Edited to add: and yes, I realize this is a mysterious and somewhat disconcerting thought. It will take a while to get used to. But once I begin acting as though I know He has the sole deed to this "property," and that He in return has given me Himself and all that this indescribable gift encompasses, my response will be transformed.
I'm finally coming to the understanding that the Christian life is truly an exchanged life: a life lived in a borrowed body. Jesus was given my body as His own when I became His, to dwell in it and continue His work on earth. So, He's not borrowing my body, I'm borrowing His.
Edited to add: and yes, I realize this is a mysterious and somewhat disconcerting thought. It will take a while to get used to. But once I begin acting as though I know He has the sole deed to this "property," and that He in return has given me Himself and all that this indescribable gift encompasses, my response will be transformed.
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I sang this for the first time several months ago at church and fell in love with it, both with the lyrics and with the wonderful Early American tune composed by Lewis Edson. Most versions of this song use another tune, so every once in a while I check the Internet for a performance of it with Edson's tune. I haven't found one yet, but I did find this audio file of Edson's version from hymnal.net. I hope you enjoy it.
The words are powerful, extremely welcome to me during these puzzling, uncertain days the world has set foot in. I had to think a while about the wording "More happy, but not more secure..." It didn't make sense at first. But of course! We are just as secure now, in Christ, as we will be when we are with Him in heaven. Hymnal.net audio file "A Debtor to Mercy Alone" lyrics by Augustus Montague Toplady (1740-1778) (who also wrote "Rock of Ages") music by Lewis Edson (1748-1820) Lyrics * A debtor to mercy alone, Of covenant mercy I sing, Nor fear, with God’s righteousness on, My person and off’rings to bring. The terrors of law and of God With me can have nothing to do; My Savior’s obedience and blood Hide all my transgressions from view. The work which His goodness began, The arm of His strength will complete; His promise is Yea and Amen, And never was forfeited yet. Things future, nor things that are now, Not all things below or above, Can make Him His purpose forego, Or sever my soul from His love. My name from the palms of His hands Eternity will not erase; Imprest on His heart, it remains In marks of indelible grace. Yes! I to the end shall endure, As sure as the earnest is giv’n; More happy, but not more secure, When all earthly ties have been riv’n. * source Two bluegrass gospel classics: the first is by Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys. The second one you may recognize. It's performed by the Stanley Brothers, Carter and (once again) Ralph.
~~~~~~~~~~~ Surely there will be bluegrass in heaven. ;) YouTube videos: (Sorry... as usual, ads appear at the beginning.) "Two Coats" written by Ralph Stanley performed by Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys * "Amazing Grace" written by John Newton (1725-1807) ** performed by The Stanley Brothers * More Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys gospel, here ** A candid account of the story of "Amazing Grace" and its author, here Though the fig tree should not blossom
And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, And makes me walk on my high places. Habakkuk 3:17-19 This message couldn't be more pertinent to me today.
"Fretting springs from a determination to get our own way. Our Lord never worried and He was never anxious, because He was not out to realise His own ideas; He was out to realise God’s ideas." Oswald Chambers, "One of God's Great Don'ts," My Utmost for His Highest (classic), July 4 This morning very early, I was lying awake listening to the birds. It struck me as I lay there that their choral praise absolutely fills the skies, in much the same way the angel song is said to fill heaven.
Of course! The things God has surrounded us with are pictures of what is in heaven, although heaven's version is purer, fuller, clearer -- untainted. The earthly version we see is far less than what it was originally created to be. We know this, in part from this passage in Romans: For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. Romans 8:19-23 So, this got me wondering -- not so much wondering as asking the Lord to begin revealing it to me... What other things in nature are pictures of heaven? Does the vast blue sky tell us something about God, or about His heaven? What about the rolling green hills? The trees? The butterflies? The wolves? The air we breathe? I don't have answers to these questions yet, and the answers you may receive if you begin to wonder these same things may differ from the answers I receive. But there is one thing I'm certain of: Everything God creates is designed in some way to reflect His glory, and to praise Him. Some mornings when the birds' pre-dawn ovation is especially spectacular, I almost wish I could join them. But, ah... what awaits us is sweeter, so much sweeter. And while we're still on earth, each of us has been given unique ways of serenading Him throughout the day. Let's fill the skies with His praise! “Come, let us return to the Lord.
For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. “He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him. “So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth.” Hosea 6:1-3 Last night I happened to scroll down this page and noticed a post from last December called "For this very purpose." Romans 9:16-17 speaks to me more deeply now, in fact, than it did when I wrote that post. I needed to think about this again.
In case this is a message God wants someone else out there to re-hear, here's a repeat of that post: ________________________________________________________ "...So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth." Romans 9:16-17 A central point Paul makes in this chapter of Romans is that God's purposes are sovereign. The example of Pharaoh stands in contrast to the example used several verses later: God hardened Pharaoh's heart to accomplish His purposes, yet the hearts of God's own people are likened to potter's clay, to be molded as He sees fit. The verses I've cited above struck me recently, not as they relate to Pharaoh, but as they relate to those of us who are surrendered to the Lord Jesus. Let this thought sink in, and let it become personal: For this very purpose God raised you up, to demonstrate His power in you, and that His name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth. It's not about us, it's about God. He didn't raise us up to make a flashy statement. He doesn't demonstrate His power in us so that we will have remarkable or even necessarily happy lives. He raised us up to glorify and proclaim His own name. He does this by demonstrating His power in us, as we surrender to Christ's lordship. What does this mean to us in our daily walk? It means everything. It means that our prayers are not about us, they are about God's glory. It means that we can rest in Him, not focused on whether things are being restructured in our favor, but focused on giving Him full creative control over everything in our world. As we do this, we release Him to demonstrate His power in us, so that His name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth. And as a side benefit, He begins to shape us in a way that will eventually reveal that He has had His way in us. Not that our lives are likely to become free of problems -- on the contrary. But we will bear the marks of His healing grace, evidence that He has been at work deep, deep inside us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. The freeing thing is that we cannot produce this fruit, any more than a lump of clay can make itself into a beautiful or useful object. Our weakness before Him becomes the very thing the Lord uses to shape the strength of His own nature into us, serving His purposes and at the same time marking us as His own treasured vessels. "Your God has commanded your strength; show Yourself strong, O God, who have acted on our behalf."
Psalm 68:28 There's an ambiguity in the original wording, so the first part is sometimes translated "Command, God, Your strength." I don't have a problem with ambiguities and apparent contradictions; often God hides great treasure in them. This verse is an example. Why would God command our strength, when it's His strength we're to depend on? Exactly! If that "exactly" doesn't make sense, you may not have watched Louie Giglio's "The Stand" sermon yet. (I posted it last night on the "To soak in" page.) Once you've seen the egg analogy, things should become clearer. Even more fun, there's an ambiguity within "God has commanded your strength." God orders us to be strong [in Christ], but He is also the Commander, the One in charge of our strength [in Christ]. Is this not cool beyond belief? But enough of my rambling on a nice Saturday morning. Go check out the egg thing. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Ephesians 6:10 (NKJV) (rest of passage here) Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” God, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations.
Exodus 3:13-16 God calls Himself by two names here: The first name, "I AM WHO I AM," is mind-blowingly huge. We can't get our limited understanding around it. The second name is "The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." He refers to this as "My name forever... My memorial-name to all generations." Both are obviously His names forever, but He underscores the second one here. Why? To me these two names stand in juxtaposition, for a reason. The reason is this: For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, "I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite. ..." Isaiah 57:15 God is unfathomable, perfect, and forever exalted. He is the I AM. He cannot be contained by anything; no one can fully understand or explain Him. If we may approach Him, it is on His terms only. The second name, by contrast, expresses connectedness and intimacy. God has chosen to be our God, the God of His people. We still may approach Him on His terms only, but this name says, "We are bound together forever." In a sense, it is a family name. He stresses to His people that this will be His name to all generations, because all generations need to be reminded that He has called us first and foremost to relationship with Him. Not to service, not to a lifestyle, but to Himself. The unfathomable One calls us to know Him. "even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us" (from John 17:21) In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said,
“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” (Isaiah 6:1-5) I turn to this passage essentially whenever I want to have my breath taken away. I've become delightfully used to having the Lord share my earthly space with me. Silly as this may sound to some people, I take Revelation 3:20 fairly literally: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me." It was spoken to Christians about the fellowship He wants to have with us, after all, so I quite regularly ask Him things like, "Would You like a cup of tea?" or "What would You like for dinner?" I've asked and told Him many other mundane or outrageous things as well. He's my best Friend. He's the sweetest Love I've ever known, or ever could know. But He is at the same time my Master and King. The loftiness of His holiness and majesty are not within my human ability to grasp. How can these two realities even co-exist? For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, "I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite. ..." (Isaiah 57:15) I've quoted this passage before, but I'll do so again, because there's always more to see: Why does He humble Himself to dwell with us? He actually spells this out. It's "in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite." So, is there a connection between His dining with us (or drinking tea with us) and His unfathomable holiness? Yes. Both things express how supremely holy He is. He deigns to set foot in us not only to be our Companion and Friend, but to revive us. To revive something literally means to give it new life; no one but God can give new life. If there were even one minuscule speck of decay or impurity in Him, His presence within us would surely destroy us. Through intimate fellowship with us (with or without tea), He has access to our inner core. And it's there where profound healing begins. Psalm 65 is a beautiful song, full of nature imagery. A picture of God's tender care for His creation. I love it, and have re-read it many times to let it calm my mind.
I also love how scripture often works on multiple levels. This, for example (verses 9-13): You visit the earth and cause it to overflow; You greatly enrich it; The stream of God is full of water; You prepare their grain, for thus You prepare the earth. You water its furrows abundantly, You settle its ridges, You soften it with showers, You bless its growth. You have crowned the year with Your bounty, And Your paths drip with fatness. The pastures of the wilderness drip, And the hills gird themselves with rejoicing. The meadows are clothed with flocks And the valleys are covered with grain; They shout for joy, yes, they sing. This is us, you see. It's not only a description of how God cares for His planet and how it responds, it's imagery of the true Christian life: living near to the heart of God, ever growing in love for Him, being cared for by His hand and through the "watering" of the Holy Spirit and the Word. One of my favorite pictures here doesn't appear in the translation itself, but in the original wording, shown in the margin notes: And Your paths drip with fatness. "Paths" (v. 11b) is literally "wagon tracks" -- trenches formed as rolling wheels press firmly into the ground. The image is of repeated, ongoing interaction between the wagon and the earth, and of the earth's total yielding. God wants our lives to be clearly marked by His presence. He wants us to allow Him to impress Himself intimately, deeply, daily, into our being. The tracks He leaves on us, in us, as a result will literally drip with abundance -- that is, they will drip with Himself, His very nature and presence. And we will begin to bear His deep mark. To experience what it is to be His, to be cared for by Him, to be corrected by Him, to be treasured by Him. To let everything else go. This is a deep, lifelong work. Like all spiritual growth, it begins with, and continues with, "yes." Yes this morning, this afternoon, tonight, tomorrow, forever. Yes when I've been angry and have come back to apologize to You. Yes when no is easier. I surrender, I surrender, I surrender, as Your sweet wheels roll over me, pressing down deep into my soul, marking me with You. |
All thy sins were laid upon Him, Jesus bore them on the tree;
God, who knew them, laid them on Him, and, believing, thou art free. Joseph Denham Smith (c. 1817-1889) Praise reflection archives
May 2020
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...take root downward and bear fruit upward.
2 Kings 19:30 |