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Lent is a forty-day journey of prayer and reflection pushing back our hectic schedules and day to day responsibilities to refocus on seeking the joy and peace of a life in Christ. We strive to fill our frail clay vessels with the “living waters” of Easter and serve as instruments for Christ. We are asked to introduce His life-changing grace, forgiveness, and redemption. Everyone is changed when seeking the presence of the Holy Spirit.

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:1.

6 For it is the God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.7 But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. 2 Corinthians 4:6-7.

For recent days the popular hymn, Fill My Cup Lord, has been an almost constant earworm emerging as my Lenten theme. The hymn was written by Richard Blanchard in 1953 while serving as a Methodist minister in Coral Gables, Florida. Blanchard was the son of Methodist missionaries serving in China, and he followed their path into ministry graduating from the Chandler School of Theology in 1949. As the story goes, the young Reverend was waiting for a couple who were late for a scheduled new marriage counseling session. Impatiently waiting, he strolled into a Sunday school room and began to play an old upright piano. Frustrated by the tardy couple, Blanchard repeated a melody that had been haunting him for days and in thirty minutes Fill My Cup Lord was written. He later said, “I was not in the mood to be used by God, … God was in a mood to use me.”1

Fill my cup, Lord;
I lift it up Lord;
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul.
Bread of Heaven, feed me till I want no more.
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole.2

But the story of the rise in popularity of the hymn really begins with the introduction to Ray Vaughn. Vaughn, a singer in a successful band, was a TV and radio musical celebrity who moved from Chicago to Florida in the early 1960’s. His performance at Florida resorts and clubs launched a successful solo music career. After a brief failed marriage, he met Louise Rose. She was a strong and staunch Christian who helped Vaughn discover that his unsettled spiritual state was a yearning to seek God’s grace. Shortly after their meeting, Vaughn experienced a total and unexplained loss of his singing voice. While hospitalized with the mysterious laryngitis, a stranger walked into his hospital room. The stranger was the Reverend Charles Kinder, a Pastor at a local Methodist church on his weekly hospital rounds. Weeks later Vaughn would recall the loss of His voice and the happenstance meeting with Reverend Kinder as a call from God to change his life.3

Vaughn’s voice slowly returned as he entered the Chandler School of Theology. After ordination Vaughn traveled the Eastern US spreading the Gospel through his unique Ministry of Song which was a blend of music, scripture, and stories introducing God’s grace and forgiveness to thousands for over ten years. As his musical ministry served area churches, Blanchard and Vaughn became friends and the hymn, Fill My Cup Lord, became a mainstay of his musical sermon. The Reverend Charles Kinder was later selected as the President of The Foundation for Evangelism in Nashville, TN from 1979-1989. 4

9 For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. 11 May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, so that you may have all endurance and patience, joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:9-14.

Jesus changes everything. We are redeemed from the darkness, forgiven, and transported into the Light. As disciples of Christ, we are asked to facilitate the rescue of our family, friends, and neighbors by introducing Jesus as the pathway to the Father. We fill our hearts with His grace and serve the world. Who do you know who is troubled and seeking the Lord?

Prayer: Jesus, we seek Your wisdom and grace. Guide our Lenten walk to Easter filling our spirit with the joy, peace, and power of the Holy Spirit. Open our hearts to those who are troubled, seeking spiritual healing, and yearning for the comfort and peace found in a life in Christ. We make this prayer in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.

1 https://believersportal.com/story-behind-fill-my-cup-lord-hymn/ .
2 Fill My Cup Lord, Copyright 1959 by Richard Blanchard. Assigned to Sacred Songs; Copyright 1964 by Sacred Songs (a div. or WORD MUSIC).

3 https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/896549.
4 https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/charles-kinder-obituary?id=35810487

The Wesleyan Bridge is written by K.B. Kelly with the Reverend Valerie Mireb and Pastor Hank Brooks as Theological Editors with Debbie Kelly as Text and Content Editor.