Just As I Am
BIBLE REFERENCE:
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life:
he that cometh to me shall never hunger;
and he that believeth on me shall never
thirst.
John 6:35
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke
upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek
and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and burden
is light.
Matthew 11:28-30
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And
let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is
athirst come. And whosoever
will, let him take the water of life freely.
Revelation 22:17
Charlotte Elliott -
Lyrics 1789-1871
Born: March 18, 1789, Clapham, Surrey, England.
Died: September 22, 1871, Brighton, East Sussex, England.
Buried: St. Andrew�s Church, Hove, Sussex, England.
William Batchelder Bradbury - Composer
1816-1868
Born: October 6, 1816, York, Maine.
Died: January 7, 1868, Montclair, New Jersey.
Buried: Bloomfield Cemetery, Bloomfield, New Jersey.
HYMN HISTORY:
Without question, this hymn has touched more hearts and
influenced more people for Christ than
any other song ever written. The text was born within
the soul of an invalid woman who wrote these
words out of intense feelings of uselessness and
despair. Charlotte Elliott was born in Clapham, England, on March 18, 1789. As a young person she
lived a
carefree life, gaining popularity as a portrait artist
and writer of humorous verse. By the time she
was thirty, however, her health began to fail rapidly,
and soon she became a bedridden invalid for
the remaining years of her life. With her failing
health came great feelings of despondency. In 1822
a noted Swiss evangelist, Dr. Caesar Malan, visited the
Elliott home in Brighton, England. His visit
proved to be a turning point in Charlotte's life. In
counseling Miss Elliott about her spiritual and
emotional problems, Dr. Malan impressed upon her this
truth, "You must come just as you are, a
sinner, to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of
the world." Throughout the remainder of her
life, Miss Elliott celebrated every year the day on
which her Swiss friend had led her to a personal
relationship with Christ, for she considered it to be
her spiritual birthday. Although she did not write
her text for this hymn until 1836, fourteen years after
her conversion experience, it is apparent that
she never forgot the words of her friend, for they form
the very essence of this hymn. Though Charlotte Elliott lived to be eighty-two years of age, she
never regained normal health, and
she often endured seasons of great physical suffering.
Of her own afflictions she once wrote,
"He knows, and He alone, what it is, day after day,
hour after hour, to fight against bodily feelings of
almost overpowering weakness, languor and
exhaustion, to resolve not to yield to slothfulness,
depression and instability, such as the body causes
me to long to indulge, but to rise every morning
determined to take for my motto, 'If a man will
come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross
daily, and follow Me.'" Another time she wrote,
"God sees, God guides, God guards me. His grace
surrounds me, and His voice continually bids me to
be happy and holy in His service just where I am."
Miss Elliott wrote the text for "Just As I Am" in
1836. It was published that same year in the second
edition of The Invalid's Hymn Book, a collection
which contained 115 of her original works. She
wrote this hymn with the desire that it might aid
financially in building a school for the children of
poor clergymen that her own pastor brother was
trying to build in Brighton, England. Miss Elliott felt
so helpless in her desire to aid the parishioners
in this worthy project. Interestingly enough, this one
hymn from the pen of the clergyman's invalid sister
brought in more funds than all of his bazaars and
projects combined. The brother himself has left
these words, "In the course of a long ministry, I hope
to have been permitted to see some fruit of my
labors; but I feel more has been done by a single
hymn of my sister's." In all, Charlotte Elliott
wrote approximately 150 hymns. She is generally regarded as one of the
finest of all English women hymn writers. It is
said that after her death more than a thousand letters
were found among her papers from individuals around
the world, expressing testimonials for what
this one hymn had meant in their lives. The tune,
"Woodworth," composed by the well-known American gospel musician, William B.
Bradbury, was first used for the hymn, "The God of
Love Will Soon Indulge." Years later another
American gospel songwriter, Thomas Hastings, wedded
Bradbury's tune with Miss Elliott's text.
Other hymns by William B. Bradbury include "He
Leadeth Me", "Jesus Loves Me", "Depth of Mercy",
"Even Me", "Sweet Hour of Prayer", and "The Solid
Rock". Only eternity will reveal the vast number of individuals whose lives have been
dramatically changed
through the use of this one hymn from the pen of an
invalid woman. It is a hymn that can and should
be used more frequently than merely an invitational
number at the close of a service. Its message is
one that we as believers need to be reminded of
frequently-that our eternal standing and peace with
God depend solely on Christ's merits and not our
own.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
In Revelation 3:20 the Lord Jesus Christ is saying,
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in
to him, and will sup with him, and hewith me."
He is saying to us that he wants us to come to him,
that he is calling out to us now to
come and commune with him. He has everything we
need and wants us to spend quality time with him.
Our fellowship with him gives us what we need to
continue in our ministries and our
daily walk with him. This is how we will maintain
our witness and testimony in these last days.
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