Not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul;
Not what my toiling flesh has borne can make my spirit whole.
Not what I feel or do can give me peace with God;
Not all my prayers and sighs and tears can bear my awful load.
Your voice alone, O Lord, can speak to me of grace;
Your power alone, O Son of God, can all my sin erase.
No other work but Yours, no other blood will do;
No strength but that which is divine can bear me safely through.
Thy work alone, O Christ, can ease this weight of sin;
Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God, can give me peace within.
Thy love to me, O God, not mine, O Lord, to Thee,
Can rid me of this dark unrest, and set my spirit free.
I bless the Christ of God; I rest on love divine;
And with unfaltering lip and heart I call this Saviour mine.
His cross dispels each doubt; I bury in His tomb
Each thought of unbelief and fear, each lingering shade of gloom.
I praise the God of grace; I trust His truth and might;
He calls me His, I call Him mine, My God, my joy and light.
‘Tis He who saveth me, and freely pardon gives;
I love because He loveth me, I live because He lives.
Tag: christ
Unveiled
So I usually don’t write on a Sunday morning, but my computer is on, and I felt a particular urge to write this passage down…been much enjoying it these past few days, so much so that I can’t progress to the next(admittedly awesome!) chapter in Hebrews. Hebrews 10, so beautiful. And so while I finish my coffee, let me just share some of the sweetness contained therein:
Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the
same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered
one sacrifice for sins for all time, ‘sat down at the right hand of God’,
waiting from that time onward ‘until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet.’
For by one offering He has perfected those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also
testifies for us; for after saying,
‘This is the covenant that I will
make with them after those days,
says the LORD:
I will put my laws upon their heart,
and on their mind I will write them,’
He then says,
‘And their sins and their lawless deeds
I will remember no more.’
Now where there is forgiveness of these things,
there is no longer any offering for sin.
Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by
the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us
through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest
over the house of God,
let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith,
having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience
and our bodies washed with pure water.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering,
for He who promised is faithful;
and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good
deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some,
but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:11-25
A bit long(my apologies!), but I had to write it all. Really, you need to read all of Hebrews to get the full beauty of it. But that might be a bit much to write this morning. Now, with this resting in my mind and graven on my heart, I am off to church to worship God.
Peace, my dear friends.
Skies Held Up
Hello my friends!! It’s a lovely sleepy Sunday afternoon. I feel a bit tired, so don’t think I shall write much here today, but I thought I’d at least pop my head in and say hi. It’s been a wearying past week, but God has blessed me much and given me a delightful weekend!! This morning I got to go to church and worship God…and afterwards, went out with friends for yummy tex-mex lunch. Now, I’m about to enjoy my raspberries and coffee, maybe read a bit? Or maybe play a bit of Tomb Raider! We shall see. I’ve had some good conversations(either on facebook or whatsApp) with friends from Scotland lately(hello John, Ruth, Chris and Rose!!!). I really do miss you all…and I guess I’m just reminded of how much God blessed me in giving me such dear friends…we can still talk across the waters, and I feel just as close as if we were sitting side by side. Well, not quite – I do long for that face-to-face interaction. But still, I am just overwhelmed by the goodness of God in giving me such dear friends – brothers and sisters forever. My heart rejoices to know that there is a day coming when we will all be together forever. Forever.
And now, before I get too emotional! I just started a book by Sinclair Ferguson, Children of the Living God. Utterly fantastic. Really, it’s just so good to remember whose we are. To ponder and meditate on the fact that we are sons and daughters of the living God. ’tis wonderful.
See how great a love the Father
has bestowed on us,
that we would be called
children of God;
and such we are.
Peace and love, my friends. Delicious hot coffee and sweet raspberries time!
Swallowed Sleep
So it is Tuesday night and I really should be thinking about bed soon. But no. Not quite yet.
I just got back from community group a few minutes ago…awesome times with the group, as always! Delicious pizza, good chat…and ever so lovely time in the Word. John 4 tonight. Beautiful. Christ declaring his divinity to a broken woman. Love and joy abounding. And she went out to declare to all the story of her salvation! So should we all! The fields are white for harvest indeed.
Oh and my apologies for switching subjects so rapidly…but I must record the results of the fad du jour…Star Trek personality quiz! We’ve all taken it and results…*drumroll* Dad is Spock. Mom is Chekov. I’m Kirk. Maryanne is Scotty. And Laura is Spock too! This makes me smile, y’all. And fairly accurate, too..if I do say so myself. Don’t say anything to disabuse me.
And now, with this most glorious amalgamation of evening thoughts over, it is time I sip on my nighttime chocolate-tinged coffee and read a bit. Owens The Glory of Christ tonight, I think. I would like to dwell on such.
Peace and love.
A quiet night
This lovely Saturday evening slowly winds on. Been a beautifully sunny day and now as the sun slowly sets, I have some potatoes in the oven and a book at my side. Ah what a night! I think this is my first quiet night to myself in quite some time…you know how nice it is to just rest and read and have some time to yourself? Well, that’s my desire tonight. And I think it just may come true!
By the way, I completed my 25th year yesterday. What.
And before I sign off the internet for the night, some lovely words I’ve been reading in Owens –
“Should I engage into the consideration of this love of Christ, which was the great means of conveying all the effects of divine wisdom and grace unto the church,-that glass which God chose to represent himself and all his goodness in unto believers,-that spirit of life in the wheel of all the motions of the person of Christ in the redemption of the church unto the eternal glory of God, his own and that of his redeemed also,-that mirror wherein the holy angels and blessed saints shall for ever contemplate the divine excellencies in their suitable operations;-I must now begin a discourse much larger than that which I have passed through.”
Beautiful. And if I can just sum that up in a few words of my own…what bliss it is to know the love of our Father and be known by Him. What a pure and more perfect peace is given to us that are at rest in Him. What joy is ours! With uplifted eyes and eager faces do we gaze upon the manifest glories of our Lord. We cannot help but shudder in anticipation of that day when we will be in the very presence of God. We cannot help but to lose ourselves in the love of Christ. There is nothing now better in this life. Ne’er will there be.
A softer silence
“Nothing renders us so like unto God as our love unto Christ Jesus, for he is the principal object of his love;-in him doth his soul rest – in him is he always well pleased.”
-John Owen, The Glory of Christ
Just some brief musings as I read…truly, as difficult as Owen is to read at times, reading his writings on the glories and beauty of Christ is honey to my soul. Ah what longings it arouses in my heart, to read such sweet words on the nature and majesty of Christ and of the Father and of the Spirit and of their divine love and incomprehensible wisdom. As many good books as may be out on the bookshelves of this world, the ones I love reading the most are the ones that stir my passions for Jesus and let me see His face a little clearer. When a book brings me such joy, as to ponder on the ineffable Christ…this is when I know I’m reading the right book.
Oh my brothers and sisters, rest in peace tonight, knowing that our Savior is with us, always and forever.
Dreams of love
And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write:
The Son of God, who has eyes like
a flame of fire, and His feet are like
burnished bronze, says this:
‘I know your deeds, and your love
and faith and service and perseverance,
and that your deeds of late are greater
than at first. But I have this against
you, that you tolerate the woman
Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess,
and she teaches and leads My bondservants
astray so that they commit
acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed
to idols. I gave her time to
repent, and she does not want to repent
of her immorality. Behold, I will
throw her on a bed of sickness, and
those who commit adultery with her
into great tribulation, unless they repent
of her deeds. And I will kill her children
with pestilence, and all the
churches will know that I am He who
searches the minds and hearts; and I
will give to each one of you according
to your deeds. But I say to you, the
rest who are in Thyatira, who do not
hold this teaching, who have not known
the deep things of Satan, as they call
them- I place no other burden on you.
Nevertheless, what you have, hold
fast until I come. He who overcomes,
and he who keeps My deeds
until the end, to Him I will give
authority over the nations; and he
shall rule them with a rod of iron, as
the vessels of the potter are broken to
pieces, as I also have received authority
from My Father; and I will give him
the morning star. He who has an
ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to
the churches.’
Oh what sweet words!! Something that’s really hit me hard lately…how can we compartmentalize our lives so, and be so self-satisfied in our own accomplishments. How can we so easily tolerate and even praise the evils of this world? Oh let us overcome. Let us hold fast to the the words of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord. And let us praise His most glorious name! He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Swallowed in the sea
Well, I *was* going to go to bed freakishly early tonight(say, around 9pm!!), but as happens many a night, I got distracted by a good book. Oops. I really should keep the books further from my bed.
Anyways, reading in “The Glory of Christ” by John Owen…and I got to say, as much of a struggle it sometimes is to wade through his gorgeously intricate paragraphs, it’s so worth it. Any of you that own this(hey, I can’t be the only one!) needs to read the last few pages of Chapter 10…amazingly beautiful. I don’t quote from books often here, but…
The due remembrance of what the blessed Lord Jesus hath done for us, of the ineffable love which was the spring, cause and fountain of what he so did – thoughts of the mercy, grace, peace and glory which he hath procured thereby – are the great and unconquerable motives to fix our faith, hope, trust and confidence in him.
His divine nature is the ground and warranty for our so doing. This is that from whence he is the due and proper object of all divine faith and worship. From the power and virtue thereof do we expect and receive all those things which in our believing on him we seek after; for none but God can bestow them on us, or work them in us. There is in all the actings of our faith on him, the voice of the confession of Thomas, “My Lord and my God.”
Oh lovely.
And I could go on quoting..but I shall refrain. For now!
Oh but… just thinking about another one of my favs…
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that
He loved us and sent His Son to be the
propitiation for our sins.
And from this amazing truth does our love spring!
Adrift in raging seas
and lost in the maelstrom of silence
and seized in the chains of the poets
and drowning in rainbows.
Drowning yet grasping and
gasping and hoping and
praying and trying and
living yet dying.
Until there came a light,
the light that was a man
the man that was a lord
Our Lord and our God!
So no longer do we writhe,
and no longer do we write,
but still, but still, we sigh
in love, for love, divine.
Have a most glorious night, y’all!!
It is written
Quick thought while I’m making dinner.
Just reading Matthew 21…what does Jesus do as soon as he is acclaimed the King? Does he bask in the adulation of the crowds? No, he goes straight to the temple and drives the money-changers and merchants from the house of God,
“It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a robbers’ den.”
Tragic. Heartbreaking. The house of worship of the living God had been desecrated by the greed of men. And just makes me think of what Jesus would say of much of the ‘Christian’ world today. Are we so wrapped up in the world of Christianity that we forget we live in a world of fallen people? Are we more excited about momentary worldly gain than we are about being indwelt by the Holy Spirit? Are we satisfied more by the praise of our peers than by the praise of our God? Would we forget the words of Paul that Christ did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped? If Christ could so do, then how could we not lay aside our pride and be servants of all?
How could we place the temporal above the eternal?
How could we place the temporal pleasures of this world above the eternal souls of men?
How could we place the temporal riches of this world above the eternal Christ?
Worship the King.
Life Eternal
For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived,
enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life
in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.
But when the kindess of God our Saviour appeared,
He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness,
but according to His mercy,
by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour,
so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs
according to the hope of eternal life.
-Titus 3:3-7
Something Weird 