We Have A Friend In Jesus

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I have always enjoyed John Denver’s music. His songs always have a way of touching my heart. In one of his songs he sings about the relationship he had with his first guitar. In “This Old Guitar” we find these lyrics: “This old guitar taught me to sing a love song.”  I find an interesting correlation between his relationship with his guitar and the much more important relationship we have with Jesus. He alone teaches us to “SING OUR LOVE SONG.” I invite you to read more…

The guitar in question was made in 1910 and it belonged to his grandmother when she was a little girl. She later gave the guitar to John when he was twelve. It was on this guitar that John first learned to play. For a large part of his life, John took the guitar with him everywhere he went. He even said, someone once hit him over the head with the guitar and cracked it. Sadly, John eventually lost the guitar. Five years later, about the time he had adjusted to it being lost, he surprisingly found it again. When he did, he sat down and wrote a song. Today’s 4th Day Letter will have more meaning if you click on the video below before continuing the letter.

Today, I have replaced the word ‘guitar’ in the original lyrics with the name Jesus. With just a few additional changes, this is how the lyrics would go:

Jesus taught me to sing a love song

He showed me how to laugh and how to cry

He introduced me to some friends of mine

And He brightened up some days

He helped me make it through some lonely nights

Oh, what a friend Jesus is to have on a cold and lonely night

Jesus gave me my lovely lady

He opened up her eyes and ears to me

He brought us close together

And He helped us through our broken hearts

He opened up the space for us to be

What a lovely place and a lovely space to be

Jesus gave me my life, my living

All the things you know I love to do

To serenade the stars that shine

From a sunny mountainside

And most of all to sing my songs for you

I love to sing my songs for you

Yes, I do, you know

I love to sing my songs for you

The Original Songwriter is John Denver and This Old Guitar lyrics © belongs to Warner/Chappell Music, Inc, Reservoir One Music, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

John’s guitar had obviously become a steadfast friend. Losing the guitar his grandmother had given him must have really hurt. Finding it again clearly brought him Joy. Have you ever lost a friend and eventually gained them back again? Have you ever had a friend move away and then, years later, visit them, only to feel like no time had passed since you were last together? Reuniting with old friends is a great source of joy.

Jesus made it clear that He too is our friend. In John 15:15 Jesus says: “I have called you friends.” Maybe you feel lost. Perhaps for some reason your friendship with Jesus feels strained. Perhaps at this time in your life, you feel as if you have drifted away from Jesus. If you do, I assure you that Jesus has not moved away.

In the story, it was John Denver who had misplaced and lost his guitar. Once he did, the guitar never moved until he found it again. Likewise, if we feel distant and apart from Jesus, he will wait right where we left Him until we return. If we are lost and we find our way back to our Lord, we can begin to sing: “You taught me to sing a love song and you’ve brightened up my days!”

I encourage you to take stock of where you are in your relationship with our Lord and Savior. If in any way your relationship is strained, make it a point to search Him out and spend time with Him today. With Jesus once again in your heart, I assure you that you will become a lovely melody for others to hear.

Heavenly Father, apart from your Son Jesus I can do nothing. Guide me back to Him today. Reunited with Him, my heart will sing a song of Joy! Amen.

As always, I love to read your comments below as well as hear from you personally by clicking here.

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Brian Pusateri

Brian is a Christian author and speaker. Brian, a lifelong Catholic, felt his life was forever changed when God spoke to his heart while attending an eight day silent Christian retreat in November of 2011. Soon after that retreat Brian founded 4th Day Letters and Broken Door Ministries. With the God inspired message of mercy and unconditional love that was placed on his heart during that retreat, Brian has been impacting others all over the country and around the world with his weekly letters, his talks, and his all day Christian retreats. In June of 2014, Brian’s life was again impacted in a very dramatic way when his eyesight suddenly became permanently impaired. The initial diagnosis was Multiple Scleroses (MS) but in December of 2019 the diagnosis was corrected to MOG antibody disease, a rare neurological disease. This health challenge has only served to draw Brian closer to God and bolster the importance of this timely yet ageless message.

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