Hello OCBC family,
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” (Psalm 23:1-3).

This beloved psalm has been an inspiration for believers through centuries. This psalm gave comfort to Christians because they know that the Lord is not just a distant God, but a Great Shepherd. Psalm 100:3 makes this very clear, “Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.”

The consolation of Psalm 23 gave an idea for a hymn. The name of the hymn is “God Leads Us Along” and its author was George Young.

Young was a carpenter by trade, and he and his wife did some evangelism ministry, sharing the gospel everywhere they went. They said that the Lord led them to preach to those who were in darkness.

“In shady, green pastures,
So rich and so sweet,
God leads His dear children along.
Where the water's cool flow
Bathes the weary one's feet,
God leads His dear children along.
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Sometimes on the mount
Where the sun shines so bright,
God leads His dear children along.
Sometimes in the valley,
In darkest of night,
God leads His dear children along.”

The Youngs had a small house that George built with great effort, and which was dedicated to God and to the service of the Lord's work.

During a ministry trip far away from home, somebody, who was very offended by Young’s preaching, set their home on fire, and the Youngs lost everything there.

As George gazed at the ruins, he started to count his real possessions, his family, his relationship with Christ, his ministry, his eternal home, and then, he wrote his lovely hymn “God Leads Us Along.”

“Though sorrows befall us
And Satan oppose,
God leads His dear children along.
Through grace we can conquer,
Defeat all our foes;
God leads His dear children along.”

During this thanksgiving season, let us remember that our Lord, the Great Shepherd, will lead us along. Give thanks to Him, because He is good all the time.

“Some through the waters,
Some through the flood,
Some through the fire,
But all through the blood;
Some through great sorrow,
but God gives a song
In the night season
And all the day long.”

Happy Thanksgiving!
In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
“Your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:3).
This passage by our brother Paul tells us that we put on a new self. In the context, verse 1, Paul says, “if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is.” Doing this, Paul says now that our lives are hidden with Christ. This is not only a future hope, but an accomplished fact right now. Our work and service and conduct do not earn our salvation, but they are the result of our salvation; we are in Christ.

This verse was the inspiration for the lovely hymn, “I Am His, and He Is Mine” or “Loved with Everlasting Love.” The author was an Irish pastor named George Wade Robinson. He was born in Cork, Ireland in 1838. He attended college in Dublin and London, and became a pastor in churches in Dublin, London and Brighton.

“Loved with everlasting love,
Led by grace that love to know;
Gracious Spirit from above,
Thou hast taught me it is so!
O this full and perfect peace!
O this transport all divine!
In a love which cannot cease,
I am His, and He is mine.
In a love which cannot cease,
I am His, and He is mine.”

Robinson wrote several books of poems, and this hymn is part of one of those books. You can tell about his talent to write poetry even in this same hymn. Read the second stanza.

“Heav'n above is softer blue,
Earth around is sweeter green!
Something lives in ev'ry hue
Christ-less eyes have never seen:
Birds with gladder songs o'er flow,
Flow'rs with deeper beauties shine,
Since I know, as now I know,
I am His, and He is mine.
Since I know, as now I know,
I am His, and He is mine.”

Some people believe that, beside the passage of Colossians, Robinson got the inspiration for this hymn after hearing D. L. Moody preaching and personal testimony during his evangelistic campaign.

Let me share what Robert J. Morgan says about this hymn.
“The presence of Christ in our hearts makes the sun brighter, the sky bluer, the grass greener, the birds sweeter, and the flowers lovelier – since we know, as now we know, that ‘I am His, and He is mine.’”

“His forever, only His;
Who the Lord and me shall part?
Ah, with what a rest of bliss
Christ can fill the loving heart!
Heav'n and earth may fade and flee,
Firstborn light in gloom decline,
But while God and I shall be,
I am His, and He is mine.
Firstborn light in gloom decline,
But while God and I shall be,
I am His, and He is mine.”
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In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
“Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.” (Romans 5:20).

During my Sunday school class, we are abiding in the book of Romans for several months and it has been a wonderful experience, and the passage that I am sharing right now is a very powerful one. Paul is teaching here that while the Law exposed and even amplified our awareness of sin, God’s grace surpasses it entirely. No matter how great the sin, God’s grace is greater still — not to excuse sin, but to overcome it through the work of Christ.

This passage was the inspiration for Julia H. Johnston to write these words,
“Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt,
Yonder on Calvary's mount outpoured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.”

Who was Julia H. Johnston? We don’t know too much about her life, just that she was born on January 21, 1849, in Salineville, Ohio. Her father was a pastor, and her mother was a poet. Julia herself became a poet, starting with some simple poems at age of nine, but during high school she became very popular for her writing. She is the author of more than 500 hymns. Her spiritual background was Presbyterian, and her love for missions was big, no wonder why she wrote many hymns about grace, and salvation.

“Dark is the stain that we cannot hide,
What can avail to wash it away?
Look! There is flowing a crimson tide;
Whiter than snow you may be today.”

The song describes the Christian doctrine of grace and justification by faith articulated in the letter to the Romans in Romans 5:1-2 and 14-16. The name of the melody is ‘Moody” because the composer, Daniel B. Towner, was the director of the music department of Moody Bible Institute.

Johnston worked as a Sunday school superintendent and teacher for over forty years and served as president of the Presbyterian Missionary Society. Julia H. Johnston died in Peoria, Illinois on March 6, 1919 at the age of seventy.

“Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,
Freely bestowed on all who believe;
All who are longing to see His face,
Will you this moment His grace receive?”

This hymn has been a blessing for many believers, and a tool to share the gospel to those who are still in darkness.

“Grace, grace, God's grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God's grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin.”

Sola Gratia.
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In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
“Let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is very great.” (1 Chronicles 21:13).
“O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.”

This is the first stanza of a very powerful hymn called, “O Love That Wilt Not Let Me God” written by George Matheson, a scotch minister. He was born in Glasgow, March 27, 1842. He was a very smart young man, but he had poor eyesight. Nevertheless, he graduated from Glasgo University at the age of nineteen. But when he started his studies for ministry, he became totally blind.

A great help for him was his own sister. This young lady became a student as well, learning Greek and Hebrew to help her brother during his studies.
Matheson became a faithful preacher, his congregation loved him, but a sad moment came into his personal life. He was engaged with a young lady, but his fiancé, unwilling to be married to a blind man, broke their engagement and returned his ring.

This pain of rejection never left him. Years after, his own sister came with the news that she was engaged and ready to marry a young man, George was happy for her, but his mind went back to his own heartache. It was this moment that he remembered and comforted himself with the idea that God’s love will never leave him. During this sad moment he wrote this hymn.

“O Light that foll'west all my way,
I yield my flick'ring torch to Thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in Thy sunshine's glow its day
May brighter, fairer be.”

About this hymn, the author tells of its writing:
“It was composed with extreme rapidity, and I felt myself rather in a position of one who was being dictated to than of an original artist. I was suffering from extreme mental distress, and the hymn was the fruit of pain.”

He was a preacher in a small church in Innellan, and during a particular Sunday evening service, when the crowd was very small, he felt discouraged, nevertheless, he preached his very well prepared sermon. In the audience was a visitor for the large St. Bernard’s Church in Edinburg, which was seeking a pastor. In 1886, Matheson became the pastor at St. Bernard’s where he became one of Scotland’s favorite preachers.

“O Joy that seekest me thro' pain,
I cannot close my heart to Thee;
I trace the rainbow thro' the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to hide from Thee;
I lay in dust life's glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red,
Life that shall endless be.”

Read this hymn and you can find that it is like a small sermon. Use it during your quiet time, it will be a blessing for your soul.
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In His service,
Israel