Monday, April 26, 2010

What Is Our Influence?

Many if not most know the title of this humble blog is taken from one of the many beautiful hymns of Mr. Philip Bliss, who has come to be my very favorite hymn-writer. The more I know of this humble man of God, the more I appreciate him. Knowing the truth of fallen human nature, I am positive that brother Bliss had his sins & faults, but I have never read of one of them. Most all that I have read about the man was written by those who knew him personally & very closely. I won't go into a whole lot here, except to say that in reading about the funeral service & the days following, it is no exaggeration to say that hundreds came to know the Savior through the Godly influence of this dear brother's short 38 years. I like especially part of what the pastor who preached his funeral said. Roughly, it was that no one should try to answer all the questions that were undoubtedly swirling through friends' & family's minds about why such a vibrant & young man of God's life should be snuffed out so soon & so violently, as the train wreck that killed him & his wife was absolutely horrific & ghastly. There would be no help from thinking that a colossal mistake was made, as the man said, no mistake was made, God cannot make one. As the lives that were touched & changed for Christ through his influence began to add up, the truth of God's grace even in horrific death shines forth & bathes even our darkest fears & doubts in its marvelous light! I'll close this brief post by quoting the apostle Peter, in his 1st Epistle, chapter 2, verses 9 & 10 which describes our salvation experience to a "T": "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy." I trust all that read this have come to Christ in simple faith & found these words exceedingly true. If not, why not come today? May the Lord bless you!

4 comments:

Z said...

"It is Well With My Soul"...one of my VERY favorites...I have to admit not knowing the others I found by Googling his name.
I think our organist played IT IS WELL at Mr. Z's funeral before it actually began......
WHat a horrid death he had, but it appears the Lord knew it was not only his wife's time but his time, too...
God bless! xxx

David Wyatt said...

Z,

Thank you so much for taking the time to come by & comment. Bro. Bliss was evidently a devoted believer in Christ as was his wife, & evidently the Lord knew the right time to allow his death to glorify Him & help others find eternal life in Christ. I can't help of think of Peter as the Lord Jesus told him about the death he himself would die & how it would glorify God. I appreciate your vibrant Christian faith, Z, & still pray that God is healing your heart & giving you peace even in the loss of your dear Mr. Z. Though because of Christ, our present short loss is eventually an eternal gain! God Bless you!

Z said...

Hi, David, dear man. I just came by again to say HELLO in 'private' and saw your lovely note to me from May. THANK YOU.
It's absolutely surreal to not have my husband here with me anymore, David...I miss him SO immensely, as you can imagine.
But, God's shown me such Scriptures that have lifted me up and I do believe that his illness was something he shouldn't have had to suffer from and he didn't; God took him in his sleep very far before it was expected. He'd have suffered greatly from Amyloidosis so I'm grateful he didn't. That helps me.
I used to call MrZ "My Rock" all the while knowing God is my rock and I have to cling to Him now more than ever.
I try to remain 'vibrant'...if you knew how doubtful I am and how often, you'd be shocked..but on my blog I want so badly to witness in a good way and I hope I do. And, of course, when I'm doubtful, who do I pray for to have my faith return? GOD!! (am I nuts, or what?!) !!

Love and hugs to you. me

David Wyatt said...

Z,

You are definitely NOT nuts! You have given us a wonderful picture of Biblical faith! It doesn't mean we have no fear, but that we go on & trust the Lord in ouor fears, & He knows how to give us grace to help in our times of need! Thank you for your candidness & honesty, it is refreshing. So many of the Bible saints had fears galore as they followed the Lord, & they failed more than once, sometimes more often than not. But they kept on going, knowing that though we fall, the Lord will lift us up! (Ps.37:23-24; Mic.7:7-8) We have the promise of almighty God that once we trust Christ as Savior, He will never leave us nor forsake us. He has also promised us that in the world, we'll be run over by some steamrollers, but we can just laugh! Since he's overcome the world! Take care & God Bless you, Z. By the way, I'd be more shocked to find that you were never doubtful, because we all are at times, but the Lord just keeps on building our faith.