Happy New Year

I Will Praise Him STILL!

This year's Christmas meditation was from the song Oh Holy Night!

I am always surprised at what phrases the Holy Spirit impresses my soul with for Christmas. For years, now there have been different highlighter pens that God has used to help me see the beauty and the splendor of His salvation plan that commenced at Christmas. I had to overcome some many and sundry complaints that I had laid up for God and once I had put them aside and repented of my bad attitude, I could see the goodness of God and how He shows us His goodness each and everyday and highlights it at Christmas time.

Of course, it is a constant struggle to get to church on time for the 8:30 service. I am always shocked at how very difficult it is to overcome this huge obstacle of timeliness. The one Sunday that we made it for the first hymn, God's highlighter was nearly visible. The music is never less than perfect at Central and the beauty and splendor of worshipful and God-centered messages are plenteous. It is like a well-watered garden, with no weeds and very few thorns. It isn't a stumblingblock for its well-delivered consistency either.

OH Holy Night!

Don't we sing this every year Lord? Isn't this the millionth time that I have heard this hymn this year? And yet the Holy Spirit seemed to pull my coat tail with the pungency of this hymn. Heavens vails seemed to open, as they often do for me at the worship at Central. I could see numerous scribes penning the purposes that were implied and explicit in one line of that hymn. There was a team.

And the Soul Found its Worth!

One phrase and yet each epoch of history that I had studied, from Old Testament through the present, were clarified.

God breathed into man and he became a living soul.

What great worth is found in the breath of God, within us. And redemption added to that was infinite. Well, they were still writing, in Heaven when the song ended and the vail closed. I couldn't see them anymore, but I knew that the team was showing us the application of that phrase in the hymn and I felt that I was on the bench learning to code and to serve through my worship. Halleluia, what a Savior!

Psalm 65:11 Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness.

God is the one who crowns the year with goodness and fatness!

Every good and every perfect gift comes from the father in heaven! Thank you Lord for all your goodness this year!

56 years young? Thank you for this wonderful reminder from Steve Green.

Continued meditations from Ezra and Nehemiah...

If I am not mistaken...

It seems that it took from October 1st of the year that they identified the problem as being a polygamy and idolatrous relationship aspect of disobedience, until January first for the them to cleanse the community. They were taking confessions, making provisions for the care and keeping of all of the concubines and their children and ridding themselves of this scourge that had made them unseemly in the sight of the Lord.

That was the outward expression of their repentance and reconciliation to God on this one issue that the entire community had turned a blind eye to. God granted repentance and the growth of the kingdom of God, in the days following were better for their turning the feet to obey the Lord on this issue. They taught their youngsters to mind the ways of God and they were able to live in peace and prosperity on God's green earth.

Amos' prophecy ended in a far more dramatic and sad way. I would say it is the opposite of Jonah. God came in a call for repentance and reconciliation, but His word was not heeded. An earthquake came and consumed their land and they had to rebuild from that. Still merciful in that all was not lost; the truth was that some remained to tell the story of what was not heeded.

God often touches one area of blatant disobedience, in His massive condescenscion. God is calling us all into communion with Him. Even with an amazing provision of an advocate with the Father, there in Heaven to plead on our behalf; we have the responsibility to walk circumspectly in our communities. Sin is sin and all sin is heinous and deserves Hell. But, there are some sins that God will tear down heaven and earth to erradicate. I do believe that the abortion industry and the acceptance of such a thing in our country and the export of it, is such a thing.

God, please grant us repentance and cleansing from this, For Christ's sake and give us the reconstruction that was Ezra and Nehemiah's experience, please, please. Amen

Thoughts from a Month long meditation on Ezra, Nehemiah and Psalm 119

Spiritual training is as important as brain training.

What is the chief end of man?

Ezra's response in Scripture was somewhat self-flagellating in prayer and Nehemiah's was a whip in the temple.

From Aleph to Tau, the instruction that our God-glorifying identity is in finding God's purpose for our lives and glorifying Him in it.

It really isn't rocket science!

Praise to the Lord! {The This is "How We Do It" of the Hymns}I call it travels to "Glad Adoration"!

OH how I hated this hymn for years and years!

I felt like it was a stab in my soul! I love you Lord, but

"Hast thou not seen???"

I loved the verbiage, but I hated the sentiments!

I went to church and prayed for years that they wouldn't sing that hymn.

Lord, I prayed, I am loving you, with a blindness of grief and how can you let them constantly sing that "all their longings have been granted in what He ORDAINETH?"

Not mine! I have not seen that, Lord! I stood beside the grave of my child (my firstborn son,3 weeks old, snatched from my arms, by death) and I am certainly sure that this is not a longing of mine that has been granted in what Thou hast ordained?

I am praising you even though I am ANGRY, Lord. I do not like this, not one little bit. I am praising you from the discipline of submission and mercy and I know that you can answer the questions in the sweet by and by. I am not bitter against you, but I am bitter against these hymn-writers who are writing from their lofty towers.

Granted in what He ordaineth?

Even if that hadn't happened in my earliest seasons of serving You, Lord, I don't think I could sing that with a whole heart. "All thy longings?"

Am I supposed to let my Amen fully resound with that? How?

I know that you know my Longings, Lord. Why are all these people enraptured and I am in tears? I can't say that.

Well, I would really like to tell the story of how God carried me to a place where the answers to the questions of my soul could be ministered to. And to the day where, I was singing that song, in my soul and in my innermost prayer closet in completely good conscience!

God, please give me grace and time to tell that story.