Run to the Redeemer

When life pelts you with problems

And all around you dances darkness;

When you’re not sure you can carry on…

Run to the Redeemer!

His arms are open wide;

He’s a tower of refuge to those seeking to hide

He said: “Come to me all who labour,

Lay your burdens aside;

I will give you rest and respite.”

When you’re in distress with nowhere to run,

Alone and afraid as friendships fade

When you’re not sure you can carry on…

Run to the Redeemer!

His arms are open wide;

He’s a tower of refuge to those seeking to hide

He said: “Come to me all who labour,

Lay your burdens aside;

I will give you rest and respite.”

When your heart fails for fear,

And deadly doubt clouds your mind;

When you’re not sure you can carry on…

Run to the Redeemer!

His arms are open wide;

He’s a tower of refuge to those seeking to hide

He said: “Come to me all who labour,

Lay your burdens aside;

I will give you rest and respite.”

When the world seems to reject you

And testing trials assail you,

Remember Jesus will never forsake you;

He’s right there by your side

Man of sorrows acquainted with grief,

He’ll turn your cross into triumph

And give you relief!

So just run to the Redeemer!

His arms are open wide;

He’s a tower of refuge to those seeking to hide

He said: “Come to me all who labour,

Lay your burdens aside;

I will give you rest and respite.

Child, I will give you rest and respite.”

This poem/hymn was inspired by the words of Prov 18:10-"The Name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runneth into it, and is safe."

Finding Glory in the Cross of Shame

As Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, the tears rolled down his face. The prophecies of Is 53 must have flashed through His mind and the frail garb of His humanity shuddered at the thought of the brutal death that soon awaited Him, but mostly the weight of sin that He would have to bear and the resulting separation from His Father. He faced the greatest trial of His life on earth and He faced it alone.

Every person on this earth faces trials on a daily basis. Jesus has not promised us a life of ease but He has promised to be with us “even unto the end of the world.”  In John 16:33, our Lord warned us that in this world we would have trouble, but in His mind as far He was concerned He had conquered the world even before the Cross! He did not say “I will overcome the world.” He said “I have [past tense] overcome the world”!

As followers of Christ, we are called to “take up our crosses” and follow Him (Matt 16:24). Sometimes it feels like we don’t choose our crosses, but rather they choose us. However, God has promised that He would not let any trial befall us that we are not able to bear (1 Cor 10:13). It stands to reason therefore, that the stronger in God you become, the greater your trials will be.

Even those who do not believe in God face trials! The difference is that we have our forerunner, Jesus Christ, who has shown us how to conduct ourselves in the face of looming trials with confidence, grace and strength. Living in the shadow of the cross of uncertainty is not easy, but Jesus Christ has given us the Holy Spirit who is our Comforter and “in all these things, we are more than conquerors because of Him who loved us and gave His life for us.”

Many of our trials are not as serious as that which Jesus faced. The uncertainty of tomorrow is not as serious as the knowing certainty that tomorrow brings only suffering and a cruel death. We sometimes struggle to sleep before a big exam, but can you imagine how Christ felt the night before His crucifixion! We think that working under conditions of looming retrenchment is cruel; what about living your whole life knowing that you were born to die for a race of humanity that would largely reject you? Christ still faces pain and anguish when people who know the truth about Him willingly backslide and fall back into sin because that basically means they think nothing of the cruel death He  suffered and the price He paid to save them (Heb 6:6). Tomorrow, in all likelihood, I will have the gift of freedom. My hands and feet will not be nailed to a cross. Therefore, I have much to thank God for! My trials at this moment are lighter than those of Christ and His persecuted church.

If we cannot deal with the light afflictions of today, how will we deal with facing death for the sake of our faith? Remember, Jesus Christ was “the man of sorrows, acquainted with grief” but He is our victorious Saviour who found “joy in the cross”!

"Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."-Heb 12:2

"Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared. Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered."-Heb 5:7-8

 Scripture refs: Heb 5:7, Matt 26:37-45, Is 53, Heb 4:15, Heb 12:2

Greater Love Hath No Man...

“Greater love hath no man than this, than a man lay down his life for his friends”. (John 15:13) These were some of the many words Jesus spoke as he instructed his disciples on the meaning of the kind of love he expected them to have for God and their fellowman.

The beauty of the Gospel is demonstrated in these words and we can clearly see that Jesus never asks us to travel a road that he has not travelled Himself. As the good shepherd (John 10), He does not drive us forward relentlessly, but rather he leads the way while calling our names and gently expects us to follow in His footsteps. Just as Jesus sacrificed all for us on the cross, so we are called to be living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to Him and consecrated for the service of mankind. (Rom 12:1)

Each of us has a place and a role to fulfill in this big tapestry that is life. We are all linked together by a common need-the need to love and to be loved and the need for a Saviour to rescue us from our sins. In Jesus, we find all this and more!

I only really began to understand the true import of Christ’s words while reading a book about the Underground Church in Russia. In countries like these, God’s people face terrible persecution and yet they still love God and their persecutors with all their hearts! Compared to the trials they face, which include being beaten, starved to death and tortured, we are privileged possessors of a religious liberty that we all too often take for granted.

We bicker and fight about church politics, office politics and things that could be easily resolved if we all worked as a team for God. While we cannot resolve the smallest matters among our brethren, others suffer gruesome trials for their faith that we cannot even begin to understand, and yet they face them with a dignity and grace that only Christ can impart!

We need to learn the true meaning of what it means to be a hero, because Jesus is calling us to be heroes in the midst of adversity, shining for Him like lights in this dark world. He is our ultimate hero, and we must daily become more like Him.

I often wonder how strong my faith in God is. Will I give up if I face terrible trials like these precious people of God, or will I be able to stand up for my faith and totally surrender my life to God? Our greatest fear should not be the trials and persecutions that may or may not await us, but rather the possibility that we will disappoint Christ because in the weakness of our flesh, we will fail to stand for Him.

Jesus asks a compelling question in Luke 18:8: “When the Son of Man cometh, will He find faith on the earth?” Will Jesus find His faithful bride or will we have lost ourselves in fighting, trivialities and “playing church” and in so doing, lose our salvation? We cannot let the wickedness of men take away the love of God from our hearts for them. It is only through God’s love in our hearts that we can conquer and change the world!

"For God so LOVED the world that He GAVE His only-begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believes in Him SHOULD NOT PERISH but have EVERLASTING LIFE." -John 3:16

 Other Scripture Refs:1 John 3:15, John 15:13