They Point to the Cross:  "How great Thou art, how great Thou art!" ... This hymn was written by Elizabeth Clephane. Born in 1830, she lived in Scotland until her death 39 years later. Her short life was anything but easy, but that didn't quench her joy. In spite of poor health and her parents’ early death, she was full of His love for others. Her friends called her 'SUNBEAM.' Perhaps they were inspired by her humble words, 'I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of His face.'
        "God had given her the key to a joy with Jesus that nothing could quench! May we, too, live each day with Him! For - “I am crucified with Christ...and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who…gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20  

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.... You are my friends, if you do what I command you."  (John 15:12, 14)

"Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself."’ (Matthew 22:37-39)

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart." (Deut. 6:5-6)

“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply..." (Deut. 30:15-16)

"...take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Joshua 22:5)

What a Friend We Have in Jesus  by Joseph Scriven, 1819)

What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged, Take it to the Lord in prayer...
Can we find a friend so faithful, who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge, take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do your friends despise, forsake you? Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In His arms He’ll take and shield you; you will find a solace there.

Fanny J. Crosby:

All the way my Savior leads me
Can I doubt His tender mercy, Who through life has been my Guide?
Heav’nly peace, divinest comfort, Here by faith in Him to dwell!
For I know, whate’er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well.

All the way my Savior leads me; Cheers each winding path I tread,
Gives me grace for every trial, Feeds me with the living Bread
Though my weary steps may falter and my soul athirst may be,
Gushing from the Rock before me, Lo! A spring of joy I see.

All the way my Savior leads me; O the fullness of His love!
Perfect rest to me is promised, In my Father’s house above.
When my spirit, clothed immortal, Wings its flight to realms of day
This my song through endless ages: Jesus led me all the way.

O Love that Wilt not Let me Go
O Love that wilt not let me go. I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe, that in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O light that followest all my way, I yield my flickering torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray, That in thy sunshine's blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain, I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain, and know the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head, I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life's glory dead, and from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.
 

Close to Thee by Fanny J. Crosby

1. Thou, my everlasting portion, More than friend or life to me;
All along my pilgrim journey, Savior, let me walk with Thee.

Refrain:  Close to Thee, close to Thee, Close to Thee, close to Thee! All along my pilgrim journey, Savior, let me walk with Thee.

2 Not for ease or worldly pleasure, Not for fame my prayer shall be;
Gladly will I toil and suffer, Only let me walk with Thee.

3 Lead me through the vale of shadows, bear me o’er life’s fitful sea;
Then the gate of life eternal may I enter, Lord, with Thee.

"I cried out to Thee, O Lord; I said "Thou art my refuge..." Ps 142:5

Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged, Take it to the Lord in prayer...                   
Can we find a friend so faithful, who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;  take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge, take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do your friends despise, forsake you? Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In His arms He’ll take and shield you; you will find a solace there.

Though it is not considered to be an example of great literary writing, its simply stated truths have brought solace and comfort to countless numbers of God’s people since it was first written in 1857. So relevant to the basic spiritual needs of people are these words that many missionaries state that it is one of the first hymns taught to new converts. The very simplicity of the text and music has been its appeal and strength.

Joseph Scriven was born in 1819 of prosperous parents in Dublin, Ireland. He was a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin. At the age of twenty-five he decided to leave his native country and migrate to Canada. His reasons for leaving his family and country seem to be two-fold: the religious influence of the Plymouth Brethren upon his life estranging him from his family and the accidental drowning of his fiancee the night before their scheduled wedding.

From that time Scriven developed a totally different pattern of life. He took the Sermon on the Mount literally. It is said that he gave freely of his limited possessions, even sharing the clothing from his own body, if necessary, and never once refused to help anyone who needed it.

Ira Sankey tells in his writings of the man who, seeing Scriven in the streets of Port Hope, Ontario, with his sawbuck and saw, asked, “Who is that man? I want him to work for me.” The answer was, “You cannot get that man; he saws wood only for poor widows and sick people who cannot pay.” Because of this manner of life Scriven was respected but was considered to be eccentric by those who knew him.

“What a Friend We Have in Jesus” was never intended by Scriven for publication. Upon learning of his mother’s serious illness and unable to be with her in far-off Dublin, he wrote a letter of comfort enclosing the words of this text. Some time later when he himself was ill, a friend who came to call on him chanced to see the poem scribbled on scratch paper near the bed. The friend read it with keen interest and asked Scriven if he had written the words. Scriven, with typical modesty, replied, “The Lord and I did it between us.” ....

Ira D. Sankey discovered the hymn in 1875, just in time to include it in his well-known collection, Sankey’s Gospel Hymns Number One. Later Sankey wrote, “The last hymn which went into the book became one of the first in favor.”

It is estimated that Fanny Crosby wrote more than 8,000 gospel song texts in her lifetime. Her hymns have been and are still being sung more frequently than those of any other gospel hymn writer. Her many favorites have been an important part of evangelical worship for the past century. It is truly amazing that anyone, and especially a blind person, could write on this variety of spiritual truths and experiences with such proliferation.

Such was the case for the hymn, “Blessed Assurance.” The music for “Blessed Assurance" was composed by Mrs. Joseph Knapp, an amateur musician, wife of the founder of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, and a close personal friend of Fanny Crosby. One day Mrs. Knapp played this melody for the blind poetess and asked, “What does this tune say?” Fanny responded immediately, “Why, that says: ‘Blessed Assurance, Jesus Is Mine.’”

Fanny Crosby died at the age of ninety-five. Only eternity will disclose the host of individuals who have been won to a saving faith in Jesus Christ or those whose lives have been spiritually enriched through the texts of her many hymns.

Other hymns by Fanny J. Crosby include “All the Way My Savior Leads Me” and “Saved By Grace” (101 More Hymn Stories, No. 76).
------------------------------------------------------------

My Savior First of All
Author—Fanny J. Crosby, 1820–1915
Thou wilt show me the path of life: In Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11
This is another of the more than 8,000 gospel hymns written by the blind American poetess, Fanny Crosby. Although she wrote on a great variety of subjects, the themes of heaven and the Lord’s return seem to have been her favorites. The anticipation of seeing her Savior undoubtedly had great personal meaning to this blind believer.
Early in life Fanny Crosby showed an unusual poetic talent. At the age of eight she wrote these words:

Oh, what a happy soul am I! Although I cannot see,
I am resolved that in this world contented I will be.
How many blessings I enjoy that other people don’t;
TTo weep and sigh because I’m blind, I cannot, and I won’t.

This same strong spirit characterized her entire life. Once a well-intentioned Scotch minister remarked to her, “I think it is a great pity that the Master, when He showered so many gifts upon you, did not give you sight.”
Her rebuke came quickly, “Do you know that if at birth I had been able to make one petition to my Creator, it would have been that I should be born blind?”