O Jesus, Jesus, dearest Lord

C169 CB208 E208 F34 G208 K169 LSM40 P208 R157 S95 T208
1
O Jesus, Jesus, dearest Lord!
  Forgive me if I say,
For very love, Thy sacred name
  A thousand times a day.
 
O Jesus, Lord, with me abide;
I rest in Thee, whate'er betide;
Thy gracious smile is my reward;
    I love, I love Thee, Lord!
2
I love Thee so I know not how
  My transports to control;
Thy love is like a burning fire
  Within my very soul.
3
For Thou to me art all in all;
  My honor and my wealth;
My heart's desire, my body's strength,
  My soul's eternal health.
4
Burn, burn, O love, within my heart,
  Burn fiercely night and day,
Till all the dross of earthly loves
  Is burned, and burned away.
5
O light in darkness, joy in grief,
  O heaven's life on earth;
Jesus, my love, my treasure, who
  Can tell what Thou art worth?
6
What limit is there to this love?
  Thy flight, where wilt Thou stay?
On, on! our Lord is sweeter far
  Today than yesterday.
81
Un Hermano

LOVING THE LORD RESULTING

IN LIVING WITH THE LORD

Do we love the Lord Jesus? Since we all love Him, we should live with Him. Suppose there is a brother who has not taken a shower for three days, and his entire body smells. If this were the case, it would be difficult for me to love him and live with him. For two people to live together, they must love one another, and in order to love one another, they must find each other lovable. Our Lord Jesus is truly lovable. Formerly, we were not lovable, but the lovable Jesus has made us lovable. Thus, not only is Jesus lovable, but He has also made every one of His lovers lovable.

I know that this is true. I have seen people who were great sinners. Before they were saved, they were like monsters. Then one day they believed in the Lord and called, “O Lord Jesus! ” Within two or three days after they believed in the Lord, they became most lovable. The loveliness of Jesus made them lovable. This illustrates that if you love Jesus, you will become lovable. Moreover, your loving Him and your becoming lovable will produce a result. Because He is lovable and you have become lovable, and because He loves you and you love Him, the two of you will live together. Because you love one another, you will want to live together all day long. Because He is truly lovable and you love Him, you will want to see Him often and live with Him. He is your life, and you are His image. You and He, He and you, will then become one. He loves you, and you love Him, so the two of you will live together.

In John 14:23 the Lord Jesus said, “If anyone loves Me,... My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him. ” The Lord did not say that the Father and the Son will merely visit us and say “hello. ” He said that They will make an abode with us. For the Father and Son to make an abode with us means that They will live, walk, and move together with us. It is truly amazing that the Lord said, “If anyone loves Me,... My Father will love him. ” Our love for Him is not a love of someone who is below for someone who is above, and His love for us is not a love from someone who is above for someone who is below. Our love for Him and His love for us is a love shared by two who are on an equal standing. This is the Christian life.

Living with the Lord

Chapter 3 LIVING WITH THE LORD BY LOVING HIM

CWWL, 1975–1976, (LSM)


Amos Kimani

Nakuru, Kenya

Amen. Oh Lord Jesus Christ you are sweeter as days go by.


Chris Condon

Fargo, North Dakota, United States

Go into your secret room, close the door, and pray to Your Father. Outside your room may be many things including "the house". We want to be those who minister to the Lord. His smile is our desire and reward.


Nicole Ho

Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

The Lord becomes sweeter and sweeter every day.


Un Hermano

CHRIST BEING WROUGHT INTO US

TO MAKE US PRECIOUS STONES

FOR GOD’S BUILDING

Calling on the name of the Lord is not something that is done in vain, for Jesus is real and present. If a person is real, living, and near to us, whenever we call that person’s name, that person will come to us. Jesus is real and living; He is present and available. Therefore, when we call His name, He will come to us and will enter into us. Hymns, #208 says, “O Jesus, Jesus, dearest Lord! / Forgive me if I say, / For very love, Thy sacred name / A thousand times a day. ” The words of this hymn should not be an exaggeration to us. A sister may be bored while washing the dishes at home. The best way for her to make her task a pleasant experience is for her to call on the name of the Lord while she is working. Whenever we call on the Lord’s name, we taste Him, for He is living, real, present, and available.

It is Satan’s subtlety to allow people to believe in Jesus and pray to Jesus but in a dumb way. Although we may believe in Jesus and receive Him as our Savior, if we do not call on His name, it will be difficult for us to enjoy Him. Today the Lord Jesus is working Himself into our being for God’s building. One way for Him to work Himself into us is by our calling on His name. We may not be convinced of this, but if we will simply call on the name of the Lord Jesus for three minutes, we will never be the same. We can read the whole Bible and still remain the same, but if we call, “O Lord Jesus! ” for three minutes, we can never be the same because Jesus will work Himself into us.

The Building of the Church

Chapter 4 (LSM)


Maria L

Fremont, California, United States

God uses the furnace of sufferings and trials to purify our life; this is God’s way of dealing with His believers in the judgment of His governmental administration, which begins from His own house (1 Pet. 4:17-19).

Lord we open ourselves to You. Transform us more today. Cause us to remain open to You as we experience Your governmental dealings.


Agodman

United Kingdom

Lord Jesus, we love You and we open to You. Grow in us. May we decrease and may You increase. Amen, Lord, may we not think that the fiery ordeal among us, coming to us for a trial, is strange, as if it were a strange happening to us. May we realize that, inasmuch as we share in the sufferings of Christ, we rejoice, so that also at the revelation of His glory we may rejoice exultantly! Amen, Lord, may we not be surprised or astonished at the fiery ordeals but rather, may we allow You to remove any impurities from our being.


Catherine Cargill

London, United Kingdom

O Jesus, Lord, with me abide;

I rest in Thee, whate’er betide;

Thy gracious smile is my reward;

I love, I love Thee, Lord!

4

Burn, burn, O love, within my heart,

Burn fiercely night and day,

Till all the dross of earthly loves

Is burned, and burned away.


Catherine

London, United Kingdom

O Jesus, Jesus, dearest Lord!

Forgive me if I say,

For very love, Thy sacred name

A thousand times a day.

O Jesus, Lord, with me abide;

I rest in Thee, whate’er betide;

Thy gracious smile is my reward;

I love, I love Thee, Lord!

What limit is there to this love?

Thy flight, where wilt Thou stay?

On, on! our Lord is sweeter far

Today than yesterday.


Xavier

Singapore, Singapore

O Lord Jesus

I hope that the sense that Jesus is good is growing within you every day. You do not need to determine to give up mah-jongg or the Chinese opera. All that you need to do is to daily say, "Jesus is good; Jesus is really good! Although I am here playing mah-jongg, Jesus is better than mah-jongg. Jesus is truly good!" If you say this more and more every day, by the time that you have said this hundreds of times, you will no longer play mah-jongg or go to the opera. You will give up these things, because Jesus is good, and Jesus is so lovable.

Dear brothers and sisters, please do not think that it is superstitious to say this. I began hearing sermons in Christianity when I was very young, and although I have heard many of them, no one ever clearly told me that we should confess, "Jesus is good! Jesus is so good! O Lord Jesus! O Lord Jesus! Lord, You are so good!" Then one day when I was compiling the hymnal, I found a hymn that says, "O Jesus, Jesus, dearest Lord! / Forgive me if I say, / For very love, Thy sacred name / A thousand times a day" (Hymns, #208). These lines deeply touched me. I said to the Lord, "O Lord, I am truly sorry. I have been saved for so many years, but I have never said Your name a thousand times in one day."

Some say that calling "O Lord Jesus! O Lord Jesus!" is almost the same as the Buddhists' chanting "Amitabha." However, the real situation is that the more the Buddhist priests and nuns chant "Amitabha," the more their faces become downcast, the more their foreheads grow wrinkled, and the more their countenances become sorrowful. Even the rooms that the Buddhist priests and nuns live in are dark and gloomy. When they walk into them, they cannot see anything. Calling upon the name of the Lord is completely different from the chanting of the Buddhists. When you say "O Lord Jesus! O Lord Jesus! You are so good!" from morning to night, your sad face turns into a smiling face, your downcast face becomes an uplifted face, your furrowed brow loosens up, your wrinkles diminish, and even your bedroom is filled with warmth. How amazing this is! Why is there such a contrast between calling on the Lord and chanting? It is because when the Buddhists call "Amitabha," demons come. The more they say "Amitabha," the more demons there are, and demons are gloomy. However, when we say, "O Lord Jesus! O Lord Jesus! You are so lovable!" the Lord Jesus comes, and the more we say this, the more He comes. The Lord Jesus is the reality of every positive thing in this universe. Thus, when He comes, we have everything.

The fact that we are able to spontaneously call "O Lord Jesus" is a strong proof that we have been saved, that we have been delivered out of the power of Satan, and that we are now in spirit. The more Christians call "O Lord Jesus," the better. Stanza 1 of Hymns, #208 says, "O Jesus,…I say…Thy sacred name / A thousand times a day." The writer of this hymn said that he says the Lord's name a thousand times a day. Actually a thousand times is still not enough. This is just like our breathing—it is hard to count the number of times we breathe daily. We breathe continuously; we breathe without ceasing. Paul told the Corinthians that whenever they meet, instead of worshipping the dumb idols, they should speak in the Holy Spirit. "No one speaking in the Spirit of God says, Jesus is accursed; and no one can say, Jesus is Lord! except in the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:3).

Calling on the name of the Lord is not something that is done in vain, for Jesus is real and present. If a person is real, living, and near to us, whenever we call that person's name, that person will come to us. Jesus is real and living; He is present and available. Therefore, when we call His name, He will come to us and will enter into us. Hymns, #208 says, "O Jesus, Jesus, dearest Lord! / Forgive me if I say, / For very love, Thy sacred name / A thousand times a day." The words of this hymn should not be an exaggeration to us. A sister may be bored while washing the dishes at home. The best way for her to make her task a pleasant experience is for her to call on the name of the Lord while she is working. Whenever we call on the Lord's name, we taste Him, for He is living, real, present, and available.

Piano Hymns