JUST A VERY OLD HYMN

 

Monday, May 18, 2026

 

JUST A VERY OLD HYMN

 

Ps 121:5-7

5 The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord  is thy shade upon thy right hand.

6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.

 

This morning I’d like to offer just a very old hymn for you to devotionally consider. “Immortal, Invisible” was written by Walter C. Smith in 1876. America was 100 years old. The American flag had only 37 stars. Ulysses S. Grant, a Republican from New York was our President. The Civil War was over, and reconstruction was underway. The Presidential election of November 7 ended in dispute with 184 electoral college votes for Samuel Tilden and 165 for Rutherford B. Hayes. 20 votes were in dispute, and the outcome of the election was not determined until 1877. This sounds somewhat familiar.

 

Perhaps that is too much history for so early in the morning, but it points out that our present time – so characterized by controversy, violence and change – is not the first period of instability our nation has endured. While all this was going on, Walter C. Smith wrote about a wonderful, unchanging, and very stable God!

 

Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise

 

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great Name we praise.

 

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might;
Thy justice, like mountains, high soaring above
Thy clouds, which are fountains of goodness and love.

 

To all, life Thou givest, to both great and small;
In all life Thou livest, the true life of all;
We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
And wither and perish but naught changeth Thee.

 

Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
But of all Thy rich graces this grace, Lord, impart
Take the veil from our faces, the vile from our heart.

 

All laud we would render; O help us to see
'Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee,
And so let Thy glory, almighty, impart,
Through Christ in His story, Thy Christ to the heart.

 

Dear God! Thank you for being a great big God. AMEN

 

WORSHIP TAKES TIME!

 

Saturday, May 16, 2026

 

WORSHIP TAKES TIME!

 

Luke 10:41-42

41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:

42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

 

          We usually join Jesus in condemning Martha’s whiny attitude, but I suspect Martha simply wanted to trade places with her sister. Martha wanted to sit at the feet of Jesus as well – or instead. The harder she worked the more she missed the sweet fellowship her sister enjoyed with the Master.

 

          I also understand that when I use the word “worship” today many people get a vision of five guitars and a set of drums, but the word worship has been hijacked. Worship is adoration of God regardless of its manifestation. Mary simply sat near Jesus and engaged in quiet conversation. While she worshipped, she had stopped working.

 

          Many of you are so busy right now that worship has been crowded out. Like Martha, you miss it but there are things to be done. Graduations, Memorial Day weekend, and the start of Summer has you in a frenzy. But it is worship you long for and worship you need.

 

Ps 27:4

4 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.

 

Dear Lord, give me wisdom enough to differentiate between the urgent things and the good things. Let me make worship a priority. AMEN

PURE THOUGHTS!

 

Friday, May 15, 2026

 

PURE THOUGHTS!

 

Phil 4:8

8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

 

          Warren Wiersbe quotes Dr. Walter Cavert who reported the results of a survey on worry indicating that only 8 percent of the things people worried about were legitimate matters of concern! The other 92 percent were either imaginary, never happened, or involved matters over which the people had no control anyway.

 

          The word “pure” is the Greek word hagnos and means “innocent, modest, perfect, chaste, and clean.” So much of that which bombards our ears, eyes, and minds today are anything but pure. Thinking pure thoughts is not easy therefore it must be intentional.

 

          The word “think” is the Greek logizomai and literally means “to take inventory.” Such thinking is done intentionally – even with much labor.

 

          Pure thinking results in pure actions as we see from the very next verse.

 

Phil 4:9

9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

 

Dear Lord, help me to intentionally think pure thoughts and perform pure actions. AMEN