Devotions for Lent (Ebook Shorts) , livre ebook

© 2010 by Robert J. Morgan
Published by Revell
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.revellbooks.com
ISBN 978-1-4412-4044-6
This ebook is comprised of excerpts from Robert J. Morgan, Near to the Heart of God: Meditations on 366 Best-Loved Hymns (Grand Rapids: Revell, 2010).
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Scripture marked KJV is taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
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Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Day 1: Footprints of Jesus
Day 2: Trusting Jesus
Day 3: Anywhere with Jesus
Day 4: All the Way My Savior Leads Me
Day 5: The Lord’s Prayer
Day 6: Blessed Assurance
Day 7: He Leadeth Me
Day 8: Tell Me the Story of Jesus
Day 9: Jesus! What a Friend for Sinners
Day 10: Since Jesus Came into My Heart
Day 11: Holy, Holy, Holy
Day 12: ’Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus
Day 13: Just As I Am
Day 14: Softly and Tenderly
Day 15: Now Thank We All Our God
Day 16: Fairest Lord Jesus
Day 17: Peace, Perfect Peace
Day 18: Face to Face
Day 19: Safe in the Arms of Jesus
Day 20: O Worship the King
Day 21: A Child of the King
Day 22: The Solid Rock
Day 23: Take My Life and Let It Be
Day 24: Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross
Day 25: Where Shall My Wondering Soul Begin?
Day 26: Revive Us Again
Day 27: Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
Day 28: All Glory, Laud and Honor
Day 29: Moment by Moment
Day 30: In the Cross of Christ I Glory
Day 31: At Calvary
Day 32: O Sacred Head, Now Wounded
Day 33: Calvary Covers It All
Day 34: Jesus Christ, Our Blessèd Savior
Day 35: I Stand Amazed in the Presence
Day 36: Behold the Savior of Mankind
Day 37: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
Day 38: Crown Him with Many Crowns
Day 39: I Know That My Redeemer Lives
Day 40: What If It Were Today?
About the Author
Back Cover
Day 1 Footprints of Jesus

On many occasions, we sang this hymn in the mountain church where I was raised. Mary Bridges Slade was an educator by trade, a pastor’s wife by marriage, and a hymnist by grace. “Footprints of Jesus,” her best-known hymn, follows the footsteps of Christ through the three years of His ministry and on to heaven, reminding us that we’re to follow in His steps.
Sweetly, Lord, have we heard Thee calling,
Come, follow Me!
And we see where Thy footprints falling
Lead us to Thee.
Though they lead o’er the cold, dark mountains,
Seeking His sheep;
Or along by Siloam’s fountains,
Helping the weak.
If they lead through the temple holy,
Preaching the Word;
Or in homes of the poor and lowly,
Serving the Lord.
Then at last when on high He sees us,
Our journey done,
We will rest where the steps of Jesus
End at His throne.
Footprints of Jesus,
That make the pathway glow;
We will follow the steps of Jesus
Where’er they go.

He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.
Matthew 9:9
Day 2 Trusting Jesus

Simple, daily faith saves us from chronic worry. When we abide in Christ and rest in His promises, no alarm can overwhelm us for long, and no anxiety can sustain its attack. That’s the theme of this beloved song written by Edgar P. Stites, a Civil War veteran and riverboat captain. Stites was converted in the revival of 1857 and became a Methodist preacher. He wrote “Trusting Jesus” in 1876. Evangelist D. L. Moody saw the words in a newspaper and handed the clipping to his music director, Ira Sankey, who wrote the melody and popularized it in the Moody-Sankey campaigns.
Simply trusting every day,
Trusting through a stormy way;
Even when my faith is small,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.
Singing if my way is clear,
Praying if the path be drear;
If in danger for Him call;
Trusting Jesus, that is all.
Trusting Him while life shall last,
Trusting Him till earth be past;
Till within the jasper wall,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.
Trusting as the moments fly,
Trusting as the days go by;
Trusting Him whate’er befall,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.

My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped.
Psalm 28:7
Day 3 Anywhere with Jesus

In the early 1800s, John Cadbury, a Quaker and teetotaler, opened a coffee and tea shop in the center of Birmingham, England. He soon became known for his cocoa, giving rise to the Cadbury Chocolate Company. John’s granddaughter, Helen, became an heir of the Cadbury fortune. A dedicated Christian, Helen married the famous song leader Charles M. Alexander, and the two traveled the world for Christ and founded the Pocket Testament League. Charles died of a heart attack in 1920 at age fifty-three. Helen labored for Christ until her death in 1969 at age ninety-two. She isn’t primarily known as a hymnist, but she did contribute the last two stanzas to this great old hymn by Jessie Pounds.
Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go,
Anywhere He leads me in this world below;
Anywhere without Him dearest joys would fade;
Anywhere with Jesus I am not afraid.
Anywhere with Jesus, over land and sea,
Telling souls in darkness of salvation free;
Ready as He summons me to go or stay,
Anywhere with Jesus when He points the way.
Anywhere with Jesus I can go to sleep,
When the darkening shadows round about me creep,
Knowing I shall waken nevermore to roam;
Anywhere with Jesus will be home, sweet home.
Anywhere, anywhere! Fear I cannot know;
Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go.

Wherever you send us we will go.
Joshua 1:16
Day 4 All the Way My Savior Leads Me

Blinded at infancy, Fanny Crosby grew up to be a renowned poet. In early 1864, her pastor, Rev. Peter Stryker, suggested she visit the famous hymn publisher William Bradbury. On February 2, 1864, she met Bradbury in his office in New York. “Fanny,” he said, “I thank God that we have at last met; for I think you can write hymns.” Fanny, age forty-four, took up the challenge, and three days later she gave him the first of the approximately eight thousand hymns that she would compose. While that first hymn, “We Are Going to a Home Beyond the Skies,” is seldom sung today, my favorite Crosby hymn, written in 1875, is still sung around the world “All the Way My Savior Leads Me.”