September 25, 2005

Have faith in God –
His law condemns the sinners’ sin;
Have faith in God –
For grace to bring lost sinners in;
Have faith in God –
That their salvation may begin.
Have faith, dear friend, in God.

Fade, Fade, Each Earthly Joy

Jane Catharine Lundie Bonar, 1821-1884

    Love the Lord, all his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful, but the proud he pays back in full. Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:23, 24.

    Each of us was created for the purpose of enjoying the fellowship of Almighty God. Our souls were made for eternity, not for this brief earthly pilgrimage alone. The Christian life should be lived each day as though we were already enjoying the blessings of heaven. We deprive ourselves of one of life's greatest treasures when we lose this perspective and become bogged down with the trivialities of earthly living.
    An intimate fellowship with our LORD should produce at least three basic differences in our living:

• More humility--a greater realization of our finiteness and the need for dependence upon God.
• More happiness--a realization that this life has purpose and dignity as we represent God. And then a promised eternity in heaven with our Lord.
• More holiness--a greater desire to be a worthy representative for God and to live a life of absolute purity.

    The author of this lovely devotional hymn text, Jane C. Bonar, was the wife of Dr. Horatius Bonar, generally regarded as the greatest of evangelical Scottish preachers and hymn writers. Jane, too, was a very gifted writer and Christian leader. For more than forty years the Bonars shared life's sorrows and joys together in a rich ministry for God. These devotional thoughts are still the sentiments of every spiritually mature follower of Christ.

Fade, fade, each earthly joy, Jesus is mine!
Break every tender tie, Jesus is mine!
Dark is the wilderness, Earth has no resting place,
Jesus alone can bless, Jesus is mine!

Tempt not my soul away, Jesus is mine!
Here would I ever stay, Jesus is mine!
Perishing things of clay, born but for one brief day,
Pass from my heart away, Jesus is mine!

Farewell, ye dreams of night, Jesus is mine!
Lost in this dawning bright, Jesus is mine!
All that my soul has tried left but a dismal void;
Jesus has satisfied, Jesus is mine!

Farewell, mortality, Jesus is mine!
Welcome, eternity, Jesus is mine!
Welcome, oh, loved and blest, welcome sweet scenes of rest,
Welcome, my Savior’s breast, Jesus is mine!

Have Faith in God by H.M.S. Richards, Used by Permission