I highly recommend the whole series, but the final talk is the one I've chosen to present to you here. It took me somewhere beyond just spiritual teaching. It stretched my picture of now and of the radiant future God has been planning since before the beginning of time.
Over the past week, I've been watching a series from the 2014 Keswick Convention. Presented by Vaughan Roberts, the series looks at the book of Romans to help address some of the key questions of life: What has gone wrong with the world? How can I get right with God? Who am I? How can I change? and, last but certainly not least, What hope is there?
I highly recommend the whole series, but the final talk is the one I've chosen to present to you here. It took me somewhere beyond just spiritual teaching. It stretched my picture of now and of the radiant future God has been planning since before the beginning of time. Yesterday was an interesting day for me. Something I was hoping for fell through, leaving me unable to meet an important commitment. However, I also finally completed a project that has been holding me back for a very long time, which has freed me up to begin shifting gears. How interesting that God would allow these events to converge on the same day.
This is a very tricky time for me -- a crossroads. I have a lot of things to sort through in a very short time. Back to my eventful day yesterday... a friend had very kindly invited me to supper. I had a bit of time before I had to leave, so I strolled over (digitally) to Iver, in England, and began listening to the sermon I've linked to below. How very like the Lord to take me to this place on such a day. (I love You so much, Lord Jesus.) What He had in mind was not just a tonic for the moment -- He wanted me to have the tools today to say "NO" to a dark thought that can so often wander through our minds when the chips are down -- the thought, sent straight from hell, that says life in a pit is just something we need to get used to. My deepest thanks to the Lord for this adjustment in perspective. I am the King's daughter. My life has a purpose -- His purpose. If this sermon is timely for you as well, I pray that it lifts your eyes up to our glorious King, helping you move forward in His arms. A dear friend recently loaned me a biography of Hudson Taylor (1832-1905), one of the earliest missionary pioneers to China. It's no coincidence that God has me reading this book right now. Through Hudson Taylor's insights, I see that the critical issues He's been tackling in me recently are the symptom of a much deeper underlying work He wishes to do. I read and re-read this letter Hudson Taylor wrote to one of his sisters, which appears in the biography I'm reading but has also been reproduced online*: "The Exchanged Life" On my second and third readings of this letter, I became increasingly frustrated to read about Hudson Taylor's immediate grasp of the principles God revealed to him. Perhaps because we live in an information-oversaturated age, I can read the very same words he did and not be transformed in the way he was. It helped a great deal, therefore, to read the letters Taylor subsequently wrote to his children (at school in England) and to another sister, in which he expounds on these truths in plainer, but profound, terms: From a letter to his children**:
From a letter to another sister***:
This is part of a new beginning for me. It's not yet the reality of my everyday walk, but one day, before too long, I believe it will be. I have prayed God to make it plain to me, and to help me so to trust in Jesus.
_______________ Sources: * Found on the "Wholesome Words" website, under Worldwide Missions -- Missionary Biographies -- James Hudson Taylor -- The Exchanged Life. ** From page 181 of Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret, by Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor (Howard and Geraldine Taylor), Chicago: Moody Press, 2009. (First published in 1932) *** From page 182 of the same book I found the following post this morning on the Bible Gateway blog. In the wake of Robin Williams' death, the author of the post, Mel Lawrenz, takes a scriptural look at depression:
August 14 Bible Gateway blog post Mel Lawrenz is a pastor and the director of two thoughtful online projects, "The Brook Network" and "The Influence Project." |
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gold without alloy -- light without darkness -- glory without cloud -- "Yea, He is altogether lovely." Charles Spurgeon |