Tag Archives: John Wesley

Fasting Together in January

31 Days of Fasting in January!

Fasting Together in January

31 Days of Fasting in January! Supporting those who are fasting in the month of January, we are blogging every day! Encouragement and Biblical comparisons for ANY FAST and recipes and clarity for those on The Daniel Fast. You can catch up on previous posts here!

 “Bear up the hands that hang down, by faith and prayer; support the tottering knees. Have you any days of fasting and prayer? Storm the throne of grace and persevere therein, and mercy will come down.” – John Wesley

Preparing for a New Year

Fasting together in January, The Beginning!

Restoration Through Fasting

Fasting changes the inner man

Fasting with Knowledge = Power!

The Daniel Fast: Drink your water!

No meats, no sweets, no treats? Oh, my!

The Daniel Fast: Do we have to work for answered prayers?

The Daniel Fast: You have strengthened me!

The Daniel Fast: When your prayer isn’t answered

Fasting: Bind the Strong Man!

Stop Judging the Fast that Another has Chosen!

Fasting: What’s in your heart?

The Daniel Fast: Chosen, Committed, Commissioned

Fasting & Prayer: Whose time is it anyway?

Fighting Temptation while Fasting

When others intercede

The Daniel Fast: Looking for the Redemption

What are we doing about Thursday?

The Daniel Fast: Stay in the Ship!

The Daniel Fast: Fasting for all of the Wrong Reasons

The Daniel Fast: God is fighting for you!

Face to face with God

Confusing the enemy

The Daniel Fast: It’s not about the food

The Hand of God is upon us

That their eyes would be opened

Never give up!

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Fasting unto the Lord, Nannette

 

I sink, I faint, I fall: The story behind Jesus, Lover of My Soul

When Charles Wesley and his brother John were traveling the world preaching the Gospel in the mid 1700’s, it was a difficult and uneasy season. There was an awakening happening in the Church and at times things even became


violent.

Once when Wesley was preaching in Ireland, about 1740, he was attacked by a group who did not think he was preaching Truth. Wesley ran away and stumbled upon a farmhouse where the farmer’s wife hid him in the milk house. The unruly gang also made it to the house and demanded the farmers give up Wesley. She gave them refreshments hoping to calm them down and while they were eating she slipped out to where Wesley was hiding and sent him to conceal himself under a hedge nearby.

There, by a quiet brook, Wesley could see and hear those that were chasing him. While he was waiting for them to leave, he penned a prayer, a hymn, of the One in which he really took retreat. From that poem we have one of the greatest hymns in the book: Jesus, Lover of My Soul. (Joseph Parry wrote the most popular melody to go along with the lyrics in 1879.)

Jesus, Lover of My Soul

Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high.
Hide me, O my Savior, hide, till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide; O receive my soul at last.
Other refuge have I none, hangs my helpless soul on Thee;
Leave, ah! leave me not alone, still support and comfort me.
All my trust on Thee is stayed, all my help from Thee I bring;
Cover my defenseless head with the shadow of Thy wing.
Wilt Thou not regard my call? Wilt Thou not accept my prayer?
Lo! I sink, I faint, I fall, Lo! on Thee I cast my care;
Reach me out Thy gracious hand! While I of Thy strength receive,
Hoping against hope I stand, dying, and behold, I live.
Thou, O Christ, art all I want, more than all in Thee I find;
Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, heal the sick, and lead the blind.
Just and holy is Thy Name, I am all unrighteousness;
False and full of sin I am; Thou art full of truth and grace.
Plenteous grace with Thee is found, grace to cover all my sin;
Let the healing streams abound; make and keep me pure within.
Thou of life the fountain art, freely let me take of Thee;
Spring Thou up within my heart; rise to all eternity.

Henry Ward Beecher once said of the beloved hymn, “I would rather have written that hymn of Wesley’s, ‘Jesus, Lover of My Soul’ than to have the fame of all the kings that ever sat on earth. It is more glorious; it has more power in it. I would rather be the author of that hymn than to hold the wealth of the richest man in New York. It will go on singing until the trump brings froth the angel band; and then I think it will mount up on some lip to the very presence of God.”

I am sure as Charles Wesley sat underneath that hedge, hiding from a mob that wanted to do him harm, that he wasn’t thinking of the thousands upon thousands that would forever sing this hymn. He didn’t think of the strength that would come to many because of HIS suffering. But had he not went through that difficult time in his life we wouldn’t have such a wonderful truth to sing at the top of our lungs when times are hard.  His beautiful words continually remind us of the sovereignty of God and His complete majesty.

Without Him we are nothing, but when we turn to Jesus, as Wesley did that way, He can deliver, He can save and He can encourage others because of our suffering.

Let us reach for Jesus, the Lover of our Souls. He alone can satisfy the longing, for we were made to worship Him. Share the Good News with someone that is hurting today that Jesus alone can raise the fallen, cheer the faint, heal the sick, and lead the blind.

I sink, I faint, I fall but God raises me up in His time and for His purpose!

Hark! Did the angels sing?

Continuing with our look back at some of our favorite Christmas carols…this one might be the most confusing!

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing! is still one of the most popular and well-loved carols of the season. You can hear it played in countless stores beginning right after Halloween. It is sung by numerous church choirs, school choirs and recorded by the famous and humble alike.

But its beginning wasn’t so popular since it brought much confusion and dismay to the author of the famous words.

Charles Wesley, brother of John Wesley, wrote the lyrics to Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. Written in 1739, it originally was titled Hymn for Christmas Day and began with these words:

HARK how all the Welkin rings, Glory to the King of Kings!

What in the world is a Welkin? First used in the 12th century, Welkin is a reference to the skies, the heavens, the vault of heaven, or the dwelling place of God. Wesley penned those words proclaiming that all of heaven sounded out the birth of the King.

George Whitefield, a friend of the Wesley’s, actually changed the wording and published it. He obviously concluded the word Welkin was outdated and preferred his own version, much to the chagrin of Charles and John! John Wesley even wrote a rebuttal to those who had the nerve to change their hymns after the fact and rightly so.

Charles Wesley’s biggest complaint was that, to him, the angels were not singing but were proclaiming the birth of the Christ child, according to Luke 2.

“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Luke 2:13 KJV.

Mr. Wesley should be commended that he wanted his hymn to be accurate with the Word. The Bible says not to add or take away! Of course we don’t know if they actually sang or not, Mr. Whitefield was using his imagination when he added his words to the hymn. Nevertheless, the newer version gained popularity quickly and HARK how all the Welkin rings, Glory to the King of Kings, vanished into the history vaults.

The ninth and tenth verses were deleted sometime in the early 19th century.

Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface,
Stamp thy Image in its Place,
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in thy Love.
Let us Thee, tho’ lost, regain,
Thee, the Life, the Heav’nly Man:
O ! to All Thyself impart,
Form’d in each Believing Heart.
Even though Wesley was not in agreement with the version we sing today and perfectly good verses were also deleted, we don’t want to exclude it from our Christmas caroling list! It still echoes with a beautiful message:

Hark the herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled”
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
“Christ is born in Bethlehem”
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Christ by highest heav’n adored
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of a Virgin’s womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with man to dwell
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Risen with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”

We don’t sing this second stanza much either, to my knowledge, but look at the richness of the words! Veiled in flesh the Godhead see…Jesus IS God, veiled in earthly flesh, He is the Father, He is the Son, He is the Holy Ghost. The third verse says He laid His glory by to come as a baby so that man would no more die. Oh, the fullness of His love!

Born to give us second birth! Jesus told Nicodemus we must be born again, of water and Spirit. Today, we have that glorious opportunity to be filled with the Holy Spirit, to have Christ IN us, the Hope of Glory! On top of that, we know that He is coming again, to take us to a place that He has prepared for us. Soon.

Enjoy this sweet version of the carol by the Charlie Brown gang.

Or this beautiful version by Chris Tomlin!

Nannette Christmas

 The Daniel Fast, A Devotional is now available on Amazon! Many begin the New Year with a time of fasting, and whether you choose The Daniel Fast or any type of fast, this DEVOTIONAL will help you on a daily basis! Click here or on the book and take a look…

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