Old Hymn, True Words

I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew

he moved my soul to seek him, seeking me.

It was not I that found, O Savior true;

no, I was found of thee.

Thou didst reach forth thy hand and mine enfold;

I walked and sank not on the storm-vexed sea.

'Twas not so much that I on thee took hold,

as thou, dear Lord, on me.

I find, I walk, I love, but oh, the whole

of love is but my answer, Lord, to thee!

For thou wert long beforehand with my soul;

always thou lovedst me.

~~~

Interestingly enough, here's a new version (with an added chorus) that I found by googling the first line: http://www.reformedpraise.org/songs/updatedhymns/irresistible-grace/

More surprising, my Mommy made a comment on that link about two years ago!! :D What a find.

Wise Words

This post is an excellent one. Check it out.

"I believe God entrusts us with words. And if we wield them in a public way, we have a greater responsibility to share them wisely. If one has been given a gift, much will be required."

Neat Lessons From Luke One

I was just reading this tonight, and thought I'd post some of my notes and thoughts from Luke 1.

Just 'cause I'm trying to blog more. :p One thing I'm not going to do is try to tidy things up too much - the notes I took are the notes you'll see! This is a glimpse into the inner workings of my mind...be afraid. Be very afraid.

Luke 1

Who was Luke? - Companion of Paul - Col. 4:14; 2 Tim. 4:11; Philemon 24; - Physician; Gentile, saved by the gospel. Not an apostle.

Wrote to Theophilus - "Friend of God". Code name for believers?

Things to learn from Luke:

1. Search things out carefully for yourself (v.3) Berean...

2. Share what you have found (v.3) Spread the word of truth...

v.18 - Zechariah disbelieves the word he has heard. He doubts that God can do what He has promised.

Mary "found favour" - not because of anything she did, but because God found favour with her, just like He did with Abraham...chosen out.

Mary does not disbelieve or doubt, but is merely confused as to how God will do what He has said He will do.

v.38 - The proper response. "I am the Lord's servant...may it be to me as you have said."

v. 58 - Shared joy. Community.

v.63 - Zechariah finally obeys and believes. His mouth is opened.

v. 65 - "talking about all these things"...gossip. ^.^

v. 68 - 75 - Speaking of Jesus

v. 76 - 79 - Speaking of John

Luke 1:68-79

"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,

because he has come and has redeemed his people.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David
(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us—
to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us to serve him without fear
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace."

Blessed Be the Lord -

The Deliverer,

Protector,

Sustainer,

Restorer,

The Gracious One,

Upholder,

Everlasting God!

Amen and Amen!

(Psalm 41)

Out of the Mouths of Babes and Infants

It happened while I was practicing the songs I have to play on Sunday. I was going through the list, making sure I knew how to play each song reasonably well, correcting mistakes in timing and such.

I came to a song I really like. One that is well known:

Two little girls came running into the room. "Come on, let's sing!" They said, their high-pitched voices full of excitement at the fact that they knew one of the songs I was playing.

They began singing along, asking me where I was. I pointed to the line and listened as they attempted to sing the words.

Mostly, they didn't.

They missed lines, substituted others, and made me smile at their tries. There was one word, however, one Name, which they sang with gusto:

"Jesus!"

You know what? Even though they flubbed their way through most of the song, and had things out of order, I think God delighted in that just as much as He does when we sing all the words right.

They sang from their hearts, praising Christ.

In Christ alone, my hope is found...

Whether or not I do everything right.

Whether or not my life is in order.

Whether or not I am perfect.

Here in the love of Christ I stand.

Thank you to two little girls who reminded me of something precious.

That Helper

...is with us forever (John 14:16).

...teaches and reminds us (John 14:26).

...bears witness about Jesus (John 15:26).

...is advantageous to us, being sent by Jesus (John 16:7).

...speaks through us (Mark 13:11).

...teaches us (Luke 12:12).

...comforts us (Acts 9:31).

...is a channel for God's love (Romans 5:5).

...helps us to abound in hope by His power (Romans 15:13).

...seals us (Ephesians 1:13).

Spurgeon on Humanity - And God's Grace in Our Salvation

"I daresay you have heard people use pretty phrases about the dignity of human nature, and so on. They are lying phrases; for human nature is as bad as it can be. If you want the proof of that assertion, behold how God himself came here among men, incarnate virtue robed in love! Did men love him? Did they fall down before him and do him homage? The homage of the world was, ‘Crucify him! Crucify him!’ The world hates virtue; it cannot bear perfection; it might endure benevolence, but absolute purity and righteousness it cannot, away with. Its native instincts are wrong; it is not towards the light that men are going, their backs are to the sun, they are journeying into the thick of darkness."

(C.H. Spurgeon, The Crisis of This World)

"The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14)

"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked,

following the course of this world,

following the prince of the power of the air,

the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—

among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh,

carrying out the desires of the body and the mind,

and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind." (Ephesians 2:1-3)

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.

In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth." (Ephesians 1:3-10)

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:4-7)

Book Review: Thin Places

I feel very inadequate to give a review for such a life-changing, personal book, but I want to spread the word. This book is too good - too honest - to miss.

In Thin Places: A Memoir (Zondervan), Mary DeMuth opens up the poignant reality: God is there in the midst of our sorrow and pain. Mrs. DeMuth is honest about her suffering and real about her responses. She writes of "thin places" in her life - places where "eternity and the mundane meet". She writes all the details of the tragedy that encompassed her in her early life. She delves into areas that most people would keep secret.

Her reason for this is plain: it is not to make us feel sorry for her, but to show us that even there, even in that dark and dirt, God is there and God is love. When you feel worthless and unworthy, God chooses you anyway. He is there to redeem and rescue.

This book is one of the best memoirs I have ever read. Mrs. DeMuth holds nothing back, and in doing so she is reaching out to anyone who has ever suffered and wondered where God was during those terrible times.

Part of me wants to hoard Thin Places and keep its treasure here with me; another part of me wants to share it with as many people as possible. There is hope written on every page.

I know it is only early February, but this book is one of my favourites of 2010.

As I Am Meant to Live

"If thou be yet dead, thy case is lamentable; but if thou be alive, what signs of life are there to be seen in thee?" ~ Thomas Boston, from "The Art of Manfishing"

This question from Boston is a good one. It struck me as very personal, and very applicable; even though Boston lived quite a while ago. (It's amazing to me that the same problems run through the Church over and over...'there is nothing new under the sun'...)

This quote struck home to me because it seems so often I just fall back on "being saved", not actually living for God as much as I can or as much as I should. I forgo an opportunity to share the gospel; I neglect to pray; I ignore the heavenly whispers that remind me of what I should be doing; in a sense, I act dead a lot of the time.

What signs of life are seen in you?

I feel like I should put this on a huge banner where I can see it every day. What signs of life are seen in you? Are you living for God? Are you doing as you ought?

While living by a list doesn't save you, there is more to being obedient to God than merely hearing the word. The Lord requires things of us. He requires righteousness. Holiness.

Like-Himself-ness.

Ephesians 4:1

"I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called..."

Am I walking in that manner?

I am already considered perfect by God; I am declared righteous, I am adopted.

But am I becoming who I am?

God helps us to become who we are.

He is shaping me to be exactly as He already sees me. It's amazing, it's mind-boggling; I only pray that I can show that I'm alive. Let me live like I'm alive.

Another Attempt at Poetry..or a Song?

While the idea of God's eternal, unending, unchanging love is easy enough to accept intellectually, sometimes it's more difficult to actually believe it. To accept it. That's why it's so important to preach the gospel to yourself; we (at least I) fall back on the idea that we can do things on our own, perform to the tune of legalism, and earn our own merit; the hard truth is, we can't.

The great truth is, He already did. God loves you. Jesus died for you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Don't believe the lies, especially the ones from within, that whisper "you're not good enough. You have so many problems. You failed again." All of these things are true.

But none of them matter.

God matters. And God has declared you righteous. He looks on you with His face full of love and says "You, my child, are perfect to me."

Breaking On My Own

I’m falling even further

Than I ever fell before

Looking through this blackness

For a glimmer of hope

I can’t believe I broke so fast

I’ll never be the same

And in the midst of suffering

I call out Your name

I’m breaking on my own

I can’t do this alone

And even though I’ve tried

I know that I

Can’t do it myself

Why does it take a stab of pain

To make me realize

I've always been this mess of junk

I still believe the lies

I am not as in control

As I would like to be

I need Your voice to bring me back

Lord, You must set me free

I’m breaking on my own

I can’t do this alone

And even though I've tried

I know that I

Can’t do it myself

Draw me to Your arms again

Remove the chains that bind me

Take the guilt I feel right now

In my weakness You find me

I’m breaking on my own

I try to do this alone

Lord, You can set me free

You wash me clean and white

You give Your righteousness to me

You say I’m Your delight

You put me back together

Your patience has no lack

And even though I am still marred

Your love shines through the cracks

I’m broken on my own

I know I can’t do this alone

You never left me

You set me free

I live by Your grace

You have made me whole

I love You more and more

I’m breaking on my own...

But no; I’m not alone

Speaking of Whether We Can Know What Scripture is Actually Saying...

This article answers the question fairly well.

"To take the Bible literally simply means that you take it at face value, which is the proper task of hermeneutics. If it is poetry, read and interpret it as poetry. If it is history, read and interpret it as history. It also means that you take into account the historical-cultural context, and the wider theological context of the entire canon.

Is this so difficult to understand?"