When the Lord is at the center of our lives, the thought of Jesus will cross our minds throughout the day. What do you think? “Jesus In The Morning” is a sweet, softly energetic song about just that. Please give it a sing-along listen and come back for a chat about where we are.

“♫♪Love, serve, thank, praise♫♪” … whom? How?

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and we will come to him and will make a home with him. The one not loving Me does not keep My words. And the word that you hear is not Mine, but that of the Father having sent Me. (John 14:23,24 BLB)

That which we have seen and have heard, we proclaim to you also, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:3 BLB)

These verses give us a lot to think about. What do they tell us about how the Father and His Son relate to each other and about how the rest of us can fit in? And what do we learn about what is important?

We don’t need to read the whole Bible ten times to begin to find our footing in this life. We can start with verses like these. That’s good news! Would you agree?

The beginning, the end … and somewhere in between

It is easy to picture a “narrative arc” in the Bible. Starting in Genesis we have the Garden of Eden, where people (Adam and Eve) lived in communion with God, with no sickness or death and a natural world in perfect order.

The last book of the Bible, Revelation, closes by bringing the story back to something like that, with everlasting life, health, no sorrow or tears, a new Heaven and new Earth and a city where God dwells with His people.

Right now we find ourselves in neither that first nor that final “paradise”. We are somewhere between the first one and the final one, and clearly there is work to be done.

The Bible has a lot to tell us about God’s plan to get His creation from that past in Genesis to that future in Revelation.

The Messiah, Jesus Christ, is “the head of the body” and is central to that plan, and he is in high gear this very day as we move further from that past and closer to that future.

Only God knows it ALL, and we cannot be thankful enough that He has not required us to know it all, too. God does ask that we get to know His Son, Jesus Christ, and follow him as members in particular of his body.

One body, many members

And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. (Ephesians 1:22,23 NIV)

I recently read a book I think a lot of you would enjoy. In 1942, near the beginning of World War II, “as part of an effort to increase Air Force recruitment and morale” the Army Air Force commissioned American author John Steinbeck to write the book titled “Bombs Away: The Story of a Bomber Team” (Read more about it here.)

It is an artful, well illustrated and easy-to-read book about those times, the technology, the rigors of the training, and the superb caliber of the men who were able to enter and complete the training required to become part of such a team. Steinbeck vividly describes the different skill sets each crew member was trained in that, when combined into one team, made an amazingly powerful and versatile unit. It took combining people highly trained in different skills to make it work. (He also noted many areas of overlap, because sometimes one person had to take over another’s work in order to complete the critical mission they were on.)

A lot went into making such a team. How much more the body of Christ?!? It is hard to imagine a more diverse set of people and skills. And there has never been so grand a mission as the one the Lord is leading.

Never forget each of us adds something unique to the body of Christ. We can always learn, and we can get better at things, but we must always — first and foremost — remain thankful we were invited in because Jesus Christ made us able. Do not discount THAT!

It is wonderful to see how people respond as the lights come on in their hearts and they begin to see God’s plan and how Jesus fits into it. Burdens lift, lives gain purpose, peace increases, energy builds. People embracing the Lord will do the most amazing, sometimes odd, often beautiful things. Hang around and you just might hear someone singing what’s on their mind … “♫♪ Jesus in the morning … ♫♪”

God bless you lots
-Dale R.

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Download this song sheet

LYRICS – Jesus In The Morning
African American folk song

1. Jesus, Jesus,
Jesus in the morning,
Jesus at the noontime;
Jesus, Jesus,
Jesus when the sun goes down!

2. Love him, Love him,
Love him in the morning,
Love him at the noontime;
Love him, Love him,
Love him when the sun goes down!

3. Serve him, Serve him,
Serve him in the morning,
Serve him at the noontime;
Serve him, Serve him,
Serve him when the sun goes down!

4. Thank him, Thank him,
Thank him in the morning,
Thank him at the noontime;
Thank him, Thank him,
Thank him when the sun goes down!

5. Praise him, Praise him,
Praise him in the morning,
Praise him at the noontime;
Praise him, Praise him,
Praise him when the sun goes down!

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