"Under hopeless circumstances he hopefully believed" (Rom. 4:18). (Weymouth)
Abraham's faith seemed to be in a thorough correspondence with the power and constant faithfulness of Jehovah. In the outward circumstances in which he was placed, he had not the greatest cause to expect the fulfillment of the promise. Yet he believed the Word of the Lord, and looked forward to the time when his seed should be as the stars of heaven for multitude.
O my soul, thou hast not one single promise only, like Abraham, but a thousand promises, and many patterns of faithful believers before thee: it behooves thee, therefore, to rely with confidence upon the Word of God. And though He delayeth His help, and the evil seemeth to grow worse and worse, be not weak, but rather strong, and rejoice, since the most glorious promises of God are generally fulfilled in such a wondrous manner that He steps forth to save us at a time when there is the least appearance of it.
He commonly brings His help in our greatest extremity, that His finger may plainly appear in our deliverance. And this method He chooses that we may not trust upon anything that we see or feel, as we are always apt to do, but only upon His bare Word, which we may depend upon in every state.
--C. H. Von Bogatzky
***
Remember it is the very time for faith to work when sight ceases. The greater the difficulties, the easier for faith; as long as there remain certain natural prospects, faith does not get on even as easily as where natural prospects fail.
--George Mueller
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Don't look back
"Black Horse & The Cherry Tree"
Well my heart knows me better than I know myself
So I'm gonna let it do all the talking
I came across a place in the middle of nowhere
With a big black horse and a cherry tree
I felt a little fear upon my back
I said, "Don't look back, just keep on walking."
When the big black horse said, "Look this way."
He said, "Hey there, lady, will you marry me?"
But I said no, no, no, no-no-no
I said no, no, you're not the one for me
No, no, no, no-no-no
I said no, no, you're not the one for me
And my heart hit a problem, in the early hours,
So I stopped it dead for a beat or two
But I cut some cord, and I shouldn't have done it,
And it won't forgive me after all these years
So I sent it to a place in the middle of nowhere
With a big black horse and a cherry tree
Now it won't come back, 'cause it's oh so happy
And now I've got a hole for the world to see
And it said no, no, no, no-no-no
Said no, no, you're not the one for me
No, no, no, no-no-no-no
Said no, no, you're not the one for me
--KT Tunstall
Well my heart knows me better than I know myself
So I'm gonna let it do all the talking
I came across a place in the middle of nowhere
With a big black horse and a cherry tree
I felt a little fear upon my back
I said, "Don't look back, just keep on walking."
When the big black horse said, "Look this way."
He said, "Hey there, lady, will you marry me?"
But I said no, no, no, no-no-no
I said no, no, you're not the one for me
No, no, no, no-no-no
I said no, no, you're not the one for me
And my heart hit a problem, in the early hours,
So I stopped it dead for a beat or two
But I cut some cord, and I shouldn't have done it,
And it won't forgive me after all these years
So I sent it to a place in the middle of nowhere
With a big black horse and a cherry tree
Now it won't come back, 'cause it's oh so happy
And now I've got a hole for the world to see
And it said no, no, no, no-no-no
Said no, no, you're not the one for me
No, no, no, no-no-no-no
Said no, no, you're not the one for me
--KT Tunstall
Thursday, April 28, 2011
The subversive nature of the Lord's Prayer
Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight. Psalm 51:4
"I don't think you could say more dangerous words than those found in the Lord's Prayer.... I don't think you could wish for something that will turn your life more upside down than this. I think that most of the people who say these words would probably hesitate if they really understood what they were saying.... This is simply a prayer that can't be answered without the tearing down and rebuilding of many things in our lives. Had David prayed and lived this prayer, Psalm 51 wouldn't be in the Bible.
Here are the radical words I have been alluding to: 'Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven' (Matthew 6:10). I must admit that I don't always greet God's kingdom with delight. There are things that I want in my life, and I not only want them, but I know how, when, and where I want them! I want my life to be comfortable. I want my schedule to be unobstructed and predictable. I want the people around me to esteem and appreciate me. I want control over the situations and relationships in my life. I want people to affirm my opinions and follow my lead. I want the pleasures that I find entertaining to be available to me. I want the ministry initiatives I direct to be well received and successful. I want my children to appreciate that they have been blessed with me as their father. I want my wife to be a joyful and committed supporter of my dreams. I don't want to suffer. I don't want to live without. I don't want to have to deal with personal defeat or ministry failure. What I am saying is that I want my kingdom to come and my will to be done.
In this way I stand with David. In David's kingdom, Bathsheba would be his wife. In David's kingdom, Bathsheba would have no husband. In David's kingdom he could have Bathsheba and the blessing of the Lord on his reign at the same time. So, David acted out of zeal for his own kingdom, forgetting that he was sent as the ambassador of a greater King. Sadly, I do the very same thing. I get made at one of my children, not because they broke God's law but because they broke mine. I get impatient with my wife because she is delaying the realization of the purposes of my kingdom of one. Or I get discouraged with God because he brings the very uncomfortable things into my life that I work so hard to avoid.
'Thy kingdom come' is a dangerous prayer, for it means the death of your own sovereignty. It means your life will be shaped by the will of another. It means that you will experience the messiness, discomfort, and difficulty of God's refining grace. It means surrendering the center of your universe to the One who alone deserves to be there. It means loving God above all else and your neighbor as yourself. It means experiencing the freedom that can only be found when God breaks your bondage to you! It means finally living for the one glory that is truly glorious, the glory of God.
You see, the prayer that Christ taught us to pray is the antidote to sin. Since sin starts with the heart, it's only when my heart desires God's will more than it desires my will, that I'll live within the moral boundaries that God has set for me. And it is only God's grace that can produce this kind of heart.
'Thy kingdom come,' words of surrender, words of protection, and words of grace that can only be prayed by those who've been delivered by the Redeemer from the one kingdom that always leads to destruction and death, the kingdom of self."
--from Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy, by Paul David Tripp
"I don't think you could say more dangerous words than those found in the Lord's Prayer.... I don't think you could wish for something that will turn your life more upside down than this. I think that most of the people who say these words would probably hesitate if they really understood what they were saying.... This is simply a prayer that can't be answered without the tearing down and rebuilding of many things in our lives. Had David prayed and lived this prayer, Psalm 51 wouldn't be in the Bible.
Here are the radical words I have been alluding to: 'Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven' (Matthew 6:10). I must admit that I don't always greet God's kingdom with delight. There are things that I want in my life, and I not only want them, but I know how, when, and where I want them! I want my life to be comfortable. I want my schedule to be unobstructed and predictable. I want the people around me to esteem and appreciate me. I want control over the situations and relationships in my life. I want people to affirm my opinions and follow my lead. I want the pleasures that I find entertaining to be available to me. I want the ministry initiatives I direct to be well received and successful. I want my children to appreciate that they have been blessed with me as their father. I want my wife to be a joyful and committed supporter of my dreams. I don't want to suffer. I don't want to live without. I don't want to have to deal with personal defeat or ministry failure. What I am saying is that I want my kingdom to come and my will to be done.
In this way I stand with David. In David's kingdom, Bathsheba would be his wife. In David's kingdom, Bathsheba would have no husband. In David's kingdom he could have Bathsheba and the blessing of the Lord on his reign at the same time. So, David acted out of zeal for his own kingdom, forgetting that he was sent as the ambassador of a greater King. Sadly, I do the very same thing. I get made at one of my children, not because they broke God's law but because they broke mine. I get impatient with my wife because she is delaying the realization of the purposes of my kingdom of one. Or I get discouraged with God because he brings the very uncomfortable things into my life that I work so hard to avoid.
'Thy kingdom come' is a dangerous prayer, for it means the death of your own sovereignty. It means your life will be shaped by the will of another. It means that you will experience the messiness, discomfort, and difficulty of God's refining grace. It means surrendering the center of your universe to the One who alone deserves to be there. It means loving God above all else and your neighbor as yourself. It means experiencing the freedom that can only be found when God breaks your bondage to you! It means finally living for the one glory that is truly glorious, the glory of God.
You see, the prayer that Christ taught us to pray is the antidote to sin. Since sin starts with the heart, it's only when my heart desires God's will more than it desires my will, that I'll live within the moral boundaries that God has set for me. And it is only God's grace that can produce this kind of heart.
'Thy kingdom come,' words of surrender, words of protection, and words of grace that can only be prayed by those who've been delivered by the Redeemer from the one kingdom that always leads to destruction and death, the kingdom of self."
--from Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy, by Paul David Tripp
Monday, March 21, 2011
Come here to Me
You have my heart
And we'll never be worlds apart
May be in magazines
But you'll still be my star
Baby cause in the dark
You can't see shiny cars
And that's when you need me there
With you I'll always share
Because
When the sun shines, we'll shine together
Told you I'll be here forever
Said I'll always be a friend
Took an oath I'ma stick it out till the end
Now that it's raining more than ever
Know that we'll still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella
You can stand under my umbrella
These fancy things will never come in between
You're part of my entity, here for Infinity
When the war has took its part
When the world has dealt its cards
If the hand is hard, together we'll mend your heart
Because
When the sun shines, we'll shine together
Told you I'll be here forever
Said I'll always be a friend
Took an oath I'ma stick it out till the end
Now that it's raining more than ever
Know that we'll still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella
You can stand under my umbrella
You can run into my arms
It's OK don't be alarmed
Come here to me
There's no distance in between our love
So go on and let the rain pour
I'll be all you need and more
Because
When the sun shines, we'll shine together
Told you I'll be here forever
Said I'll always be a friend
Took an oath I'ma stick it out till the end
Now that it's raining more than ever
Know that we'll still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella
You can stand under my umbrella
It's raining
Ooh baby it's raining
Baby come here to me
Come here to me
It's raining
Oh baby it's raining
You can always come here to me
Come here to me
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
If I didn't say it; I'd still have felt it
"White Flag"
I know you think that I shouldn't still love you or tell you that
But if I didn't say it well I'd still have felt it, where's the sense in that
I promise I'm not trying to make your life harder or return to where we were but
I will go down with this ship and I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door, I'm in love and always will be
I know I left too much mess and destruction to come back again
And I cause nothing but trouble, I understand if you can't talk to me again
And if you live by the rules of it's over then I'm sure that that makes sense but
I will go down with this ship and I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door, I'm in love and always will be
And when we meet, which I'm sure we will
All that was there, will be there still
I'll let it pass, and hold my tongue
And you will think, that I've moved on
I will go down with this ship...
--Dido
I know you think that I shouldn't still love you or tell you that
But if I didn't say it well I'd still have felt it, where's the sense in that
I promise I'm not trying to make your life harder or return to where we were but
I will go down with this ship and I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door, I'm in love and always will be
I know I left too much mess and destruction to come back again
And I cause nothing but trouble, I understand if you can't talk to me again
And if you live by the rules of it's over then I'm sure that that makes sense but
I will go down with this ship and I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door, I'm in love and always will be
And when we meet, which I'm sure we will
All that was there, will be there still
I'll let it pass, and hold my tongue
And you will think, that I've moved on
I will go down with this ship...
--Dido
Sunday, March 13, 2011
I can't live...
"With or Without You"
See the stone set in your eyes
See the thorn twist in your side.
I wait for you.
Sleight of hand and twist of fate
On a bed of nails he makes me wait
And I wait without you
With or without you
With or without you.
Through the storm, we reach the shore
You gave it all but I want more
And I'm waiting for you
With or without you
With or without you.
I can't live with or without you.
And you give yourself away
And you give yourself away
And you give, and you give
And you give yourself away.
My hands are tied, my body bruised
[He] got me with nothing to win
And nothing else to lose.
And you give yourself away
And you give yourself away
And you give, and you give
And you give yourself away.
With or without you
With or without you
I can't live
With or without you.
--U2
See the stone set in your eyes
See the thorn twist in your side.
I wait for you.
Sleight of hand and twist of fate
On a bed of nails he makes me wait
And I wait without you
With or without you
With or without you.
Through the storm, we reach the shore
You gave it all but I want more
And I'm waiting for you
With or without you
With or without you.
I can't live with or without you.
And you give yourself away
And you give yourself away
And you give, and you give
And you give yourself away.
My hands are tied, my body bruised
[He] got me with nothing to win
And nothing else to lose.
And you give yourself away
And you give yourself away
And you give, and you give
And you give yourself away.
With or without you
With or without you
I can't live
With or without you.
--U2
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
When loneliness comes stalking
When loneliness comes stalking, go into the fields, consider
the orderliness of the world. Notice
something you have never noticed before,
the orderliness of the world. Notice
something you have never noticed before,
like the tambourine sound of the snow-cricket
whose pale green body is no longer than your thumb.
whose pale green body is no longer than your thumb.
Stare hard at the hummingbird, in the summer rain,
shaking the water-sparks from its wings.
shaking the water-sparks from its wings.
Let grief be your sister, she will whether or not.
Rise up from the stump of sorrow, and be green also,
like the diligent leaves.
Rise up from the stump of sorrow, and be green also,
like the diligent leaves.
A lifetime isn't long enough for the beauty of this world
and the responsibilities of your life.
and the responsibilities of your life.
Scatter your flowers over the graves, and walk away.
Be good-natured and untidy in your exuberance.
Be good-natured and untidy in your exuberance.
In the glare of your mind, be modest.
And beholden to what is tactile, and thrilling.
And beholden to what is tactile, and thrilling.
Live with the beetle, and the wind.
~ Mary Oliver ~
(excerpt from The Leaf and the Cloud: A Poem)
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Take my heart and break it
If I was bold enough
I would follow you forever
But darling please
Rescue me, take me out
Some may say it's my fate
Am i just in time
Or am i late
If you can, understand
Then take me out
I don't start, I don't end
I don't change on my own
Take me out
I don't lose, I don't win
I don't do well alone
Love is what we make it
Take my heart and break it
Take me out
I don't want to stay home
I would follow you forever
But darling please
Rescue me, take me out
Some may say it's my fate
Am i just in time
Or am i late
If you can, understand
Then take me out
I don't start, I don't end
I don't change on my own
Take me out
I don't lose, I don't win
I don't do well alone
Love is what we make it
Take my heart and break it
Take me out
I don't want to stay home
You make me dread
You make me sweat
But can you make
Love mean something instead
Something real, make me feel
I don't want to stay here
You make me sweat
But can you make
Love mean something instead
Something real, make me feel
I don't want to stay here
I don't wanna live half my life
And disappear
So if you want to take chances
Take a chance on me
And disappear
So if you want to take chances
Take a chance on me
Saturday, January 1, 2011
I don't wanna waste your time...
"When we learn to wait for our Lord's lead in everything, we shall know the strength that finds its climax in an even, steady walk. Many of us are lacking in the strength we so covet. But God gives full power for every task He appoints. Waiting, holding oneself true to His lead--this is the secret of strength. And anything that falls out of the line of obedience is a waste of time and strength. Watch for His leading." --S. D. Gordon
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