Oft We Come Together

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

Audio version at http://tinyurl.com/2nkkfm

Worship should be a time to commune with God. It is a time to praise Him in song, reflect upon His word, partake of the Lord’s Supper, talk to Him in prayer, and give of our means. Sometimes worship can be less than what it should be. In a time-conscious culture the mechanics of worship sometime overshadow the meaning of worship. In other words, sometimes we may be guilty of going through the motions and not adequately reflecting on the meaning of our worship.

Any area of worship can become routine and lose its meaning if we focus on the wrong things. Take, for example, the Lord’s Supper. At one place I preached this part of worship was left for the very last part of the worship hour. There’s nothing wrong with that. But if a prayer went especially long, a few extra verses were sung or if the sermon went over, this time for communion suddenly felt rushed.

Sensing that we were losing our focus on this act of worship, we moved this to an earlier part of the hour and in turn we were able to partake without feeling rushed. Now if a prayer went long or an extra song was sung it was the preacher’s time that was squeezed and not our time in communion.

Jesus spoke of true worship to the Samaritan woman in John 4:23-24.

But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

We seek to worship God not only in spirit but also in truth. This means that we are not only wanting the correct appeal toward God in worship, but that we are also wanting to worship Him in the ways He desires.

Paul reflects on this part of our worship in 1 Corinthians 11:23-29.

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes.

Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.”

Tillit Teddlie wrote two songs concerning the Lord’s Supper. In 1923 he wrote, “When We Meet In Sweet Communion” and in 1938 he wrote, “Oft We Come Together.” The first song he thought to be too fast and he set out to write a slower song that would help the congregation reflect more solemnly on the meaning of the communion. Both songs are still in use today and both lead the worshipper into a proper frame of mind before the time for communion.

Here is the first verse and chorus of this song.

Oft we come together,

Oft we sing and pray;

Here we bring our offering,

On this holy day.

Help us Lord, Thy love to see,

May we all in truth and spirit worship Thee.

On Our Daily Walk today, may we reflect upon our privilege to worship God with other Christians and may we determine to worship in spirit as well as in truth.

Our thought for the day: “Emotion without devotion is nothing more than commotion.”

May God bless you on your daily walk.

© Our Daily Walk, Mike Baker, 2007. Permission is granted to copy these articles provided they are not sold and the author's name and copyright are included.

O The Depths And The Riches

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

Audio version at http://tinyurl.com/38w27z

The night had been long and full of agony. A trial had been convened, but it was full of liars and soon the condemned was led to be tortured as the supporters scattered about. His captors mocked the condemned, beat him and then they pummeled his body with torturous straps which ripped the skin of his back wide open. Weakened by the beatings and loss of blood, they led him through the streets of the city to shame him while he carried his cross. Finally they nailed him to that wood and raised him up in the air to die.

How could anyone endure so much and then still be willing to forgive those who did such a thing? Only as God’s Son could Jesus be able to do so.

Reflecting upon the tremendous gift of God’s grace in 1938, Tillit Teddlie wrote the song, “O The Depths And The Riches.” Still a popular tune, this song turns our minds to the agony of the cross and the boundless blessings of the grace of God. Here is the first verse and chorus of that song.

O the depth and the riches of God’s saving grace,

Flowing down from the cross for me!

There the debt for my sins by the Savior was paid,

In His suffering on Calvary!

O the depth of such wonderful love,

Flowing boundless and full and free!

And the debt for my sins was all paid,

In His suffering on Calvary!

Grace has been defined as “favor or kindness shown without regard to the worth or merit of the one who receives it and in spite of what that same person deserves.” Certainly that applies to our blessings from God since we in no way can deserve or merit His kindness.

Paul writes the following in Romans 5:6-8.

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Now that is a love that you and I can not afford to ignore. God loved us enough to send His Son to die for us while we were still in a state of rebellion against Him. Grace is being extended to us. Forgiveness is being offered. Mercy is being shown. We dare not demand what we deserve. Rather we must plead for what has been promised.

Listen to this reading from Ephesians 2:4-10.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Our hearts bow in humility as we consider the agony our Lord suffered on our behalf. His suffering was necessary to free us from our sins. His blood cleanses us. God’s grace is undeserved, and unfortunately, many times, not accepted.

On Our Daily Walk today, may we contemplate the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf. May we attempt to consider the depths to which God has gone in order to offer us salvation. May we determine to live our lives for God without delay.

Our thought for the day: “Grace humbles a man without degrading him and exalts him without deflating him.”

May God bless you on your daily walk.

© Our Daily Walk, Mike Baker, 2007. Permission is granted to copy these articles provided they are not sold and the author's name and copyright are included.

Into Our Hands The Gospel Is Given

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

Audio version at http://tinyurl.com/36cbpd

Bird flu, tuberculosis, AIDS, cancer. All of these diseases and many more bring fear and death. What responsibility do you think you would bear if someone were to give you the cure for any one of these diseases? Do you think that you could sleep at night knowing that people were suffering and dying while you kept the cure in your closet? Or would you do all that you could to see that the cure was made available to as many as possible?

Most people would be sympathetic to anyone who was physically suffering and would gladly do all that they could in order to help that person. It would be cold, unloving and inhumane to withhold a cure from someone who was ill. But what about those who are suffering and dying spiritually?

Ruth Carruth, a long time friend of Tillit Teddlie, was a very gifted poet. In fact, she was named the Poet Laureate of Texas for 1977-1978. She loved to write poetry and shared her inspiration with many others.

In 1939 she sold some poems to Teddlie for $4 a piece. Among those poems were the words for the song, “Into Our Hands The Gospel Is Given.” Being a very missionary minded person, Carruth penned her words so as to draw the listener closer to a relationship with Jesus.

The first verse and chorus of that song are as follows.

Softly we’re turning life’s daily pages,

Swiftly the hours are changing to years;

How are we using God’s golden moments?

Shall we reap glory? Shall we reap tears?

Into our hands the gospel is given,

Into our hands is given the light,

Haste, let us carry God’s precious message,

Guiding the erring back to the right.

Paul said the following in 1 Thessalonians 2:4. “But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts.” We have been entrusted with a very precious possession—the gospel of our Lord.

Paul also said of this gospel in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” That gospel is what we are to take to the lost and dying world around us. Jesus said in Mark 16:15, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” We have the cure that the world needs badly. What will we do with it?

Mrs. Carruth also penned a very encouraging poem concerning our ability to reach others with the gospel. This is titled, “You Can Lead Someone To Jesus.”

There is a wonderful story to tell,

Wonderful work to be done,

Countless the souls who are eager to hear,

Precious the souls to be won.

You can lead someone to Jesus,

You can win someone for Him.

Some precious soul you can add to that roll,

You can win someone for Him.

Millions of people die each year. Over 150,000 people will die today alone. How many of these will be prepared to meet God in judgment? How many of these will face eternity with assurance because someone shared the gospel with them?

The fact is that not everyone would obey the gospel even if they were given every opportunity to do so. But our job is not to make them obey. Our job is to share the good news of the gospel as widely and as freely as possible. Through our good examples and our confidence in our Lord, we further enhance the attraction to the salvation that God offers through His Son.

Into our hands God has given us this charge. What will we do with the gospel today?

On Our Daily Walk today, may we stop and think of three people we know who have not obeyed the gospel and may we pray about them specifically. Then, may we take up some effort to introduce God’s message of salvation to these and others.

Our thought for the day: “Your mission field is the next unsaved person you meet.”

May God bless you on your daily walk.

© Our Daily Walk, Mike Baker, 2007. Permission is granted to copy these articles provided they are not sold and the author's name and copyright are included.

What Will Your Answer Be?

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

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Suspense. Drama. Everyone is curious. What will be the outcome? In today’s culture hardly anything is really left in suspense. With 24 hour news, the internet and other outlets, nothing remains a secret anymore. But imagine that there is a secret yet to be revealed. Imagine that you and I are sitting in a crowded courtroom and the jury has just been seated. The judge asks if a verdict has been reached and it has. The foreman rises to read the verdict. What will it be? Will he be guilty or not guilty?

In 1935, Tillit Teddlie stopped by a courtroom in Vernon, Texas, to witness the verdict being read in a murder trial. The sentence was death. Moved by the events of that day and knowing that each of us has a date before the judge of the universe, he wrote the words to the song, “What Will Your Answer Be?” Here is the first verse and chorus of that song.

Some day you’ll stand at the bar on high,

Some day your record you’ll see;

Some day you’ll answer the question of life,

What will your answer be?

What will it be? What will it be?

Where will you spend your eternity?

What will it be? O what will it be?

What will your answer be?

For the majority of us, we will never have to stand before a judge at any time in our lives. Courtrooms and verdicts are something we witness as outsiders, not participants.

But in our spiritual lives we will all have to face the final Day of Judgment. Hebrews 9:27 says, “it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” And Paul says in Romans 14:12 that “each of us shall give account of himself to God.”

Perhaps you have been interested in trials in recent years. The television coverage of some trials is quite extensive. Sometimes the verdicts do not match what we think the evidence portrays. Often one jury’s verdict is overturned by a higher court. Drama, suspense and curiosity all run high.

Think back with me to that courtroom scene as the verdict is about to be read. If you are the defendant, you are keenly interested in knowing the verdict. But regardless of what they say, you already know if you are guilty or not. The real question in your mind is if they have been able to prove your guilt. Maybe they did or maybe they had reasonable doubt. Therein lays the suspense for you.

But with our spiritual judgment there will be no suspense. On that great day we will all stand before our judge and the books of our lives will be opened up and we will give account of our actions. There will be no opportunities to make good on failed promises or to right wrongs done to others. All opportunities to affect our verdict were always within our control, but they had to be acted upon before our death.

Will you follow Jesus? Will you obey God? Will you lead a life as a faithful Christian? Will you keep the commandments and spread the news of salvation to others? These and many other questions could be asked over and over in our lives. What is our answer to these questions today? What will our answer be tomorrow and for the rest of our lives?

Earthly juries can sometimes render an incorrect verdict. They are flawed, human, and have to deal with limited evidence. But this is not so with God and Jesus. They know us intimately and know not only our actions but even our thoughts.

When we stand before them it will be too late to change our direction and our allegiance. So the time to prepare for that day is right now.

Please ask yourself these questions. Am I ready to face a verdict on my life right now? Will I accept and obey the gospel of Jesus Christ? Will I do these things without delay?

Well, friend, what will your answer be?

On Our Daily Walk today, may we be willing to settle the question of our eternal destination this very hour. May we continue to seek God and His righteousness and lean upon His word for how we should live. May we always stand ready to be judged righteous in His sight.

Our thought for the day: “It is not a question of who is right but what is right.”

May God bless you on your daily walk.

© Our Daily Walk, Mike Baker, 2007. Permission is granted to copy these articles provided they are not sold and the author's name and copyright are included.

Hear Me When I Call

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

Audio version at http://tinyurl.com/3d3cmh

A current series of television commercials features situations where the cell phone connections are dropped during a conversation. In one commercial a wife is telling her husband the good news that they are pregnant, but then the connection is dropped. He is still on the phone and is overjoyed, but the wife is sitting in silence thinking that her husband is disappointed with the news. When communications are broken our joy can be turned to sorrow.

While we have always been taught that God is able to hear and answer our prayers, we sometimes need that confidence reinforced. In 1962 Tillit Teddlie wrote the song, “Hear Me When I Call,” which begs for God to listen to our needs. The first verse of this song goes as follows.

Hear me when I call, O God, my righteousness,

Unto Thee I come in weakness and distress;

Hold my trembling hand, lest helpless I should fall,

O hear me, Lord, hear me, O hear me when I call!

God is the source of our comfort as well as our confidence. When troubles surround us we should be looking to God for our relief from those troubles. But have we ever gone to God in prayer and wondered if He was really listening?

David experienced many occasions where he cried out to God. Through the Psalms we find several occasions where he lays his soul bear, searching for God, and then reaffirms his faith in God.

Notice, for example, Psalm 142.

I cry out to the LORD with my voice;

With my voice to the LORD I make my supplication.

I pour out my complaint before Him;

I declare before Him my trouble.

When my spirit was overwhelmed within me,

Then You knew my path.

In the way in which I walk

They have secretly set a snare for me.

Look on my right hand and see,

For there is no one who acknowledges me;

Refuge has failed me;

No one cares for my soul.

I cried out to You, O LORD:

I said, “You are my refuge,

My portion in the land of the living.

Attend to my cry,

For I am brought very low;

Deliver me from my persecutors,

For they are stronger than I.

Bring my soul out of prison,

That I may praise Your name;

The righteous shall surround me,

For You shall deal bountifully with me.”

David’s confidence in God is seen in his life. Though he may be weary and surrounded by enemies, he eventually comes to be reminded that God is there for him. He knew that God was always listening.

Tillit Teddlie, who wrote the aforementioned song, also wrote over 100 congregational songs. Among them were “Don’t Wait Too Long,” “Heaven Holds All To Me,” “In Heaven They’re Singing,” “O The Depths And The Riches,” “Oft We Come Together,” “Singing Redemption’s Song,” “The Master’s Touch,” “What Will Your Answer Be?” and “Worthy Art Thou.”

Teddlie lived a long and interesting life. He conducted his first singing school in 1903. It lasted for two weeks and consisted of six hour sessions each day. His first song, “I Have Waited Too Long To Prepare,” was written in 1906 and his last, “God Sent His Own Son,” was written in 1978. He lived to be 102 years old.

On Our Daily Walk today, may we learn to treasure each day and always trust that God is there to listen to our needs, thanksgiving and desires. May we pour out our heart and empty our cares with our Lord and know that He will hear us.

Our thought for the day: “You can expect God to intervene when you have taken the time to intercede.”

May God bless you on your daily walk.

© Our Daily Walk, Mike Baker, 2007. Permission is granted to copy these articles provided they are not sold and the author's name and copyright are included.

Heaven Holds All To Me

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

Audio version at http://tinyurl.com/2gza6z

We’ve probably all seen the same sad scene on the television news at least once. A family is interviewed as they watch their house go up in flames. All of their earthly possessions are lost to the fire—photo albums, family heirlooms, wedding gifts, irreplaceable mementos. Then one of them will say, “Yes, we lost everything we had tonight. But we all escaped with our lives and that is what really matters. A house can be replaced, but a life cannot be.”

Isn’t it funny how we tend to treasure things so much in our lives? Yet when it really matters, we would gladly sacrifice those things in order to preserve our own life.

That sentiment is echoed in the New Testament as Jesus says the following in Matthew 6:19-21.

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The real treasure of this life isn’t our house, our bank account or our accomplishments. The real treasure is finding salvation through Jesus and knowing that we have an eternal home in heaven waiting for us.

Tillit S. Teddlie wrote the song “Heaven Holds All To Me” in 1912 at the age of 27. While walking along in Golden, Texas, near the place where he was baptized, he sat down under a large tree and began to write this song. He later took it to the local barber shop and listened as the boys there sang this song. Convinced that it was what he wanted, he then returned home and wrote the chorus. The first verse and chorus of that song are as follows.

Earth holds no treasures but perish with using,

However precious they be;

Yet there’s a country to which I am going;

Heaven holds all to me.

Heaven holds all to me,

Brighter its glory will be,

Joy without measure will be my treasure;

Heaven holds all to me.

When one can take the time to focus on what is really important, one will find that without hope of heaven, nothing else really matters. Everything in this world is temporary with the exception of our eternal spirits. Those who build buildings, bridges and roads that are built today brag of them being able to last for a hundred years or longer. Yet they will ultimately crumble and perish.

Jesus wants us to live on this earth with the assurance of a better place being reserved for us in the next life. In John 14:1-3 Jesus says the following.

Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

Friends, our treasures on this earth may be few or they may be many. But they will all perish. Look around you right now. What do you see?

Maybe you are in a car, or in the kitchen. Maybe you are outside on the patio enjoying a cup of coffee. Do you see things of value? Can you determine which are more valuable than others? Certainly you can.

Now, which of these things is worth your life? None of them is. You would gladly exchange your car, house, or money in order to preserve your life, and rightfully so. Which ones are worth your eternal soul?

Jesus said in Matthew 16:26, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

The only things that will survive this world are the eternal spirits that God has given to us. When we understand the great value of our spirits, then we will be prioritizing our lives so as to lay up our treasures in heaven.

On Our Daily Walk today, may we thank God for the great blessings that we enjoy. May we focus on our most prized possession and then know that our soul is much more valuable. May we remember that heaven should hold all for us.

Our thought for the day: “Heaven will mean the most to those who have put the most into it.”

May God bless you on your daily walk.

© Our Daily Walk, Mike Baker, 2007. Permission is granted to copy these articles provided they are not sold and the author's name and copyright are included.