle us from the mess we made. In surrender we make the amazing discovery that once we give up our demand to be large and in charge, Jesus begins His work of restoration and healing. His plans and calling are far better than anything we could think or imagine, but He awaits our surrender to Him, as He surrendered Himself for us.
I love the fact that Billy Graham called this hymn one of his favorites, because during the time when he attended what today is called, Trinity Bible College, not far from where we live, Judson De Venter, who wrote the hymn, often preached at the school. The full surrender that God had planned for Billy Graham, continues to impact the lives of millions of people around the globe. We will probably never gain a worldwide reputation as Billy Graham did, but when we release our grip on our desires, our homes and even our finances, God will begin to use them in ways far beyond anything we could imagine, as a blessing in the lives of others and then lead us into a deeper walk with Him.
All to Jesus I surrender All to him I freely give I will ever love and trust him, In his presence daily live I surrender all - I surrender all All to thee, my blessed Savior - I surrender all Judson Van De Venter 1896
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