Alleluia!

Posted on March 22, 2008 by Barbara Harper

Tomb, thou shalt not hold Him longer;
Death is strong, but Life is stronger;
Stronger than the dark, the light;
Stronger than the wrong, the right;
Faith and Hope triumphant say
Christ will rise on Easter Day.

– Phillips Brooks, An Easter Carol

The strife is o’er, the battle done;
The victory of life is won;
The song of triumph has begun:
Alleluia!

The powers of death have done their worst;
But Christ their legions hath dispersed;
Let shouts of holy joy outburst:
Alleluia!

The three sad days are quickly sped;
He rises glorious from the dead;
All glory to our risen Head!
Alleluia!

He closed the yawning gates of hell;
The bars from heaven’s high portals fell;
Let hymns of praise His triumphs tell!
Alleluia!

Lord, by the stripes which wounded Thee,
From death’s dread sting Thy servants free,
That we may live, and sing to Thee:
Alleluia!

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

~ Author Unknown

May you have a wonderful joyous, blessed Easter remembering the resurrection of our Lord and Savior!

Easter Reading

Posted on March 22, 2008 by Barbara Harper

People say the cross is a sign of how much man is worth. That’s not true. The cross is a sign of how depraved we really are, that it took the death of God’s own Son. The only thing that could save a people like us was the death of God’s own Son under the wrath of His own Father paying the price, rising again from the dead. Powerful to say, this is the Gospel of Jesus. — Paul Washer

I haven’t posted much about Easter this year because I posted a lot of material last year. I’ll recap some of it:

Thirteen quotes from scholars about the resurrection and thirteen witnesses to the resurrection.

Hope you have a blessed day tomorrow!

(Graphic courtesy of Julia Bettencourt)

(Updated 2/22/22 to repair and eliminate broken links. I had several other links here, but the sites are no longer operational.)

Stricken, smitten, and afflicted

Posted on March 21, 2008 by Barbara Harper

Isaiah 53:4: Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

Stricken, smitten, and afflicted,
See Him dying on the tree!
’Tis the Christ by man rejected;
Yes, my soul, ’tis He, ’tis He!
’Tis the long expected prophet,
David’s Son, yet David’s Lord;
Proofs I see sufficient of it:
’Tis a true and faithful Word.

Tell me, ye who hear Him groaning,
Was there ever grief like His?
Friends through fear His cause disowning,
Foes insulting his distress:
Many hands were raised to wound Him,
None would interpose to save;
But the deepest stroke that pierced Him
Was the stroke that Justice gave.

Ye who think of sin but lightly,
Nor suppose the evil great,
Here may view its nature rightly,
Here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the Sacrifice appointed!
See Who bears the awful load!
’Tis the Word, the Lord’s Anointed,
Son of Man, and Son of God.

Here we have a firm foundation,
Here the refuge of the lost.
Christ the Rock of our salvation,
Christ the Name of which we boast.
Lamb of God for sinners wounded!
Sacrifice to cancel guilt!
None shall ever be confounded
Who on Him their hope have built.

~ Thomas Kelly, 1804

Is reverence a lost commodity?

Posted on March 18, 2008 by Barbara Harper

When my boys were younger, we used to have family devotions from a Bible-in-pictures book for children. With that and other story books, we tried to make sure that the illustrations weren’t cartoonish. We wanted them to understand that these stories were different.

As Jesse in particular got older, we developed a bedtime ritual of devotions together. I found some devotional books for children that included a Scripture passage to read and a story that illustrated the biblical principle. We’ve done that for years, but now that he’s 14, I tried to find a devotional book geared toward teen-agers. I was disappointed at most of the fare available at the Christian bookstore for teens, but I came across one book written by a Christian author I respected who had written many great books in the area of apologetics. I knew he was in a “New Evangelical” camp, but I thought he was fairly conservative. especially in his theology. I had never read one of his books through from cover to cover, but I had used them often as reference books. So I felt this would be pretty safe, but I was on alert all the same.

Much of the book is good. But one problem I have with it is that there is an undercurrent of…I don’t know quite what I would call it. Flippancy, maybe? Not toward biblical truth, but towards God Himself. For example, one day’s devotional has the reader imagining himself in a dream with God standing before him in Reeboks and jeans, counting up the blessings He has bestowed on you with a calculator.

Now, I don’t think jeans are evil (Reeboks either, for that matter). If Jesus walked the earth today as He did in the first century, who knows what He would wear. I don’t think He would wear a suit and tie 24/7 and speak in King James English, and He probably would handle things like calculators and computers and such. That is all just speculation and I don’t want to veer too far down that rabbit trail just now.

I know when He did walk the earth He handled carpenter’s tools, held children, touched lepers, prepared a meal on the sea shore, ate, slept, was tired and hungry. I know He became a man, experienced what human beings do, was tempted in all points like as we are.

But I also know that when John, the “beloved disciple,” the one closest to Him of His inner circle, saw Him in his vision in Revelation, there was no back-slapping or hand-shaking or comments like, “Jesus! So good to see You again! It’s been a long time!” He fell at His feet as dead.

When Isaiah saw Him in His glory, his response was “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts” (Isaiah 6:5).

When Joshua saw the captain of the Lord’s host, thought to be an pre-incarnate appearance of Christ, he “fell on his face to the earth, and did worship.”

To be honest, I don’t know quite how to reconcile the intimacy of the heart-cry of the Psalms or of calling God the Father “Abba” (Romans 8:14-16 and Galatians 4:5-7) with being overwhelmed with God’s glory and majesty to the point of falling before Him in worship. In another sense, though, I can say I have experienced something of each of those things, though not at the same time and not to the extent that believers will when we see Him in heaven. All true Christians have the sense of calling out to God as our beloved Father and pouring out out hearts before Him, and if we think very much on God’s majesty and glory and greatness, we can’t help but respond as David did in Psalm 8: “who are we that You even pay attention to us?”

Maybe that’s the problem: we spend more time calling out to Him and asking Him to help us and meet our needs without spending time meditating on Who He is, beholding Him, thinking about His holiness and power and greatness and majesty. We do need to do the former, but we can’t neglect the latter.

God did come down to us in the form of a man, and Jesus is called our friend and our brother, yet I think we need to be cautious about “bringing God down to our level” to the point that we’re overly-familiar and disrespectful and have forgotten Who He really is. We can’t forsake reverence for intimacy: we need both in balance.

Hebrews 12:28: Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

For Palm Sunday

Posted on March 15, 2008 by Barbara Harper

Crown Him

by Leila N. Morris

Behold one day a wondrous scene:
There rode a Man of lowly mien,
Along the dusty way, along the dusty way;
The people thronged Him as He passed,
Palm branches in His way they cast,
And cried, “Hosanna to the King, today!”

Refrain

Crown Him! Crown Him!
Crown the Savior King of kings;
In your hearts enthrone Him,
Lord and Master own Him;
Crown Him! Crown Him!
While heaven exultant rings;
Crown the blessèd Savior King of kings.

He’s passing by, just as of yore,
And great and small and rich and poor,
Today their Lord deny, today their Lord deny;
Oh, make of Him supremest choice,
And with uplifted heart and voice,
“Hosanna to the King of kings” still cry.

Refrain

Soon He is coming back again,
A thousand years on earth to reign;
We’ll see Him by and by, we’ll see Him by and by;
All the redeemed with Him He’ll bring,
Who in their hearts have crowned Him King,
And they shall live and reign with Him on high.

Refrain

Division and multiplication

Posted on March 13, 2008 by Barbara Harper

I came across a link from Amy’s Humble Musings this morning to this post titled “Multiplication” that has been ministering to my heart ever since I read it. If Amy has linked to it, you probably have already seen it, but just in case, I wanted to share it.

Here is one paragraph from the post. This and the last one especially spoke to me.

I can only divide myself, my time and my effort. And in the dividing, in my own strength, it shrinks away to nothingness. The fruit shrivels before it is ripe. The harvest never comes. I am cold, frustrated, and bitter. But when I give it all to Him, it is multiplied. In His hands my efforts yield an abundance that defies logic.

Why do we so often forget this?

Sing praise to God Who reigns above

Posted on March 9, 2008 by Barbara Harper

Sing praise to God Who reigns above, the God of all creation,
The God of power, the God of love, the God of our salvation.
With healing balm my soul is filled and every faithless murmur stilled:
To God all praise and glory.

What God’s almighty power hath made His gracious mercy keepeth,
By morning glow or evening shade His watchful eye ne’er sleepeth;
Within the kingdom of His might, Lo! all is just and all is right:
To God all praise and glory.

The Lord is never far away, but through all grief distressing,
An ever present help and stay, our peace and joy and blessing.
As with a mother’s tender hand, God gently leads the chosen band:
To God all praise and glory.

Thus, all my toilsome way along, I sing aloud Thy praises,
That earth may hear the grateful song my voice unwearied raises.
Be joyful in the Lord, my heart, both soul and body bear your part:
To God all praise and glory.

Let all who name Christ’s holy Name give God all praise and glory;
Let all who own His power proclaim aloud the wondrous story!
Cast each false idol from its throne, for Christ is Lord, and Christ alone:
To God all praise and glory.

~ Johann J. Schütz

(It’s also often sung “All praise to God…”)

Make Me a Stranger

Posted on March 2, 2008 by Barbara Harper

Make me a stranger on earth, dear Savior,
Make me a stranger more like Thee.
Help me keep my focus on heavenly treasures,
And not on earthly things may it be.

Lord, lead me onward as a pilgrim
Bound for heaven never to roam.
Make me a stranger on earth, dear Savior,
Till I see my heavenly home.

Lord, I’ve found myself loving earthly treasures:
Simple pleasures taking your place.
Nothing can measure to heavenly treasures:
Hearing “Well done,” and seeing Your face.

Lord, lead me onward as a pilgrim
Bound for heaven never to roam.
Make me a stranger on earth, dear Savior,
Till I see my heavenly home.

~ Mac Lynch

Show and Tell Friday: More Scripture plaques

Posted on February 29, 2008 by Barbara Harper

I want to continue last week’s theme and share a few more plaques with Scripture in my home.

This is in my kitchen:

It was an 8×10 card that I saw in a store and loved. Usually you can find standard sized frames pretty inexpensively. The verse is Proverbs 15:15b.

This needful reminder is also in my kitchen:

I showed this a few weeks ago, bought years ago at a craft show.

Though that exact phrase isn’t a Scripture verse, it is from a hymn based on Matthew 10:28-32.

One of the kids bought this one year for my husband.

This is a print by one of my favorite artists and cross stitch designers, Paula Vaughn. I had seen it once and loved it but thought it was too expensive. Then later on my husband bought it for me. It is one of a three part set.

Here is a close-up of part of it:

This is in my bedroom.

I think I showed it once before with a group of cross stitch gifts. My sister did the cross stitch. The verse was from a packet at Doorposts. I love how the fairly simple calligraphy goes with the detailed and colorful cross stitch and how they both have to do with clothing.

This is something I cross-stitched for my husband years ago:

Isaiah 38:19b.

These are two Thomas Kincade prints that I saw in a catalog for around $20, I think:

If I remember correctly, they came with mats, so all I had to do was get frames. A good deal, I thought! They helped set the “theme” for the upstairs bathroom. They depict John 8:12 and John 1:5.

This is also in that room:

I saw it in a Home and Garden catalog and loved the design and the verse, Romans 12:12.

This is in the downstairs bathroom.

I feel compelled to tell you that I really don’t like this wallpaper!! But we haven’t had a chance to change it yet. And I think this plaque goes well there. My mom sent it to me.

This was the first present Jim ever gave me when we were dating:

It has part of one of my favorite verses, Deuteronomy 12:12.

This one is actually off the wall now right now due to a broken frame. It is another of the Doorposts packet. It usually hangs with a picture of our sons and a poem in calligraphy about guarding the honor of your family name and reputation.

This one sits near our TV to try to remind us to apply this standard:

It was also from the packet at Doorposts.

I enjoy not only the artwork of these various pieces, but especially the reminders from God’s Word that they provide all throughout our home.

I hope it is an encouragement, too, that you can have Scriptural reminders depicted in nice art work without going to a lot of expense in many cases.

Kelli at There’s No Place Like Home hosts “Show and Tell Friday” asking “Do you have a something special to share with us? It could be a trinket from grade school, a piece of jewelry, an antique find. Your show and tell can be old or new. Use your imagination and dig through those old boxes in your closet if you have to! Feel free to share pictures and if there’s a story behind your special something, that’s even better! If you would like to join in, all you have to do is post your “Show and Tell” on your blog, copy the post link, come over here and add it to Mr. Linky. Guidelines are here.“

What are we tuned to?

Posted on February 28, 2008 by Barbara Harper

“Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers meeting together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become ‘unity’ conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.”