JUST AS I AM

"Charlotte Elliott was born, the daughter of a pastor, in England in 1789.  She was a talented woman with a lot of zeal for service in Christian work. 

It’s not certain when but, as a very young woman, she became invalid with severe sicknesses.  Not only was she physically ill, her unrelenting diseases caused a great deal of emotional anguish and spiritual conflict.  She felt useless and uncertain of her ability to please God in any kind of service.  Feeling increasingly unworthy of God's grace and incapable of facing a perfect and righteous God, she started church-hopping and visited many churches.  And she sought the counsel of many different pastors, all of whom instructed her to simply pray more, to study the Bible more, to perform more good deeds, and to resolve to do better...

...After some time, she met a preacher named Dr. Caesar Malan.  She asked him, just as she had asked many others, how she might be saved...  

...“You must come to Him just as you are.”

Those words would later change her life and inspire the composition of her best-known hymn...

.... she began to write out ‘the formula of her faith’ as she reconsidered the Gospel of Peace, the promise of pardon, and the hope of Heaven.

From those notes, she formed the verses of a poem that became the hymn, JUST AS I AM WITHOUT ONE PLEA...  

The song is a testimony to God’s grace in and through all kinds of suffering."

Read the whole post from Ralph M. Petersen at Hymns that Preach.
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Just as I am
by Charlotte Elliot

1. Just as I am, without one plea, 

but that thy blood was shed for me, 

and that thou bidst me come to thee, 

O Lamb of God, I come, I come. 

2. Just as I am, and waiting not 

to rid my soul of one dark blot, 

to thee whose blood can cleanse each spot, 

O Lamb of God, I come, I come. 

3. Just as I am, though tossed about 

with many a conflict, many a doubt, 

fightings and fears within, without, 

O Lamb of God, I come, I come. 

4. Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind; 

sight, riches, healing of the mind, 

yea, all I need in thee to find, 

O Lamb of God, I come, I come. 

5. Just as I am, thou wilt receive, 

wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve; 

because thy promise I believe, 

O Lamb of God, I come, I come. 

6. Just as I am, thy love unknown 

hath broken every barrier down; 

now, to be thine, yea thine alone, 

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.