Archive for December, 2007
What Wondrous Love Is This!
As I was listening to this hymn tonight I was humbled by Christ’s unfathomable love.
The phrase “Christ laid aside His crown for my soul” moved me as I was reminded that God loved me so much that He sent His Son to die for me. He suffered greatly on my behalf so that I might live with Him one day. I deserved the brutal death that he experienced but because of His grace I will never know suffering like that.
Hebrews 9:27-28 “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”
1 John 4:10 “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
Are you on guard?
Throughout the Christian life we are tempted to find fulfillment in the things of this world. Sometimes we are pulled in different directions allowing the world to capture out hearts – even for a moment. We must be on guard because these things/desires/people/etc. cannot fulfill us! Guard your heart by constantly communing with Him in prayer and reading His word because nothing else can satisfy!!
Proverbs 4:23-27 “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.”
Philippians 4:4-9 “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
An End to your Trial
This quote by Charles Spurgeon is a great reminder that, if you are a follower of Christ, there will be an end to your trials and sorrows.
“Our sorrows are all, like ourselves, mortal. There are no immortal sorrows for immortal saints. They come; but, blessed be God, they also go.”
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it!
While folding laundry tonight, after a difficult day, due to an almost sleepless night, these familiar words (from the hymn “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing”) came to mind: “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love!”
It’s humbling to me just how easily my thoughts and emotions can wander as a result of my circumstances. The rest of the verse is my prayer today, “Here’s my heart, O, take and seal it; seal it for thy courts above.”
“Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.
Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I’ll begin;
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.
O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.”
Robert Robinson – 1758
Stand Firm, there is Hope!
Whatever you face today stand firm in the truth of the Gospel. Scripture promises that if we repent of our sins and follow Christ we will be victorious in the end.
Colossians 1:22-23a “But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation–if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.”
Hebrews 12: 1-2 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
Psalm 33:11 “But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.”
Hebrews 6:19 “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”
