God's Wonderful, Amazing Grace

Romans 3:22-24 (NIV) "This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Written by John Newton in 1779, Amazing Grace is perhaps the most widely sung and recognized of all the church hymns today. John Newton was blessed to have a mother, who devoted herself to leading him to his salvation at a very young age. It was known that he memorized many bible verses and hymns while still a small child, under the guidance and encouragement of his mother.... At age 7, his mother passed away, and he remembered her loving, tearful prayers for him. Many years after her death, he fell into a sinful life, and had many difficult decisions to make. He joined the British Navy and was later captured. After 2 days of suspense, he considered taking his own life. He later took more voyages and faced many dangers, toils, and snares. On March 9, 1748 at age 23, the crew faced a brutal storm while out on the high seas. The next day, March 10th, John Newton cried out to the Lord to rescue him from his great peril. He said that the Lord came down from on high and rescued him from the deep waters. In the upcoming years, John Newton was known as one of the greatest evangelical preachers in British history, had written hundreds of hymns, and became very outspoken against the evils of slavery. This famous hymn, Amazing Grace, originally had the title "Faith's Review and Expectation" which was based on his own study of 1 Chronicles 17:16-17. There was also a written, but nearly forgotten verse near the end of the hymn: "The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, The sun forbear to shine; But God, Who called me here below, Shall be forever mine." Dear Friend, do you truly know God's Amazing Grace? Have you accepted Hiis redeeming power? Can you say that you were once lost, but now you are found, and are wrapped in His tender loving care? Our Savior longs for a deeper relationship with you today. May the words of this beautiful, sacred hymn that say when the sun forbears to shine one day, we will be with our Loving Savior and 'He will be forever mine.' Dave Henry