Come, Holy Ghost, Our Hearts Inspire

 ...but just as it is written, "Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.  For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.  1 Corinthians 2:9-10

Come, Holy Ghost, Our Hearts Inspire

Charles Wesley (1707-1788)

Come, Holy Ghost, our hearts inspire,
let us Thine influence prove;

source of the old prophetic fire,

fountain of life and love.

Come, Holy Ghost, for moved by Thee

the prophets wrote and spoke;

unlock the truth, Thyself the key,

unseal the sacred book.

Expand Thy wings, celestial Dove,

brook o'er our nature's night;

on our disordered spirits move,

and let there now be light.

God, through Himself, we then shall know

if Thou within us shine,

and sound with all Thy saints below,

the depts of love divine.

.....

Two Scripture passages are in this hymn: the very first Biblical reference to the Holy Spirit and one of the last.  Genesis 1:2 finds the Holy Spirit "hovering over the waters" involved in creation.  The earth has just been described as "formless and empty" but the Spirit oversees the ordering of our world.  In the next verse, light shines at God's command and the rest of that chapter details the forming of a creation that God said was "good."

2 Peter 1:19-21 urges the readers to pay attention to the word of the prophets, "as to a light shining in a dark place."  These prophets were inspired by God, "as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."

If you are familiar with Charles Wesley, he has included solid theology into this hymn.  The Spirit brings order out of our chaos. He shines light into our dark places.  He does this through the Scriptures.  He unlocks the truth spoken by the ancient prophets so it makes sense in modern times.

.....

Come, Holy Ghost, Our Hearts Inspire - YouTube
tune is called 'St Stephen' - composed by William Jones (1726-1800)

Hymn 261 Come Holy Ghost, our hearts inspire - YouTube
Melody: TALLIS’ ORDINAL (Thomas Tallis, c.1505-1585)
'St Columba' - which is listed as an 'Irish Melody'.

Come Holy Ghost Our Hearts Inspire - YouTube

The Sheep and their Master's voice

 John 10:3-4 reads, "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice."

The video below is a great visual representation of this concept: the sheep know their Master's voice.

Do sheep only obey their Master's voice? - YouTube

May 2022 DSW - The Holy Spirit

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Romans 15:13

Have you often wondered at the role and character of the Holy Spirit?  It seems that many of us do not quite understand this mysterious third person of the Triune God.  Here are 31 Bible verses that should give you a little more insight.  Write out one verse each day in a notebook or binder each day in May; they are just a verse or two and should only take you a few minutes to copy.  Then reflect on the verse that day and ask God to give you deeper understanding.

Thanks for reading!

Either save to your computer to print out; it is formatted to be a A5/half sheet of paper.  Or copy the verse references into your notebook.

At The Moment of Salvation #3 -- A Weekly Series

  ...that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; or with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.  Romans 10:9-10

At the moment of salvation, every believer in Jesus Christ receives 40 things from God. Of the 40 things, 39 of them are permanent and can never be removed from the believer - even by God himself! The only temporary thing is the Filling of the Holy Spirit which we lose due to our own free will to act against God. We can repeatedly gain the Filling of the Spirit following confession of our known sins to the Father.

3. Regeneration

We are "regenerated" or "born again" through the agency of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit creates a human spirit for the new believer. so that the new believer is "born again." John 3:1-12, Titus 3:5, Romans 8:16, 1 Corinthians 2:14

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him." In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." "How can this be?" Nicodemus asked. "You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? (John 3:1-12)

He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, (Titus 3:5)

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. (Romans 8:16)

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14)

  .....

There is a lot of information in this list (and I haven't taken it all in or deeply studied it yet, either) so don't worry if you don't understand it all.  Just take little bites and keep studying.  I'm going to make a list of them with the Scripture references to go into my personal Bible Reference binder.

If you have questions about becoming a believer, please comment to me and I will do my best to point you in the right direction.  Or, find a Christian you know to ask them about it, or go to a trusted pastor. 

The Forty Things Received at Salvation (egracebiblechurch.org) 

PART ONE Staying Salty: Forty Gifts At The Moment of Salvation #2 (A weekly series) (saltedstudy.blogspot.com)

PART TWO Staying Salty: Forty Gifts At The Moment of Salvation - #1 (saltedstudy.blogspot.com)

Redeemed

 ...knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.  For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.  1 Peter 1:18-21

Redeemed

Fanny Jane Crosby (1820-1915)

Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it!

Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;

Redeemed through His infinite mercy,
His child, and forever, I am.

Redeemed, redeemed,

Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.

Redeemed, redeemed,

His child, and forever, I am.

Redeemed and so happy in Jesus,

No language my rapture can tell;

I know that the light of His presence

with me doth continually dwell.

I think of my blessed Redeemer,

I think of Him all the day long;

I sing, for I cannot be silent;

His love is the theme of my song.

I know I shall see in His beauty

the King in whose law I delight;

Who lovingly guardeth my footsteps,

and giveth me songs in the night.

.....

I remember singing many Fanny Crosby songs out of the hymnal when I was a child growing up in the church and my mom taught me a bit about her.  Fanny was just a few weeks old when a doctor placed hot poultices on her eyes to draw out an infection.  However, this did not work and Fanny became blind.  She didn't start writing hymns until she was forty years old but she made up for lost time, writing around 8,000 poems that were set to music.  These poems are filled with joy and longing for the Lord.  "Redeemed and so happy in Jesus" is not just a line that sounds good in a hymn, it is the story of Crosby's life.  She may have been blinded to the light of this world, but Fanny Crosby had a light shining in her soul.

.....

More on Fanny Crosby:  

Fanny Crosby Biography | Inspirational Christians

Fanny Crosby › Texts | Hymnary.org

Fanny Crosby - Wikipedia

Redeemed † With Lyrics - YouTube

April 2022 Scripture Journaling

 April 21

Galatians 2:20

Forty Gifts At The Moment of Salvation #2 (A weekly series)

At the moment of salvation, every believer in Jesus Christ receives 40 things from God. Of the 40 things, 39 of them are permanent and can never be removed from the believer - even by God himself! The only temporary thing is the Filling of the Holy Spirit which we lose due to our own free will to act against God. We can repeatedly gain the Filling of the Spirit following confession of our known sins to the Father.

.....

2. Justification

As a result of this imputed righteousness, we are "declared righteous" or justified by God the Father. We are vindicated as believers because the justice of God the Father was satisfied by the substitutionary spiritual death of Jesus Christ on the cross who paid the sin penalty for all of our sins. He was our substitute and was found righteous in this payment. Romans 3:24-30.

And are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished--he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. (Romans 3:24-30)

.....

I copied this from another website (it is listed below).  But this was too good to not share with you.  I have made a list of them with the Scripture references to go into my personal Bible Reference binder.   

There is a lot of information in this list (and I haven't taken it all in or deeply studied it yet) so don't worry if you don't understand it all.  Just take little bites and keep studying.  

If you have questions about becoming a believer, please comment to me and I will do my best to point you in the right direction.  Or, find a Christian you know to ask them about it, or go to a trusted pastor. 

.....

 The Forty Things Received at Salvation (egracebiblechurch.org)