“Sweet Jesus” ?!? To me that sounded too familiar, maybe even irreverent. Are we talking about the Lion of Judah? The one “dressed in a robe dipped in blood” whose name is “the Word of God” — the “Son of the Most High”? On what planet would “sweet Jesus” be a fitting name for the Captain of Salvation? I’m on planet Earth, and found I needed to adjust my thinking a bit to use “sweet” when speaking of the Lord of Glory. Working with this song, I’ve come around to an answer of peace. Please give the song a sing-along listen, then let’s talk.

“Your hearing is getting better”

John Sambuco was a brilliant professional violinist and one of the best teachers I ever had in any field. I needed a lot of help on violin, and he generously agreed to take me on. He began by helping me learn to play better in tune. After many weeks I was frustrated and complained, “I’m playing more out of tune than ever.” He quickly and kindly replied, “No, no, your playing is not getting worse. Your hearing is getting better.”

What a valuable lesson that was — and not just for playing violin.

Ephesians says “put on the whole armor of God”. The first piece of God’s protective armor we are to put on is “the belt of truth”. We are called to clean up our act and live in truth — with integrity and honesty — in the sight of God and men. Over time and with practice living with integrity we become more spiritually in tune with Christ. We see more clearly how carnally minded we were in the past.

Seeing where we came from can be painful. Remember what Mr. Sambuco said and apply it here. As we turn up the light, we do not become more evil. Rather, we get better at seeing “the good”. But, at the same time, we also get better at seeing “the bad” — especially in ourselves. When that happens we must remember to put on the second piece of God’s armor — the breastplate of righteousness. We must let our righteousness in Christ — and not our own past shortcomings — rule our attitude about our God-given worth.

During such growth, Jesus does not change and become sweeter. WE change — our ability grows — to be able to see His integrity, strength of character and beauty bigger and better. He’s always been awesome. Our ability to see is improving. Sweet!

Getting to know the Lord

Sitting near someone in a desk or church pew is not the best way to get to know the person. Chatting together is a better method. Better still is working together on something.

The same holds true for getting to know the Lord. When we labor with the Lord in this life, we are going to have good times and difficult times. We love good times, but it is the difficult times that really help us grow in knowing how wonderful our Lord is. Through trials the Lord reveals His loving character, wisdom, patience and all the other qualities we ourselves want to grow in.

Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.” Working together with the Lord through difficult times helps us get to know Him better, and provides an occasion for Him to strengthen us.

Trials are part of life. It would be a mistake to think trials indicate the Lord has abandoned us. Rather, we can look for the learning and the strengthening He has promised. We can look for all things to work together for good, as promised in Romans 8.

In good times and in trials, lets let these words guide our attitude and direction — “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ.”

Over and over

Our song’s second verse has this line: “He fills and satisfies my longing spirit o’er and o’er”. As our days go by, over and over He keeps coming up with ways to fill us where we hunger and help us where we lack. His faithfulness to help us over and over is another reason Jesus seems sweeter to us each day.

Each new day that we use to get to know the Lord better is a day we may see more clearly the Lord Jesus Christ’s magnificent character, strength and love. The better we know Him, the more we can become like Him. As we do, it might break into our awareness that following Jesus makes life still sweeter every day.

God bless you lots!
-Dale R.

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LYRICS: Still Sweeter Every Day
Text: William Clark Martin, 1899
Tune: Charles Austin Miles

1 To Jesus ev’ry day I find my heart is closer drawn,
He’s fairer than the glory of the gold and purple dawn;
He’s all my fancy pictures in its fairest dreams, and more,
And each day He grows still sweeter than He was the day before.

Chorus:
The half cannot be fancied, this side the golden shore;
O there He’ll be still sweeter than He ever was before.

2 His glory broke upon me when I saw Him from afar,
He’s fairer than the lily, brighter than the morning star;
He fills and satisfies my longing spirit o’er and o’er,
And each day He grows still sweeter than He was the day before.

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