I love hymns. That makes me in a minority these days. Choruses are fine, some really good even. Hymns, though, are what move my soul to worship more deeply.
Since I have been reading Surrender: The Heart God Controls, by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, the hymn “I Surrender All” has been on my heart.
- All to Jesus I surrender;
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.- Refrain:
I surrender all,
I surrender all;
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
- Refrain:
- All to Jesus I surrender;
Humbly at His feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken;
Take me, Jesus, take me now. - All to Jesus I surrender;
Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me feel the Holy Spirit,
Truly know that Thou art mine. - All to Jesus I surrender;
Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power;
Let Thy blessing fall on me. - All to Jesus I surrender;
Now I feel the sacred flame.
Oh, the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to His Name!
Great hymn. It is very familiar to me and I love it. I wonder, as I read the words, if I truly sing it honestly.
“All to Him I freely give.” Do I really? Truthfully, no. There are many areas of my life that I try to control even though I really want to submit them to Jesus.
“Worldly pleasures all forsaken.” Uh, no! I love my life and there are a lot of worldly pleasures that are too important to me.
In the introduction of her book, Miss DeMoss asks some uncomfortable questions. “If I surrender my family to the Lord, what will happen to them?”, “If I surrender my finances, will my needs be met?”, and “What about the stuff I watch on movies and TV?”
I could quickly answer those questions with, “I gave all those areas of my life to the Lord years ago.” When I am completely honest, which I need to be because God knows my heart, I have to admit that I take back the control of those areas regularly. Even though I don’t want to do that.
My favorite Psalm is Psalm 139
The last 2 verses are “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
I have many wicked ways, sins that I struggle with. I truly desire to submit them completely to God’s control, to walk in his ways. That is my prayer today.
I, too, love a good hymn… Must be my humble Baptist background :). Great thoughts today Lesa! Thanks for sharing your heart!
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Thank you, Laura. I have enjoyed seeing your work on Christian and Ellee’s rooms. I am NOT a decorator at all. I loved that it was simple and reflected their personalities.
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