Small Talk

Don't doubt your faith -- doubt your doubt

Following Him

I woke up this morning with "Footsteps of Jesus" on my mind and I have been singing it all morning. There was a freeze last night, and "frost is on the pumpkin" (literally, I left one out -- one Jessie gave me -- {Jessie and Jimmy are our friends from China -- they had heard about pumpkin pie and were thinking about serving some in their restaurant, but wanted to exactly what to do with the pumpkin -- I gently told her we just got our pumpkin from cans}) -- and the sky is blue and the frosting on the grass is glittering and shiny --

But all that is "by the way"....I really love the words to the song.
Here are my favorite lines: "Then at last, when on high He sees us, our journey done, we will rest where the steps of Jesus end at His throne."

I sometimes think of the "sees us" as "greets us"....so He sees us coming, greets us, as we approach His throne...and there our footsteps end...

That will be the day, really, when we can say,
"Today is the first day of the rest of my life"!

More Good News About Grace - submitted by Patsy Parkey

Patsy sent me this today. It is from Charles Spurgeon's devotionals, Mornings and Evenings, for today, Dec 3. I read this devotional collection often, but somehow missed this one. (My favorite is June 28 -- I usually carry that one in my purse and hand it out in all my Bible classes --) Anyway, it is a great book. I use Alistair Begg's edition of it and can get it for $15. Let me know if you want a copy.

So here it is: December 3.
Song of Songs 4
There Is No Flaw In You

Having pronounced His Church positively full of beauty, our Lord confirms His praise by a precious negative: "There is no flaw in you." As if the thought occurred to the Bridegroom and the complaining world would insinuate that He had only highlighted her good parts and had purposely not mentioned those features that were deformed or defiled, in summary, He declares her universally and entirely beautiful and utterly devoid of flaws.

A spot can easily be removed and is the very last thing that can disfigure beauty, but even from this little blemish the believer is delivered in his Lord's sight. If He had said there is no hideous scar, no horrible deformity, no deadly ulcer, we might even then have marveled; but when He testified that she is free from the slightest flaw, all these other forms of defilement are included, and the depth of wonder is increased.

If He had simply promised to remove all flaws later on, we would still have eternal reason for joy; but when He speaks of it as already done, it fills us with a deep sense of satisfaction and delight. My soul, here is spiritual food for you; digest it properly, and be satisfied with the royal provision.

Christ Jesus has no quarrel with His spouse. She often wanders from Him and grieves His Holy Spirit, but He does not allow her faults to affect His love.

He sometimes rebukes, but it is always in a tender manner, with the kindest of intentions: It is "my love" even then. There is no remembrance of our follies. He does not cherish ill thoughts of us, but He pardons and loves equally after the offense as before it. {Note: Is this the best news you have ever heard?...no remembrance of our follies...does not keep ill thoughts of us...loves equally after the offense as before it...can it get any better than this? Glorya}

If Jesus were as mindful of injuries as we are, how could He commune with us? Too often a believer will put himself out of humor with the Lord for some slight turn in providence, but our precious Husband knows our silly hearts too well to take any offense at our ill manners.

{Thank you, Patsy, for sending me this!}

Golden Cords

I started reading the Bible through as a child -- we were encouraged to read it once every year -- 3 chapters each day and 5 on Sunday -- and we did it! As an adult I am back to trying to read it through at least once a year. What I enjoy the most about it is that I can begin to pick up powerful threads,or cords, that link the whole Bible together. What wonderful discoveries these are! Reminding us that dozens of people, throughout hundreds of years, from places distant to each other, wrote as "they were inspired by the Holy Spirit," making it a complete story of God's unchanging grace and mercy toward us, His dependent children.

Here's the first "cord" in my collection, and it especially blesses me at Christmas time.

We read in Genesis 2 that in Eden the trees were pleasing to the eye and good for food, and a flowing river watered the garden.

Then sin entered the Garden.

Genesis 3:16-17. God tells Adam, "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat of the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."


Then at the closing chapter of the Bible, we read about the River of Life flowing from the throne of God and the Tree of Life, bearing fruit and leaves "for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse." (Rev. 22:3)

And then these words just make this Christmas carol more meaningful:

"No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found
Far as the curse is found, far as, far as the curse is found."
(Joy to the World, verse 3)


So, God's grace flows everywhere the curse is found -- No one is too bad to receive God's grace and no one is too good to need it! If we were to colonize the moon, no matter where we go in outer space, that becomes part of everywhere the curse is found. And everywhere His grace is displayed for us.

Have another "Cord?" Please share it with us.

Holiness

Quotes from C. S. Lewis:

"Dozens of people go to Him to be cured of some particular sin which they are ashamed of or which is obviously spoiling daily life (like bad temper, drunkenness). Well, He will cure it all right: but He will not stop there. That may be what you asked, but if you once call Him in, He will give you the full treatment....

"He didn't come to change us into nice people, but new people. He is the painter and we are the painting. He is the inventor, we are only the invention. He knows what we can be and has given His Son to make our transformation possible. His goal for us is higher than we can imagine for ourselves. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage; but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.....

"Fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement: he is a rebel who needs to lay down his arms....

"For mere improvement is not redemption, though redemption always improves people here and now and will, in the end, improve them to a degree we cannot yet imagine. God became man to turn creatures into sons: not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man. It is not like teaching a horse to jump better and higher, but like turning a horse into a winged creature."

Journal Entries

1st Day. Monday. I went to town. There was a big hole in the middle of the road. I fell into it. I cried out, "Please help me, God. I didn't know the hole was there." He helped me find the way out.

2nd Day. Tuesday. I went to town. There was a big hole in the middle of the road. I fell into it. I
cried out, "Please help me. God. I didn't realize the hole was still there. Somebody should have repaired it. So it's not my fault!" He helped me find the way out.

3rd Day. Wednesday. I went to town. There was a big hole in the the middle of the road. I fell into it. I cried out, "Please help me, God. This is all my fault. I knew it was there, but I fell into it anyway." He helped me find the way out.

4th Day. Thursday. I went to town. There was a big hole in the middle of the road. I squeezed around it and went on into town praising God!

5th Day. Friday. I went to town. I took another road.

Holiness

I've just noticed how Psalm 111 and Psalm 112 relate to each other. What a blessing this is!
Look at how the attributes of God listed in Psalm 111 are also listed as the attributes of righteousness people in Psalm 112!
I especially love verse 2 of 111: "Great are the works of the LORD; they are pondered by all who delight in them."
I am going to ponder more these days -- I do take great delight in them --
This morning's sunrise was another glorious expression of His beautiful works -- It reminded me of Emily Dickinson's poem:

"I'll tell you how the sun rose,--
A ribbon at a time,
The steeples swam in amethyst,
The news like squirrels ran.
The hills untied their bonnets,
The bobolinks began.
Then I said softly to myself,
'That must have been the sun!'"

The birds were so joyous this morning. They were heralding the new day, too! I think God notices how much we need a new leaf, a clean slate, a new beginning-- each day.
And I remember the saying from my younger years, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life!"
Thank you, LORD, for this new day! I really needed it!

Obedience

From Moby Dick, by Melville:

Before Ishmael leaves for his voyage, he hears a sermon on Jonah. In words full of foreboding,
Father Maple warns, "And if we obey God, we must disobey ourselves; and it is in this disobeying ourselves, wherein the hardness of obeying God consists."

Hope

Hope is the certainity of a reality not yet experienced.

Holiness

"As a young Christian I had the idea that all I had to do to live a holy life was to find out from the Bible what God wanted me to do and go do it. Christians with maturity will smile at this naive assumption, but I see younger Christians starting off with the same air of self-confidence. We have to learn that we are dependent upon the enabling power of the Holy Spirit to attain any degree of holiness. Then, as we look at Him, we will see Him working in us--revealing our sin, creating a desire for holiness, and giving us the strength to respond to Him in obedience."
--From The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges

Holiness

"We are often drawn away from obedience by the abuse of grace. Jude speaks of 'certain men who change the grace of God into a license for immorality' (Jude 4). We abuse grace when, after sinning, we dwell on the mercy and compassion of God to the exclusion of His holiness and hatred of sin." -- From The Pursuit of Holiness, by Jerry Bridges

Rights and wrongs

From Chuck Colson's Breakpoint on Nov 6, 2009

"....now we learn that the President has been quietly cutting off aid to groups that monitor human rights abuses and fight on behalf of human freedom--especially in Iran.

"...these actions go against everything America stands for. Our worldview is largely formed by our Christian heritage--one that puts human dignity first. Has this administration forgotten that human rights have always been America's greatest export?

"...We believe that all humans are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, as our Declaration of Independence says.

"I knew this before I became a Christian. In 1973 President Nixon sent me to Moscow to negotiate for the release of Soviet Jews. I told the hand-line Soviet negotiator, that if the Soviets did not loosen their restrictions, Congress would not pass the trade treaty, which the Soviets desperately needed. Release the Jews, I said--or kiss American grain goodbye.

"He pounded on the table and shouted "You have no right to interfere in our internal affairs!"

"'Those aren't your internal affairs,' I replied. 'Human rights are not conferred by government;
they cannot be denied by government. They are God-given. We call them inalienable.'

"He agreed to free the Jews--and America shipped its grain.

"I can't take credit for that; it was the U.S. Congress and the American people who freed those captives. And it will take the same pressure from Congress and the American people to free the captives in China, Iran, North Korea and everywhere else people are denied their God-given rights."

Holiness

Holiness is not a series of do's and don'ts, but conformity to the character of God and obedience to the will of God. -- From The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges