Take My Life, Lord

 Take My Life, Lord - By Nathele Graham - twotug@embarqmail.com It’s no secret that I love hymns. Since I was a child, I loved singing hymns. When I was a child, I didn’t really think about the words, but they were written on my heart.As I grew, the hymns I learned at a young age took on a deeper meaning. One of my favorites was written by Frances Havergal in 1873. It’s called Take My Life and Let It Be. Take my life and let it be Consecrated, Lord, to Thee. Take my moments and my days Let them flow in endless praise. Each and every person who has ever lived has been given a valuable gift from God. Life. No matter how short or long a person’s life is, it is valuable. Unfortunately, toooften, we forget who the giver of life is and choose to ignore Him. Scripture is quite clear in telling us that God created everything, including humans. The first chapter in Genesis explains that God created all things, but the Apostle John makes it evenclearer. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was notany thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men” (John 1:1-4). Jesus is God and the Creator of all that is. How can we withhold our life from Him? More than just intellectually knowing that there is a God, we need to wholeheartedly giveour life to Him. After all, He gave His life for us. Life is made up of moments, seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, years, etc. How we use that time is very important. We can use our gift of life to live in opposition to God, or we can choose to allow Himto use each moment of our life for His glory. God has a purpose for you, and you will always feel on edge until you let Him reveal that purpose to you. The prophet Jeremiah was called by God, but he made every excuse he could in order to not allow God to usehim. God’s words to him are important, and He has the same words to us. “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest from out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations”(Jeremiah 1:5). Not everyone is ordained to be a prophet, or a preacher, or a songwriter, but God has a purpose for each of us. Jeremiah made excuses because he felt inadequate, but God toldhim why he didn’t need to fear. “Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 1:8). Give each moment of your life to God and stop being afraid. Take my hands and let them move At the impulse of Thy love. Take my feet and let them be Swift and beautiful for Thee. Think of the evil we see all around us. You can be sure that kidnappers, murderers, and those who riot and cause pain and loss in others are not moving at the impulse of God’slove. They are being influenced by the god of this world. Satan hates people simply because God loves us. What do you think would happen if every person who claims to be a Christian would use their hands for His glory instead of hurting others? What if wewent where He led us rather than walking into sin? Instead of watching wickedness on television or the internet, what if Christians would start reading Scripture? What if, instead of listening to songs that glorify sin, Christians listened to songs that glorifyGod? “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways: then will I hear from heaven, and will forgivetheir sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). If you call yourself a Christian, study that verse; you’re called by His name. Take my voice and let me sing, Always, only for my King. Take my lips and let them be Filled with messages from Thee. One of my regrets in life is that I’m not a great singer. Fortunately, God doesn’t require us to have perfect pitch in order to praise Him. “O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise untohim with psalms” (Psalm 95:1-2). What is a joyful noise that God likes to hear? Our praises of His glory. Praising Him for what He has done. We have life, and there is beauty all around if we just open oureyes to see it. The birds don’t care if they live in the wide-open spaces or in a city. They sing. They nest in trees, whether that tree is in a forest, a city park, or on a concrete sidewalk. We can sing His praises wherever we live. His praises don’t necessarilyneed to be in song. If we use our lips to spread the Gospel or encourage someone who is struggling, then we’ve used our voice to praise God. We’ve shown His love. Do you use your voice to share His love, or do you use His name as a cuss word? It’s difficultto praise God and spew filthy language at the same time. “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29). The word “communications” comes from the Greek “logos,” which means speech. The Apostle Paul tells us not to let corrupt talk come from our lips but to use words to shareGod’s love to all who hear. Take my silver and my gold, Not a mite would I withhold. Take my intellect and use Every pow’r as Thou shalt choose. I have to admit that I don’t have a lot of silver or gold. There are many people who have been investing in precious minerals, but I’m not one. I don’t even have much papermoney or a large bank account. God wants us to use whatever we have for His glory. If you have riches, then you shouldn’t be stingy. There are many people in need. Use what you have to glorify God. The Apostles weren’t rich, but they had a treasure entrustedto them. They were to spread the Gospel. One day Peter and John were in the Temple when they were approached by a man who was lame. The man asked for money. “Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk” (Acts 3:6). We all have gifts from God. I must confess that I would love to have the gift of healing. Whatever your gift, use it for God’s glory. He may have entrusted you with riches;use them for His glory. Give your life to God and let Him use you as He sees fit. Take my will and make it Thine, It shall be no longer mine. Take my heart, it is Thine own It shall be Thy royal throne. Submission to God isn’t always easy. He may ask you to step out of your comfort zone in order to serve Him. Scripture is filled with accounts of people who submitted to Himand accomplished great things for His glory. I think of Queen Esther, of Jeremiah, of Daniel, and so many others. The greatest example of submission was given by our Lord, Jesus Christ. He stepped out of Heaven and into this fallen world in order to be ouronly way of salvation. He set aside the glory He had with the Father and humbly submitted to being human in order to be our Kinsman Redeemer. Did He want to be beaten, spit upon, mocked, whipped, and crucified? No, He didn’t. His body felt the pain. Still,He submitted to God the Father. On the night He was betrayed by a friend and arrested, He knew what was to come. What was His example to us? Prayer and submission. “And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will,but thine be done” (Luke 22:41-42). Thank You, Jesus, for Your sacrifice of love. Because Jesus submitted His will, He went to the cross. He died, was buried, but then came the resurrection. He conquered deathfor us. Not death of these human bodies in which we live, but faith in Him brings eternal life with God. We have the opportunity to submit our fears to Him and share the Gospel with others. Don’t let fear silence you. “And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror,neither be troubled; But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, asof evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ” (1 Peter 3: 13-16). The word “conversation” here means a way of life. If God is sitting on the throne of your heart and you are submitting to the King, then you will be living a life that othersmay mock, but you will not be ashamed of their accusations. You will be living in submission to Christ, and your will will be lost in His. Take my love, my Lord, I pour At thy feet its treasure store. Take myself and I will be Ever, only, all for Thee. Love. There is no greater love than God’s pure and perfect love for us. How can we repay His love for us? As hard as I try, I fail in loving others as I should. I want Godto sit on the throne of my heart. I want to allow Him to use me to show His love to others. When I come across a person who irritates me to the point that I’m thinking very unchristian thoughts, that’s when I need to take a step back and remember that personis a sinner in need of hearing the Gospel. I’m a sinner saved by grace, and for that, I’m very thankful. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the git of God: not by works lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). There are many people all around us who haven’t found grace and forgiveness from God. That’s why I need to allow God’s love to flow through me. Heavenly Father, I pray that I will turn my will over to You. I pray that You will help me to submit my will to Your will. Please give me boldness to share Your Gospel withothers. Take my life and let it be, consecrated, Lord to Thee. In Christ’s name I pray. Amen. God bless you all, Nathele Graham