Blessing Others (05-10-20)

Blessing Others (05-10-20)

Hymns

Within The Veil


Words: Freda Hanbury Allen
Music: Anonymous

This week’s hymn is “Within the Veil” by Freda Hanbury Allen. This is a very sweet and intimate hymn that portrays the special inner life that we may have with Christ.

In the Old Testament, there was a tabernacle (and later a temple) that was erected for the worship of God. There was an outer court where there was an altar that all of God’s people could come to offer their sacrifices with the help of the priests. Then there was the Holy Place where the priests often went into to serve in various ways. Within the Holy Place, there was the innermost sanctuary separated by a veil called the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant and the very presence of God were. The Holy of Holies could only be accessed on one day of the year, the Day of Atonement, only by the high priest.

So why do I give this lengthy history lesson? Because things are different now! Praise God! Christ has come to establish the New Testament, the new and living way that we may have boldness to enter into the very presence of God (Hebrews 10:19-20)! When Jesus died on the Cross, the veil was torn from top to bottom (Matt. 27:51), which signifies that the way into the Holy of Holies is now open for all of God’s people. We may now have boldness and confidence to draw near to God (Heb. 10:19-22), to come into God’s very presence, all because of Christ and His sacrifice on our behalf.

So this is just the foundation that needs to laid for this hymn to make any sense and why it’s so special. Instead of merely coming into God’s presence once a year (or for all of us who are not high priests, that means never!), we may draw near all the time, we can live our whole lives in the very presence of God. Verse 1: “Within the Veil, be this, beloved, thy portion” — this is what Jesus Christ has made available to us. God doesn’t want a people that are far off, trembling with fear because they are sinful and unworthy to come to Him (though we very much are, Jesus’ blood was shed for us, and He is our Way to come to God!), He wants a people that will dwell with Him, that He may dwell with.

It is this close and intimate relationship that we may have with God now that offers us the experiences that we need to be changed. When we behold the glory of the Lord, we are transformed into His image (2 Cor 3:18), He changes us to be like Him. This is what this hymn discusses. We are not changed by endeavoring to alter our behavior. We do not become more godly and spiritual by trying to follow some outward set of rules by our own strength. No, it is simply beholding the Lord, spending time with Him, allowing Him to reveal more of Himself to us and in us, to shine on us, to ‘tune’ and adjust us in the way that He sees fit.

For some of us, we may take for granted that we may come to the Lord and spend time in His presence. In a way, it is so easy for our spiritual lives to become common and mundane, mostly because our view is small and our earthly lives are often also so common and mundane and we project that onto God and our spiritual lives. I would like to offer to us all a word of warning, and a word of encouragement. Because we are dealing with the God of the universe, we must take caution to not take our interactions with Him lightly; there ought to be a kind of godly fear and reverence in us to give Him the respect and love that He deserves. The word of encouragement: we are dealing with the God of the universe! In Him is all that we need! He is our way, our life, our truth, our everything! We must expect from Him that, as He has made the way to come to Him and dwell with Him, He will also grant us, in His perfect timing and way, the perfect experiences of Him that will supply us AND transform us to be like Him. Our interactions with God are not a small thing!

I feel that I could say lots more about this hymn, but I feel that already I have said too much. I hope and pray that the Lord can bring each one of us into a deeper relationship with Him, that we would have many experiences of beholding God face to face, that we would really have a life and living ‘within the veil’, and that He would change us all to be more like Him. Praise the Lord for the new and living way that He has made available to us! May we be faithful to come to and remain in His presence and behold His glory!

–Ian K

1.
“Within the Veil:” be this, beloved, thy portion,
Within the secret of thy Lord to dwell;
Beholding Him, until thy face His glory,
Thy life His love, thy lips His praise shall tell.

2.
“Within the Veil,” for only as thou gazest
Upon the matchless beauty of His face,
Canst thou become a living revelation
Of His great heart of love, His untold grace.

3.
“Within the Veil,” His fragrance poured upon thee,
Without the Veil, that fragrance shed abroad;
“Within the Veil,” His hand shall tune the music
Which sounds on earth the praises of Thy Lord.

4.
“Within the Veil,” thy spirit deeply anchored,
Thou walkest calm above a world of strife;
“Within the Veil,” thy soul with Him united,
Shall live on earth His resurrection life.

O Jesus, Come and Wrestle Me


Words: Ian Konopinski
Music: Shulamite Konopinski

I was inspired by the message last week about Jacob wrestling with God. I took some time this week and wrote a poem as I reflected on the story, and asked my lovely and talented wife to write a tune for it. I hope that we all can enter into another level of appreciation of what wrestling with God can mean as it applies to our lives.

Though there are so many interesting details in this story, perhaps one that is most prominent to me is the outcome of the wrestling match: Jacob (whose name is changed to Israel during the tussle) walks with a limp for the rest of his life. I oftentimes think that to be spiritually mature means that a person will be strong, confident, and very sure of themselves (not to mention, they must pray continuously and float off the ground 3 feet because they’re so holy!). Needless to say, I probably have a very ‘unspiritual’ view of what it means to be spiritually mature. Much to our surprise, what this story opens up to us is a glimpse of what a transformed man of God looks like: someone that limps. In fact, a transformed person is very strong and confident—but not in themselves. “For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh” (Phil 3:3, NKJV). “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest on me. . . . For when I am weak, then I am strong” (II Cor. 12:9-10b).

May the Lord give us all grace and mercy as we welcome Him to wrestle with us more, that we can have more experiences of Him touching us where we need it to break our own fleshly strengths, and ultimately that we could be those who limp because we have been broken by God so we must lean on Him, trust in Him, and rely only on Him, and allow Him to be our Strength and our Everything.

—Ian K

1.
O Jesus, come and wrestle me,
Too long I’ve wandered aimlessly,
In me, You have not reigned as King,
To be my Strength, my Everything.
O Jesus, come and wrestle me,
From sin’s cruel reign, I’ll ne’er be free
Until this tyrant self You fight
And conquer him with grace’s might.

2.
O Jesus, come and wrestle me;
Though I invite reluctantly;
For sin and self are far too strong,
You’ll have to fight the whole night long.
O Jesus, come and wrestle me,
Your love and grace and pow’r I see,
How long You sought to work within!
At last I yield, now fully win.

3.
O Jesus, come and wrestle me,
For You know all my deepest need;
Lord, in Your mercy, You draw nigh,
By touching, break my strongest thigh.
O Jesus, come and wrestle me,
I will hold on, Your blessing seek;
You change my name, transformed to be
A man that’s weak, who on You leans.

4.
O Jesus, You have wrestled me,
Forever changed my life will be;
Self-life deposed, my weakness seen,
Now I on You can only lean.
O Jesus, You have wrestled me,
My life forever Yours will be,
You’re all my strength, my Everything,
O’er all my life, You reign as King.

Nothing But The Blood

(For The Lord’s Table)

1.
What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Chorus
Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

2.
For my cleansing this I see—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
For my pardon this my plea—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

3.
Nothing can my sin erase
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
Naught of works, ’tis all of grace—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

4.
This is all my hope and peace—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
This is all my righteousness—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!


Children’s Content

Song

Coloring Page


Message

”Blessing Others”


Message given by Rex Beck for May 10, 2020

Genesis 37:31-35
31 Then they took Joseph’s robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son’s robe or not.” 33 And he identified it and said, “It is my son’s robe. A fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.” 34 Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.

Genesis 42:36
36 And Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you would take Benjamin. All this has come against me.”

Genesis 43:14
14 May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, and may he send back your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”

Genesis 45:26-46:4
26 And they told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them. 27 But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. 28 And Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”

So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.”

Genesis 47:7-10
Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and stood him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?” And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.” 10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.


A message for your enjoyment throughout the week

visions and revelations: message 8
John the Baptist

2 thoughts on “Blessing Others (05-10-20)

  1. Lord thank you, you have the way to fill us with all of who You are. All our life all we think about is filling ourselves with all the things we think are important, enjoyable, special and self satisfying, but we see that you want all of who you are to fill our very being. I thank you that you are the one that will remove what is not life giving in us and replace the things of the spirit. Thank you Lord for operating in us in your way which is perfect.

Comments are closed.