I’ll Fly Away

This morning I am so nervous and excited about what the Lord has planned for me today. We are going to be giving the morning’s devotional at our homeschool co-op and this will be such a new experience for us all.

 

About two months ago I felt that the Lord was telling me it is time to start doing things for Him that are not comfortable. If that means speaking or singing in front of a group of people, then that is what He wants me to do. It is time to get over myself!

Our homeschool co-op leader was asking all of the families to fill in for her while she was gone. That meant doing the morning devotionals. She came up to me and asked if I would like to do it. My first reaction was to say, emphatically, NO! But then I remembered what the Lord had put on my heart just that morning, and I said, Yes! I was slightly amused by the Mrs. W’s brief pause, but she smiled and put us down for March 25th. That’s today.

 

So, after praying about what we were supposed to be sharing, the song I’ll Fly Away popped up in my mind. The kids and I, along with another family had just begun learning this song together. While we were going through this song for the first time and after singing it, one of the kids from the other family said, “Wait a minute, this song is about dying.”

If you have ever heard this hymn, you can chuckle along with me because it certainly is about dying, and it certainly sounds like a joyful song. Why is this song, a song about dying, so joyful and happy?

So, after reciting the words, we will sing the song and talk about how all believers can sing that song. If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, then you too can say Hallelujah, I’ll fly away.

 

Thank you Lord for this opportunity to step out and put our faith in You. I know that you have put this in place tell someone about the joy of being with You in heaven. That this place is only temporary, and we will be able to fly like a bird to a land where joy shall never end.

Amen.

 
Some glad morning when this life is o’er,
I’ll fly away;
To a home on God’s celestial shore,
I’ll fly away (I’ll fly away).

Chorus
I’ll fly away, Oh Glory
I’ll fly away; (in the morning)
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by,
I’ll fly away (I’ll fly away).

When the shadows of this life have gone,
I’ll fly away;
Like a bird from prison bars has flown,
I’ll fly away (I’ll fly away)

Chorus

Just a few more weary days and then,
I’ll fly away;
To a land where joy shall never end,
I’ll fly away (I’ll fly away)

The Treasure of a Seed Not Sown…

I wanted to write something today about my bible study in Mark this morning and was plagued with doubts about it. I was unable to see how to apply this passage at the moment to my own life. Do you ever feel such doubts? I think that they are the small nagging attacks of Satan, trying to keep me from doing something for the Lord. After reading a chapter in a book titled Gold Cord by Amy Carmichael, I am doubly sure that’s exactly what it was, his nagging attacks. She wrote, “He needs that precious thing which is wasted now, like the treasure of seed not sown, but only stored.” (Gold Cord, pg 29)

Mark 14:7-10

“For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”

The woman that came to Jesus and anointed Him with costly perfume will be remembered for her loving sacrifice. Contrast this with what Judas Iscariot will be remembered for.

“Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went off to the chief priests in order to betray Him to them.” vs. 10

One is remembered for love, the other for betrayal. The woman’s name is not given in Mark, but she is identified as Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus in John 12:3.  Matthew, Mark and John speak of her coming and anointing Him with oil. In Luke 7:37 there is a story of another woman. She came to Him, a sinner, crying, weeping at His feet. She was weeping and washing Jesus’ feet with her tears and wiped the tears from His feet with her hair. The Pharisee looked on with contempt at this broken woman at Her Lord’s feet. He thought his prideful thoughts, and Jesus rebuked him and taught him the parable of the two debtors.

Judas was one of the twelve disciples. He was seen as a trusted man, part of Jesus’ select group. His sins were not known to everyone yet. Now everyone knows what Judas did to betray Christ, and now everyone also knows what these women did. One is remembered for hate, sin, and betrayal, the others for love, worship, and devotion.

Lord, I pray that I would be remembered for love, not hate. May I come to You, caring not what my reputation is among men, but what You my Lord think of me.