Category Archives: Thoughts From Scripture

To the Praise of His Glorious Grace

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by D.A. Carson

What astonishing mercy and power:
In accord with his pleasure and will
He created each planet, each flower,
Every galaxy, microbe, and hill.
He suspended the planet in space
To the praise of his glorious grace.
To the praise of his glorious grace.
To the praise of his glorious grace.

With despicable self-love and rage,
We rebelled and fell under the curse.
Yet God did not rip out the page
And destroy all who love the perverse.
No, he chose us to make a new race,
To the praise of his glorious grace.
To the praise of his glorious grace.
To the praise of his glorious grace.

Providentially ruling all things
To conform to the end he designed,
He mysteriously governs, and brings
His eternal wise plans into time.
He works out every step, every trace,
To the praise of his glorious grace.
To the praise of his glorious grace.
To the praise of his glorious grace.

Long before the creation began,
He foreknew those he’d ransom in Christ;
Long before time’s cold hour-glass ran,
He ordained the supreme sacrifice.
In the cross he removed our disgrace,
To the praise of his glorious grace.
To the praise of his glorious grace.
To the praise of his glorious grace.

We were blessed in the heavenly realms
Long before being included in Christ.
Since we heard the good news, overwhelmed,
We reach forward to seize Paradise.
We shall see him ourselves, face to face,
To the praise of his glorious grace.
To the praise of his glorious grace.
To the praise of his glorious grace.

It’s not over til God says it’s over

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I don’t know if I have said this in so many words here, but I am a strong believer in the fact that life is God’s gift and man shouldn’t be ending it either at the beginning by abortion or at the end by euthanasia.

I just saw a news article about a Polish man who “woke up” from a 19 year coma. His faithful wife took care of him at home for most of those years and said she would “fly into a rage” at the suggestion that he should be euthanized. She believed he would recover — and he did! And he remembers many of the family things that happened during his coma.

We never know what purposes God may have in store. We shouldn’t be too quick to “pull the plug.”

During my father’s last hospitalization about six months before he died, he had to be put on a ventilator for several days. One family member’s significant other was strongly opposed to the use of any “machines.” Thankfully because she was not a relative she had no say with the medical staff. My father was on a ventilator for maybe 10 days, then left the hospital to live with my brother for his remaining months. Some might feel that, “It was only 6 months more life.” But I saw God do a lot of good during that last six months that I don’t feel I should include here for the privacy of those involved.

There is a book I read years ago called Charlie’s Victory about a coach named Charlie Wedemeyer who had Lou Gehrig’s disease. When he began having trouble breathing, his wife was advised to “let him go.” Someone told his wife about portable ventilators, and the health professional was actually angry that she wanted to use one! I don’t know why these people are so determined to end life. What are they so afraid of? He lived many years on a portable vent and even had a ministry traveling and speaking, his wife interpreting for him.

Joni Eareckson Tada wrote an excellent book addressing this issue years ago called When Is It Right to Die?: Suicide, Euthanasia, Suffering, Mercy.

Meditations for daily tasks

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I don’t know who compiled this list, but I enjoyed the meditations.

Sunday: The Lord’s Day
Acts 20:7 And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them.

Monday: Wash Day
Psalm 51:2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

Tuesday: Ironing Day
Ephesians 5:27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Wednesday: Mending Day
Mark 2:21 No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse.

Thursday: Cleaning Day
Ps 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Friday: Shopping Day
Isaiah 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Saturday: Cooking Day
Luke 14:13-14 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee.

No work of mine…

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I am often burdened for dear friends caught up in religions that teach that their salvation is dependent on their own acts alone or on what Christ did for them on the cross plus their own works. I was wanting to post something emphasizing the fact that it is faith and dependence on Christ alone that saves when this part of this hymn came to mind:

Complete in Thee! no work of mine
May take, dear Lord, the place of Thine;
Thy blood hath pardon bought for me,
And I am now complete in Thee.

Yea, justified! O blessed thought!
And sanctified! Salvation wrought!
Thy blood hath pardon bought for me,
And glorified, I too, shall be!

(From the hymn, “Complete in Thee” by Aaron R. Wolfe, 1821-1902 and James M. Gray, 1851-1935)

 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:5-7.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9.

Psalm Sunday: Psalm 18

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(Our Psalms Sunday hostess, Erica, is needing to put Psalms Sundays on hiatus for a while due to her schedule, but I wanted to go ahead and post this one since I had it ready a couple of weeks ago. I have enjoyed studying through the Psalms more than a usual read-through.)

Because of the length of Psalm 18, I am going to refer to the link to it here rather than copying the whole thing here. This Psalm appeared in II Samuel 22, a song David wrote “in the day that the LORD had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul.”

I love the way this Psalm begins: “I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.” With a God like that — how can we help but trust in Him? The more we meditate on Him, His greatness, His character, His ability, I think that generates even more trust.

Verses 3-6 speak of David’s calling out to God in his distress; verses 7-19 tell of God’s answer. What a powerful, majestic God!

7 Then the earth shook and trembled; The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken, Because He was angry.

9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down With darkness under His feet. 10 And He rode upon a cherub, and flew; He flew upon the wings of the wind.

We need to picture God coming to our aid in just the same way.

16 He sent from above, He took me; He drew me out of many waters.
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me, For they were too strong for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the LORD was my support.

In verses 20-24 David says that God rewarded him according to the cleanness of his hands — there was no unconfessed sin in his life that would hinder God’s deliverance.

These verse have been some of my favorites for years, especially the first one:

28 For You will light my lamp; The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
29 For by You I can run against a troop, By my God I can leap over a wall.
30 As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

31 For who is God, except the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?
32 It is God who arms me with strength, And makes my way perfect.
33 He makes my feet like the feet of deer, And sets me on my high places.

As I read those, I can’t even think of any appropriate commentary — they are so expressive and beautiful.

Verse 34 says, “He teaches my hands to make war, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.” Ecclesiastes 3:8 speak of “A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.” When it is a time of war, if it is His will and your cause is His, He will give wisdom and strength for it. Verses 35 – 42 continue on in that theme of God giving him victory over his enemies. Verses 43-45 speak of God’s making David the head of nations and making foreigners submit to him as their new leader.

Verse 46: The LORD lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let the God of my salvation be exalted.

The rest of the chapter gives acknowledgment and praise to God for His deliverance of David.

It is sometimes when we’re “backed into a corner” and there is no deliverance except from God that we see how truly powerful and able He is. We see just glimpses now of His majesty and power — I can’t imagine what it will be like to see Him one day in all His glory.

And these mere glimpses of Him are more than enough to inspire our confidence that He can take care of any problem His children have!

My Advocate

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My Advocate

I sinned. And straightway, post-haste, Satan flew
Before the presence of the most high God,
And made a railing accusation there.
He said, “This soul, this thing of clay and sod,
Has sinned. ‘Tis true that he has named Thy name,
But I demand his death, for Thou hast said,
‘The soul that sinneth, it shall die.’
Shall not Thy sentence be fulfilled?
Is justice dead?
Send now this wretched sinner to his doom.
What other thing can righteous ruler do?”
And thus he did accuse me day and night,
And every word he spoke, O God, was true!

Then quickly One rose up from God’s right hand,
Before Whose glory angels veiled their eyes.
He spoke, “Each jot and tittle of the law
Must be fulfilled; the guilty sinner dies!
But wait — suppose his guilt were all transferred
To Me, and that I paid his penalty!
Behold My hands, My side, My feet! One day
I was made sin for him, and died that he
Might be presented, faultless, at Thy throne!”
And Satan flew away. Full well he knew
That he could not prevail against such love,
For every word my dear Lord spoke was true!

— Martha Snell Nicholson

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(Photo courtesy of everystockphoto)

(You can read more of Mrs. Nicholson’s poetry here.) 

Why are we so surprised?

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I am going to be very discreet with details for privacy’s sake, though the family I am thinking of doesn’t have computer access and doesn’t read my blog. Some folks I know are in counseling for a serious family situation. When a very glaring, obviously wrong way of handling something was pointed out to one of them, she couldn’t see the correction needed over hurt that someone would say she did something wrong.

Another friend who was acting in a very petulant manner over an issue went into an enraged fit when someone commented on her anger.

Why are we so surprised when someone points out to us that we’re doing something wrong? We’re sinners — we naturally do wrong. We’d be the first to admit that we don’t have it all together yet. We probably know deep down that we have blind spots to some of our character flaws and that we tend to excuse or justify negative traits in ourselves that we see as faults in others (i.e., I’m determined but another who acts the same way is stubborn.) But let someone try to correct us, and they are being hateful, petty, or, one of the favorite adjectives in today’s Christianity, judgmental.

True, some people are judgmental. Some are busybodies. Some correct too much or too easily. Some people who mean well can correct in an unkind or hurtful way.

I have to admit, when someone points out something in my life that needs correction or attention, my first response is not, “Thank you! I am so glad the Lord laid that on your heart to share with me.”

But it probably should be.

The only reason I can think of that I don’t respond that way is pride.

Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.
Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning. Proverbs 9:8-9.

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise. Proverbs 12:15.

A scorner loveth not one that reproveth him: neither will he go unto the wise. Proverbs 15:12.

The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise. He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding. Proverbs 15:31-32.

As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear. Proverbs 25:12.

I used to tell one of my sons who had trouble receiving correction in his early teens that if he didn’t acknowledge that a certain action or attitude was wrong, he could not correct it or change it. I often shared with him Proverbs 28:13: “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”

If we can get past the sting of hearing criticism and prayerfully examine it to see if it is just, then we can confess it to the Lord (and to whomever else we might need to confess it) and correct it and grow in wisdom and character — and stop causing a problem in other people’s lives by continuing on in the fault.

Isn’t that much better than hanging on to our hurt and indignation?

Works-For-Me-Wednesday: Devotional exercise using definitons

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wfmwheader_4.jpg I worked through Dr. Jim Berg’s DVD series, Quieting a Noisy Soul, a couple of years ago, and in one section about studying and meditating on God’s Word, he suggested using a Bible dictionary to look up the major words. My first impulse was to brush that aside as unnecessary, especially for familiar passages. But then he assigned a study of I Corinthians 13: 4-8 as a way of meditating on God’s love: we were to read the passage, list the qualities of love mentioned, look up the words in a dictionary, and write the verse in our own words using those definitions. And I’ve found that that is an excellent way to open up very familiar passages that we almost glide over because we think we know them so well.

For instance, verse 4 says “Love suffers long.” “Suffers” means “endures pain, distress, agony, discomfort;” “long” means “an extended period of time.” So love endures pain, distress, agony, or discomfort for an extended period of time. That really makes you stop and think, both about God’s longsuffering toward us and our need for longsuffering toward others.

Verse 8 says that love never (“Not ever; on no occasion; at no time, not at all; in no way; absolutely not”) fails. Look at all these definitions of the word “fail,” and rejoice in all the ways in which your God will never fail you (it’s helpful to read “God will never…” before each phrase): “To prove deficient or lacking; To perform ineffectively or inadequately, To be unsuccessful, To prove insufficient in quantity or duration; give out, To decline, as in strength or effectiveness, To give way or be made otherwise useless as a result of excessive strain, To cease functioning properly, To disappoint or prove undependable to, To abandon; forsake, To omit to perform (an expected duty, for example), To leave undone; neglect;” (from Dictionary.com); “to fall out of, to fall down from, to fall off, to fall from a thing, to lose it, to perish, to fall, to fall from a place from which one cannot keep, fall from a position, to fall powerless, to fall to the ground, be without effect” (from the Online Bible).

You can take this a step further, as I did above, if you have a Strong’s concordance or some kind of Bible computer program, and look up the definition of the original Hebrew or Greek word used. That’s often even more enlightening, and can clear up confusion. But don’t worry if you don’t have access to these things: you can gain a lot just by looking up the English words in a regular dictionary. A great online one is Dictionary.com.

You can find more tips that will work for you at Rocks In My Dryer.

Senior version of “Jesus Loves Me”

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Though I don’t consider myself a “senior” yet (I’ve been wondering if the “middle-aged spread” is not so much a thickening waistline as it is the length of time we stretch out to call ourselves middled-aged rather than”senior” 🙂 ), I am reaching a milestone birthday this year and seeing increasing signs that I am closer to seniordom than youth. I received this senior version of the children’s song, “Jesus Loves Me,” in an email the other day: I had never heard of it before.

JESUS LOVES ME

Jesus loves me, this I know,
Though my hair is white as snow.
Though my sight is growing dim,
Still He bids me trust in Him.

(CHORUS)

Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so.

Though my steps are oh, so slow,
With my hand in His I’ll go
On through life, let come what may,
He’ll be there to lead the way.

(CHORUS)

Though I am no longer young,
I have much which He’s begun.
Let me serve Christ with a smile,
Go with others the extra mile.

(CHORUS)

When the nights are dark and long,
In my heart He puts a song.
Telling me in words so clear,
“Have no fear, for I am near.”

(CHORUS)

When my work on earth is done,
And life’s victories have been won.
He will take me home above,
Then I’ll understand His love

(CHORUS)

I love Jesus , does He know?
Have I ever told Him so?
Jesus loves to hear me say,
That I love Him every day.

(Author unknown)

I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. Psalm 37:25.

Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth. Psalm 71:9.

O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come. Psalm 71: 17-18.
Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. Psalm 92:13-15.

Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children: Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven. Psalm 148: 12-13.

The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the grey head. Proverbs 20:29.

The hoary (silver or grey) head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness. Proverbs 16:31.

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Gratitude

by Jack Garren

Courtesy of Christ-Centered Art

Afraid? Of What?

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I’m not sure why, but it has been on my heart for weeks to post a poem about not being afraid of death. I hope that’s not an indication that I or anyone I know is going to die soon! 🙂 I have to admit I have struggled with this, even in the years since becoming a Christian and being assured of where I would go. The way I heard it explained one time was that when it comes to die, God will give us the grace to do so. We don’t have the grace to do so now because it isn’t time yet. So I trust that when it is time, the grace for it will be there. Plus the biggest reluctance about death would be leaving family, not seeing kids grow up and grandkids. I know if anything happened to me the Lord would take care of them — it’s just that I want to be here to be a part of their lives. I think probably every parent feels that way.

This morning this poem and this post came to mind again, and then in my Daily Light devotional book, the morning reading for today was all about death and heaven.

Hmmm!

So, here is the poem I mentioned. It really ministered to my heart. According to one source, it was written by a missionary named E.H. Hamilton after he heard that his friend and colleague, Jack Vinson, had been martyred and had fearlessly told his captors that if they killed him, he would go straight to God.

Afraid? Of what?
To feel the spirit’s glad release?
To pass from pain to perfect peace,
The strife and strain of life to cease?
Afraid? Of that?

Afraid? Of what?
Afraid to see the Saviour’s face,
To hear His welcome, and to trace,
The glory gleam from wounds of grace,
Afraid? Of that?

Afraid? Of what?
A flash – a crash – a pierced heart;
Brief darkness – Light – O Heaven’s art!
A wound of His a counterpart!
Afraid? Of that?

Afraid? Of what?
To enter into Heaven’s rest,
And yet to serve the Master blessed?
From service good to service best?
Afraid? Of that?

Afraid? Of what?
To do by death what life could not –
Baptize with blood a stony plot,
Till souls shall blossom from the spot?
Afraid? Of that?

“If you knew what God knows about death,” wrote George MacDonald, “you would clap your listless hands.”

Let me stress, though, that only those who have trusted Christ as Savior and Lord can have that assurance and confidence. If you have not yet done so, would you do so today? You can read more about it here.