Posted on 11/09/2006 6:49:58 PM PST by Knitting A Conundrum
Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
Psalm 127:1>
At this time, when feelings run high, the world seems crazy, and anger seems to be the one thing the peoples of the world have in common, I invite you, my fellow FReepers, to join me in prayers and meditation for guidance, God's help and for our fellow man, for America, our troops, and all our own needs.
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
That calls me from a world of care,
And bids me at my Fathers throne
Make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
My soul has often found relief
And oft escaped the tempters snare
By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!
William Bradbury
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult.
Psalm 46: 1-3
BTTT
I Found a Vid that's not Extremely Good, but our Brother Keith Green's Singing is what is Beautiful.
Asleep in the Light {Keith Green}
Do you see, do you see, all the people sinking down,
Don't you care, don't you care, are you gonna let them drown,
How can you be so numb, not to care if they come,
You close your eyes and pretend the job's done.
Oh Bless me Lord, bless me Lord, you know it's all I ever
hear, No one aches, no one hurts, no one even sheds one tear,
But He cries, He weeps, He bleeds, and He cares for your needs,
And you just lay back and keep soaking it in, oh, can't you see it's such sin?
Cause He brings people to your door,
And you turn them away, as you smile and say,
God bless you, be at peace, and all Heaven just weeps,
Cause Jesus came to your door, you've left Him out on the streets.
Open up, open up, and give yourself away,
You've seen the need, you hear the cry, so how can you delay,
God's calling and you're the one, but like Jonah you run,
He's told you to speak, but you keep holding it in,
Oh, can't you see it's such sin?
The world is sleeping in the dark,
That the church can't fight, cause it's asleep in the light,
How can you be so dead, when you've been so well fed,
Jesus rose from the grave, and you, you can't even get out of bed,
Oh, Jesus rose from the dead, come on, get out of your bed.
How can you be so numb, not to care if they come,
You close your eyes and pretend the job's done,
You close your eyes and pretend the job's done,
Don't close your eyes, don't pretend the job's done.
Come away, come away, come away with Me, My love,
Come away, from this mess, come away with Me, My love.
May He be Given Glory Forever and Ever through Endless Ages
Because of His Master Plan of Salvation for the Church through Jesus Christ. (Eph.3:21)
Both entries for the day were very good.
Enjoy a double portion!
Overeating like this is GOOD FOR US!!
Daily Light on the Daily Path
September 10
Morning
I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them.
I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
I . . . urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, . . . eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spiritjust as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your callone Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Jer. 32:39; Ezek. 36:26; Ps. 25:8-10; John 17:21; Eph. 4:1-6
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/h/g/hwgwador.htm
How good is the God we adore,
Our faithful unchangeable Friend!
His love is as great as His power,
And knows neither measure nor end!
Tis Jesus the First and the Last,
Whose Spirit shall Guide us safe home,
Well praise Him for all that is past,
And trust Him for all thats to come.
—Joseph Hart, 1759
Evening
They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength.
When I am weak, then I am strong.My God has become my strength.But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.Let them lay hold of my protection.
Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you.His arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob.
I will not let you go unless you bless me.
You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me! Take hold of shield and buckler and rise for my help!
Isa. 40:31; 2 Cor. 12:10; Isa. 49:5; 2 Cor. 12:9; Isa. 27:5; Ps. 55:22; Gen. 49:24; Gen. 32:26; 1 Sam. 17:45; Ps. 35:1, 2
BTTT
September 13
It is the way the Master went
‘Ah,’ we say, ‘the same old thing week after week.’ That is our attitude towards our life, and ... we become weary.... If you regard the Christian life as a dreary task you are insulting God.... If you and I come to regard any aspect of this Christian life merely as a task and a duty, and if we have to goad ourselves and to set our teeth in order to get through with it, I say we are insulting God and we have forgotten the very essence of Christianity. The Christian life is not a task. The Christian life alone is worthy of the name life. This alone is righteous and holy and pure and good. It is the kind of life the Son of God Himself lived. It is to be like God Himself in His own holiness. That is why I should live it. I do not just decide to make a great effort to carry on somehow.... How have I got into this lifethis life that I am grumbling and complaining about, and finding it hard and difficult? . . . there is only one answer . . . because the only begotten Son of God left heaven and came down to earth for our salvation; He divested Himself of all the insignia of His eternal glory and humbled Himself to be born as a babe and to be placed in a manger. He endured the life of this world for thirty-three years: He was spat upon and reviled. He had thorns thrust into his head and was nailed to a cross, to bear the punishment of my sin. That is how I have come to ... this.
. . . ‘Be not weary in well-doing.’ My friend, if you think of your Christian life ... with this sense of grudge, or as a wearisome task or duty, I tell you to go back to the beginning of your life, retrace your steps to the wicket gate through which you passed. Look at the world in its evil and sin, look at the hell to which it was leading you, and then look forward and realize that you are set in the midst of the most glorious campaign into which a man could ever enter, and that you are on the noblest road that the world has ever known.
From: Spiritual Depression, by Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Isa 35:1 The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
Isa 35:2 It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.
Isa 35:3 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
Isa 35:4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you.
Isa 35:5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Isa 35:6 Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
Isa 35:7 And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
Isa 35:8 And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
Isa 35:9 No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:
Isa 35:10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/j/o/joinayrs.htm
Join, all ye ransomed sons of grace,
The holy joy prolong,
And shout to the Redeemers praise
A solemn midnight song.
Blessing, and thanks, and love, and might,
Be to our Jesus givn,
Who turns our darkness into light
Who turns our hell to Heavn.
Thither our faithful souls He leads,
Thither He bids us rise,
With crowns of joy upon our heads,
To meet Him in the skies.
—Charles Wesley, 1742
BTTT
Alas and did my Savior Bleed {Isaac Watts}
Alas! and did my Savior Bleed?
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?
Was it for crimes that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!
Well might the sun in darkness hide
And shut his glories in,
When Christ, the mighty Maker died,
For man the creatures sin.
But drops of grief can neer repay
The debt of love I owe:
Here, Lord, I give my self away
Tis all that I can do.
But God Commendeth His Love Toward us, in that, while we were Yet Sinners, Christ Died for us. (Rom.5:8)
LORD’S DAY EVE
God of the passing hour,
Another week has gone and I have been
preserved
in my going out,
in my coming in.
Thine has been the vigilance that has turned
threatened evils aside;
Thine the supplies that have nourished me;
Thine the comforts that have indulged me;
Thine the relations and friends that have
delighted me;
Thine the means of grace which have edified me;
Thine the Book, which, amidst all my enjoyments,
has told me that this is not my rest,
that in all successes one thing alone is needful,
to love my Saviour.
Nothing can equal the number of thy mercies
but my imperfections and sins.
These, O God, I will neither conceal nor palliate,
but confess with a broken heart.
In what condition would secret reviews
of my life leave me
were it not for the assurance that with thee
there is plenteous redemption,
that thou art a forgiving God,
that thou mayest be feared!
While I hope for pardon through the blood
of the cross,
I pray to be clothed with humility,
to be quickened in thy way,
to be more devoted to thee,
to keep the end of my life in view,
to be cured of the folly of delay and indecision,
to know how frail I am,
to number my days and apply my heart
unto wisdom.
—From The Valley of Vision
DAILY LIGHT ON THE DAILY PATH
Evening
No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.
Whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.Let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord.Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.
Abide in me.Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
James 1:8; Luke 9:62; Heb. 11:6; Jas. 1:6, 7; Mark 11:24; Eph. 4:14, 15; John 15:4; 1 Cor. 15:58
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/e/n/t/enterwor.htm
Enter and worship here,
The Bride invites theeCome;
The Spirit bids thee cast out fear,
And make the Church thy home.
Enter and bless the Lord,
And meditate His grace;
Feast on the manna of His Word,
And consecrate this place.
Enter and rest and pray,
Lift to the hills thine eyes;
Praise Him, and offer up today
Thy heart, a sacrifice.
—Charles C. Albertson, 1900.
BTTT
Christ A Refuge From The Tempest
By Edward Griffin
And a man shall be as a hiding place from the wind and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place) as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.Isaiah 32:2
This prediction, which was uttered in the days of Ahaz, is thought to have had primary reference to Hezekiah, and to the relief from wicked magistrates which would be experienced in his reign. But in the opinion of the best commentators it had ultimate reference to the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the person of our Redeemer, who is very man as well as God, it is fulfilled that a man shall be as a hiding place from the wind and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
In a serene day when no wind is up, when no rain is falling, a man may see by the way-side a shelving rock and may pass by it without emotion.
Not so the weary traveler who is fleeing before the rising storm or the beating tempest. In a season of rain or in a land of waters, one may pass by a river with little interest. Not so a traveler in the Arabian deserts, surrounded with burning sands, fainting with heat and parched with thirst. The sight of a stream of water, and especially of rivers of water, in such a place, would transport him. In a country covered with wood or pinched with cold, a huge rock might offer its shade unwelcome; but amidst the parched wastes of Arabia, where the weary traveler, exposed all day to the intense heat of a vertical sun, sees not a tree nor a shrub, but only one boundless waste of burning sand,there a cool retreat beneath the shade of an over-hanging cliff,there the shadow of a great rock in a weary land, would be most welcome.
These observations suggest a principal reason why the Saviour of the world, whose very name ought to be music to every human ear, is treated with such cruel indifference by the greater part of mankind. It is because they do not feel their guilt and misery and need of a Saviour. They are blind to the infinite majesty and holiness and loveliness of God, and to the immense obligations by which they are bound to him; and therefore they do not see the infinite guilt of rebelling against all his commands, all his mercies, all his glories and interests; and therefore they are not pressed down under a sense of their awful condemnation and ruin. Hell is not laid open before them as their proper punishment. They do not stand amazed at the patience which has kept them out of it so long. They do not see themselves to be utterly ruined, and utterly helpless and hopeless without a Saviour. And therefore his precious Gospel, which ought to fill the world with wonder arid delight, with gratitude and praise, is cast aside as an idle tale, and the name of Jesus is treated with the most dreadful indifference.
But let a man be thoroughly convicted of sin; let him see himself covered with pollution from the head to the foot; let him stand in sight of the eternal judgment, and apprehend that divine justice has no choice but to crush him into everlasting torment; let him see himself just about to receive the descending wrath of God with the weight of a thousand worlds in that awful moment let him obtain a glimpse of Jesus, who came to save his people from their sins; let him lift his trembling eye to a God reconciled in Christ and smiling upon him I ask that man, What now think you of Christ? O, says he,but language fails. A sacred reverence settles upon his countenance; his uplifted eye speaks unutterable things. I see it glisten,I see it weep. O, says he.His hands are clinched and forcibly raised to his breast. The opening of the last judgment could not add solemnity to a single feature. O the height and the depth, the length and the breadth of the love of Christ! Where has this glorious mystery lain hid that I have never seen it before? To such an eye how precious does the Saviour appear as the great medium through which the love of God has come down to men,as the Word by which all the wonders of the eternal Mind are expressed,as the great Prophet who has brought down all the instructions that have blessed the world from the days of Eden,as the Priest whose atonement and intercession have astonished heaven and earth,as the King who has governed the world from the beginning, and has always protected and provided for his people, and has all their interests in his hands, and all the treasures of the universe to impart. To one who is indifferent to the blessedness of communion with God and of conformity to him, there appears no form or comeliness in Christ why he should desire him. But to one who feels an insatiable eagerness to rise from this dark world to a knowledge of all the grand and interesting things which are taking place in the kingdom of God,who longs to be united to all holy beings, and to share in their immortal friendship and blessedness and honors,who has no desire so great as to be good and conformed to the God he loves; to such a one Jesus must appear exceedingly precious as the one appointed to open the universe to view, to pour all its light upon the eye, and to exalt the soul to all its purity, to all its dignity, to all its happiness. ..
..
OH Father in Heaven,
I ask that you would have Mercy on souls, and give them the knowledge of their great need for Jesus, and lead them in the Way Everlasting.
Without you, no one can come to Jesus. Without Jesus, no one can come to you.
Draw them LORD, so that they might be saved.
Let them see the hideous truth of sin in them so they know they have a need they cant provide.
Help them to cry out to you for Salvation.
Oh LORD, rescue the perishing.
You are our shield and exceeding great Reward.
I praise your Name forevermore.
..
Psa 18:31 For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God?
Psa 28:1 . Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.
Psa 31:2 Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for a house of defense to save me.
Psa 61:2 From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
Psa 62:5 My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.
Psa 62:6 He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defense; I shall not be moved.
Psa 62:7 In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
Psa 62:8 Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.
.
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/s/h/shelterr.htm
There is a Rock in a weary land,
Its shadow falls on the burning sand,
Inviting pilgrims as they pass,
To seek a shade in the wilderness.
Then why will ye die?
O why will ye die?
When the sheltering Rock is so near by,
O why will ye die?
There is a Well in a desert plain,
Its waters call with entreating strain,
Ho, every thirsting, sin sick soul,
Come, freely drink, and thou shalt be whole.
Then why will ye die?
O why will ye die?
When the living Well is so near by,
O why will ye die?
A great fold stands with its portals wide,
The sheep astray on the mountain side;
The Shepherd climbs oer mountains steep;
Hes searching now for His wandering sheep.
Then why will ye die?
O why will ye die?
When the Shepherds fold is so near by,
O why will ye die?
There is a cross where the Savior died;
His blood flowed out in a crimson tide,
A sacrifice for sins of men,
And free to all who will enter in.
Then why will ye die?
O why will ye die?
When the crimson cross is so near by,
O why will ye die?
William E. Penn, 1887
BTTT
Be Exalted Forever, our Abba, for Endless Ages, Without End. For His Majesty's Excellent Glory, we Pray in Jesus' Name, amen.
All that Thrills my Soul {Lyrics and Composer: Thoro Harris, 1931}
Who can cheer the heart like Jesus,
By His presence all divine?
True and tender, pure and precious,
O how blest to call Him mine!
All that thrills my soul is Jesus,
He is more than life to me;
And the fairest of ten thousand
In my blessed Lord I see.
Love of Christ so freely given,
Grace of God beyond degree,
Mercy higher than the heaven,
Deeper than the deepest sea!
All that thrills my soul is Jesus,
He is more than life to me;
And the fairest of ten thousand
In my blessed Lord I see.
What a wonderful redemption!
Never can a mortal know
How my sin, tho red like crimson,
Can be whiter than the snow.
All that thrills my soul is Jesus,
He is more than life to me;
And the fairest of ten thousand
In my blessed Lord I see.
Every need His hand supplying,
Every good in Him I see;
On His strength divine relying,
He is all in all to me.
All that thrills my soul is Jesus,
He is more than life to me;
And the fairest of ten thousand
In my blessed Lord I see.
By the crystal flowing river
With the ransomed I will sing,
And forever and forever
Praise and glorify the King
All that thrills my soul is Jesus,
He is more than life to me;
And the fairest of ten thousand
In my blessed Lord I see.
Salvation to our God Which Sitteth Upon the Throne,
And Unto the Lamb! (Rev.7:10)
Amen. I love the poem/hymn by William Penn.
You love Truth.
A FIRST BOOK OF DAILY READINGS
by Martyn Lloyd-Jones
September 24
Triumphantly into harbour!
‘For so,’ he says (2 Peter 1:11) ‘an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ He is not talking about salvation here because these people are already saved; he is talking about the ultimate entrance into glory . . . ‘if you do these things’, says Peter, ‘if you discipline your life, if you order your life and furnish out your faith in this way and with these various other qualities’, he says, ‘you will never fall’ in the present, you will have great joy and happiness resulting from your assurance, and when the end comes you will go out of this life into the next with your sails filled with the glorious breezes of Heaven. There will be no hesitation about it, it will not be an entrance with torn sails; rather an ‘abundant entrance’ will be ministered unto you.... For it will not be a putting out into some unknown sea, but rather an ending of the storms of life and a triumphant entry into the haven of our eternal rest and glory in the presence of God.
If we are unhappy and depressed Christians it is more than likely that it is all due to that lack of discipline. Let us therefore be up and doing, and giving all diligence, let us supplement our faith and not be afraid. Let us get our ideas clear and then put them into practice, and supplement our faith with this strength and vigour, with this knowledge, with this temperance, with this patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and love. Let us begin to enjoy our Christian life and to be useful and helpful to others. Let us grow in grace and knowledge and so be an attraction to all who know us to come and join with us in the like precious faith, and to experience the blessedness of these exceeding great and precious promises which never fail.
Spiritual Depression, p. 216
2Pe 1:1 Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
2Pe 1:2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
2Pe 1:3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,
2Pe 1:4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
2Pe 1:5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,
2Pe 1:6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,
2Pe 1:7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
2Pe 1:8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2Pe 1:9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.
2Pe 1:10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.
2Pe 1:11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
BTTT
You made it!
May God bless you.
My prayers to your family. They are missing you.
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