Salvation in Song

There are a couple of songs that seem to express the essence of salvation, and I have gotten a lot of good out of them this week.

#77 It Satisfies My Soul

For me the blessed Savior came,

His great salvation to proclaim;

Oh, glory to His precious name!

It satisfies my soul.

Salvation is unmeasured grace,

It fits us for the Christian race,

Unveils the Father's smiling face,

It satisfies my soul.

Salvation brings supreme delight,

It changes darkness into light,

And makes the Christian pathway bright,

It satisfies my soul.

Salvation brings abiding peace,

Its shining glories e'er increase;

Its flowing rivers never cease,

It satisfies my soul.

Salvation makes us happy here,

Surpassing all the earth holds dear,

And fills the drooping heart with cheer,

It satisfies my soul.

Salvation richer far than gold,

Than glit'tring gems that turn to mold;

Its wealth no language e'er has told,

It satisfies my soul.

This song lays a lot of claims about how salvation changes a life:  it satisfies, fills with cheer, gives unmeasured grace, etc.  When I was looking over all the words I felt really blessed to have a salvation that did all that.  I also thought that there are times that I feel these thing less than other times.  There are days when I am less than happy or my peace is less.  In these times, it is not a reflection on God's salvation, rather it is a indicator that I am not seeking and obtaining all that God has for me.  I remembered the time I discovered my mistake I had been making in Photoshop.  I got a lesson out of that experience that I still remember.  I recall coming very close to blaming a bad quality image on Ps.  However, I realized that I had too much confidence in the Adobe programs and too many great artists had proven it to be good to doubt it's quality, so I began looking for what I had done wrong.  Many people have proven Christ's blood as able to save from sin and satisfy completely.  Therefor, if our Christian experience does not satisfy us, we should look into what we are doing wrong and not blame it on salvation.  Salvation is great and able to do all this song says and more.  It is our pride, rebelliousness, slothfulness, and disbelief that keep us from experiencing full salvation.

#221 Following Jesus

Following Jesus, following Jesus,

Gently He leads me in the heavenly way;

Watching and praying, trusting obeying;

He will restrain me from going astray.

Ch.

Following Jesus, following Jesus,

Following Jesus by day and by night.

Watching and praying, trusting, obeying,

He is my helper in doing the right.

Following Jesus, following Jesus,

He who has suffered to redeem me form sin;

Oh, what a blessing, while I'm confessing,

He in His fullness is reigning within.

Following Jesus, following Jesus,

I am delighted with His wonderful love;

While I'm confiding, in Him I'm hiding,

Soon I shall meet Him in heaven above.

Following Jesus, following Jesus,

This is my duty for His goodness to me;

Joyful in glory, telling the story,

How in His favor I'm happy and free.

Ch.

Following Jesus, following Jesus,

Following Jesus by day and by night'

Watching and praying, trusting, obeying,

He is my helper in doing the right.

This song really encouraged me one morning before school.  I love thinking about how blessed it is to follow Jesus.  He has so many wonderful promises to those to obey and trust him.  I desire to enter more into this "watching and praying, trusting obeying."

Blessings,

Alyssa

Sweet Savour

Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.  (Ecc 10:1)

What if I walked into a bakery and was met with the smell of a pig pen?  What if Bath and Body Works reeked of dirty laundry?  These two places have a reputation, therefore, it would be beyond disappointing if aroma of the place was less than desirable.  It would be offensive.  I have been near a pig pen and have endured it; however, if I stepped into a bakery shop that smell like that, I would step right back out.

Christians, people expect certain things of us.  The life we live give us a reputation.  How do we keep from spoiling that expectation of a sweet savour? (side note: the archaic definition of savour is similar to repute.)

I tried to look up verses about a sweet savour, and I found that the phrase is in the Old Testament a lot, and it is always in reference to a sacrifice.  Incense was also used in worship to God in the Old Testament.  I believe the analogy of these is the key to having a sweet savour.

The answer is to have a close personal relationship with God.  When we nurture a relationship with God through willing sacrifice (sweet savour) and prayerful communication (incense Rev 8:4), then our life will smell sweet to Him.  Furthermore, it is only important what God thinks of us.  Trying to always please people will put us under a bondage (I know this), but the bondage of love to Christ is blessed (I know this, too).  Most of the time, a life lived well before God will be pleasing to those around us too, but we cannot always depend on that.  Our focus must always be on God and how we can serve and please him.  May we strive to keep the dead flies (I think of that as selfish motives or desires) out of the ointment.

Blessings,

Alyssa