Broken Spirit

Good Morning!

I know I have sung the song hundreds of times in the past. I have often referred to the song at “the Baptist Anthem” but that is unofficial. It is a song that was penned in 1939 – and was the last song that E.M Bartlett, Sr. wrote before he had a stroke and died two years later. The words are so familiar … and yet, Sunday a phrase in the second stanza of the second verse jumped off the page and grabbed my attention. The phrase was “and then I cried, Dear Jesus, come and heal my broken spirit”.

What was the author talking about? Was it a personal tragedy that led him to write these words? I don’t know. But I do know that a lot of us deal with broken spirits. We live in a world where broken hearts are common; where loneliness is all around us; where people go through the motions of living without any of the joy of life. I have good news for you … God loves you – especially when your heart is broken and your spirit is crushed. But don’t misunderstand – God doesn’t want you hurting but it is when you are hurting God becomes real. David put it like this:

Psalm 51:14-17 (English Standard Version)
14Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Again, look at a Psalm that talks about what God does with a broken heart:

Psalm 147:3 (English Standard Version)
3He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.

Folks, these are promises from God to you for your times of brokenness. These are promises that Jesus will come and heal your broken spirit. What a blessing to know that our Father, God, cares about us when we are broken – crushed – by life. How encouraging to know that God returns the joy of life to us. Several years ago, one of my babies nearly lost that joy of life – but God returned it – and today that child testifies of His goodness everyday.

Yes, there is Victory in Jesus. A great song for a good day:

Victory in Jesus
Words and Music by E.M. Bartlett
© 1939 - Administrated by Integrated Copyright Group, Inc.
All rights reserved

1 Corinthians 15:57
"But thanks be to God, which giveth us
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

I heard an old, old story,
How a Savior came from glory,
How He gave His life on Calvary
To save a wretch like me;
I heard about His groaning,
Of His precious blood's atoning,
Then I repented of my sins
And won the victory.

Chorus
O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.

I heard about His healing,
Of His cleansing pow'r revealing.
How He made the lame to walk again
And caused the blind to see;
And then I cried, "Dear Jesus,
Come and heal my broken spirit,"
And somehow Jesus came and bro't
To me the victory.

Chorus
O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.

I heard about a mansion
He has built for me in glory.
And I heard about the streets of gold
Beyond the crystal sea;
About the angels singing,
And the old redemption story,
And some sweet day I'll sing up there
The song of victory.

Chorus
O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.

God bless each of you today.

Agape’



Mr. Jim