LIGHTHOUSE DAILY DEVOTION
(Sent daily except Sunday)
(Some of the Devotions are original, some are adapted)
December 22, 2018
THE FIRST FACE SHE EVER SAW
(Sent in by a friend)
Rev. 22:4-5 – “And they shall see His face;…..and there shall be no night there.”
The hymnwriter Fanny Crosby gave us more than 8,000 Gospel songs. Although blinded at the age of six weeks, she never held any bitterness in her heart because of it. Once a preacher sympathetically remarked, “I think it is a great pity that the Master did not give you sight when He showered so many other gifts upon you.” She replied quickly, “Do you know that if at birth I had been able to make one petition, it would have been that I should be born blind?” “Why?” asked the surprised preacher. “Because when I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior!”
One of her hymns, based on a combination of the thoughts in Eccl.12:6 and Rev 22:4-5 was so personal to her that for years she never let others see it. Professor Kenneth Osbeck says its revelation to the public came about this way: “One day at a Bible conference in Northfield, Massachusetts, Miss Crosby was asked by Dwight L. Moody to give a personal testimony concerning her faith and Christian experience. At first she hesitated, then quietly rose and said, “There is one hymn I have written which has never been published. I call it my soul’s poem. Sometimes when I am troubled, I repeat it to myself, for it brings comfort to my heart.” She then recited while many wept, “Someday the silver cord will break, and I no more as now shall sing; but, O the joy when I shall wake within the palace of the King! And I shall see Him face to face, and tell the story, saved by grace!” At the age of 95, Fanny Crosby’s wish that the face of Jesus would be the first she would ever see was realized.
When my life-work is ended and I cross the swelling tide,
When the bright and glorious morning I shall see,
I shall know my Redeemer when I reach the other side,
And His smile will be the first to welcome me. –Fanny Crosby
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Wit and Wisdom – We must know His GRACE here if we hope to see His FACE there!
Point to Ponder – No man can resolve himself into heaven; it’s only by the blood of Christ.
