"I Need Thee"

(Friends,  during our time away, a number of thoughts and experiences occurred that crystalized into messages I'll send along this week.  Thanks, Glen)

"I Need Thee"

    

    Mr. Marion got me with the last hymn he played.

"I need Thee every hour, every hour I need Thee,  

o bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee."

    We stopped in Savannah, Georgia for a day and a half on the way home from the mountains of Virginia.  Savannah is much like our home city of Mobile, Alabama, multiplied several fold.  Lush green parks grace the downtown area.  Beautiful architecture of days gone by remains on and inside preserved homes, businesses, and government buildings.  We spent most of our time in Savannah simply walking city streets as we added probably 15-20 miles to the 50 mile hike we enjoyed in the mountains (a lot flatter, and much better restaurants in the town, I must say!).  

    We encountered Mr. Marion in one of the parks on the evening before our departure.  He plays the flute, and as we sat down one one of the benches, the strains of his music reached our ears before we knew from whence it came.  Mostly hymns wafted on the breeze of a beautiful end of the day twilight.  Mr. Marion seems to especially love "Give Me That Old Time Religion" (yes, Lord, please give us some of that!).  He played other melodies, including an occasional folk song and show tune.  Again, however, he got me with "I Need Thee".

    "Frances, I've got to meet and thank whoever is playing that music."  She followed me over to the bench on which Mr. Marion sat and relaxed during a musical interlude.   I introduced myself and thanked him for the gift of his music.  "My name is Marion" responded the elderly African-American gentleman.  "Like John Wayne, you know" (Marion Robert Morrison was the famous actor's given name).  We talked for a few minutes, I made a contribution to the tarnished silver bucket that sat at Mr. Marion's feet, and I told him how much I appreciated his rendition of "I Need Thee".  He looked at me and smiled.  "I'll tell you what" he said.  "I going to serenade you and your wife as you walk away.  Mr. Marion placed flute to lips, and we turned to leave with the melody of "Amazing Grace" escorting us from the park.  I looked back, hoping to make eye contact and wave farewell to him.  He was into his music, however, yes, Mr. Marion was into God's amazing grace.

    I share this so you'll know about Mr. Marion.  Even more, however, I want to serve you as Mr. Marion served us with his musical reminder of how much we need our blessed Lord Jesus Christ.  Certainly every believer knows in principle that we need the Lord, and that we need Him every hour.  Our flesh is prone to pride, however, and is even more disposed to forgetting the fundamental reality of our existence as God's dependent creations.  "Without Me, ye can do nothing" declared the Lord Jesus, a revelation of the human condition echoed by the Apostle Paul's confession of "no confidence in the flesh" (John 15:5; Philippians 3:3).  Any reminder of such truth serves us well, and Frances and I know the great old hymn well enough that its mere melody is enough to bear witness to God's faithfulness and our need.

    I hope to see Mr. Marion again.  I hope to hear Mr. Marion again.  Whether this happens or not, I will remember him, and I will recall the sound of his songs as they blessed us on a pleasant, late spring evening in Savannah.  Most of all, I will remember "I Need Thee" when I think of Mr. Marion, in musical memory, but even more, in meaningful message.  

"We had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead."

(II Corinthians 1:9)

"He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool."

(Proverbs 28:26)

"Trust in the Lord with all thy heart."

(Proverbs 3:5)

Weekly Memory Verse

     Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.

(II Thessalonians 2:16-17)

   

"Unseen Eyes"

(Friends,  during our time away, a number of thoughts and experiences occurred that crystalized into messages I'll send along this week.  Thanks, Glen)

"Unseen Eyes"

    

    Other than birds and a few  squirrels, we see very little wildlife when hiking the Appalachian Trail.  That's fine with us as we are far more interested in views of trees, foliage, mountains, streams, rivers, and beautiful vistas.

    Of course, multitudes of animals live on the A.T.  They just don't like humans and thus tend to shy away from the trails on which we walk.  I often feel sets of eyes on us, although that may just be my imagination.  Again, it's fine with me that Billy Bear, Felicia Fox, and Sylvester Snake have no interest in our company, and I'm pretty glad they steer clear of our path.

    We live our lives in view of many sets of unseen eyes, as it were.  Some seek our benefit - "the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous" - while others look for opportunities to do us harm - "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (Psalm 34:15; I Peter 5:8).  Thus, the unseen eyes offer both blessing and challenge.  The Lord's eyes speak promise, comfort, encouragement, and blessedness to our hearts.  Conversely, the eyes of Satan and his minions look for ways to tempt and assault us, as God allows.  We live in a creation that teems with spiritual entities that cannot be seen, but who look upon us with utmost interest, both loving and malevolent.

    We do well to frequently remember and remind each other of the spiritual nature of our existence.  Things often seem merely naturalistic for even the most devout believer, and we all sometimes forget that "the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal" (II Corinthians 4:18).  The Apostle Paul also wrote that "to be spiritually minded is life and peace" (Romans 8:6).  We are not alone, a truth that speaks to us of both friends and enemies.  Most importantly, our Heavenly Father looks upon us with a gaze of love that does not veer or waver.  Such remembrance prepares us for other unseen eyes that seek our harm and unrest.  Greater, infinitely greater, are the former Eyes, and looking to them ensures our ongoing walk of faith amid both blessings and challenges.

"Thou God seeth me."

(Genesis 16:13)

"I will look for Him."

(Isaiah 8:17)

Weekly Memory Verse

     Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.

(II Thessalonians 2:16-17)

   

“Opportunities For Prayer"

(Friends,  during our time away, a number of thoughts and experiences occurred that crystalized into messages I'll send along this week.  Thanks, Glen)

"Opportunities For Prayer"

    

    We encountered a dangerous place on the Appalachian Trail during our hike last week.  Rather than the stony paths that characterize most of the Trail, we came upon a shelf of rock that required our climbing up and down in order to make our way.  This would have been no problem, except for the narrowness of the shelf - and the steep precipice that bordered the rock.  Any slip to the right would have led to a disastrous, likely fatal fall.  I'm glad to say that we navigated the challenge, by God's good grace, and I'm also glad to now have a new opportunity for prayer, namely for those who will come upon this particularly difficult part of the Appalachian Trail.

   "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men" (I Timothy 2:1).

    So many glories of the aforementioned "God's good grace" present themselves in our privileged calling to pray for others.  We honor and please our Heavenly Father when we commune with Him (Proverbs 15:8).  We also serve as "laborers together with God" in the fulfillment of His purposes (I Corinthians 3:9).  Our hearts are filled with the fulfillment that only comes as we consciously walk with the Life of our lives (Philippians 1:21).  And in the current consideration, God grants to us the possibility of having impact and effect on others in countless ways of "supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks".  I have no doubt we experienced that rocky shelf for the purpose of remembering its hazard, and even more, for remembering to pray for those who encounter the challenge.

    Of course, our main intercession will involve relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ in those for whom we pray.  We can be confident of the potential for such illumination in this circumstance because "the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead" (Romans 1:21).  I thought much about this blessed Truth as we walked the Trail.  Both the beauty and the challenge of a walk in the woods speak to the reality of their Creator, and of dependence on Him for "life and breath and all things" (Acts 17:25).  Creation exists to redound with the sound of His dynamically involved existence, and that rocky ledge speaks forth with messages to all who will listen.  Our privileged responsibility calls us to pray that people will hear and realize Who it is that communicates His truth in "the things that are made".

   Opportunities for prayer.  They present themselves far more than we realize, imparting the possibility for God's trusting children in Christ to powerfully impact people in countless ways.  Or rather, we serve as the means whereby God impacts people through our intercession for His glory and their benefit.  What a gift, what a privilege, and what a responsibility!  That rocky ledge spoke of such things to my and Frances's hearts, and we rejoice in it ongoing calling to approach our Heavenly Father for those who will encounter its challenge and its message.

"And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory."

(Isaiah 6:3)

Weekly Memory Verse

     Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.

(II Thessalonians 2:16-17)