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.