23 And now, O LORD, let the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house be established forever, and do as you have spoken, 24 and your name will be established and magnified forever, saying, ‘The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, is Israel’s God,’ and the house of your servant David will be established before you.
I thought of you when I read this quote from “The One Year Christian History (One Year Books)” by E. Michael Rusten, Sharon O. Rusten –
“March 8 BLESSED ASSURANCE It took only a few minutes to write, but its blessings will last forever. ALMOST from the day she was born, March 8, 1839, in New York City, Phoebe Palmer showed a keen interest in music. Growing up in the church as the daughter of the Methodist evangelist Walter C. Palmer, she loved its music. At sixteen she married a prominent Sunday school worker named Joseph Fairchild Knapp, who achieved wealth and fame as the founder of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Mrs. Knapp made a name for herself in her day as a composer of both music and verse. One day when Mrs. Knapp had composed a new melody about which she was particularly excited, she wondered what her good friend Fanny Crosby, the prolific blind hymn writer,[80] would think of it. She immediately went to Fanny’s house in Brooklyn, and after playing the tune once on the piano, Mrs. Knapp turned around to find Fanny kneeling in prayer. Thinking perhaps Fanny hadn’t paid attention, she played it again. Fanny later wrote of that afternoon: “My friend, Mrs. Knapp, composed a melody, and played it over to me two or three times on the piano. She then asked me what it said, and I immediately replied ‘Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine!’” Within just a few minutes Fanny Crosby had written three verses and a chorus for Mrs. Knapp’s new melody. Their joint effort, “Blessed Assurance,” was first published in 1873. The music and verses that we sing today remain the same as the day they were created in Fanny Crosby’s living room that afternoon: Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchase of God, Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. Perfect submission, perfect delight! Visions of rapture now burst on my sight; Angels descending bring from above Echoes of mercy, whispers of love. Perfect submission—all is at rest, I in my Savior am happy and blest; Watching and waiting, looking above, Filled with His goodness, lost in His love. This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Savior all the day long. Mrs. Knapp published more than five hundred hymns during her lifetime, but of her many hymns only “Blessed Assurance” and “Open the Gates of the Temple” are commonly sung today. Both compositions are set to texts that Fanny Crosby wrote. Of the nearly nine thousand hymns Fanny Crosby wrote in her lifetime, “Blessed Assurance” is one of her most beloved as well. The first verse of the hymn was chosen for the inscription on her headstone at her death in 1915. Reflection Phoebe Knapp and Fanny Crosby left a glorious legacy in the hymn “Blessed Assurance.” Countless people across the world have been blessed and comforted by the inspiring words and beautiful melody combined that day by the two friends. Do you have the blessed assurance that Jesus is yours? If you do, praise your Savior “all the day long.” If you don’t, trust him today as your Savior, and you will be “born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.” We have this assurance: Those who belong to God will live; their bodies will rise again! Those who sleep in the earth will rise up and sing for joy! ISAIAH 26:19”
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50 Days with Jesus in the Upper Room
Day 23 – Thursday, March 8, 2018
Today’s Assignment – Read John 15:1-4 and fill in the following charts.
Relationships
Who is the Vine?
Who are the Branches? Who is the Vinedresser?
Roles
What does the Vine do?
What do the Branches do? What does the Vinedresser do?
Responsibilities
Of the Vine
Of the Branches Of the Vinedresser
Today’s Quote : “A branch that bears no fruit is obviously dead. Therefore, like Judas, it is cut off. Every year in Palestine gardeners prune their vines. They cut off the dead wood which has no life in it and trim the living branches so that their yield will be greater.” – Dr. Edwin Blum
This Week’s Memory Verse – “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” – John 15:5
So?…..What’s it to me? – As a result of today’s study I will…
50 Days with Jesus in the Upper Room
Day 22 – Wednesday, March 7, 2018
Today’s Assignment – Read John 15 and do the following
1. Write a three or four sentence summary of the chapter.
2. Give the whole chapter a title.
3. Give each section below a one or two word title.
John 15:1-4 – __________________________
John 15:5-8 -__________________________
John 15:9-17 – _________________________
John 15:18-25 -_________________________
John 15: 26-27 – ________________________
Today’s Quote – “In this section of the Farewell Discourse, Jesus dealt with three relationships that involve the disciples: (1) their relationship with him, (2) their relationship with one another, and (3) their relationship with the world around them. Jesus knew his disciples would constitute a distinct body or community with a definite function and he wished to prepare them for the change his departure would make in their manner of living
This Week’s Memory Verse – “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” – John 15:5
So?…..What’s it to me? – As a result of today’s study I will…
50 Days with Jesus in the Upper Room
Day 21 – Tuesday, March 6, 2018
Today’s Assignment – Re-read John 14:1-31 and write down what you have learned from this chapter.
Today’s Quote – “Jesus had been with the disciples in the Upper Room. He now prepared to go to the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives. Whether Jesus’ words in John 15-17 were spoken in the room or on the way to the garden is uncertain, but probably they were given in the room.”
This Week’s Memory Verse – And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. – John 14:13-14
So?…..What’s it to me? – As a result of today’s study I will…
50 Days with Jesus in the Upper Room
Day 20 – Monday, March 5, 2018
Today’s Assignment – Read John 14:25-31 and answer the following questions.
1. What is the promise Jesus gives regarding the Holy Spirit?
2. How does this promise apply to us?
3. What is Jesus’ promise regarding peace?
4. Do John 14:28 and John 14:9 contradict each other?
5. Why won’t Jesus talk much more with His disciples?
Today’s Quote: “When Jesus said “My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28), He was not denying His own deity or His equality with God, for then He would have been contradicting Himself (John 10:30). When Jesus was here on earth, He was necessarily limited by having a human body. He voluntarily laid aside the independent exercise of His divine attributes and submitted Himself to the Father. In that sense, the Father was greater than the Son. Of course, when the Son returned to heaven, all He had laid aside was restored once again (John 17:1,5).” – Dr. Warren Wiersbe
This Week’s Memory Verse – And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. – John 14:13-14
So?…..What’s it to me? – As a result of today’s study I will…
50 Days with Jesus in the Upper Room
Day 19 – Sunday, March 4, 2018
Today’s Assignment – Read John 14:19-24 and answer the following questions.
Please fill in the following chart from verses 23-24
| Behavior
|
Keeps Jesus’ Word | Doesn’t Keep |
| Characterization |
|
|
| Promise |
|
Today’s Quote : “If a person truly loves the Lord, he will want to keep all of His teachings, not just isolated commandments. The Father loves those who are willing to obey His Son without questions or reservations. Both Father and Son are especially near to such loving and obedient hearts.” – Dr. William McDonald
This Week’s Memory Verse – And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. – John 14:13-14
So?…..What’s it to me? – As a result of today’s study I will…
“Evil never surrenders its hold without a sore fight. We never pass into any spiritual inheritance through the delightful exercises of a picnic, but always through the grim contentions of the battlefield.”
nycshepherd.com 