This blog post is shorter than most that I write. And really, really simple.

Whether you are a “Muslim” or a “Christian” reader, I hope you will join me in praying to Almighty God:

“Jesus. . .just. . .give me. . .Jesus.”

A woman blind from childhood – Fanny Crosby – was talk­ing to one of her neigh­bors, who com­plained bit­ter­ly of his po­ver­ty. “If I had wealth I would be able to do just what I wish to do; and I would be able to make an ap­pear­ance in the world.” Fan­ny re­plied, “Well, take the world, but give me Je­sus.” She was inspired by her own words to write a song with that ti­tle in 1879 (she wrote nearly 8,000 songs in her 95 years of life).

Another version of this song originated as an African-American spiritual written during the terrible time of slavery in the Untied States.

Still another version was written by Fernando Ortega as heard here:

“Give Me Jesus” (Words and music: Fernando Ortega, 2000)

In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
Give me Jesus

Give me Jesus, give me Jesus
You can have all this world
But give me Jesus

And when I am alone
Oh and when I am alone
And when I am alone
Give me Jesus

Give me Jesus, give me Jesus
You can have all this world
But give me Jesus

And when I come to die
Oh and when I come to die
And when I come to die
Give me Jesus

Give me Jesus, give me Jesus
You can have all this world
You can have all this world
You can have all this world
But give me Jesus

Paul, first century follower of Jesus and martyr for him, wrote these words about his incredible spiritual accomplishments and how he viewed them after he met Jesus (The Holy Bible, Philippians 3:7-10):

“I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ. . .”

“Jesus. . .just. . .give me. . .Jesus.”