What’s the secret of having a fresh love for the Lord Jesus?
What’s the secret of having a fresh, fervent, first and even best love for the Lord Jesus? In the Bible, the Lord definitely commands us to love Him, even with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Deut. 6:5; Mark 12:30), and in the book of Revelation, the Spirit says to the church in Ephesus that the one thing He has against the church is that she has left Christ as her first love (Rev. 2:4). So how can we love the Lord with all of our heart, and how can we love Him with our best love?
The beginning of our loving the Lord is a vision of His person
The solution to our need for love toward the Lord Jesus is to see a vision of who He is, a vision of His wonderful person. This causes us to be infused with His beauty and His glory. This secret is found in the words of the hymn “Jesus Lord, I’m captured by Thy beauty” (Hymn # 1159 in Hymns). The first stanza says:
Jesus Lord, I’m captured by Thy beauty,
All my heart to Thee I open wide;
Now set free from all religious duty,
Only let me in Thyself abide.
As I’m gazing here upon Thy glory,
Fill my heart with radiancy divine;
Saturate me, Lord, I now implore Thee,
Mingle now Thy Spirit, Lord, with mine.
In short, we cannot manufacture love for the Lord Jesus; instead, we can only come to Him to behold His beauty. We can do this by praying over these words: “Lord Jesus capture me by Your beauty. I open my heart wide to You. Set me free from all religious duty. Only let me in Yourself abide. Let me gaze here upon Your glory. Fill my heart with radiancy divine. Saturate me, Lord, I now implore You. Mingle now Your Spirit Lord with mine.”
Stanza two further unveils this secret by saying,
Shining One—how clear the sky above me!
Son of Man, I see Thee on the throne!
Holy One, the flames of God consume me,
Till my being glows with Thee alone.
Lord, when first I saw Thee in Thy splendor,
All self-love and glory sank in shame;
Now my heart its love and praises render,
Tasting all the sweetness of Thy name.
This stanza clearly expresses the answer to our quest for the secret to beginning of the best love for the Lord Jesus—“ Lord, when first I saw Thee in Thy splendor, / All self-love and glory sank in shame; / Now my heart its love and praises render, / Tasting all the sweetness of Thy name.”
Oh, may the Lord grant us first to see Him in His splendor such that all our self love and glory sinks in shame! Then from our heart we’ll offer our love and praises to Him while tasting the sweetness of His name. May the words of this stanza become our hearts deepest cry to the Lord!
The issue of seeing the vision of Christ’s person is to pour our best love upon Him.
The issue of such a vision is found in stanza three which says,
Precious Lord, my flask of alabaster
Gladly now I break in love for Thee;
I anoint Thy head, Beloved Master;
Lord, behold, I’ve saved the best for Thee.
Dearest Lord, I waste myself upon Thee;
Loving Thee, I’m deeply satisfied.
Love outpoured from hidden depths within me,
Costly oil, dear Lord, I would provide.
It was while Mary was sitting at the Lord’s feet and listening to His word (Luke 10:39) that she received a vision that the Lord Jesus was going to the cross to die for us. Her vision of Christ as the dying Redeemer enabled her to pour out her love for Him, to break her alabaster flask, to anoint Him in love beforehand for His death (Matt. 26:7, 12).
This is to give the Lord Jesus our first and best love, to pour out our all on Him. We can only give Him our best love when we’re captured by a vision of who He is.
Only this kind of love will make us call for His return, yearn to see Him face to face, and desire to satisfy Him as His loving bride. This ultimate issue is seen in the final verse of this hymn. May it be the prayer of us all.
My Beloved, come on spices’ mountain;
How I yearn to see Thee face to face.
Drink, dear Lord, from my heart’s flowing fountain,
Till I rest fore’er in Thine embrace.
Not alone, O Lord, do I adore Thee,
But with all the saints as Thy dear Bride;
Quickly come, our love is waiting for Thee;
Jesus Lord, Thou wilt be satisfied.
About Tom Smith
Hi. My name is Tom Smith. I'm the writer behind Holding to Truth in Love, and I love the Lord Jesus and His life-giving Word. Please feel free to send me an e-mail through the contact page if you have any questions. I hope you'd take a moment to subscribe to the Holding to Truth blog. Then you'll be sure not to miss a post. Thanks!
Tom, thanks for sharing. We all need more of the experiences in this hymn. They remind me of Philippians 3. Because Paul saw the excellency of Christ, he could count all things loss and pursue Christ to the uttermost. If we only see a little, we only count a few things loss. When we see Him and love Him fully, all other things drop away.
Don, I was really impressed with the word that “the beginning of love in everyone toward the Lord Jesus is a vision of His person.” I am being fed by this truth and keep musing on it, because it is crucial to bringing forth the first and best love that our Lord is seeking. In fact, this vision of the Lord’s person is the beginning, it’s the first step. These days, while singing “Jesus Lord I’m Captured by Thy Beauty” I really some particular anointing on the first two verses. May the Lord “capture us by His beauty.” May we “see Him in His splendor” til our hearts there love and praises render tasting all the sweetness of His name.
I love this hymn and I have been many times pondering on, What causes us to love the Lord? It is only a vision – a fresh view – of His preciousness, His person. When we see Him, we just love Him. I have to confess that many times I tried to manufacture love for the Lord – and it stinks! It’s better just to open, quiet ourselves down, and listen to Him that we may see who He is. In this way we really really love Him, and it is actually His love filling our love… Lord, even right now, show us what You are that we may love You more!
I agree. If we don’t spend time at the Lord’s feet listening to His word as Mary did, we can never pour out our flask of alabaster upon His head as she did. May the Lord deliver us from so much inner busyness that we may really see Him in His splendor, so all our love and praise we’ll render. Thank the Lord for such an anointed hymn to call us back to our best love for the Lord Jesus!
me gustaria que me indicara una pagina para escuchar las melodias de los himnos en español
Carmen,
Usted puede escuchar la melodía del himno cubierto en este post, vinculando: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/1159. Para ver las letras en español que tendría que pedir un himnario españoles de Living Stream Ministry: http://www.livingstreambooks.com/servlet/the-Himnos/Categories (#278).
Thank you Lord im captured by the beauty..without you i have nothing.
I have often sung the Hymn #1159 to the Lord which brings a deep intimacy time. I enjoy singing Song of Songs type hymns to the Lord.
hey enjoying the articles given here on this article and the site in general
But how do we get a ” vision” of our Saviour …. from this article a line or stanza in a hymn does not give us a “vision” of him, but it however produces emotions…..which is fine …… but it seems it is a imagination of him and not a vision. I yearn for so much more …..than mere words
please do not take this as a criticism
god bless and thanks
Kerry,
Vision is something from God through the operation of His Spirit. Paul prayed that the Father would grant to the believers a “spirit of wisdom and revelation” that they might know Christ and His purpose (Eph. 1:17-18). When we believe in Jesus, we are born of the Spirit (John 3:6) and our spirit becomes an enlivened, regenerated spirit (Rom. 8:10), joined to the Lord as one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17). It is in such a spirit that we can receive revelation, but this still requires our cooperation to pray (Eph. 6:17). When we pray with our spirit and with our heart turned to the Lord (2 Cor. 3:16) our inner eyes are unveiled to see the divine things revealed in God’s word concerning Christ and the purpose of God. We need to deal with any obstacle in our heart that insulates us from Him, such as unconfessed sins (1 John 1:9) so that our conscience may be clear. Then we need to enter into fellowship with Him by means of prayer, to purify our heart to see God (Matt. 5:8). Then, as we’re loving Him in such a fellowship, He can show us the deep and hidden things concerning Himself (1 Cor. 2:9). He may enlighten us through a Bible verse, spiritual song or hymn.