Coming Home

Posted on June 26, 2011 by Barbara Harper

I love this new melody and arrangement of these old, dear words. May every heart reading come truly Home.

I’ve wandered far away from God,
Now I’m coming home;
The paths of sin too long I’ve trod,
Lord, I’m coming home.

I’ve wasted many precious years,
Now I’m coming home;
I now repent with bitter tears,
Lord, I’m coming home.

I’m tired of sin and straying, Lord,
Now I’m coming home;
I’ll trust Thy love, believe Thy Word,
Lord, I’m coming home.

My soul is sick, my heart is sore,
Now I’m coming home;
My strength renew, my hope restore,
Lord, I’m coming home.

My only hope, my only plea,
Now I’m coming home;
That Jesus died, and died for me.
Lord, I’m coming home.

I need His cleansing blood, I know,
Now I’m coming home;
O wash me whiter than the snow,
Lord, I’m coming home.

Refrain

Coming home, coming home,
Nevermore to roam,
Open wide Thine arms of love,
Lord, I’m coming home.

~ William J. Kirkpatrick

Sung by the Steve Pettit Evangelistic Team.

“Learning the Father’s Love”

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Barbara Harper

(Photo courtesy of the morgueFile.)

This is an excerpt from a recent Elisabeth Elliot newsletter, which was in turn taken from a chapter titled “Learning the Father’s Love” from the book A Lamp For My Feet:

When my brother Dave was very small, we spent a week at the seaside in Belmar, New Jersey. In vain my father tried to persuade the little boy to come into the waves with him and jump, promising to hold him safely and not allow the waves to sweep over his head. He took me (only a year older) into the ocean and showed Dave how much fun it would be. Nothing doing. The ocean was terrifying. Dave was sure it would mean certain disaster, and he could not trust his father. On the last day of our vacation he gave in. He was not swept away, his father held him as promised, and he had far more fun than he could have imagined, whereupon he burst into tears and wailed, “Why didn’t you make me go in?”

An early lesson in prayer often comes through an ordeal of fear. We face impending adversity and we doubt the love, wisdom and power of our Father in heaven. We’ve tried everything else and in our desperation we turn to prayer–of the primitive sort: here’s Somebody who’s reputed to be able to do anything. The great question is, can I get Him to do what I want? How do I twist His arm, how persuade a remote and reluctant deity to change His mind?

Poor Dave! His father could have forced him to come into the water, but he could not have forced him to relax and enjoy it. As long as the child insisted on protecting himself, saving the life he was sure he would lose, he could not trust the strong love of his father. He refused to surrender. In this simple story we hear echoes of the most ancient story, of the two who, mistrusting the word of their Father, fearing that obedience to Him would ultimately bar them from happiness, chose to repudiate their dependence on Him. Sin, death, destruction for the whole race were the result.

Learning to pray is learning to trust the wisdom, the power, and the love of our Heavenly Father, always so far beyond our dreams. He knows our need and knows ways to meet it that have never entered our heads. Things we feel sure we need for happiness may often lead to our ruin. Things we think will ruin us … if we believe what the Father tells us and surrender ourselves into His strong arms, bring us deliverance and joy.

The only escape from self-love is self-surrender. “Whoever loses his life for Me will find it” (Matthew 16:25, NIV). “Dwell in my love. If you heed my commands, you will dwell in my love, as I have heeded my Father’s commands and dwell in His love. I have spoken thus to you, so that my joy may be in you, and your joy complete” (John 15:9-11, NEB). My father knew far better than his small, fearful, stubborn son what would give him joy. So does our Heavenly Father. Whenever I have resisted Him, I have cheated myself, as my little brother did. Whenever I have yielded, I have found joy.

The Week In Words

Posted on June 20, 2011 by Barbara Harper

Welcome to The Week In Words, where we share quotes from the last week’s reading. If something you read this past week inspired you, caused you to laugh, cry, think, dream, or just resonated with you in some way, please share it with us, attributing it to its source, which can be a book, newspaper, blog, Facebook — anything that you read. More information is here.

Here are some great thoughts gleaned during the past week:

Seen at Challies:

Did God not sometimes withhold in mercy what we ask, we should be ruined at our own request. —Hannah More

This echoes Psalm 106:15. I am thankful God sometimes says, “No,” though it is hard to hear at the time.

Seen in You Are Responsible For Your Own Actions at the True Woman site:

At the end of the day, we have to leave it to God to right the wrongs in the universe and to deal with others about their issues. They are not our responsibility. Our responsibility is to respond in faith and in obedience to His Word, through the power of His Spirit. That’s what He will hold us accountable for. ~ Nancy Leigh DeMoss

This one really spoke to me because I can tend to fume about “the wrongs in the universe” and other people’s issues. This doesn’t mean we don’t ever speak to someone about something they need to get right or we don’t ever take a stand against injustice, etc. But we don’t need to speak out or take a stand in every little personal disagreement with someone else’s opinion or way of doing something. Sometimes we just have to let it go and let God deal with it in His time.

Quoted in Mine Is the Night by Liz Curtis Higgs, p. 312:

A day of worry is more exhausting than a day or work. ~ John Lubbock, Lord Avebury

Isn’t that the truth?!

And finally, this was from this post at Wrestling With the Angel:

“Everyone matters to God, so everyone matters.”

That takes care of just about everything, doesn’t it? And kind of prejudice, any kind of difference, every kind of person matters to God and therefore should to us as well. We never have the right to treat anyone as a lesser human being.

If you’ve read anything that particularly spoke to you that you’d like to share, please either list it in the comments below or write a post on your blog and then put the link to that post (not your general blog link) in Mr. Linky below. I do ask that only family-friendly quotes be included.

I hope you’ll visit some of the other participants as well and glean some great thoughts to ponder. And don’t forget to leave a comment here, even if you don’t have any quotes to share! 🙂

Honoring the Fathers In My Life

Posted on June 19, 2011 by Barbara Harper

My father passed away several years ago, but I want to honor his memory. He did not come to know the Lord until 6 years before he died, and though he had a lot of problems, I honor the position the Lord gave him as my father. He did love me in his own way and tried to do right as he knew it. One of the major things he taught me was to have respect for those in authority.

I want to honor my step-father. I honestly had problems with the idea of a step-father having any say in my activities when I was 15. I have written here and there that after I became a Christian, God had to teach me that honoring and obeying my parents was a matter of obedience to Him regardless of whether they were Christians or were doing what I thought best. After that I wondered how a step-father fit into the picture. Then one day I realized that Jesus had a step-father — Joseph. The Bible says Jesus was subject to both Mary and Joseph, even when they didn’t understand him (Luke 2:50-51). Over the years I have come to greatly respect my step-father as a steady, dependable man who cares for his family, is an extremely hard worker, and would do anything in the world to help those he cares about.

I wrote earlier about my “spiritual mom,” Mrs. C, and the godly influence she was in my life. Mr. C was a shining example of a Christian father to me, and I am so glad the Lord brought them into my life.

I honor my husband as a caring, thoughtful, sweet, fun, loving companion and father to our boys.

And I honor my heavenly Father who gave me life, loves me dearly, brought me to a saving belief in Christ, speaks to me through His Word, shows me His love and care in a hundreds of ways every day.

Here are a few other Father’s Day posts from the archives:

Dad’s Famous Sayings

Favorite Father’s Day poems here and here

Jokes for Father’s Day

Favorite quotes about fathers

Fathers and sons, good and bad

Paul Harvey on Fathers

A couple of memes about dads

From Rob at ivman, a job decription for dads that is both funny and poignant.

Two reviews: The Judgment and Mine Is the Night

Posted on June 15, 2011 by Barbara Harper

The Judgment by Beverly Lewis is the second in The Rose Trilogy about two Amish sisters, Rose and Hen, whose lives took very different turns due to their choices. Hen married an Englisher, an outsider, but now that her little daughter, Maddie, is getting older, Hen becomes concerned about the worldly influences her husband Brandon allows and she misses the wholesome influence of her heritage. In the last book she took Maddie and went to her parents’ home, going back to Amish dress and customs. Brandon is infuriated and unwilling to compromise on any point. Hen struggles with her vows before God to her husband when honoring those vows would be detrimental to Maddie.

Rose has become secretly engaged to Silas, but her heart still hurts over the departure of her best friend, Nick, adopted son of the bishop. Nick never came completely to terms with Amish ways in his heart, and an accident resulting in the death of his brother has the whole town sure Nick was at fault. So Nick leaves, and his adopted father is under the threat of being removed from his office as bishop due to Nick’s behavior. Meanwhile, a former member of the community, Rebecca, has come back to help a young mom with twins, and Rose can’t help but notice her own fiance’s enthusiasm as he renews his acquaintance with Rebecca and can’t help but wonder what it means.

I enjoyed this book very much and appreciated that it brought up some different twists to the genre. Hen’s struggle, in particular, is very relevant to the problems that arise when a person of faith marries an unbeliever, problems with no easy answers. I’m looking forward to the third book in the series due out this September.

Mine Is the Night by Liz Curtis Higgs is the sequel to Here Burns My Candle, both books based somewhat on the life of Ruth in the Bible but set in 18th century Scotland. This books begins with Elizabeth and her mother-in-law, Marjory, arriving back in Marjory’s home town nearly destitute, hoping to prevail on the good graces of her cousin for a place to stay, yet they are both tainted by their previous affinity for the Jacobite cause. Ruth finds employment in the household of a handsome admiral, and her industriousness and kindness (as well as her beauty) draw his notice. Of course, as this is based on the Biblical Ruth, the reader knows where this will lead, but it is still an enjoyable story in finding out how they get to their destiny. As I said with the first book, it’s probably best enjoyed as a story on its own merit without comparing it too much to the Biblical version except for the “bones” of the story. For instance, we have no record that the Biblical Naomi found another love interest after the death of her husband or that she was proud, haughty, and unkind before being humbled by circumstances as this story’s Marjory was. I don’t begrudge Marjory finding happiness in love, but that whole subplot as well as three different women proposing to their intended husbands in that era seemed a little implausible. It’s a lengthy book at 480 pages, but it didn’t take long at all to read. Liz is an excellent storyteller, and it was easy to get caught up in and enjoy this tale.

Here are trailers for both books:

(This review will also be linked to Semicolon‘s Saturday Review of Books.)

The Week In Words and a Giveaway Winner

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Barbara Harper

Here are a few that spoke to me this past week:

Seen at Semicolon:

“When the storytelling goes bad in society, the result is decadence..” ~ Aristotle

That seems a very true development in our society.

From a friend’s Facebook:

“Your children need a relationship with Christ more than they need comforts, sports, education or popularity. You are their primary source for knowing Him.” ~ J Kenney

From the May 30 reading of The Invitation by Derick Bingham concerning John 12:28:

Christ was willing t0 suffer whatever was necessary if only the glory of God would be promoted. If people were to think better of His Father through what they saw in Him, that was what really mattered.

The second sentence struck me as the essence of what it means to glorify God.

From Mine Is the Night by Liz Curtis Higgs, p. 33:

However grim Reverend Brown’s countenance, however dour his sermons, this was where she would spend each Sabbath, finding a secret joy in the holy words themselves.

This was both an encouragement and rebuke to me. I’ve admitted to getting frustrated and discouraged with particular types of preaching that are the speaker’s “take” or thoughts about the text rather than a drawing out and a giving the sense of the text itself, or preaching that is a ranting and raving style. But if I have “ears to hear,” I can take great joy in the Word of God itself that is being presented.

And finally the winner of the giveaway of Warren Wiersbe’s With the Word and a couple of other little surprises from last week’s WIW is Katrina at Callapidder Days! Thanks so much to all who entered!

Don’t forget to leave a comment, even if you don’t have any quotes to share! 🙂

The Old One Hundredth

Posted on June 12, 2011 by Barbara Harper

I came across this old hymn flipping through a book yesterday and realized I hadn’t heard it in a long time. It is based on Psalm 100, and an interesting history of it is here. “Old 100th” is also the name of the music by Louis Bourgeois.

All people that on earth do dwell,
Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.
Him serve with fear, His praise forth tell;
Come ye before Him and rejoice.

The Lord, ye know, is God indeed;
Without our aid He did us make;
We are His folk, He doth us feed,
And for His sheep He doth us take.

O enter then His gates with praise;
Approach with joy His courts unto;
Praise, laud, and bless His Name always,
For it is seemly so to do.

For why? the Lord our God is good;
His mercy is for ever sure;
His truth at all times firmly stood,
And shall from age to age endure.

To Father, Son and Holy Ghost,
The God Whom Heaven and earth adore,
From men and from the angel host
Be praise and glory evermore.

~ William Kethe

The Week In Words…and a Giveaway!

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Barbara Harper

Here are a few that spoke to me this past week:

I saw this on Lisa‘s sidebar of her Twitter feed:

If you understand that God is using all the difficulties you face to perfect you, you’ll be at peace. It’s not all for nothing. ~ John MacArthur

That does help to know God has a purpose in everything He allows, and this is at least one of them.

The next few are from The Invitation by Derick Bingham, all concerning John 12.

From the May 30th reading about Martha serving as many as seventeen people:

[Formerly] Martha was distracted by her serving. Now, she isn’t. She is now serving as wholeheartedly as ever but not to the detriment of ignoring what God wants to say to her.

May it be true of all of God’s Marthas.

From the May 31 reading concerning Mary’s anointing Christ’s feet with a costly ointment:

If we have not what the Bible calls “first love” for Christ we will do more harm than good by the defence of the Christian faith. People have risen in the history of the church with a zeal for truth but because there is no first love for Christ behind it, their zeal narrow into hate. All service for Christ that is not the outgrowth of love for Him is worthless. Activity in the King’s service will not make up for neglect of the King.

There’s a lot in that one, but what particularly grabbed me was the thought of zeal for truth with no love doing more harm than good. I’ve seen people like that, and I believe that’s true. And then the last statement convicts as well: how easy it is to be busy in service and drift away from that first love.

From the June 1 reading commenting on Judas’s disparaging remarks concerning Mary’s act:

If you wait until everybody commends and praises you, then you will never do any good in this world.

True: there will always be naysayers.

Now, as for the giveaway I mentioned in the title. 🙂 I just realized last week that I missed the one year anniversary of hosting The Week In Words. It was begun by Melissa at Breath of Life, and when she had to set it aside I asked if I could take it over, and in May I had been hosting it for a year. And an anniversary is a nice time for a giveaway. One source I’ve shared many quotes from is Warren Wiersbe’s With the Word, a book of short commentary on every chapter in the Bible, so I would like to give away one copy of that book…and I may include a couple of other little surprises as well. If you’d like to be included in the giveaway, just leave a comment on this post, and I’ll announce the winner at the next Week In Words next Monday morning. (You don’t have to leave a quote to enter, but if you have one, please do share it as well! All comments will be entered in the drawing, so if you comment but you are not interested in the book, please let me know. If you already have a copy, this might make a nice gift for someone else.)

Don’t forget to leave a comment, even if you don’t have any quotes to share! 🙂

The Week In Words

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Barbara Harper

In honor of Memorial Day:

Posterity: you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it. ~ John Quincy Adams

Seen at Semicolon:

“I know now, Lord, why you utter no answer. You are yourself the answer. Before your face questions die away. What other answer would suffice?” ~ C.S. Lewis, Till We Have Faces

This reminds me of Job’s response to God’s questions.

From a friend’s Facebook:

“Lose your cool, lose your cause; before you speak, take a pause.” – Matheny

Wise advice!

Seen at Challies:

Satan, like a fisher, baits his hook according to the appetite of the fish. ~ Thomas Adams

From an Elisabeth Elliot e-mail devotional:

It is the mark of a mature man that his sense of responsibility takes precedence over his own feelings. It is a mark of godliness that he acknowledges God’s care of all men, not only of himself.

Don’t forget to leave a comment, even if you don’t have any quotes to share! 🙂

We look for the Saviour

Posted on May 28, 2011 by Barbara Harper

So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Hebrews 9:28.

The heading of my Daily Light reading for today is “We look for the Saviour” from Philippians 3:20, and all the rest of the verses had to do with looking for the Lord’s appearing. After reading and pondering the verses for a while, the difference between what they instruct and what Harold Camping and those like him advocate is clear. Some years ago when there was another prediction of the supposedly exact date of the Lord’s return, some people actually sold all their property and went to some hillside and waited before being sadly disappointed. But Scripture nowhere teaches that response.

Really, most of the New Testament gives instruction about what we’re supposed to be doing til the Lord returns. The Bible does say we’re strangers and pilgrims on this earth and our eventual home is in heaven. But there are some verses that tell us specific things to do in anticipation of His return.

The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Titus 2:11-14

1. Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts

2. Live soberly, righteously, godly

3. Look for His return while actively living here

4. Be zealous of good works.

We, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless, And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation… Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.II Peter 3:13-15a, 17-18.

5. Be at peace with Him.

6. Be without spot and blameless, and be diligent about both of these.

7. Be glad for His longsuffering that gives more people a chance to be saved.

8. Beware of error and falling from steadfastness.

9. Grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Philippians 3:17-20

10. Follow the Bible’s teaching.

11. Don’t live for earthly things, even though we partake of them.

12. Remember our conversation, manner of life (citizenship, some translations say), is in heaven.

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Colossians 3:1-5

13. Seek those things which are above.

14. Set your affections on things above.

15. Mortify (put to death, or, as the NASB says, consider as dead, echoing Romans 6 about reckoning ourselves dead to sin and not yielding to it any more) our sinful tendencies.

16. The rest of the chapter tells of things not to to and to do.

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. I John 3:2-3

17. Purify ourselves.

And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. Acts 1:7-11

18. Be His witnesses (Matthew 28:18-20: Make disciples and teach them what I have taught you.)

He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. Isaiah 25:8-9

19. Rejoice!