Devotional 2-28-12

After the death of Jim Ray, a JM member, someone brought books to JM that Jim had owned and let people take any they wanted. I took several, one being 52 Hymn Story Devotions, by Lucy Neeley Adams.

Today's devotion is taken from this book, so therefore, I feel Jim is apart of this devotion. "In the Garden" is a favorite old hymn of mine, so this devotion is about this hymn.

"You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.He has been raised; he is not here." (Mark 16:6)

God so loved the world that he sent Jesus, but when he was crucified, it seemed that God's plan was defeated. Behold the risen Lord! He is alive and millions have believed since that event.

One of those believers was C. Austin Miles. Born in Lakehurst, New Jersey, in 1868, he studied to be a pharmacist but returned to an earlier interest in music. When someone asked him to write a hymn "that brings hope to the hopeless and rest for the weary," he turned in his Bible to his favorite passage-- John 20. The composer wrote: "I seemed to be a part of the scene. I became a silent witness to that dramatic moment in Mary's life, when she knelt before her Lord, and cried, "Rabboni!" I gripped my Bible close to me with muscles tense and nerves vibrating. Under the inspiration of this vision, I wrote as quickly as the words could be formed, the poem exactly as it has since appeared. That same evening I wrote the music."

I (Lucy Adams) experienced my own version of epiphany years ago. Easter morning in 1976 began beautifully. As I cooked breakfast, I turned on the radio to my favorite Christian station. The sermon by Dr. Ben Haden was entitled, "If a Man Die, Shall He Live Again?" I rejoiced as I listened to the words affirming my faith in eternal life.

The phone rang. I heard the news that my sister Margaret had died very suddenly. Shock, grief, and tears overwhelmed me. However, before I could get a flight to Virginia to be with Margaret's family, I went to church for the usual Easter celebration. I trembled in my weakness, but my faith was strong.

As I sat in the pew listening to the organ music, I glanced down at the bulletin in my lap. On the cover were two words: "He lives." Staring at those words, I was struck by another truth, and I penciled in the letter"S". The bulletin now read, "She Lives."

Death has been conquered for all believers, because Jesus lives. I knew that Margaret, too, was alive in heaven, just as I will be one day.

Lord because your tomb was temporary, life with you is eternal. Hallelujah! Amen.

I come to the garden alone
while the dew is still on the roses,
and the voice I hear
falling on my ear,
the Son of God discloses.
Refrain:And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
and He tells me I am Hisown;
and the joy we share as we tarry there,
none other has ever known.

C. Austin Miles, 1913 (John 20:11-18)

Kay Lewis