"Temptations lose their pow'r when thou art nigh."

"Temptations lose their pow'r when thou art nigh."
Hymn: “I Need Thee Every Hour” – Annie S. Hawks (1835-1918)
Tune: NEED

Temptation is a potent influence. It tugs at us, comes at us from every direction, pulls us down, wears us out, gives us chase. Most of us know where we are the most vulnerable – those areas which temptation seems to hold stronger sway than others.

There are some regions of my behavior in which I face no temptations. I’m not sure if I’m just wired to be more resistant there or if I have resisted for so long, certain temptations have simply given up attacking me!

We know that inducements to sin are instigated by the Evil One. That’s why Jesus taught us to pray to be delivered from evil. We may even come to times when we think we have passed a certain level of dominance over temptation… like my grandsons conquer levels in their video games. But even after Jesus’ three-tiered desert encounter with Satan, scripture tells us that Satan only left him alone for a season. In fact, if-and-when we think we are exempt, we are likely the most susceptible.

Near-walking with Jesus is our best protection. Even the most compelling distraction from righteousness is over-ridden by the presence of the Holy One.

Remember how on the old Batman television series those call-outs would pop up on the screen to indicate the spelled-out sound effects? Bam, zap, bang, boom, etc. In this case, temptations lose their “pow” when Jesus is near.

If you haven’t sung this hymn lately, you’re due a reminder! Sing this refrain to yourself because it is as true as it has ever been:
    I need thee, O I need thee. Every hour I need thee.
    O bless me now, my Savior, I come to thee.

Hear This Hymn

"Blessed quietness, holy quietness, bless'd assurance in my soul. On the stormy sea, He speaks peace to me, and the billows cease to roll."

"Blessed quietness, holy quietness, bless'd assurance in my soul. On the stormy sea, He speaks peace to me, and the billows cease to roll."
Hymn: “Blessed Quietness” – Manie Payne Ferguson (1850-1932)
Tune: BLESSED QUIETNESS

Irish-born Manie Payne Ferguson worked most of her life in missions up and down the California coast, ministering to the down and out. Though she wrote several books and song-texts, this is one which still appears occasionally in print.

I have used the refrain as the hymnline – mostly because it’s the part of the hymn I remember from my growing-up years. I came to love this hymn after it appeared in a Centurymen recording as arranged by the late Burl Red.

Most of us yearn for things to quieten down around us. We seek out times of solace away from the maddening crowd. Even Christ himself set us that example, separating himself from those who would take all his attention and time… realizing that in his humanity, he needed to be alone now and then to recharge mentally, spiritually, physically.

Most of us have blessed LITTLE quietness, but when we DO, we consider it holy. In those hallowed times, I am reminded of the blessed assurance that Jesus is mine, enjoying the foretaste of glory divine.

Our greatest need for this alone time with God seems to come when we are in the midst of stormy, rocky days – those unsettled, unsettling stretches. We often find that just a little talk with Jesus one-on-one makes things right… and the insurmountable seems achievable.

We can rarely deal with important decision-making in the midst of all the noise… the rush of everyday schedules. Strangely, sometimes we have to pull away from the busy-ness of our church-life to find our more important Christ-life.

From THE MESSAGE, hear these words from Jesus: “Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.” (Matthew 6:6)

"To ev'ry captive soul a full deliverance brings, and through the vacant cells the song of triumph rings: the Comforter has come!"

"To ev'ry captive soul a full deliverance brings, and through the vacant cells the song of triumph rings: the Comforter has come!"
Hymn: “The Comforter Has Come” – Frank Bottome (1823-1894)
Tune: THE COMFORTER HAS COME

Right in the middle of this Pentecostal hymn, we find a great statement about deliverance from the prison of sin: when deliverance happens, there’s an empty cell that’s left behind. I had never thought of that before. And according to this text, there’s a song that rings out in triumph, declaring to all who pass by the vacant space that the once-bound resident has been released by an intervention of the Comforter… the Holy Spirit him/herself.

In east Tennessee we would say that “them’s shoutin’ words!”

This simple hymnline creates a mental picture of what full release means. I suppose I would have drawn a picture of a quiet, abandoned jail cell – no longer occupied by an inmate. However, Frank Bottome saw it differently… and probably more appropriately. It’s sort of like Jesus’ statement that the very rocks would cry out to praise him; in this case, the very prison walls sing!

I love the image. I’m going to try to keep it in mind not only when I celebrate the release of some life-long reprobate, but when I reflect on my own release(s) from the bondage of sin.

Lillie Knauls sings this hymn

"Of your time and talents give him, they are gifts from God above, to be used by Christians freely to proclaim his wondrous love."

Hymn: “Come, All Christians, Be Committed” – Eva B. Lloyd (1912-2006)
Tune: BEACH SPRING

As the choir processed at First Baptist Church of Waxahachie, Texas on this past Sunday morning, my tired ears were greeted by Myla McClinton’s playing of an arrangement of this hymn – and the final eight measures were close to “tutti,” my personal favorite organ dymnamic! So it just seemed like a good time to reflect on this hymn by an English teacher from Maryville, Missouri.

The entire hymn is worthy of our study, pulling hymnline after hymnline… giving careful attention to its well-crafted text.

This particular hymnline speaks brilliantly for itself; there is little I can add to expound upon its message. The fact that both time and talent (ability) are gifts from God is something we somewhat-gifted people too often overlook. However, the strike-me-down word in this hymnline is “freely.”

I am one of those people who is good at a lot of things, but great at very few. I shaped my life that way almost intentionally it seems. My early years of majoring in visual art seem almost wasted because I rarely pick up a pen-and-ink to draw. I’ve been just involved in enough drama (writing, directing and participating) over the years to know blessed little about either one. I’ve written a few songs, done some arranging.  I've written a few hymn texts and anthem texts… and so the list goes on.

In my semi-retirement, I’m teaching about all these things at the college level, but I am doing none of them consistently. I have made a personal (now public, I guess) commitment to do more of all of them, hoping that one will re-surface as a talent to occupy my time – and that whichever that turns out to be, I want to share it freely in order that more attention might be drawn to Christ.

I hope I will do it “tutti.”

Hymn being sung in worship

"All that we have is thine, a trust, O Lord, from thee."

Hymn: “We Give Thee But Thine Own” – William W. How (1823-1897)
Typical Tunes: SCHUMANN, ST. ANDREW

This stewardship hymnline gives us a nudge toward making our offerings with a better sense of WHO our belongings belong to. To put it in context, the whole first stanza says this:

    “We give thee but thine own, whate’er the gift may be.
    All that we have is thine alone, a trust, O Lord, from thee.”

I have to be reminded of this more and more often because in our society, we are over-encouraged to amass more and keep it. In spite of all those Hoarders Shows on cable television, we don’t seem to see ourselves in the desperate people who climb over piles of stuff and are sometimes buried even unto death beneath those collections. They are in many ways we.

If what I have is a trust from God (and that IS a biblical principle), that means he trusts me to use it wisely and to share it unbegrudgingly. I cringe when I pay the escalating bills that accrue in my to-be-paid box; I bristle every time I drive away from a gas station having paid more than ten times what I once paid for a gallon of gas. These are natural reactions.

But when it comes to writing a check to my church or other worthwhile charities (Christian and otherwise), that cringing bristle should not be part of my reaction. I have to remember that God has given me custody of this money and expects me to use it well – to not waste it, but to reinvest it in his Kingdom.

It is good to be trusted. But I find that a great responsibility always accompanies a great confidence… especially from God.

Congregational Singing of SCHUMANN tune