Why Do I Sing About Jesus?

by Barbara Chadwick

 

Sometimes when I think about Jesus - about His goodness to me; then about His mercy and grace to me - I try to analyze and reason it out. Here are some reasons:

He loves me:  

             We love because He first loved us. 1John 4:19   

This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  1John 4:10 

He saves me:

For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him

            shall not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16 

           The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I  

           will praise him.  Exodus 15:2

         
          But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.  Psalm 13:5
 
          The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold
          of  my life— of whom shall I be afraid?  Psalm  27:1 

         Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my
         strength and my song;  He has become my salvation.  Isaiah 12:2 

         Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by
         which we must be saved.   Acts 4:12 

He knows me:
        
         But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. 
         Job 23:10

         … He understands and knows me… declares the LORD.  Jeremiah 9:24 

He sees me:    

         …You are the God who sees me… Genesis 16:13

His eyes are on the ways of men; He sees their every step.  Job 34:21 

            When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me.   John 12:45 

The song, Why Do I Sing About Jesus  by Albert A. Ketchum has become precious to me. 

Chorus:
Why do I sing about Jesus? Why is He precious to me? 
He is my Lord and my Savior; dying He set me free!

Verse 1:

Deep in my heart there’s a gladness; Jesus has saved me from sin! 
Praise to His name, what a Savior! Cleansing without and within!

Verse2:

Only a glimpse of His goodness; that was sufficient for me.
Only one look at the Savior; then was my spirit set free.

Chorus:

Why do I sing about Jesus? Why is He precious to me? 
He is my Lord and my Savior; dying He set me free!

Celebrate Jesus

by Barbara Chadwick

Recently we went to Dallas Jackson's first birthday party. He is one of our great-grandchildren. What a cutie. When it came time for the cake his dad stripped him down to his diaper, sat him on a plastic tablecloth on the floor and put the cake in front of him. He put his hand on the cake and, of course, it was covered with frosting. He looked at his hand then started crying. His dad wiped his hand and the action was repeated! Lots of smiles and laughter from all of us, "how cute!" remarks and lots of pictures taken. Throughout the party a DVD showed pictures of his life and the people who surround him.

We are celebrating Jesus' birthday this week. What if we celebrated each word picture we have of Jesus instead of focusing on what presents to give or what we'll get?

     The baby Jesus in the manger
     the 12 year old Jesus in the temple
     Jesus at the wedding in Cana
     All the scenes of Jesus showing mercy and grace to people
     At the end when He promises, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you...do not let   your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:27)

He showed us how to love and treat others through the eyewitness accounts - the word pictures - if you will, of the gospels.

Let us celebrate His life and the incredible gift He is to us. Let us use our voices to encourage as He did, give as He gave, love as He loved.

On His birthday let us recall the pictures of His life.

Love Is What It's All About

by Barbara Chadwick

 

Have you finished your Christmas card list yet?

Last night I addressed 80 cards to women inmates incarcerated in a facility. Each one has a number and their number has to be on the front of the envelope.

As I was writing I was struck by the fact that Jesus knows them by name not by this number. Because of His great love He came into the world that beautiful night in Bethlehem for each one of these ladies just as He did for me. Isaiah 43:1 says:  Now this is what the Lord says – (I am)  the One who created you, Jacob, and the One who formed you – Israel. Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; You are mine.

These ladies in this facility are kept in cells – in bondage. This is a picture of all of us before we ask Him to forgive us and heal us. We are held by the chains that bind us until we call on the Wonderful Counselor, until we give our hearts to the King of Kings and until we bow down to the Prince of Peace.

They have made some wrong choices, as we all have. But God doesn’t leave us or forsake us. He’s still there when we call on Him.

Jesus says in John 10:28 that when we belong to Him,  No one can snatch them (us) out of His hand.

We were watching a movie last night after I finished the cards and the protagonist said, “Love is what it’s all about.”

Absolutely!  It’s all about how much He loves us.

NATIVITY SCENE by Barbara Chadwick

Is the nativity scene still special to you? 

Does it remind you of all that God has done for you?

Remember when God brought the Israelites out of Egypt? Remember how He parted the Red Sea and they walked across on dry land? Remember all that God did for them?  Then He told Moses to tell them:

On that day tell your son, 'I do this because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.' This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the law of the LORD is to be on your lips. For the LORD brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand.  Exodus 13:8-9

When we see a Nativity scene we can remember that God loved us (His creation) SO much that He sent His only Son into the world to save us, to redeem us, to heal us and to lead us. For God so loved the world that He gave His only son so that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life. John 3:16

So if your Nativity scene is one from the Arctic Circle like the one below

Or a traditional one like the following

Let it be on your lips that the Nativity Scene is a sign to remind you that He loves you with an everlasting, awesome love!  And tell your children and everyone who comes into your home what it means.

Check out this out: The Nativity as seen by children = )

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=ki8EcnVbd-Q

CHRISTMAS REMEMBERING

by Barbara Chadwick

 

Putting up Christmas decorations some years has been a chore
and other years, like this one, it was a sweet remembering.

Our first year in seminary was pretty bleak financially speaking. We got by on $300 a month – a student missionary salary that school year of 1965-66. We would not be able to buy our three children Christmas gifts nor would we be able to get anything for each other.

From the kitchen window of seminary housing I saw a car pull up. I went to the door.

“Merry Christmas!  We have brought gifts from someone who wants to remain anonymous." The couple started bringing in gifts of all sizes. Some were wrapped in towels and sheets.  My eyes filled with tears.

When I remember that Christmas day in 1965 I echo what the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 1:3, I thank my God every time I remember you – whoever you are.

Paul often remembered others and how they touched his life; Romans 1:8 …I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you; Philippians 1:4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy;  Philemon 1:4  I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers; 2 Timothy 1:3  I thank God, whom I serve,…as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.

Remembering how God  has reached down and touched our lives through other people and the blessings they brought to us fills our hearts with gratefulness and joy. We can only hope that we have passed it on.

            Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the sky a parchment made
           Were every stalk on earth a quill and every man a scribe by trade
          To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry.
          Nor could the scroll contain the whole,  though stretched from sky to sky
              (Verse 3 from the hymn, The Love of God by F.M. Lehman 1917)

Our most elegant gift was Jesus Himself. From the manger to the tomb He touched lives with blessing, grace and joy.  We could never write a thank-you note that would equal that elegance.

We are reminded by James in chapter 1 verse 17 that…Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights…By His own choice, He gave us a new birth by the message of truth so that we would be the first fruits of His creatures.

We finished putting up our Christmas decorations Thanksgiving weekend.  The angel on the top of the tree in the living room is the one we bought for our first Christmas 55 years ago. Every ornament brings a memory of a loved one or a place where God has used us in ministry.

What a journey!  Lord Jesus, thank you for the memories, the gifts and the blessings!
 

 

How Are You Failing to Die?

“How are you failing to die?” My friend Eva was so frustrated when the Siri on her phone texted that message instead of “How are you feeling?” to a friend who had just been in a hit a run accident. In real life we have plenty of opportunities to die but God in His great mercy has numbered our days and so death narrowly misses us.

But when I heard those words it got me to thinking about the words of the apostles in the New Testament:

1 Peter 2:24 He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.

Colossians 3:10-17 Since you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you will also appear with Him in glory. Put to death therefore whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these things in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator … but Christ is all and is in all. Therefore as God’s chosen people holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love … let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts … you were called to peace and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in your richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom and as you sing psalms, hymns, spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. Do all … in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

So I ask myself … “How are you failing to die?” or rather, in view of God’s great mercies “Why are you failing to die? Are God’s kindnesses not good enough for you? Was His death for you not enough? Is the life you have in Him not exciting enough? Do you really need your old self? When you reach the end of your days will you be happy with what you’ve done? Will you be satisfied with the words and actions you kept and the ones you gave away?”

Oh God, please forgive me. Make me aware of the areas in my life where I’m not dying to myself; where I’m not living for you. Purify my heart, make it ever true; purify my heart may I be like You! Oh grant that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart would be acceptable and pleasing to You, O God, my Lord and my Redeemer. Help me to NOT fail to die!

TUNE YOUR EARS

by Barbara Chadwick

“I've found that listening to my drill instructors has given me a unique angle to look at following Christ. Just as I need to tune my ears to hear MY drill instructor's voice out of a crowd of yelling D.I.'s and obey him, we must listen for Christ's voice and learn to tune our ears to hear the Master - out of a host of voices blathering for our attention.” Kenneth Ryan Chadwick US Marine wrote to his parents during his Boot Camp training.

 Jesus said, My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me. John 10:27

 The phone rang and when I answered a voice said,

“Hi, Grandma.” 
“Hello, How are you?”
“Well, I’m not doing so good right now.”
“Which grandson is this?”
“Michael.”
“What’s up?”
“I need your help.”
“I don’t know if you knew but I’m on vacation down here in Mexico, and some of us went out for a few drinks last night and we ended up in jail and I need your help.”
“Hold on I’m going to have you talk to your grandfather.”
As I handed the phone to my husband I said, “It’s Michael but it doesn’t sound like him.”
So my husband, Kenneth, took the phone.
“Hello.”
The person repeated his story.
Kenneth said, “What is your name?”
“Michael.”
“What is your full name?”
“Michael Chadwick.”
“You’re not my grandson.”
“What?”
“You’re not my grandson.” And Kenneth hung up.

 You see, he didn’t know Michael’s full name. He didn’t know that Michael doesn’t drink and He didn’t know that we, the grandparents, take a dim view of drinking.  He didn’t know that Michael loves his wife and wouldn’t go on vacation without her. And a biggie – he didn’t realize that we know the sound of Michael’s voice. We talk to him often.

“How can we know whether we’re hearing the voice of God?”

·         Scripture  All scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the man of God may thoroughly equipped for every good work.  II Timothy 3:16-17

·         The Holy Spirit speaking to our heart  This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people. Hebrews 8:10

·         The Prophetic (Word of Knowledge, Word of Wisdom, Personal Prophecy) Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. I Thessalonians 5:19-21

·         Godly Counsel   For lack of guidance a nation falls, but many advisers make victory sure.  Proverbs 11:14

·         Confirmation  But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’  Matthew 18:16

·         The Peace of God  Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.  Colossians 3:15

·         Circumstance/Timing   After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them and because he was a tentmaker, as they were, he stayed and worked with them.  Acts 18:1-3 (This relationship between Paul, Aquila and Priscilla - which happened as a result of circumstances – became one of the most important strategic partnerships in the book of Acts.)”

(from Craig von Buseck, Ministries Director for CBN.com)

 

So talk to God often. (i.e. Pray) Read His word often. Know His teachings. And let us,  “tune our ears to hear the Master - out of a host of voices blathering for our attention.”