Chapter Two: God’s Higher Calling: Our Duty

“Make me to understand the way of Thy precepts: so shall I talk of Thy wondrous works.” ~ Psalms 119:27 Why is God’s Higher Calling so important? “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” ~ Romans 8:12-14. God’s Higher Calling is important for us to live because it is our duty! We are debtors to God. God made us His own and He bought us with a price. “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” ~ 1 Cor. 6:20. As God’s Children, we are bought with a great price and our lives are not our own. How we often forget this, and live for self and selfish motives. Maybe, we try to appear like we are living the Christian life in order to get the praise of men. The Pharisees in the Bible lived their life for the praise of men. Christ called them hypocrites. “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.“ ~ Matthew 23:27. Duty is that which a person owes to another; that which a person is bound, by any natural, moral or legal obligation. It is our duty to live a higher standard. We are to do our duty by continuing to give back our all to Christ. “Our all” would be every fiber of our being. Someone once said, “Life - put your heart into it.” If we are really truly living the Christian life, we will put our all into doing right. If we really want to put our heart into life, then we must first define what LIFE is. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” ~ John 14:6. Jesus Christ is our Life. We need to put our full heart into serving Him. God’s higher calling is our duty. We are to be faithful by doing our duty which is avoiding meritocracy, and living a higher standard. The word “Duty” has the same connotation as the word obedience. “Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;” Ephesians 5:6. We need to obey God’s higher calling for our lives. God’s higher calling is not meant to be drudgery, but rather it is to be a delight and our hearts desire. We ought to have a delight to go up higher no matter what it may cost! Because remember, we are not only supposed to do our duty but we are to exceed it! “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.” ~ Luke 17:10. God’s Higher Calling is not only for the stage of singleness but it is for the married stage, the stage of motherhood and fatherhood, for the stage of youth and the elderly. It is for all stages of life! I’ve heard these phrases used: Singleness-God’s Higher Calling, and also, Motherhood-God’s Higher Calling. But which one of these is correct. Which one is God’s Higher Calling? The answer may surprise you –Neither! God brings each individual to a stage of time in their life and in each stage each individual is to be living God’s Higher Calling. It is not the stage of life that is God’s Higher Calling but rather our entire life is supposed to be a life set apart to serve God in a higher standard of living. I wrote this in my Bible after I was approached yet again for being single… “My duty is not to get married or to stay single, but rather to do what God has for me in the time He has given me to do it.” In essence, my duty is to obey God, live apart from the world and continue to be teachable so that I can continue to go up higher. What does God have to say about our duty? “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:13-14. Oh my dear friends, God has a precious plan for your life. He formed it with his own hand and longs for you to obey his every command. God’s Higher Calling is not something we can make a one time decision to do. “Yes, from now on, I’m going to live God’s Higher Calling.” Oh, It may start with that thought, but it is a daily thing… a moment by moment thing. “And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,” ~ Deuteronomy 10:12. God’s Will for our lives is to live our lives in the fear of the LORD. We are to daily walk in all His ways; this includes loving Him with all of our heart and serving Him with all of our Life. This is exactly what God’s Higher Calling is all about. It is not a one time decision that we make and never think on again. Why is it that so many can go to the altar and get things right, but when they wake up on Monday morning they have forgotten all about the decisions they made? I’ve been there as I’m sure you have too. The answer really is not that difficult. To have complete victory and to stay consistent with the decisions made, there has to be a daily renewing of the mind. The Battle for life starts in the mind! What you think will effect what you do! “Sow a thought, reap a deed. Sow a deed, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a Character. Sow a character, reap a Destiny.” ~ Pastor Hammett. How can we avoid mediocrity? “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” ~ Romans 12:2. Every day and yes, even every minute the world is trying to conform us. We are being feed information from the world every time we step out the door. I’ll never forget one year at camp, I had to run out to the store midweek into camp. My mind had been surrounded by God’s Word, godly messages, and godly leaders. As I walked into that store, I felt like a “peculiar person.” The feeling that I didn’t belong flooded my soul. “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” ~ Titus 2:14. I also was aware of the shroud of ungodliness that surrounded me. All I wanted to do was get out of that store. I felt as if every one of those lost souls had a demon on their shoulder and I walked in with two angels of light by my side. I soon heard cursing and rock music and thoughts began to flood my mind. Why? Because the world is trying to conform us and Satan is trying destroy us. He wants to keep us from going up higher. Oh, God may use a mediocre Christian, but He can’t use them to their full potential. But the Christian who is living God’s Higher Standard He can use to their fullest and above their own full potential! A preacher once gave this illustration: “God has every one of His people in his dishwasher of sanctification. He often comes and pulls one of us out to use but if we won’t let the dishwasher clean us and we remain dirty He can’t use us and puts us back in to be re-washed. The dishwasher represents trials that God puts us through to purge us of our sins, but if we won’t yield things to the LORD so He can clean us, we won’t be used!” How can we live the Christian life to the fullest potential? “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” ~ Romans 12:1. We are commanded to be holy. It is our duty to be holy. We have to renew our mind daily! It is not just a one time thing! I bring this up again because we live as if we think holiness and victory are something we get a hold of once at the altar, but that is not where we get holiness. It starts in the mind not with some action, but with a reordering of our thinking. How do we renew our mind? The Sunday School answer, Read your Bible, pray, memorize Scripture and meditate on it. We hear these words so often. However, we could do some of these things and still not renew our mind. Let’s go to the wilderness shall we. So many men were taken out to the wilderness to learn life lessons. Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days. John the Baptist lived in the wilderness. Elijah, Moses, Joshua and Philip all spent some time in the wilderness. I can’t say I’ve spent time in a real wilderness. I did spend some time hiking with my family out in the dessert of Arizona. And from these hikes, God gave me a picture of what it is to renew your mind daily and how trials lead to a sweet close walk with God… The Necessity of cool clear water in the wilderness ~ We started out each with a bottle of water in hand. Some of us grabbed our water from the fridge and some of us grabbed our water from the pile of water bottles sitting out. Even though, we had walked only for a short time, those of us who did not have refrigerated water soon found our water not to be just warm but hot. Though it was wet it was not thirst quenching. The Word of God is our water. It is in the wilderness of life that we need that fresh cool view from the Word of God. This takes time. But time seems to escape us and we find ourselves racing to read anything in the Word of God just for the sake of reading it. The water is wet but because we don't take the time to ponder and meditation on the Word of God and what God has for us, it does not quench our overly dry thirst. The Longing for shade in the wilderness of life ~ God's Presence and Prayer, without these two things we will never be able renew our mind with the Word of God. When the things of this life have compassed around us and we are in the wilderness where the sun is pounding down this is when our time with the LORD can be the sweetest. “Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” ~ Jeremiah 31:2-3. This verse speaks of God loving us and drawing nigh to us. “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” ~ James 4:8. “Purify your hearts, ye double minded,” we can do this only when we are in communion with God. If we let our thoughts whether good or bad run our life, we will not hear from God. “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” ~ James 1:8. Our thoughts will keep us from doing what God wants us to do. We need to bring every thought before God. “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” ~ 2Cor. 10:5. When we get to a place where we are continually yielding our thoughts to God, we will find such rest and peace. God wants to cover us with His wings. He wants to protect us from the World. “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.” ~ Psalms 91:4. It is under His wings that we have sweet communion with Him. “For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.” ~ Isaiah 51:3. This is such a precious verse, because the wilderness can be a place of distress and great grief and loneliness. But when we look to the LORD and begin to fellowship with Him in the midst of the wilderness, it is as if the sand becomes grass, trees spout up, a stream appears, and soon before you even know it you’re standing in a peaceful quiet oasis just you and the LORD.

Chapter One: God’s Higher Calling Defined

“Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.” ~ Psalms 119:18 What does it mean to go up higher? “But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself:” ~ Psalms 4:3. First, it means we are separated to the LORD. Secondly, we are not just separated but we are separated for a purpose… the purpose of godliness for Christ. Thirdly, since we are separated this means we had to come away from some thing or some place. At the time of Salvation, God takes us off the broad way that leads to destruction. We no longer are to walk in the way of the World. We now are to be walking down a new road… growing with each step we take. “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:”~ 1 Peter 2:2. As a baby grows, they learn to lay on their stomach and then they wil start to roll over. From there the child will begin to push up using their knees and then they begin to craw... from there they start to learn how to walk. So as a baby begins to grow in a step by step process, so we too begin our new life as a babe; growing and then crawling and on to walking. Then there comes a time when we get to a place where we feel we don’t have to go any farther. This place is the place of complacency or mediocrity. This is a dangerous place to be. We must ask the question are we at a place of complacency or mediocrity? “But if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.” ~ Hebrews 10:38. This verse is not just referring to those that turn back to the world by some drastic measure. It is also referring to those who refuse to go any farther for God. In a sense, they are drawing back because they aren’t perusing God’s Best and Higher Calling. It is so easy for a Christian to remain where they are. If they remain there for too long, they end up going backwards. If a person isn’t going forward, they are going to draw back. This does not just happen to individuals but to whole families. They let circumstances overwhelm them. Until one day, someone is asking: “Hey, whatever happened to so and so.” Well, they use to sit in the front rows and then they moved to the far back rows. Until, one day, they were just gone. What happened? They let circumstances stop them from serving and began to come late to services and leave right afterward. At times it looked like they purposely avoided talking to people by making a b-line for the door. How do I know this? My family and I were there. In fact, we had let our circumstances overtake us to the point that we were up and moving! We were running away. I’ll never forget how God stopped us from going. We were all packed. Boxes were every where. My father was on the phone with his soon to be new boss, when I heard him say: “Sorry, I can’t do that, guess it’s not going to work out.” My father had been lead to believe that the small business he had would be bought out by the new boss. But the deal fell through and we ended up unpacking. The Lord knew that if we had moved that day, we would have still been living a mediocre Christian life and not God’s best plan for our lives. Are we satisfied in our comfort? “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.” ~ Psalms 119:1. God wants us not to sit in our own comfort, but rather He longs for us to keep drawing near to Him. It is a place where God can have clear communion with His own. As Moses had to be called up to a mountainous place to get alone with God, so must we go up higher. Examine your life; are you in a place of comfort? Are you noticing a decline in your life from the things of God? Are you finding yourself thinking that you use to be involved and you use to serve, but are no longer involved? Maybe your still serving but you find that you just want to stay were you are and not go forward? Which way are we going to chose? Path number one: “And his heart was lifted up in the ways of the LORD.” ~ 2 Chron. 17:6. Path number two: “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” ~ Proverbs 14:12. Man is walking in a path. Do you know the song: “Just two choices on the shelf, oh what will your choices be… Pleasing God or Pleasing self, Oh, I would more like Jesus be.” We have a choice to make and there are only two paths to choose from. There is man’s way and the end of that path is death! And there is God way and the end of that path is an eternal relationship with God. These Paths may sound similar to the paths of Salvation and eternal damnation. But I am talking to Christians! My dear friends, every day you make a choice to either chose your own path, or let God direct you in His Higher Calling. “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.” ~ 2 Chron. 16:9a. Those whose heart is perfect toward God, these are apart of God’s Higher Calling. Why is God’s Higher Calling so important? To answer this question another question must first be proposed. What is God’s Higher Calling? It starts with Galatians 2:20 ~ I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me Every Christian is called to be crucified with Christ. It is a command. But so many Christians neglect to obey. We are not supposed to settle for less then God’s best. But what is God’s best for us? God’s best is so simple and yet so many refuse to live that way, because it costs! What does it cost? The answer is Self. Another dreadful word that we often hate and it is another reason why Christians refuse to do God’s best. That word is Change. God wants to root out and adjust things in our life so that we can live the Christian life. You see, the Christian life is God’s best for us and yet we cannot live it for this life is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ lives this life through us but only if we are yielded to His Holy Spirit working through us. This is God’s higher Calling and it is the only way we can live the Christian life. This higher calling isn’t just for Pastors and leaders and Sunday School teachers, but it is for all Christians! To settle for anything less then God’s Higher Calling, is to settle for a mediocre life. Not even a mediocre Christian life, because based on the definition of the Christian life… any thing below God’s Higher Calling isn’t Christian. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:2. Anything of the World is not apart of God’s Higher Calling. It’s not Christian! And therefore what we put in will conform us, what we wear will conform us, what we see will conform us! “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” ~ Col. 2:8. The world spoils us. It stops us from serving and from doing our duty and from obeying our heavenly Father! I see so many people that claim to be Christians living this fake, empty life, calling it Christian. I am tired of seeing people dress worldly, talk worldly, walk worldly, act worldly, and still claim to be one God’s own. But I have been there. I have been there, I have let the fashions of the day tell me what to wear. The movies tell me what to think. When I filled my mind with all this fluff, it looked so right and I did not even see how wrong it was. Then one day, I asked the LORD to show me my blind spots. I did know what would happen when I prayed that. They say don’t pray for patience for you will get trials. Well, let me tell you, if you don’t want trials, don’t pray that God will show you your blind spots. “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” ~ Job 23:10. And through the trials, God enlarged my heart to have a desire to go up higher and live Christ’s Christian life. What weights are we carrying? “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,” ~ Hebrews 12:1. There are many weights that we can be carrying and we just don’t see them as weights. These weights were things I considered not really having an effect on my Christian life at least not to a great extent anyway. They weren’t something that I thought was wrong, just maybe something not every Christian should do. After a friend began to point out some things she saw in my life, I began to realize that I was not where I use to be and not even close to where I should be. But thank the LORD, He was not content with my being there. He took me through some fiery trials. He wanted to root out the dross and show me what the weights that needed to be cast off. But that was just the Beginning. For at this time, I could not see nor hear God’s higher calling. It took a trial of utter exposure of the Soul and Spirit and less then a year’s time to break me and get me to a place where I would be able to be molded. Do you know that song? “Break me, take me, mold me, and make me. I want to do Thy Will, O LORD.” We sang this a lot at teen camps before a service. And I for a long time loved this song. However, there was a time in my life when this song scared me. Deep down, I knew how far I had drifted. Instead of looking at myself and realizing that I had brought me to this lower standard of living, I blamed my circumstances. And I might have been justified in doing so according to the World’s standards. For those of you who think you have arrived or that you are indeed trying to live the Christian life, Beware! Please be careful not to criticize or look down on others because their standard is lower then yours. God is possibly teaching them things that you do not know. Pray for them, for God to show them where they need to be. Beware of this attitude: “I’m not as bad as those over there, LORD!” This is not God higher calling and you are not living it, if you criticize and look down on others. If you are living a higher standard, this does not guarantee that you are living God’s higher calling. I’ve seen many a lost soul living a higher standard and they are lost and not apart of God’s higher calling. “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” ~ 1 Cor. 10:12. If you are to approach someone, be prayed up. Make sure there are no beams in your eye. Never approach someone in anger or with harsh words or false facts. Be honest about yourself with that person. If God has shown you something that you are learning in your own life, share it. If you can’t share it, then don’t think you can help a person by approaching them because that is showing a Pharisee attitude. Beware of Criticism. Criticism often is nothing more then Gossip. I have criticized, thinking I was doing good and I didn’t help anyone. I hindered more then helped. Criticism is not discipleship, it destroys! Had it not been for the LORD teaching and guiding, I could have let criticism destroy my life. I wonder how many people my criticism of others has effected. For those of us who have criticized, pray for that person. Ask God to continue to work in their life and pray that what you’ve said won’t hinder the work of God. And for those of us, who have been criticized, don’t let it hinder you. Satan is going to bring back every harsh and hurtful thing that was said at the oddest times. Guard against bitterness. People are going to fail and you are going to fail others. Watch what you say… Gossip, criticism, jealousy, bitterness, backbiting, fear of other, shunning others is not apart of God’s higher calling! “Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” ~ Gal. 5:21-23. Don’t criticize, Encourage! Encourage them in love. We are to have love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. We are to show these things to others! God can use the criticism of others, to bring about a sweet and wonderful change. You have to be willing to be broken and molded. A self pity attitude will stop you from going up Higher. This is where Satan wants you to stay, in a place where you feel that you are not worthy to serve God, so you quit! For a while, I was there. I quit on God because I let criticism stop me. Because every time I started to serve, harsh words from the past would come echoing back in. I am thankful for the trials now, because had I not gone through them, I would not be hearing God’s call to go up Higher! I pray that God will give you the ears needed to hear God’s Higher Calling. There is no other Christian life to live then that of God’s Higher Calling. There will be those that want you to remain as you are, and you might lose their friendship. But I ask you this, what is more important: Your friends’ opinions or God’s great call for your life?

God's Higher Calling Introduction

Dedicated to my beloved Sisters in Christ: Joanna Byerly, Joycelin Byerly, Emily Rogers and Rachel Frederick. And In Loving Memory of Brandi Byerly By Jennifer Byerly There is a Higher Calling The Path is stretched out before me; Oh the faithful, continuous Journey. We are called always to be steadfast; A faithful heart that shall forever last. We are called to be continuously sober; Serious and true, a heart fixed forever. Oh, there is a bitter-sweet higher calling; That only comes from God’s bringing. Oh, who will go up higher? The call comes loud and clear. Oh, who will have a zealous fire, To carry God’s Good News with fear? It’s not an easy pathway to trod, my friend; And yet there are rewards around the bend. But the greatest reward shall forever be, When my Savior’s face I clearly see.

The Written Word

“While the spoken word can travel faster, you can't take it home in your hand. Only the written word can be absorbed wholly at the convenience of the reader.” And on this note I feel that it is time I once again start writing. Over the past 12 years I have often taken up my pen in hand and made an attempt to write several books. I finished exactly two of those books. The rest have been left in a folder on my computer called "books I am working on" ... sad I know. Yet I think it is time that I attempt to finish some of those books if not all of them. I believe that it would help if I type out each book chapter by chapter on my blog. Granted though I love to write, I am not proficient at editing. There will be many mistakes along the way. But if one never tries, one will never finish the task at hand. I will start with the book I started in 2007 called "The Mediocre Christian Life is it really worth living?" The title I'm unsure about... but the idea is what I want to drive across to all my Christian brothers and sisters. In this day and age, we live such self-centered lives that we miss out on the purpose and plan God has for us. The purpose of this book is to remind us of the simple principles that we seem to have forgotten. I hope that my starting this project will be a blessing to all those who read this little insignificant blog. God Bless and remember take heart, my friend.

Proverbs 3:23

"Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble." Are you walking in God's Wisdom? Is the Lord directing your path?

What's Wrong With My Children?

"He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." ~ John 12:25. If God asked the Question: "What's wrong with my Children?" What do you think His response would be? ... Would it be something like this?... "What's wrong with my Children?" ................................ They love their lives in this world. Maybe if we understood who our Savior is and maybe if we feared him more, we would live purer lives. We as Christians seem to tread on God's grace, because we sin and then we think "Well I'll confess it afterward." We have adapted a confessional way of thinking. Only instead of Hail Marys and Lord's Prayers, we state "Father, Forgive me for such and such." And if perhaps we silently listen, we would hear a still small voice in the back of our hearts whispering "you knew better, yet you did it anyway... you are treading on grace." "What's wrong with my Children?" ................................ Few are willing to give their all for the love of Christ. Christians are satisfied living like the lost forgetting what Christ saved them from. We are too busy living for the things that moths and dust will corrupt! "What's wrong with my Children?" ................................ They are too busy living for self instead of Christ. Even Christians need to surrender their lives back to Christ. Even we as Christians! We need to put our lives back in His hands and depend on Him. Are you living as a Christian so you can save your life here in this world? "What's wrong with my Children?" ................................ They are more worried about others opinions than the Lord's opinion! Are you a living sacrifice? Your plans, ambitions and goals need to die! I wonder if God asks this question when He looks at His Children? I wonder what He sees? If we could just get a glimpse of that vision, what would we change? What would be different? In this world, everything changes with time, yet God never does? So why do we think that the things stated clearly in the Word of God aren't for today? And maybe we don't say this out loud but we live that way. These are just things that the LORD has shown me these last two days. We are not where we need to be! And if we act less and prayed more, Oh what a difference we could make. Too many times, we do things out of duty and we aren't plugged into God's power. We just skate by. I wonder if many of us are just heading to heaven by the skin of our teeth. We are saved through Christ's blood, but we aren't giving anything back to Him for all that He has done. My friend, if we try to save this life we will lose it! "But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:" ~ Matthew 16:20.

Like A River Glorious

When things seem to hard and life has me down. I find the words of this song a great comfort and encouragement. In the darkness of days and in the deepest of waters, I know God's hand is always near and His peace is amazing! So dear friend if you are facing a trial, you think you cannot bear... Remember this... God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think. And I don't know about you but I think of a lot of ways that would make things better. Yet God knows exactly what we need and it is always above what we could even think or imagine. So trust Him! Look up dear friend and take heart! Like a river glorious, is God’s perfect peace, Over all victorious, in its bright increase; Perfect, yet it floweth, fuller every day, Perfect, yet it groweth, deeper all the way. Refrain Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest Finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest. Hidden in the hollow of His blessed hand, Never foe can follow, never traitor stand; Not a surge of worry, not a shade of care, Not a blast of hurry touch the spirit there. Refrain Every joy or trial falleth from above, Traced upon our dial by the Sun of Love; We may trust Him fully all for us to do. They who trust Him wholly find Him wholly true. Refrain