How to respond to grace!
Dear Friends,
Yesterday we considered the amazing grace of God toward us. Today we ask the question, “How should we respond to such marvelous grace?” The attached devotional is a marvelous example of the gratitude which should be ours if we understand God’s grace. It is a marvelous poem written by Frances Ridley Havergal, daughter of a pastor, who was converted when she was fifteen and she began writing hymns singing the love of God and the way of salvation. In 1879, at age 42, she went to be with the Lord she loved. “Some of her closing words were: ‘It’s Home the faster,’ ‘Splendid to be so near the gate of Heaven,’ ‘So beautiful to go.'” [Elgin S. Moyer, Who Was Who in Church History, (Chicago: Moody Press, 1962), p. 189] May God bless us all with such a passing.
Because of Calvary,
John Janney
I Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV)
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
JESUS, MASTER, WHOSE I AM
“Jesus, Master, whose I am,
Purchased thine alone to be,
By thy blood, O spotless Lamb,
Shed so willingly for me;
Let my heart be all thine own,
Let me live to thee alone.
Other lords have long held sway;
Now, thy name alone to bear,
Thy dear voice alone obey,
Is my daily, hourly prayer.
Whom have I in heaven but thee?
Nothing else my joy can be.
Jesus, Master, I am Thine:
Keep me faithful, keep me near;
Let thy presence in me shine
All my homeward way to cheer.
Jesus, at thy feet I fall,
O be thou my all in all.
Jesus, Master, whom I serve,
Though so feebly and so ill,
Strengthen heart and hand and nerve
All thy bidding to fulfill.
Open thou mine eyes to see
All the work thou hast for me.
Lord, thou needest me not, I know,
Service such as I can bring;
Yet I long to prove and show
Full allegiance to my King.
Thou art an honor unto me,
Let me be a praise to thee.
Jesus, Master, wilt thou use
One who owes thee more than all?
As thou wilt! I will not choose;
Only let me hear thy call.
Jesus, let me always be
In thy service glad and free.”
[Francis Ridley Havergal (1836-1879)]