John 15:5 A SONG A DAY, January 17, 2020 “Without Him” According to Songfacts, “Mylon Le Fevre was just 17 years old and in the Army when he wrote his first song, “Without Him” in just 20 minutes. Mylon was stationed at Fort Jackson, South Carolina at the time and one weekend he hitchhiked over 600 miles to join his family group, the LeFevres who were performing at a gospel…Keep Reading

Proverbs 18:24 DEVOTION FOR TODAY, January 16, 2020 “…there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” Many years ago I heard a story that went something like this: The little chapel kept its doors unlocked even though it was in a part of the city where there seemed to be a lot of trouble. Each evening a man slipped through the doors and was inside (usually alone) for…Keep Reading

Jeremiah 8:22 A SONG A DAY, January 16, 2020 “There Is a Balm in Gilead” Jeremiah was grieving for his people, for they had been taken against their will to live in a foreign land. He asked, “Is there no Balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored.” The hymn appeared in “Folk Songs of the…Keep Reading

Ezekiel 37:1, Psalm 32:4 DEVOTION FOR TODAY, January 15, 2020 The hand of the Lord was upon me. Ezekiel 37:1 – For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me… Psalm 32:4 The hand of Love is both a comforter and a disciplinarian. When I was a child there was no greater feeling than the hand of my Father upon my shoulder. Neither was there a more dreaded feeling…Keep Reading

Nehemiah 11-13 A SONG A DAY, January 15, 2020 “Let the Lower Lights Be Burning” I must admit that I have sung this song all my life without knowing or even bothering to ask, “What are the lower lights”? Here’s the story: On the coast of Lake Erie near Cleveland, Ohio, an inner harbor had been created as a safe haven where ships could flee when the sudden and dangerous…Keep Reading

Genesis 21:17-18 DEVOTION FOR TODAY, January 14, 2020 “Don’t Give Up; Look Up, Lift Up, Pray Up, Get Up, Stand Up” “Just go, who cares where?” How can people be so mean to one another? Here she was sitting by a lonely road and crying. Her son was hungry, they had not eaten in days and he was at the point of death. What good is an empty water bottle…Keep Reading

Nehemiah 11-13 A SONG A DAY, January 14, 2020 “My Faith Looks Up to Thee” Ray Palmer a theologian and Lowell Mason, a Doctor of Music, met in Boston in 1830. Palmer shared with Mason a poem he had written, and Mason included it in Spiritual Songs for Social Worship, a compilation that was being prepared by Mason and Thomas Hastings for publication within a couple of years. This is…Keep Reading

Luke 24:29 A SONG A DAY, January 13, 2020 “Abide with Me” When it was reported that Jesus had been raised, some ran to the tomb to see for themselves. After he appeared and expounded how Moses and the Prophets had written of him and was indicating that he would depart from them, they urged: “Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” Accounts…Keep Reading

1 Samuel 12:23 DEVOTION FOR TODAY, January 13, 2020 “Far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you.” They had traveled for two days looking for him. Time was running out and he had to be found soon. Each step became more desperate; this was life and death; “someone said that he was he was just down the street; “Hurry, we…Keep Reading

Nehemiah 9:6 A SONG A DAY, January 12, 2020 “O Worship the King” The whole assembly of Israelites who had returned from captivity gathered to keep the Feast of Booths and to hear the Book of the Law of the Lord. They were all to stand and bless the Lord, saying, “You are the LORD, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the…Keep Reading

John 8:36 DEVOTION FOR TODAY, January 11, 2020 “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” The Rev. Charles Allen told the story of a farm that had been hit by a storm and a tree in the orchard had blown over. When the farmer was asked what he was going to do about it, he replied, “You see it has fruit on the branches. I…Keep Reading

Isaiah 1:18 A SONG A DAY, January 11, 2020 “Though Your Sins Be as Scarlet” The hymn by Fanny J. Cosby is a quotation and exposition of God’s call through Isaiah: “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” There are 30 hymns by Crosby…Keep Reading