Our Loving God

Our Loving God


We’ve a story to tell to the nations, That shall turn their hearts to the right,A story of truth and mercy, A story of peace and light,
We’ve a song to be sung to the nations, That shall lift their hearts to the Lord,A song that shall conquer evil, and shatter the spear and sword.
We’ve a message to give to the nations, That the Lord who reigns up above Has sent us His Son to save us, And show us that God is love.
We’ve a Savior to show to the nations, Who the path of sorrow has trod,That all of the world’s great peoples might come to the truth of God.

Refrain: For the darkness shall turn to dawning, And the dawning to noonday bright;And Christ’s great kingdom shall come on earth, the kingdom of love and light.
By H. Ernest Nichol

Children brought up in Christian homes are learning great truths from their earliest days. The Sunday school is where they learn hymns that will last them a life time. Hymns that will shape their attitudes towards all the peoples of the world.

One of the earliest hymns a child would know from memory is:

Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.. Little ones to Him belong, they are weak but He is strong.
Jesus loves me, He who died. Heaven’s gate to open wide. He will wash away my sin. Let His little child come in.
Jesus loves me, loves me still. Though I’m very weak and ill, from His shining throne on high comes to watch me where I lie.
Jesus loves me. He will stay. Close beside me all the way. If I love Him, when I die, he will take me home on high.

Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so.

By Anna Bartlett Warner (1820-1915)

For the Christian, heaven is the home we long to see. Our expectations are centered on being “at home with Jesus.” We have felt his love all our lives. Hatred is never a part of our thoughts, unless it is hatred of the evil forces of life. But we struggle to “love our neighbor as ourself”. This is part of our Christian teaching.

We serve a risen Savior while we are here on earth, but heaven is our true home where we will enjoy eternal life with all the saints of the Lord.

In this year 2007 we see a great need to speak more about this quality of “love” to counterbalance the frequent unhappy evidence of the power of “hatred” in the lives of those who have been brought up without such love. We cannot imagine a mother rejoicing in the death of her suicide bomber son because he will then be blessed with the attentions of a promised “black-eyed” woman. Such insensitivity to the many deaths caused by that same son is beyond our comprehension.

In the month of March, 2007, a large group of Arabic speaking persons gathered in Zurich, Switzerland to address an enormous topic: The Plight of Minorities and Women of the Middle East and North Africa, with special emphasis on the role played by the Muslim Brotherhood in respect to horrific persecution. Think of how many people this encompasses. The group includes the Christians of Iraq and the new Christians of North Africa, and likewise includes the unhappy land-locked Kurds who have never been allowed their own country, plus many other minorities.

They need our love and our prayers. They are our neighbors.

Posted by Shirley