Never further than Thy cross

Posted on December 8, 2007 by Barbara Harper

I saw two verses of this in a book I was reading last night, and when I looked it up today I found it was a hymn. I’ve never heard it — it would be a good one to put back into the hymnbooks.

Never further than Thy cross,
Never higher than Thy feet;
Here earth’s precious things seem dross,
Here earth’s bitter things grow sweet.

Gazing thus our sin we see,
Learn Thy love while gazing thus,
Sin, which laid the cross on Thee,
Love, which bore the cross for us.

Here we learn to serve and give,
And, rejoicing, self deny;
Here we gather love to live,
Here we gather faith to die.

Pressing onward as we can,
Still to this our hearts must tend;
Where our earliest hopes began,
There our last aspirings end.

Till amid the hosts of light,
We in Thee redeemed, complete,
Through Thy cross made pure and white,
Cast our crowns before Thy feet.

~ Elizabeth R. Charles

Laying down life

Posted on December 6, 2007 by Barbara Harper

One of the things that continues to surprise me is just how far selfishness still has its roots in me.

An incident yesterday and a quote I saw this morning, among other things, brought it all to the forefront again. Someone called yesterday and the conversation got off on the wrong foot right off the bat when I said hello and heard voices, but no one answered. We’d been getting a lot of either political calls or calls where someone hung up as soon as we answered, so I figured it was one of those kinds of calls. When they finally spoke, I was irritated and it showed in my tone. It was someone I knew, but she hadn’t realized someone had picked up the phone, so she was talking to someone else with her. Then she told me about a problem resulting from an apparent oversight on my part, though I hadn’t gotten the information that I needed to take care of anything. Then, you know how sometimes people will talk and forget a detail like a name or what day something occurred, and then they get sidetracked trying to remember that detail when it doesn’t really have anything to do with the conversation? Well, that happened with this lady, and I was busy, still holding in one hand the things I’d been taking care of when the phone rang, and irritated in general, so I just interrupted and said, “Well, that’s not important,”and proceeded to discuss what we needed to do to take care of the situation.

Yikes!

My whole tone and demeanor indicated a lack of love and concern and a selfish preoccupation. Instead of being helpful and kind, I let it be known that I was bothered.

Then this morning on girltalk, Kristin shared a quote from a book by J. I. Packer. I’ve not read anything of his, but this quote struck me:

“The Christmas spirit does not shine out in the Christian snob. For the Christmas spirit is the spirit of those who, like their Master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor–spending and being spent–to enrich their fellow humans, giving time, trouble, care and concern, to do good to others—and not just their own friends–in whatever way there seems need.”

This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:12-13.

I’ve long believed that laying down our lives is not just martyrdom, not just physical death, but rather the everyday serving another by sacrificing our own time and attention for them. I’ve long believed that my schedule is in God’s hands, that even interruptions are allowed by Him, may even be His divine appointments for the day. That struck me full force one day when I realized the healing of the woman with the issue of blood took place while Jesus was on his way to heal Jairus’ daughter. Imagine how Jairus felt after he’d found Christ to come and heal his daughter who was dying, then this woman interrupts, then he receives word that his daughter has died (Luke 8:41-56). Yet Jesus reassures him that she would be made whole — and she was. He brought her back from the dead, and how much more glorious the whole situation was in the end.

In fact, if you study the life of Christ, He was constantly interrupted. He rose a great while before day to pray, and people came seeking him out. People were constantly wanting His attention, yet you never see Him ruffled, short-tempered, irritated, bothered.

I’ve known these things — but I often fail at living them.

By love serve one another. Galatians 5:13b.

I do want to serve others. But I tend to want to do it in my own way, at certain times or through certain events. If I listen to a conversation or fill a need, then I want to pat the other person on the head and say, “OK, I’ve served you for a while. Leave me alone now so I can do what I want.” That’s hardly characteristic of Christ.

And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. II Corinthians 12:15.

Most of the people with whom I have to do are very loving in response. I generally don’t have to worry about expending time, energy, and care on people who don’t love me — so how much more willing should I be to “spend and be spent” for them?

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. Mark 8:35.

Lord, forgive me for thinking that my time, energy, schedule, resources, and everything else are my own. Help me to remember it is all Yours, and I am here to serve You, not live for myself. Help me to truly love You with all my heart and soul and mind and strength and to love others as You have loved me — sacrificially, unselfishly, continually. I need Your grace, because my natural bent is to be self-centered, to serve occasionally and often with the wrong motives. Help me to lay down the bits and pieces of my life every day rather than trying to grasp back enough for self. Help me to serve and love on Your terms and not my own.

Booking Through Thursday: Out of print

Posted on December 6, 2007 by Barbara Harper

The Booking Through Thursday question for this week is:

Do you have a favourite book, now out of print, that you would like to see become available again?

Yes, I do, though I am guessing they are off the beaten path from the other participants. 🙂

One of my favorites, originally read about 20 years ago, is Sometimes I Prefer To Fuss by Verda Peet. I found a used version earlier this year and reread it (and reviewed it here.) The author and her husband had been missionaries to Thailand for thirty years, and the book is a humorous, honest, and poignant look at missionary life. The title comes from the truth that God’s grace is sufficient for whatever we’re dealing with, but sometimes we choose to fuss instead.

Another missionary book I read years ago is Never Say Can’t by Jerry Ballard, a missionary to Cuba and Panama. All I can remember about it is that he didn’t have much of any self-confidence and felt he had little talent, but he determined that he would never say “I can’t” in the face of any task (in fact, he and his wife wrote those words on a slip of paper and buried them). He went on to be marvelously used of the Lord, trusting in His sufficiency and not his own.

I’ve read most of Elisabeth Elliot’s books, one I’d like to read again that’s out of print is Twelve Baskets of Crumbs. If I remember correctly it’s along the lines of Keep a Quiet Heart — just her thoughts various subjects. There is one particular piece she wrote about widowhood that I have looked for in her other books and old newsletters and can’t find, and I am wondering if it was in that book.

I think I first discovered Richard Armour through a poem in a book, then I searched the web and found he had written lots of books — over 60. He was a professor of English who had a regular newspaper column called “Amour’s Armory,” and many of his books are poems or short essays from that column. Most of his work is humorous in the style of Odgen Nash, but there are some sweet and winsome ones as well.

From his book Richard Armour’s Punctured Poems: Famous First and Infamous Second Lines comes these treasures:

“To err is human, to forgive divine.”

Followed by

“Some errors I forgive, though quickly. . . . Mine.”

From “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

“Water, water, everywhere;”

Followed by

“The plumbing badly needs repair.”

From “Marmion” by Sir Walter Scott

“Oh, what a tangled web we weave!”

Followed by

“The webs to spiders we should leave.”

I wrote a review of his book The Spouse in the House here.

I’d love to see all of these books come back into print because I feel they’d be both interesting and beneficial. I have found all of them on amazon.com — and even ordered a couple this morning! Other BTT participants have listed other good sites for finding out of print books as well.

Updated to add: I thought of another one. Years ago I was fascinated with a book titled Charlie’s Victory by Charlie Wedemeyer. He was an athlete and coach who developed ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). By the end of it, he was an inspirational and motivational speaker — even though he couldn’t speak. It was a wonderful book. I gave my copy away to a friend who is paralyzed, but I’d love to read it again. Two things remain in my memory from this book: one was during a particularly bad night when he finally said his family would be better off without him. His wife said, “I’d rather have you this way than not at all.” Later, when he got to the point where he couldn’t breathe on his own, he was rushed to the hospital where doctors tried to tell his wife it was time t let him go. A nurse told her about portable ventilators. When she asked the doctor, he was angry (!) Finally they found someone who would put her husband on a portable ventilator, and he was able to travel and do many things. So many people regard ventilators as a death sentence or as signal that that’s enough, but for many people, a portable vent can give them enough help to lead a wonderful life — though not ideal and not the life they would have chosen, I know personally people who are paralyzed and on a vent who lead full, active, happy lives.

Psalm Sunday: Psalm 56

Posted on December 2, 2007 by Barbara Harper

1 Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me.

2 Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High.

3 What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

4 In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.

5 Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil.

6 They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul.

7 Shall they escape by iniquity? in thine anger cast down the people, O God.

8 Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?

9 When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.

10 In God will I praise his word: in the LORD will I praise his word.

11 In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.

12 Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee.

13 For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?

I am glad that a warrior such as David was could admit that he was afraid. He had very real enemies after him off and on throughout his life; he hid for his life in caves; he fought victoriously against his foes, foes who not only battled him physically but who “wrested his words” (v. 5). Even though he had much more reason to be afraid than I have had, verse 3 has been a comfort to me many times. When fear come, I can dwell on them — which doesn’t help, and, in fact, only make things worse — or I can turn to God in faith.

God not only cares for and delivers us from our fears: He keeps track of our wanderings and our tears (v. 8).

It’s interesting that David says, and repeats, “In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.” Sometimes we want God to just remove fear from us, and sometimes He does, but this indicates an act of the will. David chooses to place his faith in God, and he chooses to praise Him. I don’t get the idea that this just means He will praise God after he is delivered from his enemies, but also that as he wrestles with his fear, he chooses to praise God and exercise faith instead of focusing on his fear.

Verse 13 seems to expand David’s trust beyond just the immediate need for deliverance from death by his enemies, but to his need for God’s grace to keep him from falling as he walks before God each day. This is another verse I have prayed and leaned on often.

For more thoughts on this Psalm or to add your own, see Butterfly Kisses.

Infant holy, Infant lowly

Posted on December 2, 2007 by Barbara Harper

Infant holy, Infant lowly, for His bed a cattle stall;
Oxen lowing, little knowing, Christ the Babe is Lord of all.
Swift are winging angels singing, noels ringing, tidings bringing:
Christ the Babe is Lord of all.
Christ the Babe is Lord of all.

Flocks were sleeping, shepherds keeping vigil till the morning new
Saw the glory, heard the story, tidings of a Gospel true.
Thus rejoicing, free from sorrow, praises voicing, greet the morrow:
Christ the Babe was born for you.
Christ the Babe was born for you.

Traditional carol, translated from Polish to English by Edith M. Reed, 1921.

Graphic courtesy of Anne’ Place.

Psalm Sunday: Psalm 54

Posted on November 19, 2007 by Barbara Harper

1 Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength. 2 Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.

3 For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah.

4 Behold, God is mine helper: the Lord is with them that uphold my soul.

5 He shall reward evil unto mine enemies: cut them off in thy truth.

6 I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O LORD; for it is good.

7 For he hath delivered me out of all trouble: and mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies.

Once during my course of reading the Bible through, while reading about David’s life in I & II Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles, I slowed down and looked up the cross references to the Psalms David had written during several of those incidents. Of course, we can do it the other way, too — when reading the Psalms we can look up the cross references to the ones that have them back to an incident in the Old Testament. Though in one sense we can just take the Psalms at face value, it really enriched the reading of both the narrative and the Psalms to know the context of each.

Psalm 54 was written concerning events in I Samuel 23 when David was running for his life from King Saul, hiding out in Ziph, and the Ziphites offered to give him up to Saul. “For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them,” verse 3. But David turns again to the only One who can help, the One in whom he has placed His confidence. He calls out for deliverance, relies in faith on God to provide it, and promises to praise and sacrifice to Him.

In this day and time there are still those with very real physical enemies; there are those who are persecuted for their faith. God will deliver them one way or another. We might also face those who are against us without just cause and those who would betray us: God is sufficient for even that.

Though these days in America we don’t usually face physical persecution for our faith and rarely have enemies that are after our lives, we do have an enemy, “your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (I Peter 5:7-9). We will ultimately be delivered from even him one day, and until then we can call out to God for deliverance from every battle in which we find ourselves.

See our Psalms Sunday hostess at Butterfly Kisses for more thoughts on this Psalm.

Thanksgiving Bible study

Posted on November 17, 2007 by Barbara Harper

Here are just a few verses dealing with Thanksgiving. This is by no means an exhaustive study: it’s just a result of looking up “thanks” and “thanksgiving” in an online concordance. Many of the passages would fit under multiple headings and I am sure there are others that could be added. But this is a good start. It would be profitable to study many of these verses within the context of the passages they came from.

And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the LORD, offer it at your own will. Leviticus 22:29.

As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Colossians 2:6-7.

It is a sacrifice:

By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. Hebrews 13:15.

It is often a testimony to others of God’s person and work:

That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works. Psalm 26:7

I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs. Psalm 69:30-31.

Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf. II Corinthians 1:11.

For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. II Corinthians 4:15.

For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God; Whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them, and unto all men; And by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you. II Corinthians 9:12-14.

And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. Revelation 7:11-12.

Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works. I Chronicles 16: 8-9.

And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us together, and deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise. I Chronicles 16:35.

So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations. Psalm 79:13.

It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most high: To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night. Psalm 92:1-2.

Often coupled with joy and singing:

And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings, and with singing, with cymbals, psalteries, and with harps. Nehemiah 12:27.

Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works. I Chronicles 16: 8-9.

Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. Psalm 100:2-4.

Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God. Psalm 147:6.

Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name. Psalm 18:49

Psalm 93:1-3;

Often coupled with prayer:

Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. Psalm 50:14-15.

I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD. Psalm 116:17.

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7.

Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving. Colossians 4:2.

Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. Ephesians 1:16.

A result of meditating on God’s Word:

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. Colossians 3:16-17.

A result of being filled with the Spirit:

And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Ephesians 5:18-21.

Reasons to thank the Lord:

It’s commanded:

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. Psalm 100:4.

Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving. Colossians 4:2.
His greatness, His creation:

O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
Psalm 95: 1-5

Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing. Psalm 107:21-22.

His comfort:

For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. Isaiah 51: 3.

His bountiful supply:

Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. II Corinthians 9:11.
His unspeakable gift:

Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. II Corinthians 9:15.

Meat:

Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. I Timothy 4:3-5; Matthew 15:36

Deliverance from enemies:

And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies: thou also hast lifted me up on high above them that rose up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man. Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name. II Samuel 22:49-50

And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us together, and deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise. I Chronicles 16:35.

Psalm 18:48-50

His goodness:

O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. I Chronicles 16:34; Ezra 3:11; Psalm 106:1; 107:1; 118:1, 29; 136.

His holiness:

Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. Psalm 30:4.

His deliverance from sorrow:

Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. Psalm 30:11-12

His righteous judgments:

At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments. Psalm 119: 62.

Victory over death:

The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 15:56-57.

Causing us to triumph, making Himself known through us:

Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. II Corinthians 2:14.

His working through other people:

But thanks be to God, which put the same earnest care into the heart of Titus for you. II Corinthians 8:16.

Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. Ephesians 1:16.

We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints. Col. 1:2-4

I Thessalonians 1:1-3; 3:9-10; II Thessalonians 2:13-14.

Saving us:

Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:12-14.

All things:

Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:20.

In everything:

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. I Thessalonians 5:18.

Authorities:

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour. I Timothy 2:1-3.

His power and reign:

Saying, We give thee thanks, O LORD God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned Revelation 11:17.

Results in worship:

And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Revelation 4:9-11.

Other passages:

Psalm 105:1-3

Quotes on Thanksgiving and thankfulness

Posted on November 15, 2007 by Barbara Harper

“Our harvest being gotten in, our Governor sent four men on fowling so that we might, after a special manner, rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as… served the company almost a week… Many of the Indians came amongst us and… their greatest King, Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted; and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought… And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God we are…far from want.”

~ Edward Winslow, Plymouth, Massachusetts, December, 1621
Christian, Pilgrim

A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues
~ Cicero

O Lord, that lends me life, lend me a heart replete with thankfulness.
~ William Shakespeare

The Pilgrims came to America not to accumulate riches but to worship God, and the greatest wealth they left unborn generations was their heroic example of sacrifice that their souls might be free.
~ Harry Moyle Tippett

Pride slays thanksgiving, but an humble mind is the soil out of which thanks naturally grow, A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves
~ Henry Ward Beecher

Measured by the standards of men of their time, [the Pilgrims] were the humble of the earth. Measured by later accomplishments, they were the mighty. In appearance weak and persecuted they came – rejected, despised – an insignificant band; in reality strong and independent, a mighty host of whom the world was not worthy destined to free mankind.
~ Calvin Coolidge

Every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed and limps along the spiritual road.
~ Henry Ward Beecher

We ought to give thanks for all fortune: if it is “good,” because is it good, if “bad” because it works in us patience, humility, and the contempt of this world and the hope of our eternal country.
~ C. S. Lewis

No people on earth have more cause to be thankful than ours, and this is said reverently, in no spirit of boastfulness in our own strength, but with the gratitude to the Giver of good who has blessed us.
~ Theodore Roosevelt

Thanksgiving, to be truly thanksgiving, is first thanks, then giving.
~ Unknown

In the old Anglo-Saxon, to be “thankful” meant to be “thinkful.” Thinking of one’s blessings should stir one to gratitude.
~ Unknown

This is the holy reasoning of love; it draws no license from grace, but rather feels the strong constraints of gratitude leading it to holiness.
~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon

O Thou Who has given us so much, mercifully grant us one more thing: a grateful heart.
~George Herbert

More Thanksgiving -related content on this blog:

Thanksgiving Bible Study
Thanksgiving devotional reading is here.
Last year’s collection of Thanksgiving quotes are here.
Thanksgiving “funnies” are here and A “Redneck Thanksgiving” is here.
Thanksgiving poems are here and More Thanksgiving Poems are here.

Join us for Kelli’s “Giving Thanks” event this week at There’s No Place Like Home.

And since I have thirteen quotes, I’ll include this for a Thursday Thirteen. 😀

(Top and bottom graphics are from Snapshots of Joy)

Thanksgiving poems

Posted on November 14, 2007 by Barbara Harper

Kelli at There’s No Place Like Home is hostessing a week of Giving Thanks. Bloggers can link up every day this week through Saturday with Thanksgiving poems, memories, recipes, decorating ideas, etc., to get our hearts into a Thanksgiving frame of mind and not let it slip by on the way to the Christmas season.

So far I have been linking to posts from last year because I had put up a lot of Thanksgiving posts then, like Thanksgiving devotional reading and Thanksgiving “funnies.” But I had posted several different poems, so I wanted to put those all in one place, plus add a new one or two.

Giving Thanks

For the hay and the corn and the wheat that is reaped,
For the labor well done, and the barns that are heaped,
For the sun and the dew and the sweet honeycomb,
For the rose and the song and the harvest brought home –
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

For the trade and the skill and the wealth in our land,
For the cunning and strength of the workingman’s hand,
For the good that our artists and poets have taught,
For the friendship that hope and affection have brought –
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

For the homes that with purest affection are blest,
For the season of plenty and well-deserved rest,
For our country extending from sea unto sea;
The land that is known as the “Land of the Free” –
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

~ Author Unknown

Thanksgiving

Dear Lord—I’m thankful for the home I knew in early youth,
Where I first heard from Mother’s lips the story of your truth.
I’m thankful for the fellowship with friends who ever hold
Within their hearts Your gift of love, as world events unfold,
I’m thankful for Your peace that stills my heart, and light that guides
My course, as chaos rushes by on swiftly changing tides.
But thankful most—for faith that looks beyond a mortal sky
To truth—to your unchanging truth that cannot ever die!

~ Sarah Mizelle Morgan

From The Valley of Vision:

Praise and Thanksgiving

O my God,
Thou fairest, greatest, first of all objects,
my heart admires, adores, loves thee,
for my little vessel is as full as it can be,
and I would pour out all that fullness before thee in ceaseless flow.
When I think upon and converse with thee
ten thousand delightful thoughts spring up,
ten thousand sources of pleasure are unsealed,
ten thousand refreshing joys spread over my heart,
crowding into every moment of happiness.
I bless thee for the soul thou hast created,
for adorning it, sanctifying it,
though it is fixed in barren soil;
for the body thou hast given me,
for preserving its strength and vigour,
for providing senses to enjoy delights,
for the ease and freedom of my limbs,
for hands, eyes, ears that do thy bidding;
for thy royal bounty providing my daily support,
for a full table and overflowing cup,
for appetite, taste, sweetness,
for social joys of relatives and friends,
for ability to serve others,
for a heart that feels sorrows and necessities,
for a mind to care for my fellow-men,
for opportunities of spreading happiness around,
for loved ones in the joys of heaven,
for my own expectation of seeing thee clearly,
I love thee above the powers of language to express,
for what thou art to thy creatures.
Increase my love, O my God, through time and eternity.

For All The Blessings Of The Year

For all the blessings of the year,
For all the friends we hold so dear,
For peace on earth, both far and near,
We thank Thee, Lord.

For life and health, those common things,
Which every day and hour brings,
For home, where our affection clings,
We thank Thee, Lord.

For love of Thine, which never tires,
Which all our better thought inspires,
And warms our lives with heavenly fires,
We thank Thee, Lord.

~ Author unknown

Another one I posted last year, but I will just link to since someone else posted it for the “Giving Thanks” week already, is Edgar’s Guest’s “Thanksgiving.”

More Thanksgiving -related posts on this blog:

Thanksgiving Bible Study
Thanksgiving readings and devotionals are here.
Some Thanksgiving quotes are here.
More Thanksgiving quotes are here.
Thanksgiving “funnies” are here and A “Redneck Thanksgiving” is here.
More Thanksgiving poems are here.

Preparing good ground

Posted on November 12, 2007 by Barbara Harper

This is “harvest season” rather than spring planting, yet a farmer can take clues from inspecting his harvest to determine what he needs to do the next year for a better harvest.

The parable of the sower speaks of different “soils” of the heart that produced different results from the sowing of the Word. What can we do to help our hearts be “good ground” so that God’s Word can take root and bring forth fruit?

1. Hosea 10:12 says, “ Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.” Jeremiah 4:3 also speaks of breaking up our fallow ground.

2. We need to remove the “stones,” the hard places of our willfulness, and the “thorns” of the cares and pleasures of this life which want to choke out the Word.

3. Psalm 25:9 says, “ The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.” Elisabeth Elliot writes in Keep a Quiet Heart, “Meekness is teachability. ‘The meek will he teach his way’ (Psalm 25:9, KJV). It is the readiness to be shown, which includes the readiness to lay down my fixed notions, my objections and ‘what ifs’ or ‘but what abouts,’ my certainties about the rightness of what I have always done or thought or said. It is the child’s glad ‘Show me! Is this the way? Please help me.’ We won’t make it into the kingdom without that childlikeness, that simple willingness to be taught and corrected and helped. ‘Receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls’ (James 1:21, KJV). Meekness is an explicitly spiritual quality, a fruit of the Spirit, learned, not inherited. It shows in the kind of attention we pay to one another, the tone of voice we use, the facial expression.”

4. Psalm 25:14 says, “The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.” Reverence for the Lord makes us teachable. Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

5. In Matthew 15:16 and Mark 7:13, Jesus tells the Pharisees and scribes that they have made the commandment or word of God “of none effect” through their traditions. That is a scary thought, that we can diminish the effectiveness of the Word by our preconceived notions or our imposing on the Word our own ideas of what it says or means.

6. In John 7:17, Jesus says, “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” A willingness to do His will makes us teachable.

7. Though this speaks of the seed rather than the ground, it is a needed reminder: John 12: 24-25 say, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” In order to bring forth spiritual fruit we have to be willing to die to our own plans, dreams, desires, and will and yield all of those things to the Lord. This sounds so difficult, and it is, but the more we know the Lord, the more we can trust Him with all of those things and stop grasping them for ourselves, thinking we can protect them. His way really is so much better, but often we can’t see that til we get on the other side of the issue at hand, til after we’ve yielded. That’s where faith comes in — faith in Who He is, His love, wisdom, and goodness.

This is not meant to be an exhaustive list, and there are probably many other aspects to consider, but, if you’re like me, this is more than enough to get us started.

What do we do, though, if we’re not feeling particularly meek, if we know we don’t reverence the Lord as we ought, if we’re feeling stubborn and willful and we know it is wrong, but we don’t know quite what to do with ourselves? Should we avoid the Word, then, thinking it will be useless with our hearts in that condition? When I am feeling like that, first of all I pray and confess that to the Lord and ask Him to change my heart. Then I look up verses like three in Psalm 80 which say, “Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved,” or Psalm 85:6: “Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?” or Psalm 119:36-37: “Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way” or Psalm 119: 10-11: “ Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness. Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name’s sake: for thy righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble.” (If you have a concordance or Online Bible program, it’s very helpful to search for the word “quicken” and read through the verses that contain that word, and use those in your own prayers. One online source is at crosswalk.com. When you click on the drop-down menu for the version you want to use, at the very bottom there are choices for the KJV or NASB with Strong’s numbers. If you use those, the words in the verse will be highlighted and you can click on them for definitions, other ways they are translated, etc. BibleGateway.com is another good source).

When we go to Him confessing our lack of meekness, reverence, and willingness and asking Him to work on us in those areas, then He can use His Word to begin to plow up the soil of our hearts and make “good ground.”

If we leave a field untended, it grows weeds and the ground hardens again. So this plowing must be a continual process. It might sound painful, “but no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby” (Heb. 12:11). The more our hearts are “weeded” and kept soft and pliable, the more the seed of God’s Word can take root and bring forth fruit.