When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

I love this old hymn in the original version, but also like the modern version in "The Wonderful Cross.  To see it on YouTube click here.

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

by Isaac Watts

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,

Acts 5:30 "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross."

My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Luke 9:24-25  "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?"

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!

Galatians 6:14 But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

Ecclesiastes 5:10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity.

 Luke 21:3-4 And He said, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them; for they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on."

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!

Matthew 27:29 And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"

About Jesus in Psalm 22:16 For dogs have surrounded me; A band of evildoers has encompassed me; They pierced my hands and my feet.

Did e�er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

About Jesus in Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

John 19:2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe on Him;

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;

Revelation 4:11  "Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created."

Revelation 5:12-13 saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing." And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever."

Love so amazing, so divine,

Ephesians 3:19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Romans 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

Do you have any verses that you'd like to add?  I'd love to hear about them.  Just add them in the comments below.

Also, I'd also love to hear any suggestions for another hymn or worship song to study.

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Rock of Ages

The very familiar phrase "Rock of Ages" is not found in the Bible, although Isaiah 26:4 is awfully close ("Trust in the LORD forever, For in GOD the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock.").  The words were apparently taken from a personal experience by the author, A.M. Toplady.  In a letter published in the London Times in June 1898, Sir William Henry Wills says:

"Toplady was one day overtaken by a thunderstorm in Burrington Coombe, on the edge of my property, Blagdon, a rocky glen running up into the heart of the Mendip range, and there, taking shelter between two massive piers of our native limestone rock, he penned the hymn, Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee."

It is possibly also an illusion to a story about Moses seeing God:

Exodus 33: 20-23 But He said, "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live !" Then the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen."

Rock of Ages

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;

1 Corinthians 10:4 and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.

Colossians 3:3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,

Of Christ in John 19:34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.

Be of sin the double cure;
Cleanse me from its guilt and power.

Hebrews 9:14  how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Romans 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.

1 John 1:7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law�s demands;

Titus 3:5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Romans 3:20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,

Of Esau in Hebrews 12:17 For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.

All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

Hebrews 9:22  And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to the cross I cling;

Galatians 2:16 nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified. 

Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless look to Thee for grace;

Galatians 3:27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11  Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

While I draw this fleeting breath,
When mine eyes shall close in death,

1 Peter 1:24 For, "All flesh is like grass, and its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off,"

When I soar to worlds unknown,
See Thee on Thy judgment throne,

2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

Revelation 20:12, 15 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life ; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds....And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in Thee.

1 Peter 2:4 And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God

I'd love to hear what verses you think of when you sing Rock of Ages. Please share them in the comments below. 

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In Christ Alone

I had planned to post an older hymn today, but this song was on my mind this morning.  While it is a contemporary Christian praise song, it really is more of a hymn with a regular meter and deep theological content.  I included a YouTube version for those of you who are not familiar with this gem.

In Christ Alone 

by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty

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Bible Scavenger Hunts

We recently had a Sunday School picnic at our house and I needed a large group game.  I wanted to do a scavenger hunt and decided to include Bible clues.  So I used biblestudytools.com (or I could have gotten old school and pulled out my concordance) and searched in the Bible for objects that were in my yard.  I started with door, tree, and table.  Then, I remembered sand, steps, porch, flowers, and even herbs.  Finally, I got a little creative and used "shed" and "mail."

To play the game, give the teams their first clue.  They should fill in the blank in the Bible verse.  The word in the blank is where they should go next.  When they get there, they should find the next clue.  They should continue following the clues until they get to the final location.

Here are my clues (in KJV, because that's what I thought the people at our picnic would be most familiar with) and the answers: 

John 10:9 �I am the ________: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved,  and shall go in and out, and find pasture.�                       (door)

Psalm 23:5 �Thou preparest a ________ before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.�               (table)

I Kings 10:19 �The throne had six ________, and the top of the throne was  round behind: and there were stays on either side on the place of the seat , and two lions stood beside the stays.�                 (steps)

Matthew 7:19 �Every ______ that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down,  and cast into the fire.�                  (tree)

Matthew 7:26 �And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth  them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house  upon the ________:�  (sand = sandbox)

Mark 14:68 �But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou  sayest. And he went out into the __________; and the cock crew .�              (porch)

Luke 22:20 �Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new  testament in my blood,  which is ________ for you.�                   (shed)

Isaiah 40:8 �The grass withereth , the _________ fadeth: but the word of our  God shall stand  for ever.�                      (flower)

1 Samuel 17:38 �And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet  of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of ________.�  (mail = mailbox)

Proverbs 15:17 �Better is a dinner of ________ where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.�                 (herbs = herb garden)

Click here for a Word Document with the clues.

Here are a few things that I learned about scavengers hunts (mostly from my mistakes): 

1. Have each team's clues in a different order so that they don't all follow each other around, but have them all end at the same place.
2. Put the team's number on their clues.  Also, put the answer to the previous clue on the paper.  So a clue might say "Team 1 - Clue 1 (shed)."  This tells you where to hide the clue and helps ensure that the team finds the clues in the correct order (I had a team find a clue hidden beside the garage door on the shed and logically thought that they had found the "door" clue, but I intended it to be the "shed" clue).
3. Either hide a paper saying "you won" at the final place or have a person at the end to let them know that they are done.
4. Provide some Bibles in the translation you used to help the teams.
5. You can easily remove or change some of the clues (if you don't grow herbs in your yard or have a sandbox...).  Find something that is in your yard  (fence, window, bush, chair...)  in a Bible verse using a concordance or www.biblestudytools.org.

Click here for the indoor version.

Indoor Bible Scavenger Hunts

I planned an awesome outdoor Bible verse scavenger hunt.  Unfortunately, the weather said there was a chance of rain.  My husband said "Do you have a backup plan so that you can do the scavenger hunt inside?"  And so it began ... an indoor version of our Bible scavenger hunt.  Thankfully, it didn't rain and we were able to use the outdoor version, but now I have this version for another time.

Here are the clues for the indoor version and their answers (again in KJV):

Proverbs 3:3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:

Luke 5:7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.

Acts 3:11 And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together  unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's, greatly wondering.

Psalm 63:6 When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.

Ezekiel 45:10 Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath.     (bathtub)

Mark 14:13 And he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the city, and  there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him.  (water pitcher)

Isaiah 6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.  (toy or electric train set)

Proverbs 14:4 Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox.

Ezekiel 34:26 And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.

Exodus 20:25 And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.  (tool box)

Instead of the underlined word, leave a blank for the team to fill in using the Bible or their memories.  

Click here for a Word Document with the clues.

Again, here are a few things that I learned about scavengers hunts (mostly from my mistakes): 

1. Have each team's clues in a different order so that they don't all follow each other around, but have them all end at the same place.
2. Put the team's number on their clues.  Also, put the answer to the previous clue on the paper.  So a clue might say "Team 1 - Clue 3 (shed)."  This tells you where to hide the clue and helps ensure that the team finds the clues in the correct order (I had a team find a clue hidden beside the garage door on the shed and logically thought that they had found the "door" clue, but I intended it to be the "shed" clue).
3. Either hide a paper saying "you won" at the final place or have a person at the end to let them know that they are done.
4. Provide some Bibles in the translation you used to help the teams.
5. You can easily remove or change some of the clues (if you don't grow herbs in your yard or have a sandbox...).  Find something that is in your yard  (fence, window, bush, chair...)  in a Bible verse using a concordance or www.biblestudytools.org.

Click here for the outdoor version.

Parent/Child Matching Game

So what does a baby shower have to do with Scripture?  Well, after trying to come up with so many different games (like remembering what they call different baby animals) for church baby showers, I created this game.  You are given names of parents in the Bible and you have to think of the name(s) of the child(ren).  Give one point for every correct name.  Obviously, this game could be used anywhere (like Sunday School) not just for baby showers.

If you want to test you Bible knowledge, here are the parents (they are in chronological order to help you):

1. Adam and Eve
2. Noah and his wife
3. Abraham and Sarah
4. Isaac and Rebekah
5. Jacob and Leah
6. Jacob and Rachel
7. Joseph and Asenath
8. Nun and his wife
9. Elkanah and Hannah
10. Boaz and Ruth
11. Saul and Ahinoam
12. David and Bathsheba
13. Hosea and Gomer
14. Zachariah and Elizabeth
15. Zebedee and Salome
16. Alphaeus and his wife
17. Eunice and her husband

Here are the answers so you can check how you did:

1. Cain, Abel, and Seth
2. Shem, Ham, and Japheth
3. Isaac
4. Jacob and Esau
5. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah
6. Joseph and Benjamin
7. Ephraim and Manasseh
8. Joshua
9. Samuel
10. Obed
11. Jonathan
12. Solomon
13. Jezreel, Lo-ruhamah, and Lo-ammi
14. John the Baptist
15. James and John
16. James
17. Timothy

For fun, let me know how you did in the comments.  There are 30 possibilities.  I got  28 (I guess I should have gotten all of the answers because I made up the game, but there are a few I never remember).  

Click to see a version you can print out.

I Am Not Skilled to Understand

While listening to Christian radio today, I heard Aaron Shust's "My Savior, My God" taken mostly from a hymn called "I Am Not Skilled to Understand" by Dorothy Greenwell (1873).  I love how Aaron Shust took a hymn more than a 100 years old and made it into a modern praise song.  I love even more that he saw value in an old hymn.

Click here for a link to "I Am Not Skilled to Understand" in hymntime.com to hear the original song.

I am going to connect Greenwell's version to scripture.  It has one verse that Aaron Shust does not use, though Shust adds a chorus.

I Am Not Skilled to Understand

I am not skilled to understand
What God hath willed, what God hath planned;

The Lord says in Isaiah 55:9 (NASB) "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts."

I only know that at His right hand
Is One Who is my Savior!

About Jesus in Hebrews 10:12 (NASB) but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God,

I take Him at His word indeed;
�Christ died for sinners��this I read;

Romans 5:8 (NASB) But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

For in my heart I find a need
Of Him to be my Savior!

Romans 3:10 (NASB) as it is written, "There is none righteous, not even one;
Romans 3:23 (NASB)  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

That He should leave His place on high
And come for sinful man to die,

Jesus says in John 6:38-40 (NASB) "For I have come down from heaven,not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."

You count it strange? So once did I,
Before I knew my Savior!

1 Corinthians 1:18 (NASB) For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

And oh, that He fulfilled may see
The travail of His soul in me,

About Jesus in Isaiah 53:11 (KJV) He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

And with His work contented be,

Eph 2:10 (NASB) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

As I with my dear Savior!

About Jesus in Mark 7:37 (NASB) They were utterly astonished, saying, "He has done all things well ; He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."

Yea, living, dying, let me bring
My strength, my solace from this Spring;
That He Who lives to be my King
Once died to be my Savior!

John says Revelation 5:11-14 (NASB)  Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders ; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing."  And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever." And the four living creatures kept saying, "Amen." And the elders fell down and worshiped. 
Revelation 11:15 (NASB) Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying," The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever."