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Ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is
even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth
away. James 4. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together. Ps. 34:3.
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD
bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the
flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. Is. 40. Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights. Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts. Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light. Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens. Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created. He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: He hath made a decree which shall not pass. Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps: Fire, and hail; snow, and vapours; stormy wind fulfilling his word: Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars: Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl: Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth: Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children: Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven. Psalm 148.  | | |
| I'm standing here at the gate
And it is wide open to me
But I balk at the wall
That is in me I stand in the face
Of this free grace
But I fall to the ground
I fall
What can I do?
My wall is just too great I need cleansing
But I am as the timid one
At the back of the crowd
I'm trembling in my sins
Am I doubting once again?
Where is your faith in grace?
Can I not believe and let it go?
I sin
Again? But there is no crowd
I'm naked, alone
Looking through the gate, ashamed
The King sees what I am
Yet He beckons again
He knows He can heal me Abashed, I stare
Is this, is this--despair?
No. There is a scintillating hope
Somewhere
But I am so ashamed
I turn my head in shame
And close my eyes tightly in sorrow Yet I see
Behold! Behold!
The crucified Christ
Mangled
Blood streaming down
More than my tears
"Is this not enough?
Is this not enough!" O God!
It is enough! The wall falls down
My soul breaks to pieces
But then I am strong
Upheld
And I walk through the gate
From grace unto grace
And He cleanses me
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ... For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. Romans 5:1, 2; 6-11 | | |
| My dear readers who suffer reading through my web log entries,
You may have sensed that I have this thing for vagueness. In fact it's terribly fun. I have been informed of the apparent lacking of the previous post, which I have intended to rewrite for a few weeks now. So, if for nobody else's good than my own, here goes...
ThanksIn every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
I Thessalonians 5:18
Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.
For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
Psalm 30:4-5
It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most high:
To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,
Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.
For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.
O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.
Psalm 92:1-5
I have so much
to be thankful for that sometimes I feel like flying through the roof.
In fact, I do. My soul does. God's grace is so magnificent--it
surrounds, covers, and uplifts me. And I am thankful, so thankful. God
has done so many wonderful things.
In the humblest things there is so
much to be thankful for. I was chopping green onions for over an hour. After a little while I was growing distasteful of it, especially because of all the sawing away it takes to get through them completely. Then I thought, "Why on earth shouldn't I enjoy it? This is great." I really didn't have a reason to dislike it or to think that it wasn't great. I ended up truly enjoying such a simple, monotonous task. Also, I washed the van and car. Washing one vehicle is not bad, but washing two can become tiresome. Yet, it turned out to absolutely fun. The weather was gorgeous; it was one of those perfect days that could nearly slay* me, with its soft wind and beautiful display of God's creation. It was wonderful. Not only was there that, but Kris and Josh came out and helped me. If there isn't enough glory in doing something outdoors on a perfect day, then add the goodness and pleasantness of brothers dwelling together in unity. God has given so much in even the most ordinary tasks, whether alone or with others. If I could just keep my eyes open and clear, I would never run out of things to be thankful for in chores alone.
Then, there are high and marvelous things that far surpass my understanding. For one, there is God's intricate and effectual weaving of life and life. Circumstances, places, and people are put in such a way that lives are mingled and bonded together. I have been given so many friends, and they have cheered, supported, empathized, prayed, laughed, edified, and shared in good times. Two are better than one, and a three strand cord is not easily broken. I have so appreciated the mutual strength that is in friendship (though I admit, I think I have gotten the better end of the deal). Not only that, but one particular friendship has turned into that of which I have dreamed--beautiful courtship. Despite the years that it has taken to develop other friendships, Kip's and mine deepened so miraculously fast, that I cannot cease to wonder. It had been (and continues to be) a strikingly edifying relationship, which, after a few months, was undeniably grown into love. I had hardly dared hope for it, yet now I have it, and it brings me such joy, and causes me again to give sincere thanks; I am so thankful for Kip, and for God's working. <3 Then, there's Christ's gracious adoption of souls unto himself. I'm not worthy of any other thing that I've mentioned, much less this. Though I have messed up so many times, and continue to, Christ has taken me for his own, and stuck with me; he's pulled me out of holes, taught me, shaken me, upheld me. Through everything I have gone through, there has been Christ my comfort and strength. It amazes me that God would give his faithful efforts to me, and have so much long-suffering and mercy.
God's wisdom, omnipotence, and grace have created spectacular gifts, whether in chopping onions or in binding hearts, for which I cannot begin to have enough thanks or merit. O give thanks unto the Lord, for he truly is Good.
Now I am thankful that I am allowing myself to go to bed.
And, if you have read that entire post, I'm also thankful for that. Really.
*Carolita...At least I didn't say I could just die in it. ;) Or perhaps you blissfully forgot that...
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| In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
I Thessalonians 5:18
Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.
For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
Psalm 30:4-5
It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most high:
To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,
Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.
For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.
O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.
Psalm 92:1-5
I have so much to be thankful for that sometimes I feel like flying through the roof. In fact, I do. My soul does. God's grace is so magnificent--it surrounds, covers, and uplifts me. And I am thankful, so thankful. God has done so many wonderful things. In the humblest things there is so much to be thankful for: I was chopping green onions and washing the vehicles today--God has given me the physical ability to do and enjoy those things, he has put color in his creation, there was beautiful weather today, my brothers were there with me, and on and on. And there are things so high and marvelous, like God's intricate and effectual weaving of life and life, and Christ's gracious adoption of souls unto himself.
O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is Good.
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| A Bit of Nothing
or, The Tale of Melasses, Sugar, and Honey
It's scorching hot and there isn't a breeze. Melasses, with frazzled
hair and beading sweat, stands over a pot, and her eyes almost send
forth sparks. "That there youngun done berled the coffee till you could
po' it out like seerup, and she hain't brought the water yet, and the
babies be screamin' their fits, and I've 'bout sweated all my hydration
out m' skin po'es, and I'm sick of it. Sick, sick, sick."
Then,
with all the vigor of ire, she stirred her pot of stewing herbs until
there was a great slosh of it, bringing her anger to an exploding
climax.
"I'm done with it! I'm done!
If they want to eat inything cooked, they gotta cook it thimselves. In
fac', if they want inything at all, they can get thim lazy selves up
and go and git it. Ain't no use, fryin' m'self all the livelong day for
a buncha ungrateful good-f'r-nothin's."
And with that she stomped her fairy feet off into some far
shade where nothing but birdsong and summer heat and her own wrath
would keep her company. Of course, she couldn't hear the birdsong over
her own emotion, so that left her with summer heat and wrath alone.
Meanwhile, Sugar was quite consternated among the wild and
angry children. She bit her nails and furrowed her brow. "I jus' donno
what to do," she told herself again. "These chilluns are beside
themselves, and I think I shall be too in a moment... Stop that now!
Stop that! Now, now, that ain't nice. No, darlin', don't pull 'er hair
out--it's quite attached. Let's play a quiet game. Hey, y'all, listen
to me now! I said let's play a quiet game!" Seeing that no one heeded
her syruppy, if strained, commands at all, she returned to her former occupation of nail-biting and
ran off to find Melasses.
"Melasses, I think the chilluns done et somethin' to make 'em
go mad. I know they's perfec' angels really, but...Melasses? Woah,
sonny! What in the worl' happen' to the stew? Melasses!" At the moment
Azure came walking carefully with full pails of water. "Here! Dump it
here! We gonna pollute the air with all this scorchin' food an' the
little birds are gonna get a cough an' it'll be all our fault an'..."
...and at that moment the pot sent up a huge sizzle or roar, and sent
out rolls of angry steam which prevented her next worry from being
heard.
Wide-eyed at Sugar's state, Azure apologized--"I'm sorry Miss
Sugar, but Ruby twisted her ankle agin and it took us fer-ever to fin'
her, and I jus' now got the water."
"She twisted her ankle agin? Alas! First the chilluns, then the pollution, now a medical emerjuncy!
Where is Melasses?" With that she ran off in hysterics screaming for Melasses.
Then
came Honey. The children were making the most of their lungs, and were
all engaged in a petty fight, adminstering all manner of scratches and
bruises one to another. "Now ain't this the epitome of brotherly love!
Chillun! straighten up an' sit down an' quiet down, or I'll go an' fin'
a limber twig t' use on you!" A speedy silence came upon them at that
mention and their mussed hair, dirtied faces, and blackened eyes
quickly put on all sobriety. "You just wait till yo' Mama and yo' Papa
come home. They gonna be awf'lly ashamed of you. Now where is Sugar? I
thought she was watchin' you."
"I thank she wint f'r a run or somethin', over that way," replied Jet earnestly behind two ludicrously purpled eyes.
"And what is that smell? Melasses never scorches food. Is she gone too?"
Jet
spoke up again. "They must be exercisin' t'day. I saw her doin' some
sorta march in that very same direction!" he said in amazement at his
newfound revelation.
"Oh, dear. Well, we shall hafta git supper together while
they are on whatever sorta expedition they might be on. Y'all have
been somethin' bad and I honestly donno what I oughta do with ya.
Anyway, come on, let's go git some more vetchtables from th' garden."
Thus, she raised her brow, dabbed her forehead, and resolutely led the
little fairies to that more profitable (as well as more orderly)
engagement.
So, the vegetables were gathered and stewed, the table
furnished and filled, the two fairies returned with more sober minds,
and supper eaten with all the fineness of good food and good
behavior--not because of the exceeding snap of Melasses, nor abundant
sweetness of Sugar, but by the balanced and healthful character of
Honey.
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