Friends Forever

Recently one of my "Forever Friends," Margaret W, called my attention to a devotional thought by Joni Eareckson Tada. It's from her Diamonds in the Dust for March 9. She begins with this verse:

From one man He made every nation of men, that they should
inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them
and the exact places they should live. Acts 17:26

Then she says: "Did you catch that? It's no mistake you are living in this century, this decade, and this very year. It's no accident that you are residing in your town, living on the street you live, and with the neighbors you see every day. And is your circle of friends just coincidence? No way. God has determined it.

"Just think. You could have easily been born in another time, another place....
You would be growing up with a whole new set of childhood friends and neighbors.

"Of the billions of possibilities, of all the millions of people with whom you could have been best friends, God determined the exact time and place where you should live. When you consider this amazing fact, your friendships take on a new and profound significance. God has a special reason, a unique design in each friendship. He chose to surround your life with these certain and treasured dear ones for good reasons.

"As Christians, these are the people with whom you will live for eternity, enjoying an even greater dimension of friendship. Because God has placed you together on earth at this time and in this place, you and your friends have a chance to get a head start on God's eternal plan.

Father, I stand in awe at Your wisdom and ways. You could have
placed me anywhere on earth, but You determined that I should live
here and now. Teach me what this means. Show me Your special
design for my friends and family. And thank You that each person
You put in my life is precious in Your sight." Amen.

She's right -- all my friendships take on a more profound significance when I remember that God places all of us right here, right now, to fulfill some undisclosed part of His grand design for all of His creation.

God is good...and His love endures forever!

About Being Thankful

 

                                    About Being Thankful

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your heart. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him"(Colossians 3:15-17).

....."be thankful"..."sing to God with gratitude..."give thanks to God...seems like a theme here...

in whatever we do...word or deed...give thanks to God....

Why do we worship God? C S Lewis

It's God's Will That We Worship Him      

To worship and to glorify God is to declare and demonstrate the greatness of His character.
 
After we have received the gospel of Jesus, what spurs us into worship?

We worship God in obedience to Him and because we want to.

We worship Him because we enjoy Him!


C S Lewis describes this:

     All enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise...

     The world rings with praise -- lovers praising each other, readers their favorite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favorite game...

     I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation.

              From Reflections on the Psalms,
                  by C S Lewis


All enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise....

Praise is the natural result of enjoyment.

I can't think of anything I enjoy in life that I don't joyfully praise unreservedly - a song, a bird sighting, a book, a spiritual experience - praise for things we enjoy pour out of our hearts continually, spontaneously.....

To not praise something I enjoy is to bind me in joyless chains.

It is not possible to enjoy something without expressing grateful praise.

Isn't this the heart of following Jesus: enjoying God as our Father, through Jesus Christ the Son and our Savior?

And to enjoy is to praise!

Praise not merely expresses our joy, it completes it!


When this becomes reality to us, our lives are forever changed.

Bless the Lord, O my soul

O my soul

Worship His holy Name

Sing like never before

O my soul

I'll worship Your holy Name

I Gotta Be Me - Why? (C S Lewis)

                                   "I Gotta Be Me" - Why?

Remember that song, "I Gotta Be Me"?

Here's what C S Lewis says about that idea: "The more we get what we call 'ourselves' out of the way and let Him take us over, the more truly ourselves we become.

There is so much of Him that millions and millions of "little Christs", all different, will still be too few to express Him fully.

He made them all. He invented -- as an author invents characters in a novel -- all the different men we were intended to be.

In that sense our real selves are all waiting for us in Him.

It is no good trying to 'be myself' without Him...It is when I turn to Christ, when I give myself up to His personality that I first begin to have a real personality of my own."

Someone else observed that we are all like beautiful stained glass windows hidden in a dark basement. Without Christ there is no light to glow on us and shine our beauty. When the light of Jesus come upon us, we all become masterpieces of glorious beauty. Before that we are just ordinary gloomy glass basement windows!

Our Position Right Now!

Nothing in my hands I bring,

Simply to Thy cross I cling.....

From Rock of Ages, by Augustus Toplady

We come to Jesus empty-handed. We have nothing to offer.

Though claiming no merit of our own, we just cling to His blood and righteousness.

And we are justified.

We have been put right with God. We, who were enemies of God, become His friends and His family.

We pass from a state of God's condemnation to a state of pardon and forgiveness.

We become clothed in Christ's perfect righteousness.

In our standing before God we will never be more righteous, even before God in heaven, than we were the day we first trusted in Christ, or as we are right now.

We now have perfect righteousness. We need no more. We will never be more righteous than we are right now.

That is our position before God.

He now sees us as righteous as Christ Himself.

Amazing, isn't it?

That should encourage and inspire us to strive to be more righteous in our character, so we will begin to have a character that corresponds to our position. 

That will be completed when we are finally before God Himself.  But for now, we just work toward it.

Also, it should remind us that our Christian family is made of people like us - people whose position is also as having the perfect righteousness of Christ - so those brothers and sisters in Christ are holy objects - sanctified by the Spirit of Christ, possessing His righteousness, just as we do.

We should see them that way - with love and compassion, not with a critical and hostile spirit.

Just as God looks at us.

Love is patient, love is kind.

It does not envy, it does not boast,

It is not proud.

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking,

It is not easily angered

It keeps no record of wrongs.

It does not delight in evil,

but rejoices in the truth.

It always protects, always trusts,

Always hopes, always preservers.

Love never fails.

--1 Corinthians 13

God is love.

God treated Christ the way we deserved, so that He can treat us the way Christ deserves.



Overwhelmed?

 

Good news from Psalm 65:3 --

   "When we were overwhelmed by sin, You forgave our transgressions."

What an incredible picture! We were overwhelmed -- He stepped in and fixed it all!

Ever feel overwhelmed by sin? By disappointment? By grief? By fear? 

He can fix it all.

And it's all because He loves us and extends His grace to us, His beloved children. And He is eager to do that for us!

His grace -- it's all about His grace!

So how should we then live? How should we extend to others the grace He has extended to us?

"Lord, because Your grace is undeserved, I should be humble.

Because it is given to me unconditionally, I should be thankful.

Because it is freely given to me, I should extend it generously to others in all circumstances.

Because it is given to me forever, I should be at peace.

And because it is from You I should live in holiness and reflect your beauty and Your glory.

Please help me, everyday, to be to others as You have been to me.

Amen"

Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you and therefore He rises up  to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of  justice, blessed are all those who wait for Him. (Isaiah 30:18).

Looking to Jesus

 

                               Always Looking to Jesus

"Looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who with the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2)

From Charles Spurgeon --

"It is always the Holy Spirit's work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus. 

But Satan's work is just the opposite; he is constantly trying to make us look at ourselves instead of Christ.

He insinuates, 'Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to hold on to the end; you do not have the joy of His children.'

All these thoughts are about self, and we will never find comfort or assurance by looking within.

But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self. He tell us that we are indeed nothing, but that Christ is everything. We will never find happiness by looking to our prayers, our deeds, or our feelings. It is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to our souls

If we are to overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by "looking to Jesus".

Keep your eyes simply on Him; let His sufferings, His death, His merits, His glory and His intercession always be fresh on your mind.

When you wake in the morning, look to Him; when you lie down at night, look to Him. Do not let your doubts and fears come between you and Jesus.

Follow after Him, and He will never fail you. Just keep looking to Jesus."

That First Morning

That Very First Morning!

It is a beautiful morning. I have filled the bird feeders and all our little flying creatures are chirping their "Thank you's."

Everything is vibrant and green. (I can almost see - and hear- the grass growing!)  Lots of rain and lots of sunshine really work divine magic!

Trying to imagine that first morning Adam and Eve had in Eden.
Were they astonished at the beauty? Did each new scene leave them breathless?  Did they hear God's footsteps as He approached them?  Was He there with them every moment? 

Here's a song we don't sing much any more. It was written by an English Christian, Eleanor Farjean, about 100 years ago:

     Morning has broken, like the first morning

Black bird has spoken, like the first bird

Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning!

Praise for them springing fresh from the Word!

Sweet the rain new-fall, sunlit from heaven,

Like the first dew-fall on the first grass

Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden

Sprung in completeness where His feet pass.

Mine is the sunlight! Mine is the morning!

Born of the one light Eden saw play

Praise with elation, praise every morning

God's re-creation of the new day!

YES!! Praise every morning! Praise with elation!

And remember, today is the first day of the rest of your life!

Already Perfect!

                                    Already Perfect!

"For by one sacrifice, He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy" (Hebrews 10:14).

This is becoming my favorite verse right now: Amazing truth to teach us all we need to know to navigate our lives in these chaotic times.

First, a reminder of what happened at the cross. His sacrifice, to pay the debt of our sins, made us perfect in the eyes of God. Because God put our guilt on Christ, we are guilt-free!

It's called "The Great Exchange." He took our filthy sinful life with its garbage bag and exchanged it for a treasure chest full of His priceless righteousness. 'He has clothed us in garments of salvation and arrayed us in His robes of perfect righteousness' (Isaiah 61:10).

For now? More -- FOREVER!

So when God looks at us He sees His perfect Son!

It can't get better than that!

So our position is perfect in God's eyes.

Second, do we act perfectly? No, but with His Spirit in us we are being made holy.

'And we all, as we gaze on Jesus, are being transformed into His image with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Spirit.' (2 Corinthians 3:18)

(As we used to say, 'Please be patient with me, God is not finished with me yet!)

Remember young King Josiah (2 Kings 23)? He inherited the throne at age 8. He had a crown, trumpets as he entered a room, everyone bowed and called him 'King'. He was the official King. But he had to grow into the position...he didn't actually function as King till he became an adult.

That's like us -- God has declared us perfect, in position,  because of what Christ did, but we have to grow a lot more to fill that position!

And that's why I love this verse so much! 

God is not finished with me yet!

Worship - Public and Private

 

                              Worship -- Public and Private

"The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire. The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out" (Leviticus 6:12-13).

Charles Spurgeon applies this to our private personal worship altar.

  He tells us that we should always 'Keep our altar of private prayer burning. This is the life of piety. The sanctuary and family altars borrow their fires here. Secret devotion is the very essence, evidence and barometer of our faith.

  Let our own personal prayer closet sessions be regular, frequent and  undisturbed. Have you nothing to pray for? Let me suggest the church, its ministry, your own soul, your family, your neighbors, your country, the cause of God and Truth throughout the world.

  Let us examine ourselves on this important matter. Are we lukewarm in our times of personal private devotion? Is the fire of our devotion burning dimly? We should be alarmed if that is the case. Pray, weeping, that the Holy Spirit revitalizes our hearts to burn with passion, blazing with love, that our altar fire will never be quenched, for it will not burn if the Lord does not keep it burning. If His unseen hand pours on the sacred oil, it will blaze higher and higher.

Let us use texts of scripture as fuel for our heart's fire; they are love coals. Let us attend to public sermons, but above all, let us be much with Jesus'

(The key fire fuel? Spending much time alone with Jesus, and don't forget the love coals!)

Only One Head Worthy of a Crown!

                        There's Only One Head Worthy of a Crown!

   Heaven has only one head worthy of a crown -- and it's not mine and it's not yours!

    In scripture, God mentions that He is giving His children crowns --  5 different crowns are mentioned. Special honors for us!

     From Max Lucado --

  "Yes, there will be a day when you will be crowned. Your Maker and Savior will praise you for what you have endured for His Kingdom and how you have persevered. He will bless you. And He will reward you with luxurious crowns! But He will have hardly finished before you fall on your face and lay your crown at His feet!

   How gracious of Him to give us crowns. If He didn't, what would we have to give Him?

   As joyfully as you receive it, (and from His nail-scared hand!) you will surrender it. As freely as He gave it, you will offer it.

   I can't wait to see you there. I want to see the look on your face when you see the look on His. One glance into the eyes of the King and you will know for certain that heaven has only one head worthy of a crown, and it's not yours and it's not mine!" 

     Charles Wesley wrote about it -- 

"Changed from glory into glory, till in heaven take our place. Till we cast our crowns before Him, lost in wonder, love, and praise!

            *****Even so come quickly, Lord Jesus!*****

The Eagle Has Landed - July 20

 

                                      The Heavens Declare - July 20

This is the day - July 20 - 1969 - The Eagle has landed!

When Apollo 11's Eagle Lunar module landed on the moon's Sea of Tranquility on this date in 1969, the space travelers took time to recover from their flight before stepping onto the moon's surface.

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin had received permission to bring bread and wine so he could take Lord's Supper, or Communion.

After reading scripture, he tasted the first food even consumed on the moon. Later he wrote, "I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon the wine curled slowly and gracefully up the side of the cup."

Buzz Aldrin was proclaiming loudly to the whole world what it meant to "proclaim the Lord's death until He comes" (1 Corinthians 11:26).

Jesus had taught His disciples, "on the night He was betrayed," that His soon-to-be sacrificed body was compared to the bread, "broken for you," and the wine as the symbol "of the new covenant" that secured forgiveness and salvation through His blood shed on the cross.

Probably Buzz Aldrin's thoughts also went to Psalm 19:1 -- "The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the works of His hand" -- as he gazed out upon the starry sky and the beautiful blue globe that was his earthly home.

Neil Armstrong and Mike Collins are gone now, but Buzz Aldrin is still living, in his nineties, and still "proclaiming The Lord's death" as we all wait for His  return!

A reminder, no matter where we are, we can still celebrate our faith and hope in that glad day that awaits us!... a true "giant leap" for the bride of Christ!...as Jesus calls us home!

"Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup 

you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes"(1 Corinthians 11:26).

He Makes and Will Make Room for US!

 

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2)

A popular and poignant verse.  ...because there was no room for them in the inn....no room for them....not just no room for the baby, but we usually only  think of that tiny, fragile life being laid in a manger, of all places!..because there was nothing else available.

But there was also no room for them...Christ's family. I am aware of it more this year than ever before. There is no room for Christ in our society, but also, there is no room for His family...for us....we are being crowded out, ignored, counted inconsequential, branded as unsophisticated and unlearned....counted inconsequential is perhaps the worse...not important enough to be considered...

That would really hurt if I didn't understand humankind and human history!

Heaven's arches rang when the angels sang,

Proclaiming Thy royal decree

But of lowly birth didst Thou come to earth

And in great humility....

The foxes found rest, and the birds their nest

In the shade of the forest tree;

But Thy couch was the sod, O Thou Son of  God...

In the deserts of Galilee...

When the heav'ns shall ring, and her choirs shall sing

At  Thy coming to victory,

Let Thy voice call me home, saying "Yes, there is room,

There is room at My side for thee."

WOW! Unbelievable! Incredible! Isn't that the best news you've ever heard?

heaven's arches rang when the angels sang...on that first Christmas morning... I wonder...how did the voices in the arches of heaven sound? Joyful? Confused? Amazed? Surprised?  Curious? Awe-full?

When did  the angels begin to grasp  the Father's intent...at the beginning? of everything? or not yet -- not until the end......?

Let Thy voice call me home, saying, "Yes there is room, there is room at My side for thee!"

My heart shall rejoice Lord Jesus, when You come and You call for me!

DOXOLOGY.....

The Problem for Agnostics...Tim Warner

Agnostics - What Kind of God Would You Want?



The question that ought to be asked by someone questioning God's existence is this: What kind of evidence would the God portrayed in the Bible give?

He is presented in Scripture as a God who desires a personal relationship with those whom He created in His own image.

Logically, we should expect the evidence to be the kind of evidence that engenders us to trust Him in a personal relationship. And trust is based on a consistent record -- faithfulness in keeping one's word.

When we look in Scripture we see a  long record of God's interaction with a select group of people [individually and collectively] -- the nation that sprang from the loins of Abraham through Sarah.

And that nation exists today.

It is not difficult to judge whether God's claims about that nation are true, whether Israel's history bears out God's making good on His promises and threats, and whether Israel's modern history is consistent with what God has said.

This historical record is spread over four thousand years. It gives us a very good body of evidence to assess this God and decide whether He deserves our trust or whether He is the figment of a collective consciousness. Israel has survived all these centuries against incredible odds, just as God promised.

Yet she has suffered in exile also, just as He threatened.

She has never had, and will never have, peace and permanent possession of the land until she acknowledges her Messiah Jesus.

Forty years before the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple, Jesus warned,

"If you have known, even you, especially in your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you, and close you in one every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation. (Luke 19:42-44).

Jesus' prophecy was fulfilled to the letter, when Titus and the Roman armies leveled Jerusalem and the Temple. And He predicted that "Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled" (Luke 21:24).

That has indeed been the state of Jerusalem ever since.

           ---From The Mystery of the Mazzaroth, by Tim Warner



The Bible presents convincing evidence that the God portrayed in its pages is faithful to His Word.

Quoteworthy - Godly answer from an ungodly scientist

Godly answer from an ungodly scientist...

This quote from Robert Jastrow, astronomer and physicist, founder and director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and self-described agnostic. He died in 2008. But these words will live on for future generations:

For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountain of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.

He Spoke for Himself (US)

It is a story that is hard to believe - that the Omnipotent God, Creator and Sovereign Ruler of the Universe, would come to earth in the body of a human being, live a life of perfect righteousness and obedience, suffer a cruel death -- all to redeem His fallen and disobedient unworthy creatures and save them forever.

I know it's hard to believe.

That's why most people don't believe it.

To millions (billions?) of people it is the most outlandish claim possible.

"God would never do such a thing. Not a real God.
Maybe a make-believe God (on the other hand, who would make up such an outlandish story?) but not a real God," people say to me.

"My God is just too great to do such a thing," a friend told me.


I tried to explain -- that's exactly why He did it - because He is so great!


Wonder if you loved a woman, I asked my friend -- really loved her, wanted to be with her forever -- would you go yourself and tell her, or would you send her a message -- an email or text, or send a friend to tell her.

Of course not! You would go yourself.

God did that. He sent His prophets and His messages, but when it came time to really show His love, He came Himself!

God displays the greatness of His love, not by staying far from us, but by coming directly to us.

There's a great tale from the early Puritan days of America that reflects this.


We all learned it as children.


Henry Wadsworth Longfellow recorded it in verse in
The Courtship of Miles Standish.


     Romantic love was important to the Puritans.

     Miles Standish, the military leader of the Plymouth colony, loved Priscilla Mullins.  He was not good with words and had difficulty expressing himself.

     His dear young friend, John Alden, was a thoughtful and clever writer.

     John was good with words and passionate, and so Miles asked him to go to Priscilla and make his case. To tell her that he loved her and wanted to marry  her.

     The problem was that John also loved Priscilla. But loyal to his dear friend, he went to Priscilla to deliver the love message.

     As he approached the little cabin where Priscilla sat spinning, he could hear her singing. He gathered flowers into a bouquet and listened for a few moments.

(Remember what she was singing? Longfellow tells us it was Psalm 100!)

     He went to the door and greeted her, shared some random conversation and then gave her his important message from Miles Standish, explaining that Captain Standish was very busy and wanted John to deliver his heart-felt desire for her.

     Her answer?

       "Has he not time for such things, as you call it,
     before he is married, would he be likely to
     find it, or make it, after the wedding?

       "That is the way with you men; you don't
     understand us, you cannot.

       "....When one is truly in love, one not only
     says it, but shows it....

       "...Why don't you speak for yourself, John Alden?"


So Priscilla Mullins married John Alden -


If Miles had come himself, Longfellow indicates, the tale would have had a different ending.


When John Alden came to visit Priscilla, he heard her singing Psalm 100 -- a real favorite of the Puritans.

Here are the words of another  hymn - one sung by the early Christians in Philippi -- recorded by the Apostle Paul in Philippians 2:6-11--

     (5) Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

     Who, being in the very nature God,

     did not consider equality with God something

     to be grasped

     But made Himself nothing,

     Taking the very nature of a servant,

     Being made in human likeness

     And being found in appearance as a man,

     He humbled Himself and became obedient

     to death--even death on a cross!

     Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place

           And gave Him the name that is

     above every name

     That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

     in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

     and every tongue confess that

     Jesus Christ is Lord,

     To the glory of God the Father.

Because of His greatness and His all-consuming love, He came Himself! He didn't send angels or videos -

God spoke for Himself!

PS Wouldn't be great if we knew the tunes the early Christians used to sing their hymns?

Hopeful Explains His Hope - Pilgrim's Progress

From John Bunyan's classic Pilgrim's Progress: How Hopeful Gained His Hope.

While traveling toward the Celestial City, Christian asks Hopeful how he came to be on the road headed for the heavenly destination....


Christian: And could you, at any time, easily throw off the feeling of guilt?

Hopeful: No, indeed, for when I tried to do that, sin seemed to take a stronger hold on me. Still, when I considered going back to my old sins, that brought on additional distress, for my mind had been changed, and the idea was repulsive.

Christian: And what did you do then?

Hopeful: I tried to mend my ways....I thought that was the only way to find peace...I quit my sins -- what I considered to be sins --  but also my sinful company and I took up good works, such as praying regularly, reading the Bible, going to church, giving to charity, speaking the truth. These things and many others I was careful to observe.

Christian: How did it happen then that your troubles came back, since you were living a moral life?

Hopeful: Several things caused me to doubt and to feel that all was not well.

For instance such sayings as these: "Not by works of righteousness which we have done" (Titus 3:5); "All our righteousness is as filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6); "Being justified by faith we have peace with God" (Romans 5:1); "Except a man be born again he shall not see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3).

From these plain emphatic statements I would reason like this: If it is not by works of righteousness or works of the law
that a man is justified and saved, then I am not saved.

If I had real faith, I would be justified and have peace in my heart. Therefore, it must be that I am not born of God. And if I am not born of God, I can never see the kingdom of God.

Another thing that troubled me after my reformation was when I examined closely my best deeds, I could see evil mixed with the good --  wrong motives, selfishness, and pride.

So I was forced to conclude that in spite of all my efforts and good opinions of myself, I was still committing enough sin to send me to Hell, even if my former life had been faultless.

Christian: And what did you do?

Hopeful: Do? I did not know what to do. I went to Faithful with my problem (he and I were close friends).

He told me that unless I could obtain the righteousness of a man who was perfect and who had never sinned, neither my own righteousness nor all the righteousness of the world could save me.

Christian: And did you believe he was telling you the truth?

Hopeful: Yes, After I saw my own corruption and the sin that clung to my best performance, I had to admit he was right.

Christian:  Did you believe such a man could be found? And did you ask him who this man was and where he could be found?

Hopeful:  Yes, and he told me that the man was Jesus Christ, who was now seated at the right hand of God, and he said that I must be justified by Him by trusting in Him and what He did for me when He died upon the cross.

I asked him how that man's righteousness could be effectual in justifying another before God.

And he told me that He died not for Himself, but for me, to atone for my sins, to pay off all my debt to God, and that God had accepted what He did for me, and that when I believed in Him and what He did, His righteousness world be imputed to me.

Christian: What did you think of that?

Hopeful: I believed that Jesus was righteous and that He died for the sins of the world; yet I doubted that He would impute His righteousness to one so sinful as myself, and I imagined that He would condemn such before God -- and rightly so.

Christian: And what did Faithful say?

Hopeful: He said, "Why not go to Him and see?" And I said that would presumptuous. He said, "No, for you are invited to come!" 

He gave me a book of the very words of Jesus, encouraging me to come.

I asked him what I must do when I came to Christ.

He said I must plead with all my heart and soul to the Father to reveal Him to me.

He said, "You will find Him at the mercy seat, where He sits all year long, granting pardons and forgiveness to them that come.

You simply say (and mean it with all your heart): "God be merciful to me a sinner. I acknowledge and confess my sinfulness and all my sins. Help me to know and believe in Jesus Christ, for I see that without His righteousness and mercy, and unless I believe in that righteousness and accept His offered mercy, I shall be lost forever.

"Lord, I have heard that you are a merciful God, and that You have ordained your Son, Jesus Christ, to be the Savior of the world, and that You are willing to bestow His goodness and mercy upon a poor lost sinner like me -- and I am a wretched, helpless sinner indeed.

"Lord, now take my sins and give me Your righteousness. Magnify Your grace in the salvation of my soul.

In Jesus' name. Amen."

Christian: What particular effect did this have on your spirit and life?

Hopeful: My heart overflowed with joy and peace, also with love for Jesus Christ -- His words, His ways, and His people.

He let me see that all the world, notwithstanding all the righteousness in it, is in a state of condemnation and that God the Father, though He is absolutely just, can justly justify the ungodly sinner who believes.

I was now extremely ashamed of my past life and perfectly amazed at my profound ignorance, for I had never before seem the unsurpassed beauty of the love of God revealed in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I now felt that if I had a thousand lives to give, I would gladly give them all in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ and for His sake.

~~~~~

And that's why we still call it "Amazing Grace'!

Lyrical praises and thanks to God

Love these words!

The words can be sung to the traditional Welsh lullaby melody "All Through the Night".

For the fruit of all creation
Thanks be to God
Gifts bestowed on every nation
Thanks be to God
For the plowing, sowing, reaping
Silent growth while we are sleeping
Future needs of earth's safekeeping
Thanks be to God!

In the just reward of labor
God's will is done
In the help we give our neighbor
God's will is done
In our worldwide task of caring
For the hungry and despairing
In the harvests we are sharing
God's will is done!

For the harvests of the Spirit
Thanks be to God
For the good we all inherit
Thanks be to God
For the wonders that surround us
For the truths that still confound us
Most of all that love has found us
Thanks be to God!

(Note: how many times do we thank God that He has given us

so many deep "truths that still confound us" - luring us ever deeper into His Word as He continually reveals more about Himself to us?

The adventures of searching out His Word -- new every day!)

MOST OF ALL THAT LOVE HAS FOUND US!!!

Feeling Plain and Ordinary Today?

Feeling rather plain and ordinary today? 

Too ordinary to be part of something extraordinary?

Consider Mary and Joseph. They probably considered themselves to be not very special, just another couple planning on getting married and to blend in with the other dozens of couples who populated the area.

But that angel had told Mary that she was not ordinary. That she would be mother to a special Son, to be conceived by God's Holy Spirit, no less, and who would reign over a kingdom that would never end! She and Joseph were not royalty! They weren't religious leaders! Her response to the angel's message was not eager excitement, but humble willingness -- "May your word to me be fulfilled," she said. Her humble "yes" became a doorway for God's salvation, through His Son Immanuel, to enter this world.

Joseph also faced a choice. Social pressure, confusion, fear and doubt, could have driven him away. But when he listened to the angel, he chose to obey. He was also told the birth was from the Holy Spirit and the special Son would save people from their sins! How peculiar! But he chose to obey. He would protect Mary and raise Jesus as his son.

Think about this: Joseph never says a word in scripture, but his actions speak volumes about quiet, faithful obedience --and about doing what was right!

Mary and Joseph show us that being chosen by God often cones with challenges, requiring courage and strength. But God provides for those He calls. Willingness is the first step to being used by God.

Think about what God is calling you to do right now. You may not feel ready but neither did Mary and Joseph. What set them apart was not talent or status -- it was trust and obedience! God honors those who say "yes", even when it is costly.

And their obedience was very costly! Think about Simeon at the temple, taking Jesus up in his arms, and telling Mary, "And a sword will pierce your own soul, too." 

And remember Mary at the cross! 

About Temptation - C S Lewis

"No man knows how bad he is until he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who resist temptation know how strong it is. You find out the strength of the wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down.

A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people know very little about badness. They are always giving in.

We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it.

And Christ, because He was the only One who never yielded to temptation, is also the only One who really knows what full temptation means. He is the only complete realist."

Because He Delights to Give - C S Lewis

 From C S Lewis -- 

"There are two kinds of love: we love wise and kind and beautiful people because we need them, but we love (or try to love) stupid and disagreeable people because they need us.

The second kind is the more divine, because that is how God loves us: not because we are lovable, but because He is love, not because He needs to receive but He delights to give."

                       He first loved us.  (1 John 4:19)

How To Celebrate the Sabbath

 

                   Psalm 92   A Song for the Sabbath day

"It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High,

 proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, 

to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp. 

For you make me glad by your deeds, LORD; 

I sing for joy at what your hands have done."

                                                                            -- Psalm 92:1-4

The psalmist  titled this psalm as "A Song for the Sabbath Day."

We think of the Sabbath as a special day of rest. (To be honest, we usually don't practice it that way, though.)

What strikes me is that this Biblical Sabbath day renews strength and joy, not just through idleness and relaxation, but through energetic, joyful worship!

Celebrating His love and His faithfulness! HE makes us glad!

That's what RESTores us! 

Are we missing something?

In Times of Trouble -Thankfulness - Fanny Crosby

                 In Times of Trouble - Fanny Crosby

"Though sometimes He leads thru waters deep
Trials fall across the way
Tho sometimes the path seems rough and steep
See His footprints all the way!" 

From He Keeps Me Singing



"For I know whate'er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well"

"Though my weary steps may falter, and my soul athirst may be
Gushing from the Rock before me, Lo! A spring of joy I see"

"When my spirit, cloth'd immortal, wings its flight to realms of day
This is my song through endless ages: Jesus led me all the way."

From All the Way My Savior Leads Me



I can't sing or pray this hymn without thinking about the author -- Fanny Crosby--and thanking God for His work through her! Just thinking about her, blind since a child, and living to be 95 years old! and her utter dependence on Him who "led her all way" brings tears of joy. 

She wrote over seven thousand hymns. Most people's favorite, is, I guess, Blessed Assurance.

Blessed assurance -- Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine (and that's what it is -- a foretaste, guarantee, a deposit--of glory later)

And I love this phrase, "Echoes of mercy, whispers of love."

"This is my story, this is my song: Praising my Savior all the day long!"

Apparently one day she was visiting a friend, Mrs. Joseph Knapp, whose husband was one of the founders of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Mrs. Knapp was playing their new pipe organ, which was said to be the largest pipe organ ever placed in a private dwelling. 

She called Fanny over and asked her to listen to a new melody she was composing. She played it over several times and then asked Fanny, "What do you think the tune says?"


In just a few moments Fanny cried out enthusiastically, "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!"

And the hymn was born. That was 1873 and has become a victorious rallying call for millions of people, who, with that blind poetess, praise God for loving and redeeming us -- for giving us His blessed assurance!


P.S. I also found out that Fanny, when 12 years old, enrolled in the New York City of the School for the Blind. Years later she taught there, and became a good friend of the secretary of the Board, Grover Cleveland! Fanny had, it appears, a number of friends in high places.

Psalm 29 - Thoughts from J M Boice

(1) Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones,

Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

(2) Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;

Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.

                                          

(3)The voice of the LORD is over the waters;

The God of glory thunders,

The LORD thunders over the mighty waters.

(4) The voice of the LORD is powerful;

The voice of the LORD is majestic.

(5) The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;

The LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon

(6) He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,

Sirion like a young wild ox.

(7) The voice of the LORD strikes

With flashes of lightning

(8) The voice of the LORD shakes the desert;

The LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh.

(9) The voice of the LORD twists the oaks

And strips the forest bare.

And in his temple all cry, "Glory!"

(10) The LORD sits enthroned over the flood;

The LORD is enthroned as King forever.

(11) The LORD gives strength to his people;

The LORD blesses his people with peace.

--Psalm 29, A Psalm of David

Thoughts on Psalms from James Montgomery Boice:

     I do not know of any book of the Bible that requires more knowledge, more experience of life, and more skill of interpretation to understand it well than the Book of Psalms.

     It is because the psalms are so diverse.  They cover the vast range of biblical theology and the full scope of human experience -- from doubt to faith, suffering to jubilation, defeat to victory-- and they do so in an amazing variety of poetic forms.

     The psalms are so deep, so diverse, so challenging that I do not believe anyone can ever really master them.

     Moreover, as soon as the student begins to get hold of one type of psalm and thinks he understands it, he is suddenly confronted with another that is quite different...

Psalm 29

This psalm is unique, in part, because it consists totally of praise to God. Most psalms praise God, but the offered praise is mixed with other words of supplication, confession of sin, and promises of obedience.

This psalm has no other ingredients - it is purely praise.

It does not admonish us, does not challenge us to confess our sins or to live righteously.

It just acknowledges God's power and glory and praises Him!

Another remarkable feature of this psalm is the repetition of the name of the LORD (written with all caps), Jehovah, the special sacred covenant name of God.

The poem has only eleven verses, but "the LORD" (Jehovah) 

appears eighteen times!

In the middle stanza (verses 3 - 9) the phrase "voice of the LORD"

occurs seven times.

More from James Montgomery Boice:

     If you do not have a poetic spirit, you will never appreciate this psalm.

     For this is not a poem to be critically analyzed, above all not in a scientific frame of mind.

    If you keep telling yourself that the voice of God is not in thunder, that thunder is only a clashing of differently charged electronic particles, you will miss it all.

     To appreciate this psalm we have to get out in the fields, watch the majesty of some ferocious storm, and recall that God is in the storm, directing it, as He is in all other natural and historical phenomena.

Note:  Many historical commentators tell us that in the early church this psalm was often read to children or to an entire congregation during storms.  The Puritans continued that tradition.

Like so many psalms, this one is a reminder that how ever much we might enjoy reading the psalms to ourselves, throughout the history of God's people, they have been read most often by groups - and we feel the summons to pray these verses together.

Read it out loud - hear the voice of God in the thunderbolts!