I Need Thee Every Hour.

Luke 12:19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. Luke 12:20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? Luke 12:21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Where is your treasure? Perhaps it is that leanness of quantity in this or that area can drive us to God or away? It is not automatic that the soul attributes leanness to the good providence of a loving father. It is instructed in the mind, it is expected of the believer, truly…”Thou hast taught me to say… It is well with my soul” but is it? Wellness of soul in leanness of circumstance is not a verbal ascent. It is a confirmation of the Holy Spirit to give that blessed assurance and it is prayed and sought for, not talked about and demanded as a resource. Let us not follow the masses who claim assurances that have never been tarried for or asked of the Father. Let us not lie to oneanother and say we are well when we need prayer and help and grace to help in the time of need. The battle is not a lone fight but a corporate one. It is me, o Lord, standing in the need this morning. Blessed Assurance, notwithstanding. Halleluia and a sacrifice of praise, but in need nonetheless. I trust my Jesus to fulfill His every promise. In Jesus Name, Amen

Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.

I was so struck by the remaining sin of NY pride {not to mention Black pride} that remains in my experience{to my shame, I confess}, even though years of attempting to mortify the sin is behind me.

I move to a little city and my remembrance and love of the "greatest city in the world" hangs onto my soul like a sore. I am missing home, for sure. I am proud of my roots, maybe. God has a way of turning even this canker to His own glory.

I heard it in the Tabernacle this morning. The testimony that where sin abounds grace also much more abounds. Like the towering testimony of mans ingenuity and the beautiful weaving of symphonies to delight the ear, God has not left us New Yorkers without a testimony of grace abounding. He seems to say, if you must boast, which seems inevitable, coming from the greatest city; boast of the light of the city of your heart, Jesus.

Boast with as much vigor that Christ has delivered and is continuing to deliver you from sin and shame and maybe the pride of place and circumstance may be sloughed off in the delighting in the true "Light of the World" having come to you. It is truly a spiritual precarious position to be in, but our Lord has grace abounding. Halleluia, what a Savior.

Help my tongue today, dear Lord.

2Peter 2; For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. .../But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

The power of words to exalt the pride is clearly evident, in experience and in this passage. I see Peter taking this dangerous dog to task in his observations, by the power of the spirit, giving us, who deal in words ammunition to slay the dragon of beastiality that words enflame in our hearts. Beware, he bellows. The greater the words that you engage in using the more puffed the heart usually becomes. Look at the angels who sinned. Look at the puffed up judged people groups.

Peter, we are tempted to say. Are you not jealous of the giftedness of the wordologists that have fluidity to put into words their observations. I think Peter was talking to himself. Christ gave him all of the education that he received and yet his power of speech that kept increasing kept him aware of his remaining depravity. I think that is often why the prophets were talking about the corruptness of their tongues first and foremost. My tongue blesses God and curses circumstances and situations far too swiftly for my comfort. Oh that my tongue could be tamed before the beastiality of my heart could be observed by others…

If it is not cleansed by Jesus, and on constant watch on both ends the puffing up and the deplorable degradation, judgment is ensuing. Help Lord with my tongue today, in Jesus Name, Amen.

"The Happiest Day of my life" rings the words from the mouth of the twins in Life with Father...

It was the day of their baptism. Infant baptism, no doubt and the commitment to raise a godly seed, in the fear of the Lord. Verbalized and exemplified in their baptism. When I pass the little church around the corner, I see Mr. Day, as big as life and hear the words of that mother. I do hope his soul became as clean as his steps were. I do hope that those words penned by his children were not an endictment against his lost estate. As though a man could live so close to the things of God and miss them entirely. When can I get baptised mother? I hear from my sweet and littlest soul. I do not want to quench the flickering young flame of faith that is calling out to allign itself with the only tool on earth with the right directional signals, the Church of Christ. My children love me and are showing me {the elder ones} that their faith is their own business. Perhaps my judgment for making them wait and wait, until we see signs that they are mature enough to know what that commitment means. I know that the root of the matter is most important and the fruit of allegiance to Christ is the utmost importance. But, as a mother, the "happiest day of my life" is the day that I know that their hand is firmly in Christ's hand. Baptism {infant or believer} notwithstanding, I pray that the steps that they clean first will be the steps of faith and truth and that their souls would be firmly emplanted in Christ as new creatures. If I live to see them baptised, all or not. Christ hold them firmly. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Only Jesus paid it all for the sins of those who come to God, through Him.

Jeremiah 48: 29, 30 We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud ) his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart. I know his wrath, saith the LORD; but it shall not be so; his lies shall not so effect it. Thus far is the Judgment of Moab. Jeremiah was the spiritual accountant, as it were. The cultural sins and manefest and calculated to cost this much. He lays it out deliberately and clearly. No one is exempt. We can see that our paganism costs. The image of God is in the nations as well as the individuals that God has made. I always imagine Daniel reading this passage and wondering why are the people of God enduring the judgment that is meant for Moab? His prayers never seemed to reflect a comparison of the endurance that God’s people were enduring through that period of history. I find it amazing that Daniel didn’t say, Lord, these people are not even considering Your law and You are afflicting Your people? Their judgment was eternal and Daniel was very aware of that. God’s presence in the suffering was enough for Him. The ultimate judgment for the sins of Moab was coming in Christ. He who knew no sin, became sin on our behalf. The judgment of Moab is purchased in Christ. His blood has satisfied our corporate sin and our personal sins. We don’t have that which to pay for the image of God that was marred in us and our cultures. We have only to search for the robe of righteousness from our Savior and the image of God in the intentions of the cultures as He saves them. God has a greater intention for us individually than we can know. God in Ruth’s redemption showed us that He is not so repudiated with the nations that, if we reach out for Him, we cannot be redeemed. He saves to the utmost. But, we must know that we deserved to drink that cup of wrath of Moab and all of the nations’ cups in our melting pot. We deserved every dreg of wrath that was purchased by our Savior. He has redeemed us from that wrath. Daniel knew every word of Jeremiah, would be seen true, even if it seemed reversed, in his day. The heathen were empowered and standing above God’s people. God is greater. Christ is the fulfillment of God’s mercy to us and the completion of our redemption, that we should live in gratitude and solace that we deserved that wrath and we, in Christ are a new creation. Halleluia, what a Savior!

Why do we praise God in suffering?

Why should we worship God in untoward circumstances? We do know why we worship God in the gracious provisions and happy times of our lives, but why would or should we worship in our confusion about the will of God? {Trusting God, Jerry Bridges is the resource for this subject and many many sermons have been preached by many people} It seems to me, just to boil down my own miniscule experience of worship, since becoming a Christian that the word of God directs us to focus on God being just and the justifier of them that come to God through Christ. That is the warfare on this earth as expressed in Scripture. If we justify God in our lack of understanding, He promises to justify us and our situation, eternally. We really do deserve Hell, but Christ has paid our ransome. It is so easy to forget this as we live in the lavish mercy of God that He extends to us so liberally. The first thing that we say in suffering is "Where is God?" "How could He love me and let me go through this or that thing?" It is not fun to suffer and it is not fun to worship in suffering. But when we do, we experience God's perspective of being seated in "heavenly places" together with Christ in viewing the losses and difficulties. God will show us His reasoning, by and by, but for now to express verbally, that He is worthy of worship regardless of my situation is a reminder of His supremacy in the world.

Lord of the flies, vs. Lord Sabaoth? God is greater, than any problem I have.

James 5 vs. 3-8 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

“ All one body, we. One in faith and doctrine, one in charity…”

God warns us for our own good, about the day of prosperity. Know why you’re given the day of prosperity that you are given. Know that God is weighing the usefulness and the circumspec t way that you are using your resources. Are you wanton? Are you concerned about the wastefulness of the day in which you live? Are you thrifty and looking for where better use can be made of your riches?

This passage, almost above all other passages makes me think of why RL Stevenson wrote Kidnapped. He said, as it were, “I have been in complete need and predisposed to a wasteful uncle and I have seen poverty sit, on the bay waiting for the benevolent hand of the rich person to share and make use of his riches and he sat inside afraid to interact and afraid to create an economy of life-giving for his world and curses came upon him of great proportion, pray his soul was spared, in eternity. But what good uncle could have done?”paraphrase is mine, of course.

God promises in James to make those curses come to fruition when a person of means hides his wealth in the attic. I could see the dance of the dry bones at the bottom of the fall from the stairs, which signifies the power that wealth has to {even, as it were} breathe life into the dry bones of spiritual death. He didn't fall into the valley of dry bones, but imagined that if he had fallen into the valley of dry bones, God would have breathed upon him. It was an allegory. The power of wealth can be used to pick us up, as a culture or judge us. The last days that James is speaking of, seems to be the day when there is Christian wealth makers and givers. Seems a fearful thing, but could it be that a Christian could be rich? James doesn't seem to say this. God can redeem that day.

When the principles of Christianity and wealth come together and RL Stevenson who has seen the woman cursing on the other side of the moat of need holds the reigns of society and not the foolish uncle, what would he do? This to me is the picture of Clarence Day Sr. They showed, he hired people to do everything for him. One servant cleaned the stairs and one servant opened the door for people and one servant cared for the cooking, etc. Down to even his spiritual life, it even seemed that his soul was bartered out to his wife, as it were. He seemed to say, my soul’s business is my wife’s affairs. She is hired to get me to heaven. An amazing thought that culture had been so affected by Stevenson that a seeming rank sinner, raised with no real fear of God would have been so touched by common grace to think in such a way.

I certainly seems to show that you are what you eat. God will judge us by what we feed our children. If we feed them Lord of the Flies, God will become the Lord of the Flies to us. If we feed them Kidnapped, the sinners will become David Balfour. We judge ourselves on this manner. What calls the wrath of God upon our culture, James tells us in James 5. The world is not much different from Elijah’s day, is it? James says. God will be entreated for the earth, as he was with Noah and Elijah prayed for his nation and God was well entreated. How much the more, when the reigns of society are given to the godly, or godfearing man, what a force for good that can be in the world; imagine. Thank God, He has given us all things for life and godliness and even resources to teach us to flee our own wastefulness. Amen.

Kidnapped, online resource I am afraid, Lord. Your Word has found me out. How do I know you will have mercy upon me? Christ alone has paid it all. Is my trust in Him? Cursed is the arm of flesh. If my trust is in my own works, they will fail me. If my trust is in another they will forget me. If my trust is in Christ, He will own me for the sake of His glory. I have nothing to merit salvation on my own merit. I have forsaken my own way. I must repent and forsake the sins of my past and flee to Christ daily and solely for salvation or my trust is futile. I will arise and go to Jesus, He will embrace me in His arms!...Embrace me with Your Grace and Mercy, Dear Jesus and then, make me an agent of blessing on the earth for Your Glory and not for my own glory. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Psalm 42... He is the Health of my Countenance?

When I can't see the purposes of God in my situation it clearly causes fear and sadness. David, seemed to be expressing this feeling in his lament and calling unto God. I want to see what is making me so sad, seemed the call from the depths of soul. In some seasons I seem aware that God is with me though the darkness of the situation might be deep and then, at other times I can't see His presence. I can't see His favor toward me; I can't see how this would or could be His will and He still love me;etc. When the clouds roll away from my eyes and I see His "face", as it were I am helped. His visage is the encouragement of my soul. Amen, Oh I want to see Him!

This is My Father's World?

This is my Father's world, And to my list'ning ears, All nature sings, and round me rings The music of the spheres. This is my Father's world, I rest me in the thought Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas; His hand the wonders wrought.

There is rest in the thought that we are the creation of a thoughtful and careful Creator. Nature sings. The music of the spheres is on the lips of creation and we either sing along, or we don't. Are we singing the praises of our creator? Or, are we singing the praises of ourselves? Aren't we beautiful, is the antithesis of the praise of God. We don't always see this point. We don't say God is nothing, but, like the devil, we say, we will be beautiful as God is, if we are not praising Him. He is worthy of all of the praises in the universe. We are in danger, the closer that we are to the worship of God. The temptation to syphon off a little of the praise and lavish it upon ourselves is our human condition. The devil did that and he will never return to his position. Praise God for the grace and mercy that we have received that our stumblings in this way, don't solidify our condition apart from His grace! Nature sings God's Glory! We sing the mighty power of God, that make the "mountains rise". We have access to God's mercy, through the sacrifice of Christ. It should make us more replete and lavish in our worship than the rest of creation. Oh, Halleluia! We get to sit between creation and the creator, to hear creation delight in His Glories and enter into the praise, as well.

Is it Father's Day yet? {from an essay on Sept 24,2010}

Our father on the earth...ie. Mr. Day {Life with Father}, Mr. Knight{my great grandmother's father} and everything in between

It is not polite what people call children who grow up without a father. I call them bereft, at the very least. Some men have impressed our culture to have them exemplified by their children who have risen and called them examples of what Christianity can lift men to aspire to live up to the ultimate example of God as Heavenly Father. Not just in America, but I love the ones exemplified in America, most. {but, of course, I am biased, in that American way.} The examples that I am considering came from the Cosby show, Life with Father, Cheaper by the Dozen and How Green was My Valley, Spencer's Mountain, Yours Mine and Ours, etc. My father's lifelong grief that he had to grow up without his father led me to look at what men personified fatherhood, to him and to me through him and why.

Since our culture is truly affected by the Judeo-Christian ethic and every good and perfect gift comes from the father of lights in whom is no variableness of turning, I think it is a blessing and unto gratitude and edification to consider the blessing of fatherhood throughout recent history as given to us in the remembrances of children who have been affected or infected by the grace of God in Christ, either directly as Christian children or indirectly, by being in the agreement of the American government that we have inherited.

Calling God our Father, in Heaven has a sacred intimacy that is, at times taken for granted or deemphasized. Jesus could have said, say "Our Heavenly Monarch", which would have had a certain denotation which is certainly appropriate. "Our Father" intimates that we have access to knowledge about God that people, unbought {by the blood of Jesus} have not.

The Day children, the Gilbraith's the Llewellyns, etc. were reared in a time that cherished the biblical example of fatherhood and shined it up and put it on a pedestal; Not the man, but the office, as was clear in their remembrances. Christianity in America and the known world had developed to a point where the role of father was not eaten up by the peer pressure of conformity to materialism. All of the other "isms", no less present then as now, were subservient to the family dynamic. War changed that for everybody and much of what Bill Cosby seemed to do in his expression of the contemporary, post war father, was pick up the pieces of fatherhood that war had shot to smytherines.

It is God's Bride the Church who has developed culture to the point where fatherhood is able to imitate God, to any degree, in any time period. God makes His Church long for what is the image of God on the earth and the battle lines are drawn for the Church to take up the gauntlet and fight.

I do pray that as we honor our fathers on fathers day. We will see and appreciate the love of Christ to give us such a concept of loving leadership. God give us the intelligence and skill to protect and project the real fatherhood that God is and rejoice that we have some part of fighting for the preservation of faithful fatherhood in our day. It is of your mercies that we are not consumed and Your image consumed from us. We have Your example God, to attempt to imitate. Bless our men to be emboldened to attempt the impossible, for the Glory of God. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Christ holds the keys of sound wisdom and righteousness!

Proverbs 2:7. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. 8. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and pre- serveth the way of his saints. 9. Then shalt thou understand righteous- ness, and judgment, and equity; yea every good path.

What a clear reminder is this truth in Proverbs 2 this morning. Charles Bridges underscored the reality in this most coveteous generation that we have been born into. Yes, we may be born into the most prosperous generation in the history of the world and it is impossible to see Christ clearly for the advantages that we have inherited. In Christ, we come as beggars, for the keys of protection from our own lusts and advantages. We are no less to come to the foot of the cross to find mercy and grace to help in the time of need. What greater need than the need of great advantage. Our bellies distended at our continuous corruption in the light of the blessings of prosperity that we have afforded to us. God has our state in His hands. God has bid us, through Charles Bridges this morning to see our need as an opportunity for our Lord and Saviour to grnt us the protection that we need for our souls. In reality, our prosperity clears our mind, if we are honest to know ourselves to be paupers, before the one most highly exalted one. Only, by His Grace we will be saved. We hold as it were one hope in our hands and there are tangled threads around us. Only one of those threads will not break in the day of our greatest need. If we are holding any other hope but the blood of Jesus, we will sink into the abyss. Our daily reminder is where is your treasure? If beauty, it will fade, if friends and lovers, they will forsake, if money it will rot, if Christ, we will reign with Him and all of these things that we hold loosely are preparing us for the greater glory of judging the angels. Let us learn to walk uprightly, that our hearts will be "buckled"{pun intended} correctly to the truth of God and that in that day we should be found having our eternal hope not dashed. Serving the Lord with gladness and giving ourselves in service to those around us, for the Glory of God! Halleluia and may we be found worthy to live eternally with our Saviour! He is the only hope for our condition. We lose, only in that we do not come to Him. Amen.Proverbs 2 commentary from Charles Bridges. God's blessing to us today.

The Faith of Saul?

Where is your faith, today? Is it the faith of the godly David? or, is it the faith of the lost soul Saul? Saul had every advantage, except one a godly moabitess Great grandmother. Let's not go back to Moab, she spoke in her silence. It is not the lineage, that is the advantage, but the perspective. Which way is Moab? It is in your heart, says godly Ruth, to us her spiritual grandchildren. Is it in the music? Is it in the dress? Those are fruit of the godlessness, says grandma. The real fruit is in your heart. Do you worship the true and living God in your heart? Are you willing to make that move from the comfortable relationships of kinship with the familiar to get to know God, who is so other from us, in His holiness, in His truth, but most of all, in His Faithfulness. He is truly other than us. Ruth said to Naomi, I will not leave you and God said to Ruth, I'll not leave you either. Nearly completely destitute of all true relationships but eachother and defiled by having been out there in the world was their condition. They dared to trust God. God made manifest His fidelity to heart religion. Not externalism, but true heart love and still, His relationship with Ruth is manifest to the world. He continues to save the Moabites. He continues to save to the utmost, those who truly come to God through Ruth's most beloved, decendant, the Lord Jesus! Halleluia, What a Savior!

God's intentions are good and deliberate

Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. Is. 49:22

Sometimes, it looks like the redemption of the gentiles was an afterthought or an accident, in scripture. I know that this is not the case, but here it is a wonderful opening of the mind and intention of God to "save to the uttermost".

I find such comfort in the earlier verses, that God always remembers us that I often miss the larger view of this passage. I imagine myself as the loved of God and this is true, but He was talking to His covenantal people in the Old Testament. I know this and it comforts me still, as I think of the comfort that it must have been to Daniel as he went through the captivity. Surely, it must have looked like God had forsaken them. Certainly, his heart would have ached to enter into true worship with the people of God and have the liberty to live out his days in communion with God's people. God had other plans for Daniel. God had not forsaken them, individually or corporately. Neither will He forsake Israel.

Daniel had a ministry of instruction and governing in a Gentile environment. How completely outside of the box of expectation for the godly Israel mindset? "How can these ungodly people ever carry Israel upon their shoulders to God?" must have crossed his mind, more than one time. They must have felt like prey for the digestion of a mighty power, and yet God in them was greater than this mighty power. He has personal plans for us as individuals and He has a corporate plan for His people upon the earth.

When we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, as God's New Testament people, we are fulfilling the intention of God in Isaiah. In symbol we are acting like the Pharoah's daughter to Moses and raising one, who would be slated for destruction, without Christ and bearing him{unsaved Israel, in New Testament times}to the throne of God, in intercession.

God has, as it were, turned the tables and given us the privilege of bearing the Mosaic covenant on the shoulders of the saved Gentile church of Jesus. Halleluia, What a Savior!

So, I am comforted personally that God will not forget me, in my struggles and I am comforted that He had His Bride in mind to draw Israel back to Himself, one day. What a mighty God we serve.

Is your soul in your worship?

I do love soul music. I do love all kinds of music. But, there is something mystical about the emotions that music elicits. Am I singing with my soul to God? He is always engaged in our lives and gives so much more than we could ever know. But, I see in scripture the expression of yearning from God, for our whole worship. The example is Ephraim. All show and little heart. Everywhere, from the time that you meet Ephraim to the prophecies about him throughout the Old Testament, God is calling him to whole-hearted worship. I think of it like a beautiful song that is written by someone else's husband to her. This doesn't belong to you, but you enjoy the sound of it. You wish for that expression from your husband and imagine him singing it to you. But it is not your posession. God seems to say this to Ephraim, all through scripture and warning us all that we not be that type of worshipper. All show and exterior and no heart in it for God. When I hear music that is a show for somebody, I think about my worship to God. I never want it to be rote. I am grateful for the praise leaders that I have met in my life, who are examples of directing the attention of worship, from the place and their performances to God. When that is truly done it is a beautiful sight. There is always too much self in our expressions to God and without His grace, we have nothing to offer Him, but Ephraimish worship. Engaging my soul in my worship to God and in my expressions of love to those I am committed is a deliberate effort. I am grateful for the vehicle of soul music to remind me of the difference between a performance, even a great performance and true worship. God, please grant grace to worship you aright. To give You acceptable praise and worship is very difficult. Even with the knowledge of a sacrificial Savior, who gave His all to save me, I am stuck with futile and heartless expressions to You, at times. Enliven my praise. Bless the ministries and ministers who direct us in worship to be faithful to You, amidst the difficulties of our idolatrous age. Bless and enliven us to truly love You and show love to You in our worship and not just giving lip-service. Cleanse us from our Ephraimish expressions. Help Lord and inhabit our praise, for Your glory and for the growth of Your Church on the earth. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Sometimes our faith is so shortsighted.

It only takes a little cloud to make us wonder if we will ever see the sun, sometimes. When the sun is shining, confidence can run high. It seems that nothing can dull it's light. It is so powerful and energizing. Then, the radar shows a storm, large or small on the horizon. There I am questioning the warmth of the sun. It is overcast in the weather. Today the sun is shining, but, perhaps, it is overcast in my soul. Is God's light dimmed by my clouds of unbelief and doubt? "What can lay anything to the charge of God's elect?" I am redeemed by the blood of Jesus and that power is brighter than the sun. My soul's dimness and my minds questions are but clouds over the full rays of my spiritual sky. I can believe that the sun will shine again. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. "sometimes a light surprises the Christian when he sings, It is the Lord who cometh with healing in His wings" He has the healing and I need but access the healing, for the sake of my undying soul. Carest thou not that we perish? I ask in my unbelief. Don't You see that my soul is flailing in the waves of unbelief? I know that He sees. I know that He cares. I know that He has it under control. My anxieties and fears and cares I am casting on Him.

Thank God for those people, who God has called to build up our breastplate of righteousness.

I can feel, almost tangibly, when the chinks on my breastplate of righteousness are falling off. God's Word is faithful and reminds us to put on the whole armor of God. When I hear the brethren sing to God's glory of the truths of scripture, it seems as though my breastplate is being reinforced. The fiery darts of the wicked one come in and burn and bruise and make me sore. The songs of faith and truth strengthen my heart and my faith. The scriptures tell us to be filled with the spirit singing to one another in Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs, singing and making melody in our hearts to the Lord is essential for those whose hearts are downcast. There is a verse that says not to sing songs to a heavy heart and I have had that experience, as well. A heart so heavy with cares and pain that it cannot see a day when it could sing. God's healing came in spite of myself and it often came through the songs of the believers injected into my soul. I do remember, at my son's funeral, my knees were unable to stand. I felt that I would faint, any moment. The first hymn of the congregation seemed to come into my soul and body and strengthen my knees to stand and then to walk and even to stand at the cemetary. It was the song of the redeemed, I didn't want to hear it. I didn't want to be there. My body was completely given over to the grief. God used the means of the songs in the service to strengthen body and soul. Rarely, are we called to go through those kinds of seasons of unbelief and grief, thanks to God's mercy. But God has the remedy for our griefs and woes and unbelief. He uses the people of God. Songs that they have written. Voices annointed to minister for His faithfulness, instruments playing skillfully for His glory strengthen, encourage, build up and convict us; building our breastplate of righteousness. I think that we will see our armor, when we get to heaven and we will see, what we did to build and strengthen our armor and that which we have done to break down the armor that we have. I pray that we will be found faithful, in that day.

Babylon is fallen, fallen? Is 21:9

Wouldn't it be a sorry sight when we get to heaven and see that much of our labors were to try to raise Babylon from its fallen state. We think it is our job to resurrect the trampling that the Lord's foot is doing on our idolatry. He is trampling Babylon under His feet, through His Bride the church and we are setting up levers and hoya lifts to pick it up. I think that there was certainly a falling in Daniel's day as he broke the Word of God down for the people and prevailed in prayer with God. We have access to the great God of creation, Daniel bellowed to the deafened, educated world of his day. A Savior is coming and in the fullness of time, we will see that the kingdoms of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord, because of the sacrifice of Christ. Catechisms and Creeds, traditions of faith and life-giving habits are the toes of the feet trampling the Babylon under the feet of Christ. We still try to resurrect the pieces of the statue of subjugation and demoralization in our civilizations, but ultimately, Christ wins the conflict, regardless of our insane efforts to work against Him. Glory, Halleluia, His truth is marching...on!

"If thou art?" "If thou can'st?" "If Thou would'st"

The Lord was tempted by the devil, with ifs and thens. "If you are...then. If I am then." I think of the corrolaries and postulates that we had to memorize in High School and I think of Rudyard Kipling's if. If is a strong dare to us for good and for ill. The major life postulate and corrolary should certainly be,"If God be for us, who can be against us?" If we then be risen with Christ seek those things which are above, where Christ is? Oh how often my eyes and my heart are sunk in the mud of this life's concerns and difficulties. The thorns and thistles are choking out the word until I grab hold of the help in the true truth of life that I belong to Jesus. He will help us. He will sustain and recoup my mind, from the anxieties. He is for us. Halleluia, anyhow. Heidelberg and the catechisms are bombardments for the mind to dilute some of the tools of the enemy from totally sabotaging the soul, to the ultimate shipwreck of the soul. The help of God comes with the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimonies. Help us, Lord to love You and trust You, in these dark days and veil of tears. Christ is the light of that city!

Some situations may overcome us...

The older I get the more aware of my limitations, emotionally and socially. I get to my last nerve, alot sooner than when I was younger. Last night I misplaced some money and couldn't recuperate emotionally from the folly of it, even after the money was found. That is just a tidbit of the sensitivities of my aging infirmities. The elders, used to sing that song, We Shall Overcome. There is much to be strengthened by in that song. I imagine the "listening skies" as if God's ear is the sky above us. The faith that can give us strength to march on, forth is expressed by many of the spirituals and hailed in this season of the year. Sometimes, the scripures and the sentiment that caused our forefathers to pen many of the sentiments of overcoming illudes me. I just don't see the overcoming, in the trenches. I see the lights of explosives and the combat, but there is no light of the end of the tunnel of my conflict in sight. I feel jealous of the people who heartily express their commitment to overcoming. I feel like singing I am overcome. I am learning that Jesus is far above my emotions and John reminds me that He is even greater than my heart. He is above the principalities and powers that overtake me in the struggle and can vanquish every foe, with the "word of his power". He is exalted and no individual overcomes, truly without the corporate commitment of the "Body of Christ". God's listening skies are tuned to the cries of His children and not as they cry for their own individual needs apart from His church, but, as we are attached to the living and true expression of His life on the earth, He is glorified in allowing us to overcome, the world, the flesh, and the devil. God's church will overcome, not to the liberty of prosperity, necessarily, but to the liberty of truly expressing His will upon the earth. That is the delicate expression of the vision of what is overcoming to impress upon our children. Not our foot on the neck of our brother, but the freedom to serve our brother, in gratitude for what Christ has done and is accomplishing upon the earth through us. Thank God for a patient family and friends who love me through my unbelief. Maybe, I do see the light at the end of the tunnel, that way.

The Sin of Murmuring

It is a shame how the week or two after Christmas is the worst time of murmuring and complaining. Just last month, not even 3 full weeks ago, we were rejoicing in the beauty of the gifts of and to oneanother and here we are, looking at the specks and spots in oneanother. Shame on me. I am so very blessed with loving family and I wake up on the wrong side of the bed and I am pecking at them something awful. I miss my family and I miss NY. But, that is no excuse for jumping all over my loved ones about their flaws and foibles. Thank God for His grace and mercy with my sinful tongue. I love my family and my husband and trust God's mercy upon us. Help me Lord to express my gratitude for them, more than my disappointment in their deportment and embarrassments to me. Lord, You are the only faithful and true friend, help me to draw close to You in this very painful time. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Who's side are you on? They would ask the apostle Paul.

Romans 1;14

He answered them, I am a debtor to the Jews and to the Greeks. I have a place in my heart to see my people saved, but the Gentiles also, have made a contribution to my soul and I wish to see them redeemed, as well. What a hard place for Paul to be in the first century, it was. He articulated, in the book of Romans, a desire for the Gentiles to come to Christ. Paul had seen the children of Israel squander the inheritance of godliness and the brains that God had given them and he had been privileged to make full use of his brain and his faith. He had a vision that in Christ we could use our brains to find solutions and pray for God's intervention, with furvor. I think the closest that we have come to the vision of that fruition of blending of faith and study came before the World Wars. There was a quote that God has given us the tools in our minds to problem solve, for His glory. We plunged into the midnight of thought and faith going to opposite corners and I think that we need to pray for the dawning of the dance of thought and faith. ie. We have let the devil have much of the entertainment realm. We have not sought to wrestle godliness into our youthful enjoyments. The spiritual battle is fought for the development of the minds and disciplines of my children. Today, I am thanking God for the many, who wrestled truth and faith into my thinking.