He Leadeth Me

When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul. -Psalm 94:19


I was searching the phrase, "murmur nor repine," which had popped into memory during prayer this past week.

It seemed, as I pondered the words, that I had been guilty of such  and I sought to find out the hymn which contained these words and read the lyrics in their context.

Hard to reflect on the biblical truth that our God leads us, in all the circumstances of this life, and not be brought to tears.

What a precious thought, indeed. And what ingratitude I have shown in complaining and doubting.

Isn't it amazing that even in the vague meanderings of the mind, our God seeks us out to bless us and comfort us?

What consolations we have, as we hope in God's word and in His salvation.

What blessings we have in God's people, even in an obscure young Baptist minister who labored faithfully all his life and was given, by God's grace, to write one hymn. A single hymn which, in the richness of its theology, has so blessed the people of God.

Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.


http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/h/l/hleademe.htm

Overwhelmed

O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? -Romans 7:24


Another respected Christian has been dragged down into the muck and mire.

If you were to read the self-confessed details of his fall and how he ignored the gracious warnings of guilt and fear, you might wonder, "How can these things be?"

At the risk of sounding crass, I will repeat a statement I have often made to my youngest daughter: "Men are dogs."

All that separates us from the lower animals is our ability to reason, to think (i.e., to plot and plan to achieve our base desires).

Harsh and simplistic, yes. But useful for our purpose in seeking understanding.

We are fallen. However regenerate my heart may be, it is still wicked and deceitful. I shudder to think what I might be up to, were it not for the indwelling Spirit's power to convict and inspire repentance.

Whenever we (men and women) seek to act in God's place to meet our own perceived needs, we have sinned. Otherwise godly desires have been twisted and perverted and an idol has been raised up.

I fear isolation (the self-imposed kind). Oh, may I not cut myself off from godly conversation and counsel. I need the iron of my friends in Christ to keep me sharp and alert.

Surely we realize that none of us is immune from temptation, that Satan comes, in places and moments of weakness to drag us down.

We must remember Paul's warning: "Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall."

Pray for the saints.

September I Remember

April, come she will. -Paul Simon


I have heard, that in an instant, a person's life can change forever. 

How true.

I have heard that these are moments of extreme clarity, like the flash of lightning, revealing things previously not seen.

This too, I think, is true.

Do you find that your life is remembered in brief episodes, at times seemingly unrelated?

The reality of the thing is difficult to embrace, and were it not for the remembering, would seem a figment of our imaginations; a dream even.

There is a hymn, a children's hymn you might call it, that has been playing over and again in my head: "Jesus loves me, this I know." And the simple accompaniment played in single notes upon a piano.

And the constant memory of the repeated promise: "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee."

Odd, isn't it, that faith has been defined in part as "the conviction of things not seen."

"For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."

And so here is resolution.

Here is reassurance.

Here is reality.

Not Looking Down

Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off. -Isaiah 33:17


There is something comforting about a gravestone. Solid and substantial, engraving cut deep into the granite.

An assurance, if you will, that no matter how long the Lord tarries, these remains will patiently await his return, guarded by this stone, and the day when body and soul will be reunited in one glorious whole.

Some comfort themselves in imagining that their loved one, like Rossetti's blessed damozel, leans out "from the gold bar of heaven" to look down upon and watch over them.

I would not imagine, as Rossetti did, her weeping, but instead rest assured that no tears exist in that place, having been all wiped away by the beautiful presence of our Savior.

And so I know that my beloved is not looking down at all, burdened by the weight that we who remain must bear. That time is over for her and the countless number of saints who stand around the throne.

Now is a time of unimaginable joy for them and a looking forward to the day of restoration and reunion. The day when all things will be made new.

How could they look down when in the presence of Him who draws the gaze of all eyes to Himself?

They look up.

She looks up.

Two Things

...for those who are called according to his purpose. -Romans 8:28b

A motorcycle accident. Two young people are scratched and bruised, but otherwise unharmed.

The family offers praises, "We have been kissed by God."

A Facebook post. An attempt is made to answer the rantings of those who would question God's goodness, or even His existence, because of evil in the world.

God is merciful, it says, in explanation of why the wicked are not immediately consumed. 

But does God have no control over these things other than to sometimes mercifully intervene?

Does evil simply exist, out from under His sovereign rule?

If that is true, how is He able at all to work for the good?

And so, the doctrine of the "Gentleman God" has been proposed.

God is such a nice God, to put it simply, that he is willing to relinquish control so that sinners may agree to be saved and the wicked proceed on their merry way to hell (or something to that effect).

Does this sound contradictory? Does this make sense? Or does this fly in the face of what we read in scripture (God's revealing of Himself to us)?

"I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create disaster, I am the LORD who does all these things (Isaiah 45:7).

"...he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, 'What have you done?' (Daniel 4:35)."

It comes down to this: how big is your God?

Is He big enough that we may trust Him even in the worst of circumstances?

Big enough that we will bow in faith, even in the midst of sorrow?

Big enough that we acknowledge His sovereignty without understanding His sovereign purpose in the things He decrees and ordains?

This must be so, this all-ruling (omnipotent) God.

How else could we believe the promise, "I will never leave you nor forsake you?"

Or grasp the statement, "...you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good?"

We must believe in a sovereign God who has all things in His hand and works all events to His eternal, glorious purpose.

Like Job, I may not always get it.

Like Job, I may sometimes complain (and then repent and beg forgiveness).

But there is this:

"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)"

I Need a Hug

I can't feel my toes! -Donkey


This post is inspired by the picture of a couple of young friends sharing a hug.

Thanks for the reminder, guys, of how precious hugs are and how we should not only enjoy them, but appreciate the blessing of a hug.

We are a hugging church, I am glad to report. Nothing wrong with hugging a brother in Christ, accompanied by the obligatory back pat, letting each other know, "I love you man, in  a strictly brotherly manner, of course."

I think a more gingerly hug is in order for the ladies, if at all. An arm around the shoulder rather than around the neck, perhaps. And their prerogative, always, to initiate the hug.

My favorite, of course, is for wives and girlfriends (or husbands and boyfriends, as the case may be).

I guess that's really more an embrace than a hug, don't you suppose.

I read somewhere that infants grow ill and die if deprived of human contact and affection. So we should hug our children often.

Adults also need hugs, I believe.

A short confession here: I have kissed two men in my life; My dad and my brother-in-law Paul; both on the cheek, whenever I would see them, which was not that often. I expect that I will both hug and kiss them (on the cheek naturally) when I see them again.

So we are agreed, then, that hugs are good and one of God's great blessings in our lives.

Have you hugged a loved one today?

A Question

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. -Philippians 4:6

How's your prayer life?

Have you noticed that one of the shortest commands in Scripture, "Pray without ceasing," is preceded by an even shorter one: "Rejoice evermore?"

Does the state of one's prayer life have anything to do, do you suppose, with one's view of God? In other words, who is this God, really, and what is He like?

I am blessed to live where there are many great places to walk. And on these walks, in the cool of the morning, I (like Tiny Tim in church) think of the strangest things.

This morning, for example, as my mind meditated on a particular prayer request made by a friend and I felt the need to pray, I was stopped at once by a very strange thought.

Being outside is a wonderful way to meditate on the greatness of God. Man-made sounds seem faint and far away and the beauty and variety of what has been made; the sights, the sounds, the smells, the very touch of the breeze and the sun's rays upon the skin; all these things bring us to a contemplation of the One who made them.

You've been there, right? But my thoughts began to take me to a place where I (to my shame) seldom ever go and I began to contemplate the vastness of God.

I mean, He's huge and His presence fills all His creation.

And here I was, about to presume to speak to Him, to actually make requests of Him and to actually expect to receive a reply; whether "yes," "no," or "we'll see."

It would be the most ridiculous and outlandish thing imaginable.

Except that God, in his Word, has commanded us to do this very thing: this unlikely, unimaginable thing. What's more, He has opened a way for us. Given us a Spirit to aid us and a Mediator to plead for us.

Wow.

So how can I ever feel as though I don't want to pray or desire to put off prayer til later?