Living for Jesus

Living for Jesus, a life that is true,
Striving to please Him in all that I do;
Yielding allegiance, glad hearted and free,
This is the pathway of blessing for me.

   O Jesus, Lord and Savior, I give myself to Thee,
   For Thou, in Thy atonement, didst give Thyself for me.
   I own no other Master, my heart shall be Thy throne.
   My life I give, henceforth to live, O Christ, for Thee alone.

Living for Jesus Who died in my place,
Bearing on Calvary my sin and disgrace;
Such love constrains me to answer His call,
Follow His leading and give Him my all.

Living for Jesus, wherever I am,
Doing each duty in His holy Name;
Willing to suffer affliction and loss,
Deeming each trial a part of my cross.

Living for Jesus through earth’s little while,
My dearest treasure, the light of His smile;
Seeking the lost ones He died to redeem,
Bringing the weary to find rest in Him.

BIBLE REFERENCE:

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. 2 Corinthians 6:16-18

And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. and ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. Ezekiel 36:27-28

But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 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 8:11-14

But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 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. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Galatians 5:18-25

Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 1 John 4:13-17

For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:19-21

Thomas Obediah Chisholm - Lyrics
1866-1960

Born: July 29, 1866, Franklin, Kentucky.
Died: February 29, 1960, Ocean Grove, New Jersey.
Buried: St. Thomas Whitemarsh Episcopal Church,
Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania.

Carl Harold Lowden - Composer
1883-1963

Born: October 12, 1883, Burlington, New Jersey.
Died: February 27, 1963, Collingswood, New Jersey.
Buried: Pennsauken, New Jersey.

HYMN HISTORY:

The composer of this gospel hymn, C. Harold Lowden, has left the following account regarding the origin of this popular consecration hymn:

In 1915, I wrote a “light and summary” type of gospel song entitled : The Sunsine Song” for children’s services. It became quite popular, and many pastors wrote to me that the music should be saved, and a more general setting of words wedded to it. In 1917, I came across a copy of it in my files, and played it over. The rhythm and tempo suggested the words “Living for Jesus.” The idea came to me that a deep consecration setting of words would be most appropriate.

After much thought and prayer I decided to ask T. O. Chisholm to write the words. I mailed him a copy of the music and suggested the title and the type of refrain which I felt it deserved. In a day or so, Mr. Chisholm returned it to me, saying he didn’t have the slightest idea as to the method used in writing words to music. Immediately, I sent the material back to him, telling him I believed God had led me to select him, and suggesting that he permit God to write the poem. Within a couple of weeks he had completed the writing of the words, just as they appear in the song today. More than a million copies have been sold, in song sheet form. It appeared in scores of hymnbooks of all denominations, and has been translated into more than fifteen languages and dialects.

The author, Thomas Obediah Chisholm, was born in a humble log cabin in Franklin, Kentucky, on July 29, 1866. After an early career as schoolteacher and editor of the weekly newspaper, The Franklin Favorite, he was converted to Christ at the age of twenty-seven under the ministry of Dr. Henry Clay Morrison, founder of Asbury College and Theological Seminary. In 1903, Chisholm was ordained to the Methodist ministry and pastored a Methodist Church at Scottsville, Kentucky, for a period of time. When his health began to fail, Thomas Chisholm moved his family to Winona Lake, Indiana, and became an insurance salesman and continued this work when he later moved to Vineland, New Jersey, in 1916. Writing, however, was always Mr. Chisholm’s first love, and he wrote more than 1,200 poems, of which 800 were published in such periodicals as the Sunday School Times, Moody Monthly, Alliance Weekly, and others. A number of Mr. Chisholm’s poems have become well-known hymn texts: “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” “He Was Wounded Our Transgressions,” “Christ Is Risen From the Dead,” “O to be Like Thee!” and “Trust in the Lord With All Your Heart.”

Thomas O. Chisholm describes his purpose for writing as follows:

I have sought to be true to the Word, and to avoid flippant and catchy titles and treatment. I have greatly desired that each hymn or poem might have some definite message to the hearts for whom it was written.

Mr. Chisholm concluded a long and fruitful ministry on February 29, 1960, at the Methodist Home for the Aged in Ocean Grove, New Jersey.

Carl Harold Lowden, the composer, was born on October 12,1883, at Burlington, New Jersey. At the age of twelve, he sold his first song to the Hall-Mack Publishing Company, where later he was employed. Mr. Lowden taught music for several years at the Bible Institute of Pennsylvania (now the Philadelphia College of Bible). He also served as the minister of music for the Linden Baptist Church in Camden, New Jersey, for twenty-eight years. During another twelve period, Lowden was music editor for the Evangelical and Reformed Church board (now the United Church of Christ.) Mr. Lowden composed a number of hymn tunes and edited many songbook collections during his lifetime. His death occurred on February 27, 1963, at Collingswood, New Jersey.

“Living for Jesus” first appeared in a hymnal, in 1917, in a collection titled, Uplifting Songs, compiled by Lowden and Rufus W. Milled and published by the Heidelberg Press. The tune name “Living” was chosen by Mr. Lowden when the hymn was selected for inclusion in the 1956 edition of the Baptist Hymnal.

101 Hymn Stories by Kenneth W. Osbeck

“Be like a watch! Have an open face, busy hands, full of good works, pure gold, and well regulated.” Unknown

“The service we render to others is really the rent we pay for our room on this earth.” Sir Wilfred Grenfell

“We can judge a man faithful or unfaithful only by his works.” Baruch Spinoza

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The Christian, while in the world, is not to be of the world. He should be distinguished from it in the great object of his life. To him, “to live,” should be “Christ”. Whether he eats, or drinks, or whatever he does, he should do all to God's glory. You may lay up treasure; but lay it up in heaven, where neither moth nor rust corrupts, where thieves cannot brake in to steal. You may strive to be rich; but strive to be “rich in faith” and good works. You may have pleasure; but when you are merry, sing psalms and make melody in your hearts to the Lord. In your spirit, as well as in your aim, you should differ from the world. Walking humbly with your God, always conscious of His presence, delighting in communion with Him, and seeking to know His will, you will prove that you are of a heavenly race. And you should show yourself to be separate from the world in your actions. You must have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. Walk worthy of your high calling and dignity. Remember, you are a child of the King of kings. So, strive to keep yourself unspotted from the world.

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