BE NOT FAR FROM ME!

 

Wednesday, May 20, 2026

 

BE NOT FAR FROM ME!

 

Ps 35:22

O LORD: keep not silence: O Lord, be not far from me.

 

Acts 17:25-28

…he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being…

 

The most difficult times for me are those times when God seems far away. Oh, I know with my mind that He is everywhere and that He is near, even in my heart, but there are times when I need Him so badly to be within reach. I need to sense His presence, and I need to hear his voice. Like a child who pillows his head on his mother’s breast I need to feel His breath on my cheek. Many are the times when my soul cries out to God, for the comfort of His presence.

 

Many are the songs that have been written and sung about our human longing for the divine. “Abide with me” is one and “Nearer my God to Thee” is another. These songs remind us of the great gulf that sin has now fixed between us and our God. Yet our very soul was made for the same fellowship with Him that Adam enjoyed in the cool of the evening.

 

Job deeply felt the absence of God although God was every moment observing his calamity. It may seem cruel to us, but God had set in motion a test for Job that would put Satan to open shame. Job was required to remain faithful to an absentee God. So, it seems often to us. We feel that we must walk the trail of tears alone, yet God is there and He will arrive just in time.

 

Ps 56:3

3 What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

 

Dear Lord, I know with my head that Thou art there, but my spirit needs Thee now. Be not far from me. AMEN

 

COMMENCEMENT TIME

 

Tuesday, May 19, 2026

 

COMMENCEMENT TIME

 

Jer 29:11

11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

 

          It’s commencement time! Some have already graduated while others wait to turn their rings and tassels. Both pride and uncertainty excite and energize them. Questions about the future hang heavily in the air like moisture on a humid day.

 

          The march music we hear at every graduation, and known as “Pomp and Circumstance,” is actually “Land of Hope and Glory” composed by Edward Elgar and the words are by A. C. Benson. It was produced on the occasion of the coronation of King Edward VII. The words are as follows:

 

Land of hope and glory, mother of the free,

How shall we extol thee, who are born of thee?

Wider still and wider shall thy bounds be set;

God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet,

God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet.

 

          In our scripture above, the children of Israel were going into captivity in 597 BC. Jeremiah gave them words of encouragement saying that God had plans for them. Plans of peace and not evil. Those plans would be finished because God is powerful, purposeful and patient. He would not fail them. They could trust Him. They would be returned, in time, to the land of hope and glory!

 

Dear Lord, Thank you for a sure and expected end. Bless all who are about to embark on a marvelous journey called commencement. AMEN

 

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