4 minute read
Bringing the Light
LIFE LESSONS
Virginia Hughes
As I pray for revival in my heart, renewal in my mind and words to express ideas, there are times when I come up short, ideas don’t come together, energy is absent, my faith sits flat and uninspiring. I may be tired, burnt out, in mourning or otherwise convinced I have nothing left to give. Numbness repels the healing words from Scripture, a dazed malaise keeps me from reaching out to an encouraging friend of the faith.
Not wanting to remain in a stuck kind of place, I ask for guidance from the Holy Spirit and strains from an old hymn come to mind, reminding me of truths I know well. The beautiful old hymn, “Here is Love,” has a history of revival ties. The hymn was written by William Rees, a minister from Wales and gained momentum when sung during the great revival of Christianity which swept through Wales in 1904. At that time, thousands of new converts came to Christ, church buildings overflowed, other revivals came about, and this particular movement became known as the Welsh Revival of 1904.
The hymn was eventually translated from Welsh into English by William Edwards, additional stanzas added over the years and the lyrics set to the tune most recognized today. Contemporary Christian artists have rediscovered the hymn and added a few verses and style tweaks, while older versions of the hymn are also available online.
The lyrics stand as one of the most powerful hymns ever penned describing God’s unmeasurable love through the imagery of vast oceans, floods of mercy and rivers of grace. I hope you will allow this beautiful picture of God’s love to wash over you and may his Holy Spirit ignite, revive, and help us bring the light to our families and neighbors.
Following are the words to the first two stanzas standing alone and then the hymn printed again with my thoughts interjected.
HERE IS LOVE
Here is love, vast as the ocean, loving-kindness as the flood, when the Prince of Life, our Ransom, shed for us His precious blood. Who His love will not remember? Who can cease to sing His praise? He can never be forgotten throughout heav'n's eternal days.
On the mount of crucifixion fountains opened deep and wide; through the floodgates of God's mercy flowed a vast and gracious tide. Grace and love, like mighty rivers, poured incessant from above, and heav'n's peace and perfect justice kissed a guilty world in love.
In all directions blue, white, grey, salt spray. Jesus grilled fish by the sea and today, my hands could be Helping Hands, as I take a simple meal to one knocked down by life. I may offer sustenance and joy. There is always some way I can help and share. When brothers and sisters care, his love is here. May I love far better in the ways I feed his sheep.
Floods of loving kindness enter, family disagreements heal when gentle understanding replaces hasty words. Continual prayer is a balm of scented, healing oil and its brightness opens doors with rays of warmth. Kindness dances down the street as neighbor shovels neighbor’s snowy driveway, and greetings share with one who lives alone. Here is love like a warm blanket. Here is a fresh loaf of bread. Here is an invitation to be included. Let me be the church who practices loving kindness. Let me be the town who loves the state, and the state who shows the country how to love.
His outpouring covered my sin’s disobedience. His obedience cancelled my debt, cancelled my sin, and bought my soul. He intervened to overcome. “Redeemed not the half, but the whole.”
Remember him in word and deed. Allow someone else to go first. Encourage the harried cashier. No need to be a grump behind the mask as my glasses fog and freeze. I literally “See through a glass darkly, but then face to face,” the verse will bring me home. As I walk my path today, help me sow seeds of grace.
I will be more aware of needs around me. I will make a phone call and write a note. I will remember to be salt and light. I will renew the promise daily to worship with my life. “Do this in remembrance of me,” was a direct request from Jesus. Remember, remember, remember.
Worthy is he to be praised. Notes of song resound to the sky. “In the morning when I rise, give me Jesus.”
I lean not on my own understanding while seraphim keep chanting, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come."
Little children sing with hand motions, “Deep and wide, deep and wide, there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide,” with great joy they sing about this grave fountain.
When my thoughts run dry, his mercy floods.
God’s love is greater than my lowest point. From Isaiah 40:31 (KJV): “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
