Another Year Is Dawning

We are in the season of Lent, 40 days before the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. As I was meditating on Jesus and His death on the cross, I remembered an old hymn that vividly portrays my Saviour’s love for me:

They bound the hands of Jesus
in the garden where he prayed,

They led Him through the streets in shame,

They spat upon the Saviour who
did not for mercy cry,

They said, ‘crucify Him, He’s to blame’!

He could have called 10,000 angels

To destroy the world and set Him free,

But He died alone, for you and me.

Jesus easily could have called forth help from heaven and it would have come to Him readily because He is God! But He did not. He remained on the cross and ‘died alone for you and me’!

An ancient and a contemporary hymn, both declare two amazing truths. The hymn writer of Beneath the Cross of Jesus, declared:

Two wonders I confess:

The wonder of redeeming love

And my unworthiness!

The contemporary hymn writer of My Worth is Not in what I Own, also made two confessions:

Two wonders here that I confess, my worth and my unworthiness!

Both writers were transfixed on Jesus at the cross! Both saw His great love for us, unworthy people. At the same time the death of Jesus also secured our true identity and gave us worth! What amazing grace was demonstrated at the cross!

I can only find one response to my Lord’s death for me which again is expressed by a hymn:

My Jesus I love Thee

I know Thou art mine,

For Thee all the follies of sin I resign…

If ever I loved Thee,

My Jesus ‘tis now!

By sister Violet James

The past few months were challenging – trying to meet deadlines and also grieving over the loss of a few dear friends. One of my dear friends whom I knew for over 50 years was called home to the Lord a month ago. Two weeks later my professor in Aberdeen, who impacted my life greatly, was also called home. At that time I was committed to an intense teaching project and so had little time to grieve.

What should one do when different challenges converge at the same time? What helped me most and carried me through the weeks of deadlines and sadness was the amazing grace of God through Christ! I was nourished, sustained and empowered by God’s presence and his almighty outstretched hand (Isaiah 41:10). A song by Paul Wilbur I learnt recently – In Your Presence – sums up what I experienced: God’s supernatural strength:

In your presence that’s where I am strong,

In your presence O Lord my God,

In your presence, that’s where I belong,

Seeking you face, touching your grace,

In the cleft of the Rock.

In your presence O God.

It was in his presence that I found strength, hope, stability, peace and courage to press on and complete my many tasks. It was through him that my strength was perfected daily in my weak body! God gave me grace upon grace, strength upon strength to accomplish and fulfil my tasks! I cannot imagine what I would have done without Christ, my solid Rock whom I held on to tenaciously! With the hymn writer I too declare:

I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene,

And wonder how he could love me,

A sinner, condemned unclean!

How marvellous! How wonderful!,

And my song shall ever be;

How marvellous! How wonderful!

Is my Saviour’s love for me! (Charles Gabriel)

All of us will face different challenges in life. We all continue to live under the cloud of the pandemic with its related challenges and frustrations. In the midst of uncertainties, God is teaching me to find my position, posture, purpose and power in his presence – in the cleft of the Rock!

I was intrigued by the phrase – cleft of the Rock, as I played the song many times over. I meditated on Exodus 33:22 and concluded that God had ‘forcibly’ split the Rock to create a cleft so that I can enter his presence! Yes, God my Rock has made a way for me through Christ! Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, took my sin and  enabled me to enter his presence and hide in the cleft of the Rock. That no matter what the storm, trial or challenge he will hold me fast in the cleft of the Rock! Indeed in his presence, that’s where I am strong!  May I continue to stay close to Christ the cleft of the Rock!

A wonderful Saviour is Jesus my Lord,

A wonderful Saviour to me;

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock where rivers of pleasure I see.

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock 

That shadows a dry, thirty land;

He hideth my life in the depths of his love,

And covers me there with his hand,

And covers me there with his hand. (Fanny Crosby)

By sister Violet James

Why are you cast down, O my soul,

And why are you in turmoil within me?

Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,

My salvation and my God. (Psalm 42:5)

The psalmist was having a conversation with himself! And this wasn’t the first time! It is okay to talk to oneself because it helps one to think with greater clarity and gives an opportunity to reaffirm one’s commitment to God. This is exactly what the psalmist was doing!

God has been teaching me this lesson on hope once again. What does it mean to hope in the Lord especially during these very uncertain times? I have been pondering over this word hope and why it is central for the Christian. We hope for many things in life but the kind of hope we are familiar with is a sort of wishful hope – hope that something good will turn out or hope that a possible negative outcome will not happen. As I look into the Scriptures, I am reminded again of this amazing truth – that hope in God is sure. Hope in God implies confidence, that despite the odds, ultimately good will result from it, good even in the most difficult situation, because our God is good all the time!

Recently, one of my former students turned 50. One of the ways he celebrated his golden birthday was to take half a day to recount the Lord’s blessings. He decided to think of 50 reasons to give thanks to God for his life! He listed these, two of which were his call to saving faith in Jesus Christ and his call to missions. I was deeply moved as I read his prayer letter! I know him very well and I know that he faced many challenges before, during, and after his time in the Singapore Bible College. This man had great hope in God and he held on to him tenaciously through thick and thin.

As I recount the goodness of the Lord in my own life these many decades, I too have many reasons to give thanks to God and to continue to put my trust in Him and to hope always in Him, come what may. Here are a few reasons:

• He is good and is making something beautiful out of my life as he promised – I am his workmanship, created in Christ for good works…. ( Ephesians 2:10)
• He is good because he said that all things work together for good to those who love him (Romans 8:28)
• He is good and he calls me to be strong and wait upon him (Psalm 27:14)
• He is good because he quiets me with his love many times and nestles me in his tender and loving arms (Zephaniah 3:17; Psalm 131:2)
• He is good and he calls me to hope in him again and wait for the Lord (Psalms 42:5 & 43:5).
• He is good as he gives me rest and confidence, even when I cannot see what lies before me… (Psalm 62:5-8).

Let’s take some time today to sit quietly before the Lord and recount the many blessings he has bestowed upon you and your family and give thanks to him. And once again place your trust and hope in this God who never changes and is always true to himself!

May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Romans 15:13)

By Sister Violet James (YCKC Bulletin 6 September 2020)