Tag: depression

Our Hope In God Will Not Be Shaken. Be Still My Soul.

The Word of God. Hymns. Music Therapy. God’s help and comfort for us right NOW.

In a shattered world, where do we find real, living, powerful, present comfort? The Bible tells us in Psalm 119, our comfort comes from the Word of life.

When we have no words to pray, Psalm 119 provides the prayers:

Deal bountifully with Your servant,
That I may live and keep Your word.
 Open my eyes, that I may see
Wondrous things from Your law.
I am a stranger in the earth;
Do not hide Your commandments from me.
My soul breaks with longing
For Your judgments at all times.
You rebuke the proud—the cursed,
Who stray from Your commandments.
Remove from me reproach and contempt,
For I have kept Your testimonies.
Princes also sit and speak against me,
But Your servant meditates on Your statutes.
 Your testimonies also are my delight
And my counselors Psalm 119:17-24.

Yes, God is not silent. He speaks. His Word shows us the way.

Do we desire to be children of light in a dark place? What do we do?

Ephesians 5: 18-20 gives us instruction:

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now is time to speak aloud truth. The Bible says, “Thy Word is truth,” John 17:17. We either believe this or not. God gives us choice. He sees each man’s heart, even if mankind thinks he’s his own person not needing Jesus.

He, (Jesus) came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God— children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God John 1:11-13.

Who is born of God? Those who believe in His name. What can we proclaim as true about Him regarding our lives today? Speak aloud Be Still My Soul by Kathrina von Schlegel:

Be Still my Soul, the Lord is on thy side. Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain. Leave to thy God to order and provide,

In every change, He faithful will remain.

Be still my soul, thy best and heavenly friend, Through thorny ways, leads to a joyful end . . . Be Still My Soul

Be still, my soul! for God will undertake
to guide the future surely as the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence, let nothing shake;
all now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul! the waves and winds still know
the voice  who ruled them while He dwelt below. 

Maybe our hope and our confidence is shaken a bit, but we will not be greatly shaken. We will choose this minute, and move about by the power of the Spirit of God to know Him more and be still. 

Rejoicing always, praying without ceasing, and in everything giving thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for us. ( 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.)

Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth” Psalm 46:10.

Are we on God’s side? 

He’s on our side. 

He will guide the future.

 Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart,
and all is darkened in the vale of tears,
then shall you better know his love, his heart,
who comes to soothe your sorrow and your fears.

Do we have His love? His hope?

 God’s heart beats with constant love for us. He doesn’t change. His ways are unsearchable. Do we believe in Jesus?

Be still, my soul: the hour is hast’ning on
when we shall be forever with the Lord,
when disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.


Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past,
all safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. James 4:8a.

 May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ -2 Thessalonians 3:5.

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with . . .  singing.
—Zephaniah 3:17

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.
—2 Corinthians 4:17-18

Our hope is our faith in a true and living God. 

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them – 1 John 4:16. 

You, me, we can trust Him always.

The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
—Romans 8:18.

Music Therapy of the Hymn Be Still My Soul and Psalm 18 is provided to meditate on God’s Promises. He alone is true to His Word: 

You O LORD, keep my lamp burning. My God turns my darkness into light. With Your help I can advance against a troop, and with my God I can scale a wall. As for God, His way is perfect. The word of the Lord is flawless and He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him. For who is God beside the Lord? And who is a Rock except our God? Psalm 18: 28, 29, 30, 31.

No Smiles? Let a Child Teach

To give thanks can be hard. Especially during times of loss or pain.

Children are a gift. They are our teachers. I share a lesson from  a little child.

I heard about a very young boy who never knew his dad. His mom got very ill and died.

Relatives and friends expressed sadness around the boy.

Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months where the boy felt bad because everyone around him had unhappy faces.

He was sick of being sad and decided to do something about it. “People are happy when they get presents,” he thought, “I need to give presents.”

At first, he found things around the house and handed them to his relatives and neighbors saying, “This is a gift for you.”

The boy was changed, forgot his sadness and began to see smiles again.

The young boy asked if he could go to the dollar store to buy things he might give away to people.

“This gift is for you,” he would say to strangers in the park and hand them a little treasure. Smiles and thankfulness he received which made him very happy. Everyone he met was filled with thankfulness as they received his gift.

God holds out a gift, in this present, sad and dark day.

Our Father in heaven, Almighty God gave to whoever would receive:

 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.

Can we hear Him with our eyes and hearts? Can we see His hands spread wide, “This gift is for you.”

Are we critical of the gift? Are we wise in our own eyes?

It’s time to learn from the children:

Jesus said: Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me Matthew 18:1-5.

Children. Believe. God.

We suffer loss, stress, pain. Today, . . . can we see the gift that the Lord holds out to us? His Word is Living.  Comfort. Life. Hope. Peace.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!”
For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
And from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with His pinions,
And under His wings you may seek refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.
You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Or of the arrow that flies by day; Psalm 91: 1-8.

Is it time to decide to turn from the sadness? Is it time to turn to the Lord and let Him cover us in His love?

I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly John 10:9,10.

   

It’s time for life, and that more abundant. Jesus gives . . .

His arms are wide.

The Gospel message is this: We’re all separated from God. Sin has ravaged all of human kind.

 . . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23. 

But God, sent His Son Jesus to die in our place.

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord Romans 6:23.

We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all Isaiah 53:6.

As John the Baptist spoke as the messenger to “prepare the way in the wilderness,” Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near Matthew 3:2. 

Eternal life begins the moment we believe:

 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.  The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.

I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd John 10:11-16.

Is today the first day of the rest of your life receiving the gift from the Son? Pray to the Lord. Do we have the Lord, but continue in stubbornness and pride?

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness 1 John 1:9.

Ask for His forgiveness in that we have all gone astray. Receive the cleansing of the blood of Jesus. And the Lord tells us we be new:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17.

If you have prayed to the Lord to receive His gift of salvation, let someone know! Amen.

Today, He has made all things new.

Continue reading “No Smiles? Let a Child Teach”

Joy comes with the decision to praise!

Joyful, Joyful we adore Thee, God of glory Lord of love; Hearts unfold like flow’rs before Thee, Opening to the sun above. 

Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; Drive the dark of doubt away; Giver of immortal gladness, Fill us with the light of day!

Making the choice to read aloud words penned by Henry van Dyke in 1907, allowing the strings of my vocal chords to vibrate the waters within my flesh,

I am changed.

Not completely at first, but my spirit is lifted from the hard, stale place it was, to a new and lifted height.

Only moments ago, my earthly thoughts had me overwhelmed,

But the melody of Beethoven and the rich poem add a breath and flight to my night terrors and fright.

“Melt the clouds of sin and sadness, drive the dark of doubt away.” Yes, Dear Lord, Almighty God of heaven, only You have supernatural power to do this for me.

Jesus, You willingly shed Your blood for me.”

The words I struggle to pray are enclosed in this glorious hymn,

Just for me! God is an intimate God.

I am brought to a place to give Him praise:

All the works with joy surround Thee, Earth and heaven reflect Thy rays; Stars and angels sing around Thee, Center of unbroken praise . . .

Thou art giving and forgiving. Ever blessing, ever blest, Wellspring of the joy of living, Ocean depth of happy rest!

The daily battle to go astray and forget to put off fret and put on a garment of praise.

My daily battles bring defeat when I become a victim of life’s circumstance. Confused, critical, provoked, and faith-less.

But God:

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble,” Psalm 46:1.
 
God’s word invokes praise. 
Praise, increases faith.
Increased faith brings victory and rest.
 

Mortals join the mighty chorus, Which the Morning Stars began. Father love is reigning o’er us, Brother love binds man to man. Ever singing, march we onward, Victors in the midst of strife; Joyful music lifts us sunward, In the triumph song of life.

Yes, let’s be changed from sadness and doubt. Let’s believe God’s promises and by a filling of His glorious Spirit, let’s shine bright.

Joyful, adoring our Christ Who saved our self destructive, anxious, sinful life.

He makes us gloriously new!

Read your Bible, Pray Everyday, and you grow, Grow, Grow.

When we walk into a dark room, we search for the light switch.

Our world is a dark room. Where can we find the Light to warm our weary and restless hearts? But on that note, the light reveals the dirt and the junk.

Do we really want the Light on?

Common and broad is the media escape. Lights down low, time ticks on. Forgetting the day, and flying off in everyone else’s other world.

But there’s an inner fight and struggle. “I want more than this,” we cry inside. Where’s the Light switch. I need to draw near to God.

The Word is opened, fatigue overwhelms. Eyes can barely stay open, the battle rages on.

Psalm 103: 

Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits–
Praise is a remedy to begin to restore breath.
I want strength and hope.
So, deep cries out to deep, and the best I can do is: “Dear God, You are good.”
Baby steps, perhaps, but I want medicine for my weary soul, so I continue to read:
. . . who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
God forgives my impulsive impatience today. God forgives all my sins. And He heals all my diseases?
What about the disease of worry and fret? What about self-righteousness? What about all the wrong things I say and do?
When I turn to see that God does, in fact, forgive and forget, I wonder, am I willing to do this for others. Forgive, and forget?
To give the other side a break? To let go, to forget?
God’s Word is sweet, but bitter all at the same time.
I have a choice, to close the Book and nod off, or
do I dare request from God to search and know my heart?
Well, yes, He already does. But by me asking, I’m giving Him permission to show me the stuff I keep hiding from myself.
God’s aware of everything.
He still loves. He’s showing me things.
He waits. I read on:
. . .who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
How can God do this? He’s not like anyone we see. He is above our greatest of thoughts. He loves beyond our comprehension.
Am I willing yet, to rest in His love?
To let go of the junk He’s revealed to me?
and then to put out my hands to receive?
. . . who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
I want so much to be satisfied with good things. I need energy.
But the big question is, do I want to be renewed?
Could it be, I have to let go of all my misery? Forsake my un-forgiveness?
This invades my identity. Can I let go of that?
Now, the verse about denying myself is coming to my mind:
 “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me, Luke 9:23.
Could it be that all I want can be gained through me, . . .
losing?
Can I trust Godlike that? The world says, “NO!” “You have to trust yourself. Propel yourself forward.  Get up and go!”
 God’s solutions seem backward at best? If I lose myself, will I find life and rest?
Trust God? Psalm 103 says, “Yes.”
. . . The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.

The Light switch is easy to find, but hard to maneuver:

It’s Surrender.

Jesus says, “You will have trouble in this world. Trust Me.”

Turning on Light, brings a cost to ourselves. There is a battle over and over again. But . . .

God laid His life down, that we might see, He is our present help, Psalm 103 reveals, it’s all His great doing, not me:

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children–
with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts . . . Psalm 103.
I gain all I desire, in surrender. I have choice. Moment by moment.
Over and over again. But now, I want Light:
“I surrender Lord.”
Repeated five times in the Bible, the Light switch is located all through the Gospels. “Where’s the Light switch?”
God answers:
“Those who love their own life will lose it; those who hate their own life in this world will keep it for life eternal” John 12:25.
“Those who try to gain their own life will lose it; but those who lose their life for my sake will gain it” Matthew 10:39.

“For if you want to save your own life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for my sake, you will find it,” Matthew 16:25.

 “For if you want to save your own life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for me and for the gospel, you will save it” Mark 8:35.

“For if you want to save your own life, you will lose it, but if you lose your life for my sake, you will save it” Luke 9:24.

It’s time to surrender. It’s time to be all God wants me to be. It’s time to turn on the Light. (Constantly!)

Join me?

In time of need: Hymn-Therapy

I had salvation, believing what Jesus did for me on the cross, but, at a time of sickness and dread, I opened a hymnal on the shelf.
“Be Still my Soul,” He spoke to me that day, “the Lord is on thy side.“(1)
His arm reach out in love and His hand took hold of mine. My Savior met me in the cold, dark hour and ministered life to me through a hymn.
“He is on my side.” My heart was revived.
The words ministered to me, the truth of His love and faithfulness, when all my mind kept rehearsing before, “Won’t He give me a break?”
I came to know the Lord with contemporary choruses of praise. Though God allowed great brokenness and loss within my life, He faithfully ministered greater light and life, and His presence in my time of need. I would never exchange a moment of it, not for anything.
This hymnal proved to be a treasure chest of hope, life, and promise. The Spirit moved me with increased faith as my mind thought on His  Almighty power.
Today, I write, in the face of a battle, with enemies of Overwhelmed and Fear, and Discouragement lurking. I find a Charles Wesley hymn written around the armor of God in Ephesians 6, published in 1749.
God’s therapy, or counseling session for me, is that my mind think on words like these:
Soldiers of Christ, arise,
And put your armor on,
Strong in the strength which God supplies
Through His eternal Son.
Strong in the Lord of hosts,
And in His mighty pow’r,
Who in the strength of Jesus trusts
Is more than conqueror.
“Strong in the strength which God supplies,” because He can clearly see, I am not strong, in and of myself, I am tired and weak. God counsels with direction that I must meet:
Stand then in His great might,
With all His strength endued,
And take, to arm you for the fight,
The panoply of God;
That, having all things done,
And all your conflicts passed,
Ye may o’ercome through Christ alone,
And stand entire at last.
I will admit, the word panoply was not in my vocabulary, so I looked it up. The dictionary spelled it out in this way:

pan·o·ply
noun
1. a complete or impressive collection of things.
2. a splendid display.
3. a complete set of arms or suit of armor.
“Stand then in His great might,” yes, I must take hold and clothe myself with all that’s true, and the collection of “armor” God has equipped us with.
We don’t “wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rules of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6, KJV, speaks solid and clear of who our real enemy is. We must fight and remember Who it is that is with us handing us all we need to win:
“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (2)
The hymn inspires and exhorts. Actively reaching out a Hand to pick me up:
Leave no unguarded place,

No weakness of the soul,
Take every virtue, every grace,
And fortify the whole.
From strength to strength go on,
Wrestle and fight and pray,
Tread all the pow’rs of darkness down
And win the well-fought day.
Yes, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” (3) This is it! This is my therapy session with a hymn. This is direction, hope and how I will keep a sound mind.
I will speak this hymn and clothe myself with the armor of God that the faith God increases in me can pass any test. How about you? Has this hymn touched you?
Let us praise God before the “Red Sea is parted.” Let us praise God ever-more. To God be the glory, Strong in the strength which God supplies
Through His eternal Son.
Strong in the Lord of hosts,
And in His mighty pow’r,
Who in the strength of Jesus trusts
Is more than conqueror. 
(1) Katharina A. von Schlegel, 1752
(2) Ephesians 6:14-17, NIV.
(3) Ephesians 6:18.
 

Struggling to see light this Christmas . . .

“O soul are you weary and troubled. No light in the darkness you see. There’s a light for a look at the Savior and life more abundant and free.” (1)
Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, a hymn quite familiar to many, speaks compassion and comfort for the brokenhearted and lonely. God says, “Speak of the hymns,” in His Book of Ephesians. So, speak we will, seeking a light for a look at the Great Physician.
Others are praying in this time of great pain. Prayers going out during this dark of night. But greater still – Jesus is praying – He, the giver and keeper of Life itself.  The King greater than all other Kings, He’s praying for us. The prayers, “Through these tears – “O Lord,Give us sight, through this  darkness and night.”
O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s a light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. (2)

“Behold the Lord God shall come with a strong hand, And His arm shall rule for Him, Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him. He will feed His flock like as shepherd; He will gather His lambs in His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young.” this is Isaiah Chapter 40 verse 10 and 11. These are words breathed out straight from heaven.

Chapter 30 verse 5 in the Book of Psalms:  “For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.”

“Oh Lord God, give us sight. Give some relief as we wait and are tempted to wonder, ‘why.‘ Open our eyes for spiritual things. We are weak, our mouths are so dry . . .

“The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the LORD will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.” The LORD speaks, He is our Immanuel, yesterday and today. He is near, forever.

“Comfort, yes, comfort My people!” Says your God. “Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, That her warfare is ended, That her iniquity is pardoned; For she has received from the LORD’s hand Double (forgiveness) for all her sins.” (3) This is the word that will not fail, this is the Word of our Immanuel.

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, And every mountain and hill shall be made low …” (4)

Oh, how we need to be reminded that God, the Creator of the Universe – He’s in control.

“The crooked places shall be made straight, And the rough places smooth; The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”(5)

These are promises given for our hearts to take hold. When there’s darkness and pain and endless oppression, we must remind ourselves, ‘the mouth of the LORD has spoken.’

“All flesh is grass, And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, …but the word of our God stands forever. O Zion, You who bring good tidings, Get up into the high mountain, . . . You who bring good tidings, Lift up your voice with strength, Lift it up, be not afraid; Say to the cities, . . . “Behold your God!” (6)

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
Over us sin no more hath dominion—
For more than conquerors we are!
“Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” (7)
There’s a light for a look at the Savior . . . His word shall not fail you, He’s promised . . . Over us sin no more hath dominion – For more than conquerors we are!
“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (8)
The light has been given, the weak hands that hang down, are strengthened to hold the sword of God’s word. Nothing has changed, save the spirit inside us, now transformed and encouraged to hope and have faith and to love – Victorious!
 There’s a light for a look at the Savior. A light, so abundant and free : God’s love never fails … For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. (9)
Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
 (1) Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

(2) John 10:11

(3) Isaiah 40:1,2.

(4) Isaiah 40:3,4a.

(5) Isaiah 40:4b,5.

(6) Isaiah 40:6-9.

(7) Romans 8:34.

(8) Romans 8:37-39.

(9) 1 Corinthians 13:8,12).

Tune me again Lord, and again . . .

“Tune it up. It’s flat.”
When an instrument’s out of tune, it  brings about a stop. Before moving on, it’s got to be tuned.
So, with a turn of a peg, or a bit more complicated maneuver, an instrument is brought back to position, that harmony may once again be brought to the ear.
If it were only that easy for the human race.
Our hearts go out of tune. Sometimes by our own hard strums, but also by outward bumps and hits.
But who can tune a heart?
We try, and we fail. The task is too hard.
Words were penned way back in 1757. Robert Robinson wrote a familiar hymn. A turning of the head, can prove to any stubborn heart—remedy and hope for today.
Read aloud, or sung alone, there’s something supernatural when we desperately need a new tune.
Let it go, and let the sound out.  Speak with me old words, that perhaps they are our help to turn our head and tune our heart.
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 unchanging love
A battle rages.  Our eyes haven’t been fixed upon the mount. We forgot that with God, streams of mercy never cease. Our eyes haven’t sung melodious psalms. We forgot that unlike any man, God’s has unchanging love.
 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat.  But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” Luke 22:31,32 speaks clearly words that we feel are our reality.
The hymn. The hymn. Let’s remind ourselves of God’s faithful presence and peace:

Here I raise my Ebenezer
Here there 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

Our hearts can’t believe in any love like this. So we will continue to read aloud, our remedy, God’s bliss:

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be
Let that grace now, 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

God, help us!  Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.
Here is the turn that will bring back the harmony again:
“Here’s my heart Lord,
take,
and seal it,
seal it for Thy courts above.”
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat.  But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” Luke 22:31,32. 

Who knows agony of spirit?

Who knows agony of spirit?
For some it comes in an instant. Sudden loss and trauma roll in like thick clouds. They don’t move, the thick darkness. It simply stays around.
For some there is heaviness of feeling, being abandoned and alone. Being rejected and forsaken, and Confusion makes a home.
“My God, My God. Why have You forsaken Me.” (1) These are the words of Jesus, the Lord.
“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.
Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall,
But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.” (2)
This is the word of God. Oh, how it reads like a poem.
The enemy of God wants to destroy faith in His name. The enemy, and our flesh destroy, But God remains the same. He is the same, yesterday, today and forever . . . (3)
Who is like God? He was. He is. He is to come.
“In the beginning God,  . . . and darkness was on the face of the deep . . . and the Spirit of God was hovering over the  . . . waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.” (4)
Who knows agony of spirit? We all do.
But Jesus does most.
Beyond the depth of our darkness, He has walked. We cry out, “Jesus.”
He understands.
This is the will of God. That we turn to seek Him.
Hear Him.
Follow Him. Know Him.
There is no One like God.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him, should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world,
but in order that the world might be saved through Him. (5)
“Let there be light.”
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear …” these are the words that we must hold on to, as Jesus endured hours on the cross. “But of power and of love …” there is hope. God will restore – His word is alive even now, in each of us, ever more.
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (6)
God restores and gives us, “sound mind.”
 Right now.
Step by step, and hour after hour.
Does He know we are in agony of Spirit? Oh, yes. He knows.
He is with us.
“Jesus.” we call.
A new creation, a resurrection from the dead, this is what He gives. We wait. We trust.
His name is Faithful.
His name is True.
His eyes remained on the Father, and that is what we  . . . will choose to do.
“God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.”
Could it be? Could it actually be? That this present darkness we are in, will be a comfort for someone else, some day, some when? When we can hold their hand and listen, and cry with them too, and say, “Oh yes. Jesus knows exactly what you are feeling. He knows, through and through.”
And somehow, in a way mysterious, where pain and beauty meet, we are drawn to the Savior, like never before, again and again, we worship Him, complete.
 
(1) Mark 15:34
(2) Isaiah 40:28-31.
(3) Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”
(4) Gen. 1:1-3.
(5)  John 3:16,17
(6) 2 Tim. 1:7.
(7) Psalm 46:1

"Make known His deeds among the peoples…"

A hymn writer of the 1870’s by the name of Samuel Trevor Francis did just that. He painted a most vivid picture of God’s love in his hymn titled ‘O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus’. But everyone has a story, and Samuel Francis’s story is told like this: Samuel was born in a northern village of London on November 19, 1834. As a child Samuel enjoyed poetry, and developed a passion for music, even singing in the church choir. However, as a teenager, he moved to London for work and struggled spiritually.
One day, it is documented in his writings, “I was on my way home from work and had to cross Hungerford Bridge to the south of the Thames. During the winter’s night of wind and rain and in the loneliness of that walk, I cried to God to have mercy on me. I stayed for a moment to look at the dark waters flowing under the bridge, and the temptation was whispered to me: ‘Make an end of all this misery.’ I drew back from the evil thought, and suddenly a message was borne into my very soul:
‘You do believe in the Lord Jesus Christ?’ I at once answered, ‘I do believe,’and I put my whole trust in Him as my Savior.” (Then Sings My Soul,Robert J. Morgan, O the Deep,Deep Love of Jesus).
Francis became a London merchant, but his main passion: Kingdom work! “O the deep, deep love of Jesus, Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free! Rolling as a mighty ocean In its fullness over me! Underneath me, all around me, Is the current of Thy love, Leading onward, leading homeward, To my glorious rest above!”
Our God saves. Yes, He does. Our God is able, yes He is. Our God is present, all the time. Our God loves…
“O the deep, deep love of Jesus, Spread His praise from shore to shore! How He loveth, ever loveth, Chageth never, never-more! How He watches o’er His loved ones, Died to call them all His own,
How fro them He intercedeth, Watcheth o’er them from the throne!…”
“Talk of all His wondrous works…”(Ps. 105:2)
“Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgements of His mouth…”(Psalm 105:5)
Yes, it is a wonder, His deep, deep love for me and for you! Yes, it is a wonder, but oh… it is true:
“O the deep, deep love of Jesus, Love of every love the best! ‘Tis an ocean full of blessing, ‘Tis a haven giving rest!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, ‘Tis a heav’n of heav’ns to me, And it lifts me up to glory, For it lifts me up to Thee!” (O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus, Samuel Trevor Francis).
“You do believe in the Lord Jesus Christ?” If not, please hear the stories, please hear of His deep, deep love. Make the choice to receive Him, His love is an ‘ocean full of blessing’ just like Samuel Francis expressed.
You do know that when you receive Him, it is recorded in God’s word that the angels in heaven rejoice, rejoice, and rejoice! And it is also known that here on earth there is freedom and forgiveness and newness of life!  One who is ‘poor in spirit’ discovers that ‘vast, unmeasured, and boundless, and free is that deep, deep love of Jesus, and it’s been waiting …for whoever will believe!

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