Tis So Sweet

Truth. It is undeniable. Regardless of what post-modernity would tell us, there is no escaping truth.

The Lord has been teaching this to me lately. I have been overwhelmed with what seems to have been both the most difficult and yet most wonderful 4 months of my life. Many changes, many difficulties, many blessings. Truthfully, I am tired.

I was thinking today, as I fought an on-coming migraine, and zombied through the first 4 hours of the morning, fixed breakfast, sorted and washed laundry, dressed little ones, and began picking up the endless amount of toys, books, and mis-matched socks that seem to accumulate in a matter of minutes, of truth.

I am feeling much.

I wished for 10 spare minutes to journal out my thoughts. That, I was sure, would be sufficient for the day. The Lord gave them, and I was left still feeling overwhelmed.

I wished for a quiet moment to read a Psalm, and pray it back to the Lord. Surely, if expressing my difficulties in my journal was not sufficient, that was truly what I needed. Does not the Lord bid us seek his face? The Lord gave that too, and I was refreshed, and encouraged, but my troubles did not disappear.

I wished for quiet. Naptime came.

I wished for a vacation. The Lord reminded me of the fun-filed day I was to have upon the morrow.

I wished for a moment to cast my cares upon him, and ask for grace for the rest of what was now becoming one of the longest days in my life. The Lord gave it all.

And here I am, finally humbled with the realization that though I wished and wished for my troubles to be solved in a dozen different ways, God had a better plan that has taught infinitely more.

Regardless of how I am feeling, His truth stands. How easy it is, sometimes, to listen to our feelings (girls, you know well what I mean!). (Yet even our own logic and reasoning can speak to us of what would be best for our lives.) How often, though, do we heed the simple truths of the gospel? When heart and head cannot unite, truth always stands resolute.

There are still 6 hours more to pass before the little ones will be put to bed, and the house will rest. I am sure I will wash another sinkful of dishes, pick up another pair of dirty socks, wipe yet another runny rose, and change half a dozen diapers. I am sure that the plans that I had for today will be thwarted, as they already have been, at least once more. And I am sure that in a moment of desparation I shall wish for something I don't have... and tomorrow it will all begin afresh!

Yet God bids us, trust. How could I doubt that He knows best?

Nearly every night, when I lay my Sunshine to sleep I sing what has become "our" favorite hymn. Though she's not yet two, she recognizes the song, and has even started to hum along as we rock off to sleep. I became rather attached to it last Spring when my life met a crossroad, and I was uncertain which course to take; but the Lord gave it a fresher, deeper meaning that summer when Mom miscarried the baby brother I had hoped and prayed would come.

'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, 
 and to take him at his word; 
 just to rest upon his promise, 
 and to know, "Thus saith the Lord." 

Refrain:
 Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him! 
 How I've proved him o'er and o'er! 
 Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! 
 O for grace to trust him more! 

O how sweet to trust in Jesus, 
 just to trust his cleansing blood; 
 and in simple faith to plunge me 
 neath the healing, cleansing flood! 
 (Refrain) 

Yes, 'tis sweet to trust in Jesus, 
 just from sin and self to cease; 
 just from Jesus simply taking 
 life and rest, and joy and peace. 
 (Refrain) 

I'm so glad I learned to trust thee, 
 precious Jesus, Savior, friend; 
 and I know that thou art with me, 
 wilt be with me to the end. 
 (Refrain)

That I could remember to rest upon the simple truths of the gospel of grace. How blessed would each day be with the truth This is the day the Lord has made! And how easy each mundane task would be if I only embraced the truth: My grace is sufficient for Thee. My power made perfect in weakness.
O, for grace to trust Him more!

Friday, February 20, 2009 | | 5 Comments  

William Borden- No Reserves, No Retreats, No Regrets


William Borden was born into a wealthy American family at the end of the 19th century. An heir to at least a million dollars, his life could have been one of ease and luxury. After graduating from high school his parents sent him around the world, and he was able to travel through Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. Through these travels he developed a burning passion for the hurting people in the world.

As a freshman at Yale University he began to pray every morning with a friend of his. Before long the quiet morning prayer became a group of friends praying together, and then a prayer meeting, and by the time William finished his freshman year his morning prayer had turned into a weekly bible study that consisted 150 students praying and studying Scripture together. In just 4 years over 1,300 students were involved in such groups.

When he began college the words "No reserves" were penned in the back of his Bible. Upon graduation he had added "No retreats," underneath.

He had a heart for the suffering, poor and helpless. He founded Yale Hope Mission, where he immersed himself with caring for widows, orphans and drunkards. His heart went out to them with compassion and love, and he invested his time and money towards their improvement. Even with his enormous fortune he did not seek entertainment or self gratification. His life was defined by the phrase, "Say 'no' to self and 'yes' to Jesus every time."

With a heart for people and ministering to them, he sailed for China at the age of 25. However, before going into full-time mission, he stopped in Egypt to learn Arabic. It was here that his endeavors were frustrated. He contracted spiral meningitis within a couple weeks of docking. Before the month had ended he had died, but not before adding one last phrase to the other two in the back of his Bible:

No Regrets.

William's family and friends had pressured him to abandon his pursuit of missions. He had the education, personality, family connections, and finances to make something great of himself. But he remained steadfastly resolved on his conquest, even unto death.

No Reserves. No Retreats. No Regrets.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009 | | 0 Comments  

America the Beautiful- A poem by Judge Roy Moore

America the beautiful,
Or so you used to be.
Land of the Pilgrims' pride:
I'm glad they'll never see.

Babies piled in dumpsters,
Abortion on demand
Oh, sweet land of liberty;
Your House is on the sand.

Our children wander aimlessly
Poisoned by cocaine
Choosing to indulge their lusts,
When God has said, "Abstain."

From sea to shining sea,
Our Nation turns away
From the teaching of God's Love
And the need to always pray.

We've kept God in our Temples,
How callous we have grown,
When earth is but His footstoll
And Heaven is His throne.

We've voted in a government
That's rotting at the core,
Appointing godless judges;
Who throw reason out the door.

Too soft to place a killer
In a well deserved tomb.
But brave enough to kill a baby
Before he leaves the womb.

You think that God's not angry,
That our land's a moral slum?
How much longer will He wait
Before His judgment comes?

How are we to face our God,
From Whom we cannot hide?
What then is left for us to do,
but stem this evil tide.

If we who are His children,
Will humbly turn and pray;
Seek His holy face;
And mend our evil way:

Then God will hear from Heaven;
And forgive us of our sins.
He'll heal our sickly land,
And those who live within.

But, America the Beautiful
If you don't- then you will see,
A sad, but holy God
Withdrawl His hand from thee.
~~Judge Roy Moore~~

This poem was written by the Alabama judge who refused to allow the 10 Commandments to leave his courthouse. It speaks truth. The first several stanzas pierced my heart. But as he comes to the last two stanza he misses a great tragedy that has become truth in America.

Does it not strike significance to Americans that since Roe v. Wade we have preformed nearly 50 million legal abortions? Illicit drug statistics are dismal as well. In 2002, 80% of the new heroin users were under the age of 26, with at least a million addicts at this present day. Marijuana, the most widely consumed, and most popular teen-drug, is consumed by an estimated 1 in 10 teenagers from the ages of 12 and 17. And on top of those alarming statistics we live in a culture razed by the porn industry. A culture with criminals feasting in luxury, and indolent men rewarded for their laziness; where family time is spent sucking in the shallow media-driven entertainment our televisions, computers, iPods, iPhones, and Blackberrys offer. Marriage is rapidly losing it's traditional definition, and the homosexual agenda is gaining more and more power as righteous men hide themselves.

Is this not God's judgment on America?

The prayer should not be for God to keep his hand with America, for it has been withdrawn (in a sense that he has given us over to our flesh) for many years now. Our prayer, as Americans, is that God would make Himself known among us again, and as we sing in America the Beautiful, "God shed Thy grace on thee... and mend thine every flaw." Perhaps then, with His great mercy, God will "...thy gold refine, till all success be nobleness, and every gain divine!"

There was a time in American history, not all that long ago, where Americans flocked into churches to hear a fiery Calvinist preach the Doctrine of Hell. When told that there was nothing separating their sinful beings from eternal damnation, they sobbed and cried aloud. They trembled at the thought of an angry God placing his hand of judgment upon them; and in reverential fear they bowed before their Maker.

The 2nd Great Awakening made history, and Jonathan Edwards and his contemporaries should not soon be forgotten; but let us not consider for a moment that it was the work of men that caused such a great revival of truth in this nation. Only God could work such a supernatural phenomenon, and it is God we should turn to for the next.

With such a bleak outlook upon the United States, let it not be forgotten that even among the immorality and injustice, America is still the wealthiest, most prosperous nation in the world. We are the only nation that still has the Constitution it was founded with, and whose money still reads, In God We Trust. Our memorials speak God's name, and our founders were not slack in acknowledging the Creator as the Divine Institutor of government. Because of faithful men and women, the State of California chose victory for marriage in the 2008 election, with numerous other States affirming the sanctity of human life. We still have the right to keep our property; own guns; speak, write, and assembly as we please; and worship as our conscience dictates.

These are victories. Praise God for them. While we are only ever one generation away from losing our freedom, we, as a nation, are still richly blessed. We should be moved to reverential fear.


(abortion stats: http://www.nrlc.org/ABORTION/facts/abortionstats.html
Heroin and Marijuana stats: http://www.heroinaddiction2.com/heroin-statistics.htm)

Monday, February 02, 2009 | | 2 Comments  

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