Milo

July 6

LIKE A RIVER GLORIOUS
Frances R. Havergal, 1836–1879
If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea. (Isaiah 48:18)
Our gift of salvation includes more than pardon from sin, deliverance from hell, and a guarantee to heaven. It includes everything we need to live victorious lives of “perfect peace and rest” here and now. An untroubled mind is one of life’s greatest goals. Many seek it by pursuing money, success, drugs, or alcohol, but all such roads end in failure and frustration. Contentment has been described as that inner satisfaction that enables us to live in quietness, peace, and acceptance. The secret of contentment does not depend on our material possessions; rather, it depends on our spiritual awareness and the appropriation of what we possess by being members of the heavenly family.
This hymn text by Frances Havergal, often called “England’s Consecration Poet,” reflects so well her personal lifestyle. Her brief life of 43 years was said to be completely dedicated to God and His service. The music was composed for this text by James Mountain, an English Baptist pastor, evangelist and musician. The hymn first appeared in its present form in the Hymns of Consecration and Faith, published in 1876. The song was titled “Perfect Peace.”
These choice words have made this a favorite hymn of many of God’s people through the years, especially when called upon to face difficult problems:
Like a river glorious is God’s perfect peace, over all victorious in its bright increase; perfect, yet it floweth fuller ev’ry day; perfect, yet it groweth deeper all the way.
Hidden in the hollow of His blessed hand, never foe can follow, never traitor stand; not a surge of worry, not a shade of care, not a blast of hurry touch the spirit there.
Ev’ry joy or trial falleth from above, traced upon our dial by the Sun of Love; we may trust Him fully all for us to do—They who trust Him wholly find Him wholly true.
Refrain: Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest—finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest.

    For Today: Psalm 29:11; Isaiah 26:3; John 14:27; Philippians 4:11; Colossians 3:15; James 3:17

Reflect on this statement—“A mind stayed on God produces a sound mind for daily living.” Carry this musical truth with you as a reminder—

July 5

PEACE, PERFECT PEACE
Edward H. Bickersteth, 1825–1906
I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)
The quest for inner calm and peace has been a universal struggle for mankind throughout the ages. Even for those of us who profess to be followers of Christ, it is difficult to realize with consistency that “God’s ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts than our thoughts.” It often becomes normal for us to make our own plans without consulting Him for His perfect will.
This comforting hymn, which reminds us that God’s perfect peace is found only in Christ Jesus, was written by an English minister of the Anglican church. Edward Bickersteth, Jr. served as the Bishop of Exeter, England, and became well-known for his many books of sermons, poetry, and hymns.
While vacationing in August, 1875, Bickersteth heard a sermon on Isaiah 26:3 and was deeply moved by the way this verse reads in Hebrew: “Thou wilt keep him in peace, peace whose mind is stayed on Thee …” The repetition of the word conveyed the idea of absolute perfection. That afternoon while visiting a dying aged relative, Bickersteth read this verse from Isaiah to comfort the man. Then at the bedside he quickly composed the lines of this hymn text just as it reads today.
From the Hebrew expression of “peace peace” came the beginning phrase of each stanza, “Peace, perfect peace.” Then questions were posed. For each of these five questions Edward Bickersteth supplied a positive spiritual answer.
As these completed lines were read to the dying relative, they were no doubt a source of great comfort—as they have continued to be for troubled hearts throughout the years.
Peace, perfect peace—in this dark world of sin? The blood of Jesus whispers peace within.
Peace, perfect peace—by thronging duties pressed? To do the will of Jesus, this is rest.
Peace, perfect peace—with sorrows surging round? On Jesus’ bosom naught but calm is found.
Peace, perfect peace—with loved ones far away? In Jesus’ keeping we are safe, and they.
Peace, perfect peace—our future all unknown? Jesus we know, and He is on the throne.

    For Today: Isaiah 26:3; 32:17; John 14:27; Ephesians 2:14; Philippians 4:7

Experience the perfect peace of God in your life by realizing anew that it is only obtained through the presence of Christ in our lives—He is our peace (Ephesians 2:14). Carry this musical message as you go—

July 4

THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER
Francis Scott Key, 1779–1843
Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: Whether it be to the king, as supreme, or to governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. (1 Peter 2:13, 14 KJV)
During the War of 1812, while on the deck of a truce ship, Francis Key paced nervously as a fierce battle raged nearby during the British attack on the harbor of Baltimore. As District Attorney of Georgetown and a spiritual lay leader of his church, Key had been sent by President James Madison to negotiate with the British for a physician who had been taken prisoner. All night Key and his party were detained as the heavy bombardment continued. When the firing suddenly stopped just before morning, Key was fearful of the outcome; but as he looked hesitantly across the water, he saw the American flag still triumphantly flying with the assurance of our nation’s freedom!
With joyful relief, Key wrote his poem hastily on the back of an envelope and put finishing touches on it after being released later that evening. One month later the song was published, accompanied by an old hunting tune, “Anacron in Heaven,” attributed to John Stafford Smith of England. Although enthusiastically received by the people, the song was not officially adopted by Congress as our national anthem until March 3, 1931.
O say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming, whose broad stripes and bright stars, thru the perilous fight, o’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof thru the night that our flag was still there. O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
O thus be it ever, when free men shall stand between their loved homes and the war’s desolation! Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just; and this be our motto: “In God is our trust!” And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

    For Today: Proverbs 14:34; Matthew 22:21; Romans 13:1–7; 1 Timothy 2:1, 2; 1 Peter 2:13–21

Write a letter of commendation to a public official for some worthy contribution he has made to the moral and spiritual betterment of our country. May this musical question from our national anthem be a continuing challenge and concern.

July 3

IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL
Horatio G. Spafford, 1828–1888
God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1)
Inner peace through an implicit trust in the love of God is the real evidence of a mature Christian faith. Only with this kind of confidence in his heavenly Father could Horatio Spafford experience such heart-rending tragedies as he did and yet be able to say, “It is well with my soul.”
Spafford had known peaceful and happy days as a successful attorney in Chicago. He was the father of four daughters, an active member of the Presbyterian Church, and a loyal friend and supporter of D. L. Moody and other evangelical leaders of his day. Then, a series of calamities began, starting with the great Chicago fire of 1871 which wiped out the family’s extensive real estate investments. When Mr. Moody and his music associate, Ira Sankey, left for Great Britain for an evangelistic campaign, Spafford decided to lift the spirits of his family by taking them on a vacation to Europe. He also planned to assist in the Moody-Sankey meetings there.
In November, 1873, Spafford was detained by urgent business, but he sent his wife and four daughters as scheduled on the S.S. Ville du Harve, planning to join them soon. Halfway across the Atlantic, the ship was struck by an English vessel and sank in 12 minutes. All four of the Spafford daughters—Tanetta, Maggie, Annie and Bessie—were among the 226 who drowned. Mrs. Spafford was among the few who were miraculously saved.
Horatio Spafford stood hour after hour on the deck of the ship carrying him to rejoin his sorrowing wife in Cardiff, Wales. When the ship passed the approximate place where his precious daughters had drowned, Spafford received sustaining comfort from God that enabled him to write, “When sorrows like sea billows roll … It is well with my soul.” What a picture of our hope!
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll—Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well with my soul.
Tho Satan should buffet, tho trials should come, let this blest assurance control, that Christ hath regarded my helpless estate and shed His own blood for my soul.
And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll: The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend, “Even so”—it is well with my soul.
Chorus: It is well with my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul.

    For Today: Psalm 31:14; 142:3; Galatians 2:20; 1 Peter 4:19

Ask yourself if you can truthfully say, “It is well with my soul,” no matter what the circumstances may be that surround you.

July 2

IN MY HEART THERE RINGS A MELODY
Words and Music by Elton M. Roth, 1891–1951
Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have worked salvation for Him. Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music. (Psalm 98:1, 4)
King Solomon, one of the wisest men who ever lived, once made this observation: “A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit” (Proverbs 15:13). The medical profession has also long realized that happy people are the healthiest people. But how does one achieve that happiness—that joy? The child of God knows that it comes from living close to the Savior. And beyond that—joy experienced should also be joy expressed.
This ought to be true in our individual lives as well as when we gather in our church services. True worship must have the ingredient of festal joy. The Psalms insist that we “burst into jubilant song with music” and that we praise our God with “trumpet, lute, harp, timbrel, and loud crashing cymbals.” Too often believers give the impression that the Christian experience is a cheerless journey of harsh self-discipline that must be painfully endured until the heavenly rewards are finally realized. Little joy or praise is evident in such a testimony.
The author and composer of this hymn, Elton Roth, was a well-known musician of his day. It was while assisting with evangelistic meetings in Texas on a hot summer day in 1923 that the words and music for this hymn suddenly came to him. Mr. Roth recalls, “That evening I introduced the song by having more than 200 boys and girls sing it at the open air meeting, after which the audience joined in the singing. I was thrilled as it seemed my whole being was transformed into song.”
When our worship and personal experience are full of joy and song, it will be easier for our lives to encourage others to know this same happiness also.
I have a song that Jesus gave me; it was sent from heav’n above; there never was a sweeter melody; ’tis a melody of love.
I love the Christ who died on Calv’ry, for He washed my sins away; He put within my heart a melody, and I know it’s there to stay.
’Twill be my endless theme in glory; with the angels I will sing; ’twill be a song with glorious harmony, when the courts of heaven ring.
Chorus: In my heart there rings a melody, there rings a melody with heaven’s harmony; in my heart there rings a melody, there rings a melody of love.

    For Today: 1 Chronicles 16:8–10; Nehemiah 8:10; Colossians 3:16

Consider thoughtfully—Am I truly a happy Christian? Does my life express the joy of the Lord? Does my church worship produce joy in my life? Ask God to change whatever may be lacking. Then sing joyfully as you go—