"Our Plans, His Purpose" 1/24/2015

"Our Plans, His Purpose"

1/24/2015

 Have you ever noticed that life does not turn out the way you plan it.  Maybe you were like me and never really planned it to start with. (LOL) When I was in High School and into young adult hood I really did not put much thought into what I wanted to do in life.  Just looked to the moment and let it play out day by day.  Yet as I have gotten older and look back, I can see in spite of my lack of concern, my life took form and purpose emerged which could not have been imagined even in my deepest thoughts, had I had any! 

This is an amazing thing, we can look at our lives at any given point and ask, "Why am I a failure?" or "Why am I a success?"  Even our understanding of failure and success is relative to our own experience.  Society looks at a person and says, "Had their circumstances (family situation, economic, education, culture, etc,) been different, then they would have or would not have _____" You fill in the blank.
We must admit these factors do influence our lives, but if you are a Christian you must understand God is not limited by these factors or deterred by our personal life plans or lack thereof.  His purpose will stand and all these factors in our lives both good and bad are known of Him from the foundation of the world.

Julie and I once watched a movie with a re-occurring line where the main character would frequently say, "It could have been different, but it wasn't".  Our lives are what they are and we can't go back and change them, nor should we desire too.  We are to take what God has given us, turn our face to Him, cry out for His Grace and look for His Purpose in all we have experienced.       

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We find this profoundly in the life of David Brainerd.  I would encourage you to do some study and read about his life, it was going to be a short one, yet he had his plans as to what his life would be.  Had he been a success in his plans, we would probably not be reading about him now. 

What he did and the reason he is know of us never entered into his mind until all his plans fell to the ground.  It is said that his impact upon missions cannot be calculated, yet he never intended to be a missionary.  Again, we must know, God's plans and purpose are not limited by our circumstances or personal plans, God's purposes will stand, and our seeming disappointments and failures are but tools in His hands to do with us what He pleases to the Glory of His name and the good of those that love Him.  God is at work for the Glory of His name and the good of His church even when the good intentions of His servants fail, even when that failing is owing to sin or carelessness.  So if your life is not what you planned it to be, if you are disappointed in how your life has turned out, then turn your face to God, thank Him for what He has given you in experience, cry out for His wonderful Grace to fulfill His purpose in you to the Glory of His name.  Then you will find purpose in all things, joy of life in Him, and amazement in His love.

We will look more at the events in David Brainerd's life perhaps in the next post, but let me close this week with a few words from the man that loved God.

"If you hope for happiness in the world, hope for it from God, and not from the world."
- David Brainerd

"I have a secret thought from some things I have observed, that God may perhaps design you for some singular service in the world." - David Brainerd

"Of late God has been pleased to keep my soul hungry almost continually, so that I have been filled with a kind of pleasing pain. When I really enjoy God, I feel my desires of Him the more insatiable and my thirstings after holiness more unquenchable." - David Brainerd
"We should always look upon ourselves as God's servants, placed in God's world, to do his work; and accordingly labor faithfully for him; not with a design to grow rich and great, but to glorify God, and do all the good we possibly can." - David Brainerd

"I love to live on the brink of eternity." - David Brainerd
 
"No amount of scholastic attainment, of able and profound exposition of brilliant and stirring eloquence can atone for the absence of a deep impassioned sympathetic love for human souls." - David Brainerd

"In the silences I make in the midst of the turmoil of life I have appointments with God. From these silences I come forth with spirit refreshed, and with a renewed sense of power. I hear a voice in the silences, and become increasingly aware that it is the voice of God." - David Brainerd

"God was so precious to my soul that the world with all its enjoyments appeared vile. I had no more value for the favor of men than for pebbles." - David Brainerd

"I care not where I go, or how I live, or what I endure so that I may save souls. When I sleep I dream of them; when I awake they are first in my thoughts." - David Brainerd May the Grace of God be upon each of you,

David
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 "From the home and the heart"

My dear precious wife is a bit under the weather this weekend, so here is a post she made on Saturday, December 03, 2011.What Have You "Purposed" in Your Heart?

This question was prompted in me from a study of the 1st chapter in the book of Daniel.  If you're familiar with the account,  you know that Daniel (and the other three children of Judah) were among the well favored children, skillful, full of wisdom, cunning knowledge, and without blemish.  Sounds like a promising background, don't you think?  In other words, the elite, or best of the best was to be trained for the king.
Well, as provision for feeding these fellows would go, the king would have them eat his cuisine (again, the best of the best).  However, it seems Daniel had another dietary plan to stick with.
You see, I'm getting to the heart of the matter now.  Daniel had purposed in his heart that regardless of what place in this earthly kingdom he would hold,  he would not defile himself with the "king's meat."  The issue here of course, is that the foods on the king's menu did not hold with the Mosaic Laws for eating.  Daniel would not dishonor his covenant with his God.

Bring these thoughts home today.  Just as Daniel "purposed in his heart" to obey the Law of God, how "purposed" are we today in our walk in Christ?  Can we be bought with the dainties of this world?  Is there an appeal holding us in fasination as pertaining to the lusts of this life?  Is there a promise of recognition in some way that tends to turn our heads from the purpose?

It seems the Bible would teach us that in order to stay "purposed in heart" we must daily crucify the flesh and its affections.  Trusting God to provide His Spirit as a Comfort and Guide through this life will empower us to live in victory just as Daniel, and his three friends, did in this instance. 
We know the account of how Daniel and the others "proved" the faithfulness of God by eating what God said they should eat.  These young men were given such favor as none other.  Their wisdom, skill and knowledge surpassed any among them.  Oh, to have the favor of an Almighty God! 

What is the "purpose of your heart" today?  Find the Truth in His Word for you and follow it.  His "blessing addeth no sorrow" with it.  He's faithful to reward obedience.  In the words of a great song, "Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus.  Just to take Him at His Word."  There's a stanza in this song about ...."how I've proved Him oer and oer."  Is this your testimony today?

Purpose to always honor Him.

Have a blessed week,

Julie

"A moment in History" 1/17/2015

"A moment in History"

1/17/2015

Moments in history?  You have heard it said, most likely you have said it yourself, you know, the phrase "It seems like only yesterday". We have these moments in our lives that we reflect upon, they are moments that stick in our memories.  From time to time our thoughts lead us back to them and we recall their joy or their hardness during that time (moment) of our life.

As the years mount, these recollections accumulate, it is then we began to hear that phrase, "It seems like only yesterday."  And truly it was, for our life in the scheme of time and eternity is but a moment in itself in all it's entirety. 

It is the brevity of life that I want to take our thoughts to again this week.  For we do not know how much time we have left, yet if we love God, we know that every (moment) is working together for our good to accomplish His great will and purpose and bring us to the fulness of His life.  Before we are through and move on to another subject in a few weeks, I want us to be able to take a look at the life of Joseph and all of God's workings in his life and those (moments) of which he could have reflected, and know that God is with us in each and every moment forever, even till the end of the world. 

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As we make our way to Joseph, may we take a (moment) and look at the life of David Brainerd.

David Brainerd was born on April 20, 1718 in Haddam, Connecticut. That year John Wesley and Jonathan Edwards turned 14. Benjamin Franklin turned 12 and George Whitefield 3. The Great Awakening was just over the horizon and Brainerd would live through both waves of it, then die of tuberculosis in Jonathan Edwards' house at the age of 29 on October 9, 1747.  What a (moment).

Brainerd was the sixth child and third son born to Hezekiah and Dorothy. After him came three more children. Dorothy had brought one little boy from a previous marriage, and so there were twelve of them in the home, but not for long. Brainerd's father Hezekiah would die when David was nine year's old (a hard moment). Five years after his father died at the age of 46, his mother died when he was 14.

Not only did the parents die early, David's brother Nehemiah died at 32, his brother Israel died at 23, his sister Jerusha died at 34, and he died at 29.  (Hard moments)

He described his religion during these years as very careful and serious, but having no true grace. When he turned 19 he inherited a farm and moved for a year a few miles west to Durham to try his hand at farming. But his heart was simply not in it.

During the year on the farm he had made a commitment to God to enter the ministry. But still he was not converted. He read the Bible through twice that year and began to see more clearly that all his religion was legalistic and simply based on his own efforts. He had great quarrelings with God within his soul. He rebelled against original sin and against the strictness of the divine law and against the sovereignty of God. He quarreled with the fact that there was nothing he could do in his own strength to commend himself to God. (all hard moments)

He came to see finally that "all my good frames were but self-righteousness, . . . "There was no more goodness in my praying than there would be in my paddling with my hands in the water ... because (my prayers) were not performed from any love or regard to God ... I never once prayed for the glory of God." "I never once intended his honor and glory ... I had never once acted for God in all my devotions ...

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Half an hour before sunset at the age of 21 he was in a lonely place trying to pray, speaking of that moment, he would write:

“As I was walking in a dark thick grave, "unspeakable glory" seemed to open to the view and apprehension of my soul ... It was a new inward apprehension or view that I had of God; such as I never had before, nor anything that I had the least remembrance of it.

So that I stood still and wondered and admired ... I had now no particular apprehension of any one person of the Trinity, either the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit, but it appeared to be divine glory and splendor that I then beheld. And my soul "rejoiced with joy unspeakable" to see such a God, such a glorious divine being, and I was inwardly pleased and satisfied that he should be God over all forever and ever.

My soul was so captivated and delighted with the excellency, the loveliness and the greatness and other perfections of God that I was even swallowed up in him, at least to that degree that I had no thought, as I remember at first, about my own salvation or scarce that there was such a creature as I.

Thus the Lord, I trust, brought me to a hearty desire to exalt him, to set him on the throne and to "seek first his Kingdom," principally and ultimately to aim at his honor and glory as the King and Sovereign of the universe, which is the foundation of the religion of Jesus ... I felt myself in a new world" (An unspeakable moment) It was the Lord's Day, July 12, 1739.

In less than two years he will be so sick with tuberculosis that he will be spitting up blood. As we continue to look at the life David Brainerd, the amazing thing may not be that he died so early and accomplished so little, but that, being as sick as he was, lived as long as he did and accomplished so much.

We will take another (moment) next time,

May the Grace of God be upon each of you,

David
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 "From the home and the heart"

Life in rural TN is such a blessing from the Lord.  Being blessed to enjoy beautiful days of sunshine at decent temps in the middle of Jan. is always a nice incentive to keep pressing on toward Spring.

Today while thinking on the goat chores that have to be met around here, I'm reminded of how they look forward to the treat of a bucket of good hot water in the winter.  They'll plunge those mouths into the hot tap water and draw until they come up with vaporing  lips that look like they're puffing smoke.  lol

At any rate, they're not always interested in the bucket of water.  Sometimes they're spot on for a good hot drink, and sometimes not at all.  The old saying is so true, "You can lead a horse (or a goat) to water, but you can't make him drink."   anon

Most of us have an inner circle of close friends and possibly share the events of our daily lives and what the Lord is doing in those given circumstances.  Lately it seems that often there are those in that path with whom the ministry of the truth of God's Word is given and it doesn't seem to be received to any avail.   Maybe you, reader, feel that often you pour out your heart to help the struggling one in your path only to find that one just wanted to vent on you for a bit.  Why will they not listen?  After all, the Word of life in Christ is the truth that will make them free.  (ref. John 8:32)

Could it be that they simply cannot?  Could it be that the eyes of their understanding have not been opened?  Those of us who know Christ may have that tendency to forget that not everyone can receive the good  things we have to share from Him.  It simply has not been given unto everyone.  The grace of the Lord to open the heart of the one who will not receive the truth is the prerequisite. 

Granted, as His children we have the responsibility to attest to His truth and share the Gospel with whosoever we may.  However, the entrance of His word into that heart will occur because of His purposed work in that life.  So, share the truth we must.  Witness to the down trodden one and give them the truth that makes free, we must.  But the making free, and the capacity to be free, come from the Father of lights.

Borrowing from the cliche stated above, this seems a fitting application:  "We may lead them there (to His truth), but we can't make them partake."   How important to pray for the revelation of truth for the soul in question while the witness is being given.  May we pray that they "drink" and come up with the "lips of vapor from the heat," as that enjoyment in Christ is found. 

May we encourage one another as we remember:

John 6:44 "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day."

I Corinthians 3:6 "So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase."

I Corinthians 2:14 "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: NEITHER CAN HE KNOW THEM, BECAUSE THEY ARE SPIRITUALLY DISCERNED."

May we not grow weary in the work of love.  Have a blessed week.
Julie

Submitted via the blessing of my honorable husband

"Vanishing Life" 1/10/2015

"Vanishing Life"

1/10/2015

 The year was 1973 or perhaps 1974,  a mother had gone to an Assembly of God Church with a friend where her heart and life was met by a gracious and loving God.  Not many days hence, a Baptist Church near her home had a revival meeting to which she decided to go and took her 14 year old son.  Sometime during the week the Pastors wife came to the back of the church and asked the young lad if he had been saved.

"I didn't know", was his reply, so the Pastor's wife took him to the visiting evangelist to pray for him.  In a small back room of the church the evangelist asked him to pray the sinners prayer to which he agreed.  After they prayed the evangelist asked the young boy if he felt anything, to which he replied very honestly, "no".  The evangelist continued to repeat the process of leading the young lad in the sinners prayer praying a little louder and squeezing his hand a little  stronger each time and again asking if he felt anything.  The young boy was beginning to catch on to the fact he was giving the wrong answer.  So upon the 3rd or 4th repeat he finally answered, "I think so".

He was then instructed after the sermon message was preached and the invitation was given, for him to go up to the alter and tell the preacher he had been saved. The young boy did as he was instructed and to his amazement, after arriving at the alter and while still standing and listening to the preacher speak to call others up, his heart began to melt and tears to flow from his eyes.  Like his Mother, he had met a gracious and loving God.

This marked the young boy's life; the Bible became precious to him.  The attraction of his eyes was to the Word of God, which he consumed until he had read it from Genesis to Revelation. 

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 On the property where he lived there was an old log barn and well pump house, at times he would find his way to this secluded place with his Bible in hand and preach to the pump house and old barn door.

One might say he was someday going to be a preacher, perhaps it was a hidden desire of his heart, but it was not to be.  Though his heart would never completely leave the gracious hand that saved him and loved him, it would began to grow cold during his late teen years and much of his twenties.

His affection would turn to the attractions of the world, his desire to prove himself and be admired by others would be a distraction for many years.  Feeling inferior with a low self-esteem he was constantly looking to lift himself up in the eyes of others.  He found a particular sport to which through his efforts it seemed to do this for him. So he gave himself to it almost completely, devoting his time to it.    

 This story has not yet ended, this young boy is now a man, and his heart once again, through the Providence of a Gracious God, is beginning to burn afresh for the precious Word of God. His identity is not longer in a sport or achievement, but he rest now in the Grace of God that has been bestowed upon him.   This is just one story of an uncalculated number that could be told, all of them different in the Providence of God, as we each walk out our life and tell our stories.

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 This brings me back to last weeks post looking at the short life of Robert Murray McCheyne. In the Providence of God he was not going to have the time the young boy described above was going to have, so God took him another route.  In his life we find so much hope in the Grace of God. It shows us time is not a factor with God.

There was no profound event in McCheyne's life, no great discovery or achievement that one can point to.  He was simply an associate Pastor of a small church for 1 year, then Pastor for 6 years, and that marked with sickness.  So why 168 years later are we reading, studying and being moved by this man's words who only had 7 years to minister?  It is a wonder in the demonstration of the Grace of God to us, it tells us where ever we are in the story of our life, the Grace of God is there to do His marvelous work.  He may be patient and wait with us for many years, then He may take us and do a marvelous work in a short period of time, it is according to His pleasure.  It enables us to rest in Him once we see His glorious life.  Today is the day of mega Churches and Super Stars, they tell us we must be strong in faith and believe God for Great things to glorify Him.  McCheyne's life was a life of weakness, frailty, and brevity.  The great work of God was the work upon the heart of sinful man.  May we take a few moments and hear the words from such a work of God, words that have lasted for 168 years to continue to encourage us and bring us to God.
"Set not your heart on the flowers of this world; for they have all a canker in them. Prize the Rose of Sharon . . . more than all; for he changeth not. Live nearer to Christ than to the saints, so that when they are taken from you, you may have him to lean on still." ~ Robert Murray McCheyne      


"Learn much of the Lord Jesus. For every look at yourself take ten looks at Christ. He is altogether lovely . . . . Live much in the smiles of God. Bask in his beams. Feel his all-seeing eye settled on you in love. And repose in his almighty arms." ~ Robert Murry McCheyne.

"You may read your Bible, and pray over it till you die; you may wait on the preached Word every Sabbath-day, . . . [But] if you are not brought to cleave to him, to look to him, to believe in him, to cry out with inward adoration: "My Lord, and my God"—"How great is his goodness! How great is his beauty!"—then the outward observance of the ordinances is all in vain to you." ~ Robert Murry McCheyne.

"We are often for preaching to awaken others; but we should be more upon praying for it. Prayer is more powerful than preaching. It is prayer that gives preaching all its power. . . . Why, the very hands of Moses would have fallen down, had they not been held up by his faithful people. Come, then, ye wrestlers with God—ye that climb Jacob's ladder—ye that wrestle Jacob's wrestling—strive you with God, that he may fulfill his word." ~ Robert Murry McCheyne.

"A man is what he is on his knees before God, and nothing more." ~ Robert Murry McCheyne.

"Study universal holiness of life. Your whole usefulness depends on this, for your sermons last but an hour or two; your life preaches all the week. If Satan can only make a covetous minister a lover of praise, of pleasure, of good eating, he has ruined your ministry. Give yourself to prayer, and get your texts, your thoughts, your words from God." ~ Robert Murry McCheyne.

"Most of God's people are contented to be saved from the hell that is without; they are not so anxious to be saved from the hell that is within." ~ Robert Murry McCheyne.

"It is a sure mark of grace to desire more." ~ Robert Murry McCheyne.

"No one ever came to Christ because they knew themselves to be of the elect. It is quite true that God has of his mere good pleasure elected some to everlasting life, but they never knew it until they came to Christ. Christ nowhere invites the elect to come to Him. The question for you is not, Am I one of the elect? But, Am I one of the human race?" ~ Robert Murry McCheyne.

"It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.  A word spoken by you when your conscience is clear, and your heart full of God's Spirit, is worth ten thousand words spoken in unbelief and sin." ~ Robert Murry McCheyne.

"Unfathomable oceans of grace are in Christ for you. Dive and dive again, you will never come to the bottom of these depths. How many millions of dazzling pearls and gems are at this moment hid in the deep recesses of the ocean caves." ~ Robert Murry McCheyne.

"A man who loves you the most is the man who tells you the most truth about yourself." ~ Robert Murry McCheyne.

"You will never find Jesus so precious as when the world is one vast howling wilderness. Then he is like a rose blooming in the midst of the desolation, a rock rising above the storm." ~ Robert Murry McCheyne.

"I am tempted to think that I am now an established Christian,—that I have overcome this or that lust so long,—that I have got into the habit of the opposite grace,—so that there is no fear; I may venture very near the temptation—nearer than other men. This is a lie of Satan. One might as well speak of gunpowder getting by habit of resisting fire, so as not to catch spark. As long as powder is wet, it resists the spark; but when it becomes dry, it is ready to explode at the first touch. As long as the Spirit dwells in my heart, He deadens me to sin, so that, if lawfully called through temptation, I may reckon upon God carrying me through. But when the Spirit leaves me, I am like dry gunpowder. Oh for a sense of this!" ~ Robert Murry McCheyne._______________________________

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 From the Home and the Heart:

When my husband asked me several years ago to post a small addition to this blog, I knew that it would need to go in a different direction other than the studies of ancient history.  He's the buff, as far as this is concerned.  (Too many names and dates for my fancy!)
At any rate, there is so much that one needs to know from the study of the Founders, and I am so thankful that it is a burden  given  to hearts, such as my husband's, to do just this.

The peace of resting in the provision of our Sovereign God is beyond explanation.   Knowing that throughout history, He has had His plan unfolding, and the instrumental use of who He would, is awe inspiring.

Just as this week's post expresses the workings of the Lord in a young lad's life, so it seems fitting to share some things from a young girl's life to correspond.  A young lass growing up among three other siblings, and raised on a shoestring budget, once developed such an inferiority complex that in turn produced an avid amount of "over achieving" behavior for years to come.  The driving force of being portrayed as "not quite good enough," would take over this personality to cause a sense of expectancy of certain conditions met, not only in herself, but others as well.  In turn, when these expectations were not met, the failure was a roller coaster ride. 

One only embarks upon  true excellence as the Lord allows, and that only because He is the "Excellent One."  If we belong to the Master, pride will have to crumble.  His glory is not to be shared with any one.  When the Lord delivers those of the disposition of the young lass mentioned from such idiotic behaviors, there should be much rejoicing in His great mercy.  He's so faithful not to leave us to foolish vices which have blinded our understanding of His purpose and plan.

Life in Christ provides a special position for all who know Him.  When we search His Word, we can be sure that we will find that place in Him.  How liberating to know that we needn't pattern ourselves after some self made hero, or popular personality type.  He is the "Author" and "Finisher" of our faith.  May we stay positioned in the hands of the Potter.  The formation of the clay is in the plan of His hands.  What better place to be?
Hebrews 12:2 "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;  who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Psalm 8:1 "O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!  who hast set thy glory above the heavens."


This article is submitted via the guidelines of my precious husband, David,

Julie

"A precious Friend" 1/3/2015

"A precious Friend"

1/3/2015

 First From Julie's Keyboard:

"Jehovah Shalom"

He is the Lord our Peace!  How reassuring to know and experience the presence of His peace.  A few weeks ago, we posted a small message on "patience," and the working of it in our lives.  After the festivities of this season have passed, the analysis of this great virtue operating smoothly in my own life has proven to come up a bit short.  Isn't this like all other areas of Christian character, a venue in which we must rely upon the grace of the Redeemer to work the necessary improvements designed by Him for His purpose? 

The account of the past few days has once again proven true to the Word of the Lord.  We certainly devise our plans, but it is the Lord Who directs our path.  (ref. Prov. 16:9)   You may feel that you've formulated all the best  plans, being careful to dot all the "i"s and cross all the "t"s.  However, your plans may, in fact, become laced at any moment with the uncalculated circumstances of life.  It is often in these moments that the extent of the development of His character in the life of the believer will reveal itself most. 

It may be Christmas Eve in the wee hours of the morning.  Your crock pots may be full with early morning plans for preparing a feast for 20 people.  Your eight granddaughters may be preparing to spend a few days with you after this feast.  But, your husband may writhe in pain in these wee hours of this morning with an acute attack of diverticulitis.  (a flare up he hasn't had for 2 years now).  What are the odds that this would occur at such a time?  Likely, a part of providence.  Surely there is an enemy among us wreaking all the havoc he can muster.  Yet, regardless of authorship, there's no denying, we have an issue.  It didn't go away all at once either.  Do we go to the ER, or do we wait?

We waited and prayed.  Full morning daylight did shine after a very sleepless night for us.  My husband improved and ate lightly.  He is much improved now and even better in some sense than before the attack came.  However, patience and anxiety were at odds  during this time.  But, Jehovah Shalom, our peace was always the same.  Peace is there, and faithful.  We must rest in the provision of this peace.

Praise belongs to the Lord our deliverer!  It is He Who never leaves nor forsakes us.  When the well made plans fail to come to fruition, trust the all sufficient One with the direction of your steps.  Though we often may falter, He is always faithful.

Glory to the God of our Peace,  Jehovah Shalom,

Blessings,

Julie_________________________________________"A precious Friend"

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Who is a precious friend?  Do you have any?  Are you one?  As defined by Mr. Webster in 1828 a friend is:
Friend
FRIEND, n. frend.

1. One who is attached to another by affection; one who entertains for another sentiments of esteem, respect and affection, which lead him to desire his company, and to seek to promote his happiness and prosperity; opposed to foe or enemy.

Facebook has to some extent redefined what it means to be a friend.  A friend as Mr. Webster defined it is truly precious, and rare.  The Apostle Paul had such a person in Saint Luke. We read in II Timothy 4:10  For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.
2Ti 4:11  Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.

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 Robert Murray McCheyne had such a friend in Andrew Bonar or you and I would not be considering the life of McCheyne today.  He would have passed into Obscurity like you and I most likely will, a few generations from now, know one will know or care if we ever lived or not.  Our endeavor to be all that God desires us to be is not for our legacy, but for the pure pleasure and Glory of God alone.

Yet, in the Providence of God, He has chosen to preserve a record of certain lives in History that we may see His work of Grace in the lives of men, both to His Glory, and that we may believe and trust His Grace in our own lives and recognize it in the lives of others that we may Praise Him for the Wonder He is. McCheyne's life was a very short one, but a powerful yet ordinary life and a friend captured it in writing that we may now rejoice in. He was a local pastor in Dundee, Scotland, who died in 1843 at the age of 29.  He was a local pastor who served his church for six years and then died of Typhus fever and was buried in his own church yard. In Php 3:17  we are instructed "Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample." In God's Providence, McCheyne has been marked for us as such an example to follow.  A long and fruitful life is truly a glorious thing, yet McCheyne demonstrates for us that God's Grace in doing great things are not limited to the length of our lives.

 If we have come to Christ in our later years, O how marvelous is the working of the Grace of God to us.  If God has chosen in His Providence to give us Grace in the end of our lives and we have but a few years left, O the wonder, it is the Lords work and it is marvelous in our eyes. Quoting from John Piper in his article (He touched the Rose and Felt the Thorn), McCheyne stated, "I indulged in all the amusing and beautiful pleasures of the world, and didn't give a thought to sickness and suffering and death." That's what he meant when he said, "I kissed the Rose nor thought about the thorn." But after his conversion, he spoke often of Jesus as his Rose of Sharon, and he lived in almost constant awareness of the thorn of his sickness and that his time might be short. He said in one of his sermons, "Set not your heart on the flowers of this world; for they have all a canker in them. Prize the Rose of Sharon . . . more than all; for he changeth not. Live nearer to Christ than to the saints, so that when they are taken from you, you may have him to lean on still."

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 Are we not all like that in the beginning of our lives?  It's different pleasures for different people, but it is always pleasures.  For me it was motorcycles and motocross.  Seems like an innocent pleasure, but no one knows but God and myself the sinful acts of pride it generated and the sacrificial offerings to which I gave it.  In many cases it's not so much the pleasure, but the condition of the heart when taken. 

Piper continues saying of McCheyne, "The point of the subtitle ("Living and Dying in the Morning of Life") is to underline the second part of this title. He lived only the morning of his life. Most of us live a morning, a noon, and an evening of life. But McCheyne died before he was 30. My argument is that his effectiveness was not frustrated by this fact but empowered by it. Because of his tuberculosis, he lived with the strong sense that he would die early. This was a huge factor in his powerful usefulness."

I see the point Bro. Piper is making, but another view is available, McCheyne life could be viewed as a long and fruitful life condensed down into less than 30 short years for us to observe.  God's Providence is such an amazing thing, how and when it touches our lives.  We all come to these moments that turn us one way or the other.  The death of a love one, though so tragic, yet in the Providence of God a glorious thing.  After losing a beloved brother, McCheyne would write, "On this morning last year came the first overwhelming blow to my worldliness; how blessed to me, Thou O God, only knowest, who hast made it so." Eleven years later on the anniversary, he wrote, "This day, eleven years ago, I lost my loved and loving brother, and began to seek a Brother who cannot die." Though an emotionally heart-wrenching death a glorious work of the soul begins.

So let us not detest the difficult things of our lives, they are but a story told of you and me, and the precious Hand of Providence that guides us were we must be.  We must look for His Grace, it is our only hope, with it we are brought to life, without it we sink in destruction and Hell.  So here is the story of his conversion as he told it in a poem. The poem holds true in his life and in his death. Perhaps he did not know how his life would go, yet in the mind of God it was written from all eternity, and from his heart comes forth words prophetic to his life, a reflection of his heart so sure.

Jehovah Tsidkenu, by Robert Murray McCheyne

"The Lord Our Righteousness" The watchword of the Reformers

I once was a stranger to grace and to God,

I knew not my danger, and felt not my load;

Though friends spoke in rapture of Christ on the tree,

Jehovah Tsidkenu was nothing to me.

I oft read with pleasure, to soothe or engage,

Isaiah's wild measure and John's simple page;

But e'en when they pictured the blood-sprinkled tree

Jehovah Tsidkenu seemed nothing to me.

Like tears from the daughters of Zion that roll,

I wept when the waters went over His soul;

Yet thought not that my sins had nailed to the tree

Jehovah Tsidkenu—'twas nothing to me.

When free grace awoke me, by light from on high,

Then legal fears shook me, I trembled to die;

No refuge, no safety in self could I see—

Jehovah Tsidkenu my Savior must be.

My terrors all vanished before the sweet name;

My guilty fears banished, with boldness I came

To drink at the fountain, life-giving and free—

Jehovah Tsidkenu is all things to me.

Jehovah Tsidkenu! my treasure and boast,

Jehovah Tsidkenu! I ne'er can be lost;

In thee I shall conquer by flood and by field—

My cable, my anchor, my breastplate and shield!

Even treading the valley, the shadow of death,

This "watchword" shall rally my faltering breath;

For while from life's fever my God sets me free,

Jehovah Tsidkenu my death-song shall be.

May the Grace of God be upon each of you,

David

"Christmas in America" 12/20/2014

"Christmas in America"

12/20/2014

 First From Julie's Keyboard:

Patience in a World of Tribulation

Tis the Season, isn't it?  Folks are running to and fro trying to prepare for festivities and have things "just right" for their many occasions.  Sometimes I wonder just how peculiar we must appear to the One Who sees all and observes our behavior  as we run so hurriedly.

Whether it's the activity of the Christmas Season, or any other living moment of our lives, we will be challenged with tribulating circumstances that call for measures of patience.  And in all truth, the Scriptures seem to teach us that without these times of trial and testing, our patience wouldn't get that much needed workout.   

While we may not welcome trial and tribulation with open arms, we know that it will indeed come.  It's part of the process of being transformed into who we should be in Christ the Lord.  The servant of God (James), told his Jewish brethren this:

"My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."

According to this, it seems the trying of patience is going to be with us.  We should also count it a blessing to know that its work within us is of such value, bringing us to a place of completion without need in Christ. 

Jesus Himself did say in comfort to His disciples:  "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.  In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

We simply must remember that we are His, and He is at work within on something far more precious than the trial we are facing today.  When those challenges come, and they certainly will, may we lift up our heads and give thanks to the One who continues to perfect us for His glory.

Thanks be unto the Christ within us, the Hope of glory!

Emmanuel, our God is with us!

Merry Christmas,

Julie
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"Christmas in America"

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The picture to the left is found in Harper's Weekly magazine December 25, 1881.  It portrays an American family beside a decorated Christmas Tree.  But what is Christmas and where did it come from?

I heard it said a while back that the trouble with evangelicals is that they are not deep thinkers.  That seems to have stuck with me, at least it made me stop and think.  So much of what I believe I never took the time to think about.  So for a moment lets think about Christmas.  We can't do an exhaustive study on any subject here on this blog, but perhaps we can spur our thinking on a subject from time to time.

Here's the rub, I have a Pastor friend who loves Christmas and all its Celebrations and Customs as related to our traditions during this season, I also have a Pastor friend who does not celebrate it at all.  Both of these men love God and desire to honor him in their lives, so Christmas means something different to both.  This has made me stop and think, what do I believe about Christmas and why? 

Let me first state some facts and then perhaps we'll talk a little about them.

Roman pagans first introduced a holiday called Saturnalia, it was a week long period of lawlessness celebrated between December 17-25.  The ancient Greek writer poet and historian Lucian describes the festival’s observance in his time referring to human sacrifice, he also mentions these customs: widespread intoxication (still associated with Christmas for many); going from house to house while singing naked (perhaps a precursor of caroling); rape and other sexual license; and consuming human-shaped biscuits (still produced in some English and most German bakeries during the Christmas season). 

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 A quick search of this holiday will produce various links and connections to which have adaptations to our Christmas holiday.  Saturnalia was a classical Roman Religion associated with Feasting, role reversals, gift-giving, gambling.

Because of such connections, the pilgrims, English separatists that came to America in 1620 wanted nothing to do with the Christmas celebration. As a result, Christmas was not a holiday in early America. From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was actually outlawed in Boston.

In 1659 a law was enacted  in Massachusetts which provided that "Whosoever shall be found observing any such day as Christmas or the like... shall be subjected to a fine of five shillings"

In fact, as late as 1789 Congress was in session on December 25, which was the first Christmas under America’s new constitution. Christmas wasn’t declared a federal holiday for over 80 more years on June 26, 1870.

There is record of a Christmas celebration in Tallahassee, Fla., in 1539, but it would not resemble anything like we would recognize today as Christmas, it was a strict devote religious service.

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 In 1674 there was a Christmas celebration in a rude log hut on the shore of the south branch of the Chicago River, Father Marquette who, true to his promise, had returned from Green Bay, bringing four large pictures of the Virgin Mary for the Illinois Indians. At midnight he celebrated mass for sixty savages dressed in buffalo robes, and then they had a feast: a big wooden bowl of porridge mixed with grease and fed each one with the only spoon, fat meat of the "wild cattle" and, as a special treat, boiled dog.  Pardon the picture to the left, I thought perhaps it might add some fervor to our imagination as we contemplated that glorious Christmas menu that night.  

There was quite a celebration at Fort Dearborn on Christmas Day, 1804. It had snowed for a week and the lake was frozen as far as the eye could see. A party of soldiers, led by Francis Ouilmette, had gotten a spruce tree from the grove of evergreens north of the Chicago River. Other soldiers had brought in a fat buck, wild turkeys, raccoon, rabbits and prairie chicken. There was also a roast pig, a magnificent pudding blazing with brandy, and toasts were drunk out of silver goblets made by John Kinzie to President Jefferson and Henry Dearborn, Secretary of War. There was music by the fife and drum, and by Kinzie's fiddle. He and Mrs. Whistler, the captain's wife, led a reel. Black Partridge and his band of Indians, who had "drooped in", did a corn dance while wolves howled outside the stockade. It wasn’t until the 1800's that Americans began to embrace Christmas in a way we might recognize. Americans re-invented Christmas, and changed it from a raucous carnival holiday into a family-centered day of peace and nostalgia.

By the late 1800's America eagerly decorated trees, caroled, baked, and shopped for the Christmas season. Since that time, materialism, media, advertising, and mass marketing has made Christmas what it is today. The traditions that we enjoy at Christmas today were invented by blending together customs from many different countries into what is considered by many to be our national holiday.

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 So, what's the purpose in telling us these things?  I suppose to  make us think.  Christmas is not a Christian Sacrament, meaning there is nothing in Scripture that would compel us to its observance, it's origins can be traced to questionable sources, and it hasn't been around in a form in which we understand it for very long.

At it's best perhaps it did evolve into something helpful for society in reminding us of the birth of our Saviour and a time of bringing families together.  But the more you learn of scripture the more difficult it becomes to find Christ in Christmas.  Could one imagine the Apostle Paul asking, "was Santa Clause crucified you?"  When Jesus found those making profit in religion, taking advantage of religious devotions, He fashioned a whip and overturned their tables and drove them out.  Is He as displeased with those today who take the Christmas Holiday and profit from our religious devotions associated with His birth?

Christmas has been a part of my life from my earliest memories, but I have noticed the  more devoted to Christ and Scripture I became over the years, the more of a struggle it became to try and point this festival to the Saviour.

Rev. Robert Hallam in a sermon preached December 1844 defends the observance of Christmas stating: "One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it." The diversity is lawful and harmless. Observance or non0bservance is perfectly optional. The celebration of the day, with an enlightened, pious and devout endeavor to make it subservient to the promotion of the honor of God and the welfare of the soul, is a truly Christian service, such as Christians may fitly and profitably render; and such is acceptable to the Lord and redounds to his honor. And the refusal to celebrate the day, if it be grounded upon an honest conviction of its inutility and a holy fear of its perversion to sensual or superstitious purposes, is equally innocent and commendable, a Christian service also, and offering pleasing to God and conducive to his glory. Let not him that regardeth the day, despise him that regardeth it not; and let not him that doth not regard the day, judge him that regardeth it: for God hath received him." ~ Robert Hallam 1844
I suppose this is somewhat sound reason and can give some permission to us for its observance.  The Scripture Rev. Hallam referred to is sound, it's application to Christmas could be questionable. But after all, how can celebrating Christmas be something displeasing to God?  I think we all can answer that in various ways, one being, it depends upon what the celebration becomes and how the world views it.  If it truly evolves into a secular holiday observance in the view of our society, shall we not lose our witness if we celebrate it's customs as they do?

One might say, "I always keep Christ in Christmas" yet in the celebrations they are caught up in the gift buying, party going, and dinner givings just as the world does.  In most of our Christmas celebrations, it is all about us, very little devotion, prayer, and worship of the Saviour occurs.  A mist all these activities a word is cast out about the Saviour, a nativity scene is put up, and a reason for the season sign is displayed, and the casting in of those few reminders are deemed sufficient for us to say, it's all about the birth of a Saviour as we join with the world in their joys of Christmas.

I suppose my ending comment would be, let us think and consider where our heart lies.  Let us be honest with ourselves and what Christmas really means to us.  Let us consider our activities during this time of the year, are they truly an effort to honor our Saviour and glorify Him.  If we say they are, can those activities and efforts fine the support and direction of Scripture?  For if Scripture is not our support, our deeds may appear good, but they cannot be considered worship. 

May the Grace of God be toward each of you,
David

"Providential Story" 12/13/2014

"Providential Story"

12/13/2014

First From Julie's Keyboard:

The Need For Wisdom

Proverbs 12:8 "A man shall be commended according to his wisdom: but he that is of a perverse heart shall be despised."

Proverbs 13:3 "He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction."

We read passages such as the above which cause us to realize the importance of the Wisdom of the Lord in our lives.  Maybe we struggle with decisions in our day, or maybe we need some right counsel to give a loved one in the given moment, or maybe we just want to discern more of the great truth that the Lord has for us.  In any situation, we can go to His promise for giving wisdom to those who seek.

In the book of James, we find him telling the brethren of the 12 tribes how to get wisdom when they are found lacking.

James 1:5,6 "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.  For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed."

True wisdom is from above.  We're warned of the wisdom of this world and its snares.  According to text found of the apostle Paul, the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God (ref. I Cor. 3:19) and so is the wisdom of God to this world (I Cor. 1:18). 

We simply must remember that "Man's highest intellect can never receive one spiritual apprehension."  (Charles Bridges)  Also, "it is generally found, that those who have the most discourse have the least knowledge.  WORDS ARE TOO OFTEN THE SUBSTITUTE FOR THINKING, RATHER THAN THE MEDIUM OF THOUGHT.  In the use of them, men think they know their own wisdom.  But how few comparatively know their own foolishness!"  (Charles Bridges)

For a simple reminder today, the Proverbs states in 9:10 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding."

Those seeming fitly words that we would speak, should all be checked by the counsel of His Word.  Therein will we find the security to proclaim His wonderful truth.

May we seek Him while He may be found,

Julie
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"Providential Story"

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Who doesn't like a good story?  Whether it is someone telling us a verbal story, reading a novel, or even watching a movie, we are captivated by the story.  That is what History is all about, it's about the story.  This time of the year much attention is drawn to the Christmas story, which I think is a good thing as it reminds us of a redeemer and our need for a Saviour.

The thoughts for the blog this week revolve around our Providential stories, which were provoked by a sermon I heard by Matthew Molesky.  His sermon drew out attention to the Story of the Bible as it is lived out in each individual story that is recorded.  You can listen to or watch it at

http://www.desiringgod.org/conference-messages/would-you-see-savor-and-love-jesus-look-at-the-book

It would come highly recommended by yours truly.

The direction I want to take us today is our own Providential story.  You see, as I  grow in my reformed view of Scripture I am challenged to think more deeply about the Providence of  God.  It calls for a much larger view of God than I have ever envisioned in the past. 

One cannot read very far in the Bible and think very deeply without the understanding that the story was no accident, but orchestrated by a great and mighty Being who is forming the story for His own purpose and Glory.  I seemed somehow to miss that for years.   I suppose I was thinking that God looked down over time and picked out the good stories that He could use to help us understand His purpose.  But He did not pick, but formed and created in His Providence each and every story told.

In the Bible nations rise and nations fall, people live and people die, economics increase, and economics fall.  Kings are lifted up and kings are brought down, people are rescued and people are destroyed.  All of these things fall within the Providence of God. 

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 Before we go further, let's define the word Providence.  To do so I want to turn to Mr. Webster and his 1828 edition of the English language.

3. In theology, the care and superintendence which God exercises over his creatures. He that acknowledges a creation and denies a providence, involves himself in a palpable contradiction; for the same power which caused a thing to exist is necessary to continue its existence. Some persons admit a general providence but deny a particular providence, not considering that a general providence consists of particulars. A belief in divine providence is a source of great consolation to good men. By divine providence is often understood God himself.

Now let's do a little thinking about that definition, from it we can come to the conclusion that the stories in the Bible were under God's care and superintendence as he formed and created the circumstances for His own plans and purposes.  But the logic of that thinking carries us further, we are his creation also.  Is He not so great that He governs only the important stories He wants in the Bible?  Or is He so great as to govern every aspect of His Creation to the smallest detail?  How great must the God of the Bible be?  If He governs the important stories, must He not also govern the little ones, for all the little ones affect and form the so-called important ones.

America has a story, it has a beginning and an ending, how will it read?  You and I have a story, a beginning and ending, how will it read?  Is our individual story of one who served their self, their pleasures, one who took the good they did and kept them for their own glory, enjoying the praises of men for the good deeds they accomplished?  Is it the story of one who acknowledges that the good they did was only possible by the grace and gift of God, they in themselves were only evil?   

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All of our stories have tragedy and triumph, can we see the Providence of God in our lives and trust Him in them?  Our trust in Him is our compass to determine the direction our story is taking.  It is my prayer for you that it be one of trust, and if so, you would uphold me with that same desire until the end.

I placed the picture to the left here as it is a reminder of God's Providence in my own life.  A part of the Story that is being told, as untold millions are being told throughout our world at this very moment.  But this is my story, and I must trust in God's Providence as I walk each moment of it.  This wonderful moment followed a great tragedy, must I not understand God's care and superintendence was watching and working in both to perform His good and perfect will and pleasure?  If I may, let me close with a poem I think fits very well.  And may the Grace of God be upon each and every one of you,

David

True love has a price
Its cost is above all that is sold
It cannot be redeemed with diamonds
It cannot be bought with gold

In infinity, it stands alone
A story yet to unfold
It takes a lifetime to be seen
This story which is to be told

True love has a price
The cost too high to measure
Of all in life to be seen
This is the greatest treasure
All creation could not pay the price
But to freely give is this love's greatest pleasure

It must be paid in full
This price I give to be with you
Each moment away from you is the talent that I pay
That is the cost that is so high
The moment away from you each day

This loves greatest treasure
Is the time spent within itself
Yet of this time it will give until there is nothing left
Of this time which it gives there is no greater pain
But of this time in which it lives, there is no greater gain

Price so great cost so high
In this love does God's Glory lie