Fanny Crosby

Somewhere in time, March 24, 1820, Fanny Crosby was born.  Fanny Crosby was an amazing woman. She wrote poems.  Her poems were so popular that she had several published. She also composed song lyrics.  She wrote as many as 9,000 hymns.  Many of her hymns are still being sung today.  One of my favorite hymns is titled “Blessed Assurance”.

Fanny was visiting her friend, Phoebe P. Knapp in New York City.  Mrs. Knapp has composed some music and she wanted to see if Fanny had words for it.  When the song was played, Fanny immediately said.  “Blessed Assurance” and the balance of the lyrics quickly followed.

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!

Oh, what a foretaste of glory devine!

Heir of salvation, purchase of God.

Born of His Spirit, washed in His Blood!

This is my story, this is my song.

Praising my Savior, all the day long.

This is my story, this is my song.

Praising my Savior, all the day long.

What is truly amazing is that Fanny was blind.  She was not born blind, but when she was six weeks old, she had an eye infection.  The families’ normal doctor was out of town, so another doctor was called in to treat the ailing child.  That doctor placed hot poultice on Fanny’s eyes.  This blinded her.  Her father died when she was very small and her mother worked to support her.  Fanny was not able to attend school with the other children because of her blindness, but her grandmother was able to step in and take care of her.

Fanny was very bright and wanted so much to learn.  Her grandmother encouraged her to memorize the Bible and she had entire books from the New Testament set to memory at a very young age.  The desire to go to school never left and she decided to pray that God would open a door for her.  That day, her mother got a letter from a friend that contained information about a blind school in New York City.  Fanny knew this was her answer to prayer.

Fanny attended that school and did so well, they kept her on to teach other students after she graduated.  She remained as a teacher at the school until she married. 

Romans 8:28 “ And we know that in all things God works for the good for those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Fanny was asked many times how she could not be bitter and angry over the man who stole her sight.  These are her words on the subject.

"I have not, for a moment, in more than eighty-five years, felt a spark of resentment against him; for I have always believed that the good Lord, in His infinite mercy, by this means consecrated me to the work that I am still permitted to do. When I remember how I have been blessed, how can I repine?" What a marvelous illustration we have here of the way in which God can enable us to rise above our trials, and can "make all things work together for good to those who love Him." (www.wholesomewords.com)

How many of us, when faced with such a trial, can have total trust that God is in control.  I don’t know about you, but I whine about petty things in comparison to this. 

Trust is knowing that God – can – work everything out for our good.  When times are hard and when questions arise, remember Fanny and rest in the blessed assurance of God’s love and care of each of us.

Alan Jackson - LIVE - Blessed Assurance from bible91 on GodTube.

Blowing it!

Somewhere in time, almost every minute of every day, someone makes a mistake and blows it.  Have you ever blown it? You know, made a mistake or a choice that you still regret?  Have you ever done anything that breaks the heart of God?  I think most of us have at one time or another.

When that happens, is that the end?  Are there no more chances left for us?  Let’s look at history and a couple of notable characters.

King David really blew it.  He had an affair with Bathsheba and when she became pregnant, he orchestrated the death of her husband to hide his mistake.  This caused problems for David down the line.  The sword never left his house.  His own son tried to steal the kingdom from him.  After all of this, what was David known for?  Well he was a man after God’s own heart. 

Jacob deceived his father and stole his brother’s birthright.  He fled for his life and made his way to another country, where his uncle, his mother’s brother lived.  Once there he fell in love with young Rachel and made a deal with his Uncle to marry her.  The uncle deceived Jacob and gave him his oldest daughter Leah for a bride instead.  Is Jacob marked for life as a man of deception?  No Jacob is the father of twelve sons that in turn fathered the twelve tribes of Israel.

Peter spent every day with Jesus. He watched him, listened to him and learned from him.  In Jesus’s most difficult time, when he needed friends, Peter denied knowing him three times.  After the resurrection, Jesus appeared to Peter and asked him three times, “Peter, do you love me?”  So did God give up on Peter?  No, he told him, upon this rock, I will build my church.

It doesn’t matter what we’ve done.  I agree there may be earthly consequences to our choices, but God is above all that.  God forgives and forgets.

Romans 4:7-8 (NIV)

Blessed are they

Whose transgressions are forgiven,

Whose sins are covered.

Blessed is the man

Whose sin the Lord will never count against him.

God is not worried about where we’ve been or even where we are now, it matters only where we are going. Christ is not worried about our past, he wants to forgive our past and help us forge a new future.  If you have blown it, if you have made mistakes, than take a deep breath, your sins can be forgiven today.  Your fresh start, your new future happens immediately after. 

Tenth Avenue North - You Are More from providentlabelgroup on GodTube.

The Donkey Talks

Road Blocks

Somewhere in time, around the time of Moses, there live a man named Balaam.  Balaam was not an Israelite, but he still talked to God.  As the Israelites moved through the desert on the way to the Promised Land, they experienced some opposition.  Some countries let them pass through, others resisted. The ones that resisted usually ended up in a battle and they usually lost the battle.  This story is found in the book of Numbers, and it begins in chapter 22.  The Israelites where camped along the Jordan River, across from Jericho. The Moabites inhabited the land and they were concerned that the Israelites would over run them like they did the Amorites. Instead of direct conflict, Moab choses a different approach and Balaam enters the story.

In case you are wondering, I started thinking about this story this week.  I started thinking about all the plans we make.  Sometimes God blocks our path.  He blocks our path because he loves us and he is trying to keep us from making a mistake.  Sometimes he lets us continue on our fool hardy way, only to come behind us and pick of the pieces our shattered lives.  God uses everything that happens to us to create us to be the people he wants us to be.  Bad things happen, but God still uses them.  He doesn’t cause them, but he uses them.

Many times, our best laid plans don’t work out because we forget to touch base with God and get his ideas on a subject.  He will give guidance if we ask.  That got me thinking about Balaam. If ever a man had his plans changed, it was him.

The King of Moab sent a delegation to Balaam requesting that he come and curse the Israelites. He gives them a place to stay for the night and leaves to think it over.  God comes to Balaam and tells him not to put a curse on the people, because they are blessed, so Balaam refuses to go with them.  The Moabites don’t stop, as they send more delegates, more important or influential than the first.  This time God tells him to go with the men. He just gives strict instructions, not to say anything unless it comes from God.

As Balaam is traveling, his Donkey starts behaving differently and this confuses Balaam.  On one occasion, he leaves the road and runs out into a field.  The next time, the donkey presses so hard to a wall, that it crushes Balaam’s leg against the wall.  The third time, the donkey just lays down.  Balaam’s response to each event is to beat his donkey into submission.  Never a good choice if you ask me. In case you were wondering, the donkey is seeing the angel of the Lord with a drawn sword.  The Donkey sees what Balaam can’t and does it’s best to avoid it.

Here is my question, why would God block his path when he clearly told him to go with the men.  I have an idea.  If you are anything like me, when you have a goal to accomplish or a job to finish, you start thinking of how you will carry it out.  God told Balaam that he, God, would give Balaam the words.  In my opinion, Balaam was rehearsing his speech.  The men, after all, wanted him to curse Israel.  That was not God’s plan, so he placed an angel in the way. 

This is my favorite part of the story.

Numbers 28:31 (NIV) “ Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and she said to Balaam. “What have I done to you to make you beat me three times?” Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool out of me! If I had a sword, I would kill you right now!” The donkey said to Balaam “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?” “No” he said. Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed and fell facedown.”

God really wanted Balaam to stop on the journey he was on.  He opened the mouth of a donkey to do it.  You may be going down a path and hitting road block after road block.  Instead of fighting it, perhaps it’s time to stop, step back and search out your surroundings.  Perhaps God is sending you a message.

With Balaam, God tells him again that He will give him the words.  Reminding him he doesn’t need to prepare a speech or a statement, the words will come from God when they are needed.  So Balaam continues on, I’m sure he was more humble and willing to listen by this point.  Instead of cursing the people of Israel, he called down blessings on them.  God would not allow his people to be cursed. 

As a child of God, I am glad he has my back.  He is watching out to make sure I’m blessed and not cursed.  You are too, so rejoice.

On the flip side, think about the Moabites, they hired a man to do a job.  To curse a people, but their plan backfired.  Why do you think that is?

He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed!

My God’s not dead!

Somewhere in time, when I was fourteen years old, I had a button that read “My God’s not dead, sorry about yours”.  I know, I know, not the nicest thing to say, but I was fourteen.

In this Easter season, we celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  There is not tomb we can visit to honor our God, the tomb is empty.  I have heard it said that Jesus didn’t really die, he was just injured.  If you think about it, that's not possible. Jesus was whipped with a cat of nine tails.  This is a special whip that has several endings.  Each tip has pieces of glass and pottery imbedded. The purpose is not to cut the skin, but it was meant to grab the flesh and rip it off.  When Pilate said, “Behold the man”, it could be partially because he was surprised that Jesus survived the beatings.

This is not the end.

The Roman soldiers put a robe on his beaten and bloody back and a crown of thorns on his head and they mocked him.  Pulling the robe off once the blood started to congeal into the fabric.  They replace the robe with a cross.  He didn’t have the strength to carry the cross, so a man was pulled from the crowd and required to carry the cross for Jesus. Once at the location, they nailed spikes into his hands and heals.  They left him hanging in a position that made it difficult to breathe, and the pain was unbearable. If he had been removed from the cross at this point, he would have been alive.  If he was walking around in three days later completely well, than that would be a miracle in and of itself, but the day wasn’t over.

The sky turned dark.

Matthew 27:50-56 (The Message Bible) “ But Jesus, again crying out loudly, breathed his last.  At that moment, the Temple curtain was ripped in two, top to bottom.  There was an earthquake and the rocks split in pieces. What’s more, tombs were opened up, and many bodies of believers asleep in their graves were raised. (After Jesus’ resurrection, they left the tombs, entered the holy city, and appeared to many). The captain of the guard and those with him, when they saw the earthquake and everything else that was happening, were scared to death. They said, “This has to be the Son of God.””

The curtain in the temple was torn right down the middle.

After all of this, a centurion, someone experienced with death used a spear to pierce Jesus through the side and into the heart.  From Jesus’s side, blood and water flowed.  This is a sure sign of death.  We know this to be true because we have documented eye witness accounts recorded in the Bible.

An earthquake shattered the rocks.

On Sunday morning, the followers of Jesus were hiding out in fear for their lives.  A couple of women went to the tomb to finish preparing Jesus’s body for his continued burial, but the tomb was empty.

The tomb was empty!

To avoid the possible confusion, Jesus appeared to his disciples on several occasions over the next forty days.  It could never be said, the body was stolen, because the body is up and talking and interacting with people.  After forty days, they watched as Jesus ascended into heaven.  The fear was replaced by the desire to tell the world of the risen Lord.  I want ot remind you, we have eye witnesses, first person accounts.  They were willing to die for what they knew to be true.

It’s up to us to tell the world the same thing.  My God’s not dead, He’s alive. 

Newsboys - God's Not Dead (Official Music Video) from emimusic on GodTube.