soulful hymns// hark, the voice of Jesus calling!

heya! i'd like to introduce a new line of songs i'd be blogging about. guesssss!!!!

hymns!!! :D i grew up mostly catholic and got to learn and sing a lot of hymns plus i went to an all-girls catholic senior high school too. but well, with time i grew out of being catholic. i guess i desired something more, not to mention that i had a tad load of excuses to give not to go for mass on sundays especially during vacation times from school. a great deal of my sundays during my university life was my laundry time and watching unnecessary tv series + movies. 

lemme pause on this bit of the story and tell you about "why hymns?" considering it's 1:22 am and i awfully need me some beauty sleep.

via

so the long and short of my story about hymns is that, i sang them alright in church, but i didn't ever bother to actually hunt them down, learn the lyrics and collect them on my playlist. i found them too slow and well sometimes 'boring'

but these days, i've been pondering on how Father says in His love letters to us that we need to sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to encourage ourselves. actually, all the 3 worship camps at which i recently served as one of the camp ministers had ephesians 5:18-19 as the key scripture. 

and i'm being reminded how hymns actually have deep meaning to their words. and you know ya girl, she likes deep. ;) i find the words of hymns carrying so much depth, so much weight. the depth that actually moves you to think some more on eternity and Jesus and the meaning of the lives we are living on this fleeting earth. this depth obviously comes from some of the difficult personal experiences of the composers. 

and this hymn...hark the voice of Jesus calling...there's just something about it. i came across it twice last month on 1st december and the second time a few days after that. the first encounter was when after going back to facebook after 3 years of deactivating my facebook account, i saw it on a friend's facebook wall. i didn't know why then, but the words meant something more to me than mere lyrics and i read each line with intrigue. 

the second encounter with this hymn was a few days after the first encounter. when i realized it was the same hymn that intrigued me on my friend's FB wall i went like, this hymn again! i shook my head in quiet disbelief but somehow smiled too. as i sang it with some lovely humans after a much convicting message about missions and missionaries, i just knew God was talking to me. as i sang this beautiful and compelling hymn, i couldn't withhold the tears. they flowed down unhindered and i wasn't in the least ashamed. i let them flow as Jesus was tugging at my heart yet again about what He had been telling me way back in 2013 before i actually went on a missions trip to south africa and swaziland about serving Him in ministry as a missionary. i just knew encountering this soul stirring hymn on both occasions wasn't some coincidence. (i'll fill you guys in on more details about the call Jesus has on my life to be a missionary + teacher).

so as i offer this hymn to you, as i share the richness of its lines with you, i hope it somehow moves you to ask Father what He wants you to do about its message, should you go for a short term missions trip? has He called you to be a full time missionary? ask Him, talk it over with Him. in matthew 28:19 Jesus says we should GO and make disciples of all nations. every Christian is a default missionary wherever they find themselves. 

there's just something about soulful hymns. really, there is.

enjoy this lovely goodness. :)

Hark, the Voice of Jesus Calling// Daniel March

Hark, the voice of Jesus calling, 

"Who will go and work today?

Fields are white and harvests waiting,

Who will bear the sheaves away?"

Loud and long the master calls you;

Rich reward He offers free.

Who will answer, gladly saying,

"Here am I. Send me, send me"?

If you cannot speak like angels,

If you cannot preach like Paul,

You can tell the love of Jesus;

You can say He died for all.

If you cannot rouse the wicked

With the judgment’s dread alarms,

You can lead the little children 

To the Savior’s waiting arms.

If you cannot be a watchman,

Standing high on Zion’s wall,

Pointing out the path to heaven,

Offering life and peace to all,

With your prayers and with your bounties

You can do what God demands;

You can be like faithful Aaron, 

Holding up the prophet’s hands.

Let none hear you idly saying,

"There is nothing I can do,"

While the multitudes are dying

And the master calls for you.

Take the task He gives you gladly;

Let His work your pleasure be.

Answer quickly when He calls you,

"Here am I. Send me, send me!"

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”// Isaiah 6:8

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples: "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field." // Matthew 9: 35-38 

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord. // ephesians 5:18-19

"Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts." // colossians 3:16

"About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose." // acts 16:25-26

singing hymns is a very powerful tool against the enemy. it causes miracles, it helps me to dwell and ponder on Jesus some more and on things that actually matter on this side of heaven.

I hope this hymn means something deep to you after sticking it out with me, reading all my words above. i promise, i didn't mean to write so much, it just kinda happened. ;)

well, so Jesus desires for us, His children and friends to obey Him and share His gift of eternal salvation with others. you are a default missionary where you are. what is your response? 

xoxo, 

gen delali.