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Sparks of Reformation

~ True Reformation is a Blazing Fire

Sparks of Reformation

Tag Archives: God the Father

Behold, the Man.

09 Monday Nov 2015

Posted by Savannah in Spiritual Warfare, Uncategorized

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Christ, Covenant theology, Forgiveness, God the Father, Holy Spirit, Righteousness, Salvation, Son of God

“Pilate went out again and said to them, ‘See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.’ So Jesus came out, wearing the the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, ‘Behold, the man!'” ~ John 19:4-5

“This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.” ~ Acts 2:32-33

“Who is this who comes from Edom, in crimsoned garments from Bozrah, he who is splendid in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? ‘It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.'” ~ Isaiah 63:1

“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” ~ 1 John 3:8

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” ~ Genesis 3:15

“You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” ~ John 11:49b-50

“Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel.” ~ 2 Timothy 2:8

“…how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.” ~ Hebrews 9:14-15

“…and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me, ‘Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.’ And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain…” ~ Revelation 5:4-6

“The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies!…He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.” ~ Psalm 110:2, 7

Behold, the Man.

Jesus Christ is Lord.

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The Apostate and His Creator

16 Tuesday Jun 2015

Posted by Savannah in Life, Spiritual Warfare

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Apostate, Creator, Fear of the Lord, God the Father, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Righteousness, Sin, Western Culture

The Apostate and His Creator

Image via wikiart

Psalm 36: To the choirmaster. Of David, the servant of the Lord.

“Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes. For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated. The world of his mouth are trouble and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely and do good. He plots trouble while on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not reject evil.” ~11-4

This is the apostate. He does not necessarily outright deny God’s being; he denies God’s power, he denies God’s justice, he denies God’s nature. Taking counsel only within himself, he takes counsel of evil — and he loves it. This one does not fear God, so he does not heed him or speak truly of him within himself. The result of this is that he does not hate the things that God hates, but rather loves them, taking careful heed and putting much thought and care into doing and planning exactly those things that are against the Lord, his Creator. He places his attention and purposes towards things that are not good, for he does not reject evil — because he fears not God. He is not ignorant of God, nor of justice, nor of righteousness, but he refuses to find out and to hate his sin, for he does not fear God, and so does not love him, nor love his righteousness. Rather, he prefers to believe the outworkings of his own evil heart — in so doing, he is following his longing for godhood and control.

Having known God, the apostate would rather set himself up as his own definer of good and evil, and so sets himself to be lord and judge for himself. He who gets to decide right from wrong — or if there is wrong — or even if there is existence — is lord and judge, is the god, the source of authority and definition of reality. The apostate claims this for himself, in his own life, if not in the lives of all. The more that these people are aware of their hatred for righteousness and of the One whose Word is set against them and their deeds and imaginations, the more that they are active against those who fear the Lord and against their works. And when they set themselves up as teachers among society and as guides to the blind, then they are the most dangerous, for they appeal to the sinful nature of every human heart. And such is the generation in which we live. The apostates are the respected ones, the teachers, the leaders, the experts, and the ones at whose mouth the West seeks wisdom and understanding and knowledge.

“Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O LORD. How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.” 5-9

Yet, all around him, the apostate, as everyone else and everything else that is, exists in the permeating reality created by the Lord. He cannot escape it. Despite the wickedness of men, the Creator is God, the Lord. He has made his covenants — with the earth and with his people — history shall be accomplished according as he has said it shall come to pass. His steadfast love, his covenantal love towards the works of his hands and of the word that has gone out from his mouth, shall continue, despite all the flailings and cursing of an apostate generation. This steadfast love is broad and encompassing, high as the highest sky; his righteousness is a great and overwhelming as an encircling range of great mountains; his wisdom is a vast and unsearchable as the deepest ocean. He is God. The Creator is God alone, the only One who can stretch out his hand and bring salvation, life, joy, and light to every living creature, man and animal. Yet, he offers peace and accomplishes it in the lives of his creatures only when they acknowledge and worship him, confessing his Son, the risen Lord Jesus Christ, as Lord indeed. For God spoke, and it was so, that he would send One to bear the iniquity of the peoples, to restore them unto God, and to make peace between a repentant apostate and his God. If we refuse this testimony, we are apostate, calling God a liar and choosing to worship a creaturely lie about reality than the Creator himself, who has so abundantly given a witness of the truth in which we dwell.

The apostate, the unbeliever who has refused to acknowledge God, has cut himself off from these things, though he professes to seek them. He seeks to define and create these things for himself, as he sees fit, rather than submitting to God and acknowledging that, of himself, by himself, he is a sinner. Life, peace, happiness, salvation, light, righteousness — these things as defined and sought for by an apostate are different than that which is, for “he does not reject evil.” Yet, for those who submit to the encompassing reality that God has created and set them into, there is feasting and joy in the presence of God, who is the very fountain of life. Only when we come to him to define reality and righteousness, as our great Father and Lord, only then may we see light and it appear light to us. Under the shadow of his protecting care and covenant word of love towards those who fear him, we may take refuge, yes, even in the light itself, shone forth in our hearts and made visible to our eyes and delighting our hearts by the power of the Spirit of Jesus at work within us.

“Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart! Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. There the evildoers lie fallen; they are thrust down, unable to rise.” 10-12

It is because God is God, unchanging and unchangeable, that we may come to him in prayer. It is because God is God that he hears and answers whatever we ask that is according to his holy will. We pray that our Creator and Savior would be as he ever has been, continuing his mercies upon us, continuing to work justice in the earth, saving us — we who believe in him and hate evil because we love righteousness — from the destructive power of those who would be god over us, for they would rule the world that God has created according to their own hearts instead of according to his word and will. And, we may be assured, the power of the apostate shall not overcome those who fear the Lord, lest they stretch out their hands to do evil. Our God is the one Lord, the Creator — and he is the Lord of history who shall judge the secrets of every man’s heart at the last day by Jesus Christ when evil and transgression and sin and apostasy shall be finally put down forever.

Adoption into Christ

08 Monday Dec 2014

Posted by Savannah in Westminster Larger Catechism

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Adoption, Christ, Covenant theology, God the Father, Grace, Holy Spirit, Liberty in Christ, Westminster Larger Catechism

Westminster Larger Catechism in modern English question number seventy-four:

Q. 74. What is adoption?

A. Adoption is an act of God’s free grace, in and for His only Son Jesus Christ, by which all those that are justified are received into the number of His children, have His name put upon them, the Spirit of His Son given to them, are put under His fatherly care and administrations, admitted to all the liberties and privileges of the sons of God, and made heirs of the promises and fellow-heirs with Christ in glory.

Busy Days…

13 Saturday Sep 2014

Posted by Savannah in Life, Reformation

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Christ, Ecclesiastes, God the Father, History, Holiness, Law of God, Time, Work

Busy Days...

“Go, eat your bread in joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head.” ~Ecclesiastes 8:7-8

There are those seasons in life when the days seem to stream by quickly…too quickly. This week has been like that…busy, full, long, and yet over already…. Many older people have told me that as one gains years, the faster the time seems to fly. I am yet young, it is true, but I do believe them. One time I had a long conversation with a lovely one hundred year old woman. She told me that when one gets to be old, not only does time go by so quickly, but also that it is hard to not live in the past – and that living in the present was something she had to work at every day. However, it seemed to me that this godly old lady most definitely was living in the present, seeking to honor God however she could where she was currently. I was very glad that I had the opportunity to get to know her a little bit. She was an interesting person….

Anyways, by my own nature and personality, I tend to be a future-oriented person, so I sometimes need to stop and remind myself of some of the lessons I learned from that little one hundred year old Christian woman. One of those lessons is to remember to take the time to enjoy the blessings that God has given to me. But let me rephrase that – the blessings which God has absolutely showered upon me. Even though Ecclesiastes, with its “dark sayings and riddles,” may be better known as a somber book, I often find it refreshing and a joy to read. I used to be saddened every time I came across it – now I turn there purposefully, especially when I know I need my head screwed back on straight and my perspectives on life sorted out – again – in a more Biblical fashion.

One thing that is impressed upon me about the book of Ecclesiastes is the Preacher’s focus on the fact that we are God’s people and that God is God; and especially how he is the one who cares for us in every way. We do not have to slave throughout our lives in fear, as do those who worship demons – we are, rather, to labor in hope, in joy, building up what has been broken, cultivating what is there to be cultivated and disciplining what there is to be disciplined, knowing that history is not repeating itself in a futile, pagan cycle of life, but is working out to the glory of God and that our place in history is just that – a place in God’s history.

This reminds me of another verse in this book: “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.” (1:9) As the apostle said so many years after the preacher wrote his book, there is no temptation we endure that is not also experienced by our brothers in Christ. Surely this is one way that there is nothing new under the sun. Nations rise and nations fall. Peoples aspire towards nobility wherever the revelation of the law of God goes – and then they transgress and fall. Individuals draw near to God, repent, obey, and he blesses them – and then they sin, despite his bountiful blessings. 

Yet, for all this – all this which seems futility to those who would make their own way, to those who would make their own mark on the world and would see their name handed down for generations because of their own power, those who name their land after themselves, only to die and leave it behind to those who will not remember them – for all this, we, as God’s people, are called to live in hope, to live in a new song of praise, to live in joy – why? – for he has already accepted our works, he has already approved what we do. The words “in Christ” usually follow up verse 7 every time I read it or think upon it. For, as the New Testament makes very clear, that is how it is. In Christ – in Christ Jesus alone – we stand accepted before the Father. Our works, done for his glory, imperfect though they be, futile though they may seem to us when we look around at the swirling sin, raging unrepentance, the sorrows and griefs all around us – we are accepted in Christ Jesus and counted as holy in the eyes of the Almighty God. 

And thus it is that we are to live in this world – as dying, yet alive; as alive, yet dead already. In Christ, we are accepted, made righteous, brought near to where we can praise the God of creation, worshipping him in the beauty of holiness, filled with hope and confidence that his law will be kept, his word sealed by its fulfillment, and assured that ourselves – our whole selves, body and spirit – will be brought near before the presence of Christ at the last day by the power the word of his never-failing covenant.

Therefore, the end of the matter is this: fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

A Testimony

17 Saturday May 2014

Posted by Savannah in Journeys, Life, Spiritual Warfare

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Christ, Covenant theology, God the Father, Love, Love of God, Pride, Sin

Me “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands. I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.” ~Psalm 143:5-6

It is a good thing to step back and consider what the Lord has done in history, so that I can understand myself in context. It is also a good thing to step back and consider what the Lord has done in my own short life, so that I can better understand my God.

I have recently had a birthday and I am now twenty-six years old. I feel as though I am going around a bend in the road into a new season of my life. At the same time, I think I have rediscovered something I had lost – and dearly missed without knowing quite what it was that I had forgotten. It is very simple and nearly unbelievable: I had almost forgotten how it is that God loves me.

Yes, I know how God loves me. I can describe the love of God in theological language. I tremble at the thought of the justice of the Holy One and at his just love and mercy. So, no, I didn’t exactly forget how God loves his saints. But I failed to remember that – and what that means in my own life. The past ten years, in particular, have been filled with spiritual – and physical – struggles as God has slowly cracked apart my pride. I have struggled long with things that were only symptoms of my failure and lack of knowing God. Many sins have I had to face – sins which turned out to only be at a surface layer, no matter how deep and fundamental I may have thought them at the time of discovering them.

Now the gospel is transforming me yet again – that same gospel I have believed since before I can actually remember anything. In the few very early memories I have, my childish heart was made happy because God loved me. I did not really understand sin, but, while I knew there were horrible terrors unknown to me, all that was “out there somewhere” because I was assured that God loved me and that he would take care of my family and myself. I was happy because God forgave me when I was disobedient because of Jesus, somehow. And in this I was content as a young child.

Then I began to learn of sin a little more. I grew cold and hard. I knew indeed that I was a sinner, but, on account of my pride, I was but rarely able to behold my own iniquity – so I often begged God to show me my sins so that I might repent. He left me in this state for a number of years, though I was secretly miserable because I knew I wasn’t pleasing God. I believed the Scriptures and I knew in my soul that I was living with a sinful heart and committing far more sins that I was aware of. But I yet clung to the fact of Christ, knowing that he stood between my sin and the Father – even when I could not feel it.

Finally, God began to show me a few of the sins in my life, even as he used the Westminster Standards to deeply shape my heart in those formative teenage years. I slowly began to be able to identify more and more what sin was – both in myself and in the culture around me. At this time I began to struggle with ill health and weakness, as well as with my uneasy conscience and abiding fear. I wept in private nearly daily. The blackness of the darkness of evil intruded into my presence often. I clung to the fact that God is – and that I was his because he has spoken. I sought to repent; but my pride proved to be a greater wall than I could ever possibly surmount in my own strength.

Then my life was turned upside down. Or so it seemed at the time. It was at this juncture that I began to understand that a local church truly, Scripturally, ought to be a part of the individual believer’s life and not just an optional thing that is sometimes nice to have. Arrogant and lonely, I struggled with this in a particular congregation, as well as with the other recent upheavals. Even darker days in my heart ensued. My health was still less than perfect – and my very soul was anguished. I cried out to God – but, still, most of the time my Father seemed quite deaf to my voice, even as I remained blind to my own iniquity. Again, the utter blackness of the abyss drew near to me. Rarely did a day pass when I did not weep in private. Yet, I still knew that God was faithful who had promised – I knew the very King of glory stood between myself and his own holy wrath. Even so, my soul drew near to the gates of death in the foolishness of my heart.

Strange, slow days for my heart followed this. I suddenly was brought face to face with the humiliating fact that, not only the very sins I had been denying were present in my life, but also that I was exceedingly selfish and dishonoring God in my heart. Even though I was greatly humbled, I yet remained centered on myself. I regained my health to a great degree – but after encountering a very large disappointment, my health began to erode again. I was afraid to admit that because I was too afraid, too self-important, and too self-reliant. I planned things. I embarked upon things. I continued to learn, little by little, more and more about the importance of other believers in the life of the Christian – and a little bit about proper humility towards the due authorities appointed by God, especially in the church. I learned more about sin and suffering, more about Scripture and its applications in my own soul. And, little by little, I learned more of the awesome, fearsome, holy, kingship of my Lord and Savior and of his everlasting covenant. I believed that nothing I ever did could ever change that word of God – and in that there was great comfort, though I yet was uneasy in his presence.

Then it so happened that God destroyed me. Slowly, one by one, he took my skills, my plans, my hopes, my abilities, plucking them from my greedy, clutching hands. He took my church family from me – family which meant more to me than my extended family. He took from me the capacity to enjoy things I previously delighted in – including the ability to think, reason, and converse coherently. He took from me strength, stamina, and the ability to work hard. My health was slipping quickly and I felt as though he was even taking from me my sanity. I was disappointed, frustrated, crushed, frightened, and, in some respects, truly outcast. In these dark days, I learned of God’s love – more precisely, of the strength of his love to his people in defending them and judging their enemies. God shall never leave the ones for whom Christ died unvindicated. Yet – all this! – and I was still filled with pride. Anguish overwhelmed me because I believed I was no longer good enough to work hard – ergo, that I was unable to love others; thus, unable to obey and please God. I was humiliated because I was ill; staggering, though not drunk; weeping, though not truly “depressed”; mourning as one doomed to die, but not dead, afraid of the justice of God, knowing I could not please him; seeing primarily the strong, hard face of my King set against those who rebel against him and against his holy Father – my Father.

I do not quite know what happened next – save this – my Father granted me mercy. Somehow, he showed me that which I had long known and declared: it was not the quantity of expenditure of energy in my deeds that would come before him and find his approval, gaining his attention and love. I was already – and had been all along – one beloved for the sake of Christ – and for his sake alone. My obedience added absolutely nothing to that. I knew that – Oh! how I knew that! – but I had forgotten to remember to apply that deeply and broadly to every area of my life – I had retained my pride to a great degree, keeping it hidden under the face of love. I still do not know how it was that God finally granted me this understanding – I do not know if it was through blessing me in a different, loving congregation of his church; or perhaps through reducing me to sitting nearly idle and lifeless, listless and too weary to be ashamed of my inactivity, too confused to be able to confront life; or perhaps through placing me into the loving, protecting, comforting arms of my family at such a time. However – in my anguish he showed me a truth so profound as to leave no room for that humiliation that results from pride – only for a quiet, silent, humble wonder at the mercy of God beyond any I had yet known. The gospel – perhaps I have finally learned it. For Christ’s sake – Christ, the Lamb of God and my merciful High Priest, for me, as well as for the whole church – for Christ’s sake, I am one beloved, one provided for. This is my name. My given name means “the barren one, gift of God” – and my barrenness and weaknesses have indeed proved a gift of God in order to destroy some fundamental falsehoods I had been cultivating for the past ten years.

This is my testimony: I am a sinner. I am beloved of Christ. I do not have to labor to deserve his favor and blessing – his love is freely given – as freely given to the weak as to the strong, who are better able to engage in the deeds associated with the advancement of the kingdom of Christ. The response of faith is heart-obedience – and the measure of heart-obedience is not calories expended, but in willingness to put aside self – all self – willingness to be weak, willingness to be patient, willingness to trust Christ wholly, entirely, and to draw strength only from him and his promise. It is not labor alone that sanctifies us. Nor is labor itself love. Love is the reason for the labor. Love is obedience – and love is the impetus for obedience.

I know not what lessons come next. I have learned much of thanksgiving, of praise, of hope, of steadfast love, discipline, patience, work, fear, humility – but I have much yet to learn. I am twenty six years old now. I have hope that my body shall yet fully be healed, even as I have been blessed significantly already. I must re-learn self-discipline for holy reasons. I must learn how to walk in love – in love freely bestowed. I must learn how to accept love freely bestowed. I must learn how to lean on Christ. I must learn how to pray without ceasing. I must learn how to identify the wicked, creeping pride that buries itself under good things, that I may, in a godly, truly humble way, make war on the wicked parasite of selfish pride and fear of what others might say. This – this – only because I am now free, no longer enslaved to pride as I once was, because God loves me freely.

When I was a young child, my favorite song was “Jesus Loves Me.” I think I sing it now, again, with a little bit greater understanding:

“Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong; they are weak, but he is strong.” 

For the glory of God!

Savannah

Immanuel

26 Thursday Dec 2013

Posted by Savannah in Uncategorized

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Christ, Christian, Covenant theology, God, God the Father, Holy Spirit, Immanuel, Salvation, Scripture

Immanuel, God with us

“Look down from heaven and see, from your holy and beautiful habitation. Where are your zeal and your might? The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion are held back from me. For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O LORD, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name. O LORD, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage…O that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence–as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes the water to boil–to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence! When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.” ~Isaiah 63:15-17; 64:1-4

“The LORD is at your right hand; he will shatter kings in the day of his wrath. He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.” ~Psalm 110:5-7

“And he said to me, ‘It is done! I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.'” ~Revelation 21:6-7

Words from Our God

12 Thursday Dec 2013

Posted by Savannah in Uncategorized

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Christ, God the Father, Holy Spirit, Law of God, Love, Prayer, Scripture, Trinity, Truth

Trees

“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” ~I John 4:15

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” ~John 14:15

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” ~John 15:16

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” ~John 16:13-15

“By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.” ~Psalm 42:8

“Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen.” ~Psalm 41:13

An Explanation

08 Saturday Jun 2013

Posted by Savannah in Life

≈ 4 Comments

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Adrenal Fatigue, Christ, Contentment, Discipline, Faith, Glorifying God, God the Father, Life, Self-Discipline

Savannah

As some of you already know, I have fairly recently discovered that I have a case of adrenal fatigue. Over the past year, my ability to think, to read, to write, to focus, to sleep, to be able to concentrate on anything, has gradually diminished to where it is sometimes difficult for me to hang on to a conversation. This is why I haven’t been posting very frequently–more often than not, I’ve not really quite been able to think clearly enough to write with much coherence. Healing from adrenal fatigue often takes about a year or so–there is no “quick fix” for such a disrupted physiological state.

But one thing is for sure and certain: “the LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake.” ~I Samuel 12:22

In every difficulty that comes our way in life, in every time of testing, during every occasion for re-evaluating ourselves, in every situation in life, whether pleasant or hard, the Lord God of heaven and earth is in the midst of it, working it to our good–for this is his good pleasure. Additionally, there are those times where, especially in diseases and difficulties when the body is ill or out of balance, it can be hard to distinguish the influence of the body upon the heart and visa-versa. Nevertheless, it is for his name’s sake that our heavenly Father carries us through all the rough places.

It is also good for us to remember our Lord Jesus Christ this during such times, as the writer of Hebrews reminds us: “Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood…It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?…For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those have been trained by it.” ~Hebrews 12:3-4, 7, 11

It is a wonderful thing to understand that all the events in our lives are part of his disciplining us and preparing us for entering into his presence–even if we don’t always understand why or how they serve to his glory. For he knows–and in that we must remain content, thus displaying that childlike faith that fully trusts our Father, not only to provide for us, but also to work all things out for his glory and our good, day by day.

This reminds me of what Naomi told Ruth, “Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today”  (Ruth 3:18). Even so, all matters are in the hands of the God of glory, before whom we often must wait quietly, as did Ruth, leaving things in his hands to bring to completion. For true, that is easy to say, but more difficult to apply to our own hearts and in the complicated situations in which we often find ourselves in life. We too often wish to be in charge of our own disciplining and course in life–but it is in the midst of the Father’s perfect discipline that we must learn the self-discipline of true, believing faith.

A Verse for All of Us…

06 Saturday Apr 2013

Posted by Savannah in Uncategorized

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Christ, Faith, Fear, God, God the Father, Joshua, Love, Perseverance, Scripture

August Sunset

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” ~Joshua 1:9

God has given us our marching orders: be strong, do not be afraid, fear him, do not fear what man may do to us, do not fear what circumstances we may find ourselves in…for God is our Father and he is here with us, even when he feels so far away. He loves us with a love that will not let us go. He has provided us our faith–and he will persevere us to the end, for his glory and our good. May all praise ever be his in Christ Jesus our Lord!

Only Jesus Leads to Thee…

27 Thursday Dec 2012

Posted by Savannah in Beauty, Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Christ, Eternity, Faith, God the Father, Holy Spirit, Jesus, poetry, Trinity

083 (1024x768)

A cousin of mine wrote this poem. When I asked him if I could post it on my blog, he granted permission only with the stipulation that I do not give his name…

I love this–it is so beautiful! I love the Trinitarian nature of the hymn–I love the multi-generational outlook of the prayer–I love the simple faith that looks to Christ as the way to the Father, the way to life, the way to peace…I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit
One God while yet three.
Help us all to please Thee
And help our children know Thee.
Teach us all upon thy knee
That only Jesus leads to Thee.

Almighty God through this present strife
Only your love gives us life.
Help us see what lies ahead:
What to embrace and what to dread
From our birth to eternity, never let us leave Thee.
Teach us all upon Thy knee
That only Jesus leads to Thee.

As we and our children learn and grow
Almighty God please help us know
That in this creation this is so:
You, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are One
You, our God are the Eternal One.
Teach us all upon Thy knee
That only Jesus leads to Thee

Oh Holy and Eternal One, grandchildren come
Before their lives here are done
Please cause them like us to know Thy Son;
That You and He are more than Love:
You are omnipotent from above.
Teach us all upon The knee
That only Jesus leads to Thee

And now O Holy Trinity as we approach eternity
Help us and me to heed Thee
Now Holy One please help us all Thy will to see
That from Thy knee we’ve learned – one and all
That You, Father, Jesus and the Spirit are One
Help us answer Thy simple call
And to be with You when this life is done.

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