{HSCRC12} Hymn #7, The Love of God

Hymn Challenge #7: The Love of God

Written by: Frederick M. Lehman
b. August 7, 1868; d. February 20, 1953

Music Arranged by: Claudia Faustina Lehman Mays (Frederick M. Lehman's daughter)
b. Ju­ly 15, 1892; d. Feb­ru­a­ry 19, 1973

Frederick M. Lehman was born in Meck­len­burg, Schwer­in, Ger­ma­ny. Mr. Lehman and his family emigrated to the U.S. when he was 4 years old, and they lived in Iowa for most of his life. In college, he studied for the ministry and became a pastor. He pastored churches in Iowa, Indiana, and Missouri. Mr. Lehman was devoted to writing sacred songs and had hundreds of songs published. Below is a quote written by Mr. Lehman about the history of this hymn:

"One day, dur­ing short in­ter­vals of in­at­ten­tion to our work, we picked up a scrap of pa­per and, seat­ed up­on an emp­ty le­mon box pushed against the wall, with a stub pen­cil, add­ed the (first) two stan­zas and chor­us of the song…Since the lines (3rd stan­za from the Jew­ish po­em) had been found pen­ciled on the wall of a pa­tient’s room in an in­sane asy­lum af­ter he had been car­ried to his grave, the gen­er­al opin­ion was that this in­mate had writ­ten the epic in mo­ments of san­ity.

Frederick M. Lehman, “History of the Song, The Love of God,” 1948"

Mr. Lehman's daughter, Claudia, har­mo­nized ma­ny of the songs writ­ten by her fa­ther. Claudia was one of 9 children to Mr. Lehman who died in Pasadena, Cal­i­for­nia and is buried in Forest Lawn Cem­e­te­ry, Glendale, Cal­i­for­nia.

Yesterday as my husband and I celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary, I thought not only about our love for each other but also about the immeasurable love that God has for us. We are approaching Holy Week, and there isn't a better time than now to look at this hymn and the love God poured out for us and the love we are to show others!

Romans 8:38-39 "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Ephesians 3:18b-19 ". . . may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

I love those two verses. Not only can nothing separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus but the deepness of Christ's love for us is beyond our ability to understand. Wow, now that's a statement. Here Paul talks about praying that we know the depth of Christ's love for us but he follows it up with "this love that surpasses knowledge." His love for us is truly immeasurable! We know God by what He reveals to us but even then we will never fully understand Him. Jesus, out of immeasurable love, paid the sin debt we owed, and the gift to us is salvation. Have you received that gift? Have you always believed but never received? Have you asked Him to be your personal Lord and Savior? If not, will you do that today? E-mail me with questions. I am more than pleased to share! His death for us proves His immeasurable love!

Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Ephesians 2:4-5 "But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved."

As we look at God's immeasurable love for us, we must remember that we are to show that same kind of love to the world. Our debt to love has no ending balance as people always need love! Let's look at some questions and principles about love:

Romans 2:5-6 "But if anyone obeys His word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did."

*True Christian faith results in loving behavior.
*To get along with other Christians, we need to love them and show it.
*We should love and care for each other as believers.

Romans 12:9-10 "Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves."

*Sincere love adjusts to the needs of others.
*Sincere love is demonstrated in both attitudes and actions.
*Is the love you show a pretend love out of politeness or is it a sincere love?

Romans 13:14 "Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature."

*We are to hate the sin and love the sinner just as God loves us but detests our sin.
*True love does not enable sinful behavior but encourages right behavior.
*Attitudes are as important as actions.
*What kind of love do your attitudes and actions display?

2 Thessalonians 3:5 "May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance."

*Love is a decision and a choice that effects our feelings and emotions.
*Pray for Godly love daily!

Does the love you display identify you as a Christian or do you look just like the world? I pray that you can identify the areas where God may want you to change and grow in His love for others.

Below you will find the sheet music to "The Love of God." I encourage you to read the verses of this hymn by clicking here. Truly meditate on them. His love for us goes beyond the highest star and is measureless and strong!

Click here to listen to Mercy Me sing verses 1 and 3 of this hymn. The words are included also.

For my 5x7 page today, I used the new Our Daily Bread Designs set called "Scripture Collection 8" using the 1 Timothy 1:14 scripture that says "The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus." That scripture is just perfect for our hymn—"The Love of God." And as you can see, I stamped the scripture in red which I thought was perfect for His blood poured out for me. I also used the ODBD set called "Sweet Friendship" for the frame around the scripture.

Papers: Paper Trey Ink cs, Pink Paislee She Art, Strathmore watercolor paper
Stamps: Our Daily Bread Designs Sweet Friendship, Our Daily Bread Designs Scripture Collection 8
Stamp Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink broken china, Archival Ink coffee and crimson
Embellishments: Prima fabric flowers, paper flowers and leaves from Wild Orchid Crafts, Paper Trey Ink buttons, sewing machine

Remember to use Keyword HSCRC12 when posting your creations in any online galleries. Also, please leave a link to your creation here using Inlinkz! To see all of the information regarding this challenge and the previous studies, please see this post here. Blessings to each of you!