In Time of Need

Not by my need alone I ask this token
That Thou, O Lord, dost hear and heed my cry;
But by Thy promise that cannot be broken,
That all my need in Christ Thou wilt supply;
Not by my love for Thee, so oft disproved,
Not by my gifts to Thee, so poor and small,
But by Thy love that gave Thy best-beloved,
And with that one great Gift included all.

Not by my faith I plead, for that can falter,
Aye, and has faltered in the days gone by;
But by Thy faithfulness that cannot alter,
And by Thine ordered covenants on high,
Set safe and sure above Time's brief duration,
Beyond all change, eternally the same;
By these I dare my fervent supplication,
By Thy great mercies and Thy holy name.

Annie Johnson Flint

I am the Lord's! O joy beyond expression,
O sweet response to voice of love divine;
Faith's joyous Yes to the assuring whisper,
Fear not, I have redeemed thee, thou art Mine.

I am the Lord's! it hushes every murmur,
It soothes the fevered spirit to its rest;
I am the Lord's! it is the child's rejoinder,
Who knows and feels the Father's will is best.

I am the Lord's! O eagerly and gladly,
Triumphantly and gratefully we sing;
I am the Lord's! It is the rock unfailing,
To which our storm-tossed souls in danger cling.

I am the Lord's! yet teach me all it meaneth,
All it involves of love and loyalty,
Of holy service, full and glad surrender,
And unreserved obedience unto Thee.

I am the Lord's! yes; body, soul and spirit;
They're sealed, and irrecoverably Thine;
As Thou, Beloved, in Thy grace and fulness
For ever and for evermore art mine.

Lucy A. Bennett
(Believer's Hymn Book - Hymn 394)

Christ is risen! Hallelujah!
Blesssed morn of life and light;
Lo, the grave is rent asunder,
Death is conquered thro’ His might.

Chorus:
Christ is risen! Hallelujah!
Gladness fills the world today;
From the tomb that could not hold Him,
See, the stone is rolled away.

Christ is risen! Hallelujah!
Friends of Jesus, dry your tears;
Thro’ the vail of gloom and darkness
Lo, the Son of God appears.

Christ is risen! Hallelujah!
He hath risen as He said;
He is now the King of glory,
And our great exalted Head.

Fanny J. Crosby

The Refiner's Fire

So sorry for the long hiatus! I hope I've not lost my ardent readers due to my own lapse in posting. :)

He sat by a fire of seven-fold heat,
As he watched by the precious ore,
And closer He bent with a searching gaze
As He heated it more and more.

He knew He had ore that could stand the test,
And He wanted the finest gold
To mold as a crown for the King to wear,
Set with gems with a price untold.

So He laid our gold in the burning fire,
Though we fain would have said Him, "Nay,"
And He watched the dross that we had not seen,
And it melted and passed away.

And the gold grew brighter and yet more bright;
But our eyes were so dim with tears,
We saw but the fire - not the Master's hand -
And questioned with anxious fears.

Yet our gold shown out with a richer glow,
As it mirrored a Form above
That bent o'er the fire, though unseen by us,
With a look of ineffable love.

Can we think that it pleased His loving heart
To cause us a moment's pain?
Ah, no! but He saw through the present cross
The bliss of eternal gain.

So He waited there with a watchful eye,
With a love that is strong and sure,
And His gold did not suffer a bit more heat
Than was needed to make it pure.

Anonymous

In this busy life of service
Preaching Christ from day to day,
We have learned the Master's tactics;
But we've never learned to pray.

Dispensations, grace and missions,
Trust in Jesus, then obey;
Yes, we know the fundamentals,
But we don't know how to pray.

We've tried methods; we've tried prizes,
We have preached until we're gray;
How much more we would accomplish
If we'd just take time to pray.

We, like Martha, want to serve Him,
Do His will without delay,
But we never once remember,
that He'd rather have us pray.

We are still like little children
"Now I down to bed me lay."
How it just must grieve the Father,
That we haven't learned to pray.

Are you tired in His service?
"No results," you maybe say.
It's no wonder we're fruitless,
When we don't take time to pray.

Praying first and praying always--
It's God's blessed holy way;
We can't do one thing for Jesus,
Till we've taken time to pray.

Let us put on God's whole armour,
Fight the battle, don't dismay!
For we're now much more than victors,
Since we've taken time to pray.

John H. Sanford

My meditation for Christmas 2007

Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift. - 2 Corinthians 9:15

Jesus Christ was an Extraordinary Promise
And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. - Genesis 3:14-15
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. - Galatians 4:4-5

Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (meaning 'God with us'). - Isaiah 7:14
And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call His name JESUS...The said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also the holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. - Luke 1:30-31, 34-35
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. - Matthew 1:18

He came with an Exceptional Purpose
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. - John 3:16-17

He came at an Expected Period
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed...And Joseph and also went...unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem...to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered...And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night...And the angel said unto them,...For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. - Luke 2:1-11

He was born in the Exact Place
But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. - Micah 5:2
Now Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is He that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him. - Matthew 2:1-2

Most importantly, He is an Exalted Person
For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The Father of eternity, The Prince of Peace. - Isaiah 9:6

Excerpt from "One Day at a Time"

New Year's resolutions are good but fragile, that is, easily broken. New Year's prayers are better; they ascend to the throne of God and set answering wheels in motion. As we come to the beginning of another year, we would do well to make the following prayer requests our own:

Lord Jesus, I rededicate myself afresh to You today. I want You to take my life this coming year and use it for Your glory.

I pray that You will keep me from sin, from anything that will bring dishonor to Your Name.

Keep me teachable by the Holy Spirit. I want to move forward for You. Don't let me settle in a rut.

May my motto this year be, "He must increase; I must decrease." The glory must all be Yours. Help me not to touch it.

Teach me to make every decision a matter of prayer. I dread the thought of leaning on my own understanding. "O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps" (Jer. 10:23).

May I die to the world and even to the approval or blame of loved ones or friends. Give me a single, pure desire to do the things that please Your heart.

Keep me from gossip and criticism of others. Rather, help me to speak what is edifying and profitable.

Lead me to needy souls. May I become a friend of sinners, as You are. Give me tears of compassion for the perishing.

Lord Jesus, keep me from becoming cold, bitter, or cynical in spite of anything that may happen to me in the Christian life.

Guide me in my stewardship of money. Help me to be a good steward of everything You have entrusted to me.

Help me to remember moment by moment that my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. May this tremendous truth influence all my behavior.

And, Lord Jesus, I pray that this may be the year of Your return. I long to see Your face and to fall at Your feet in worship. During the coming year, may the blessed hope stay fresh in my heart, disengaging me from anything that would hold me here and keeping me on the tiptoes of expectancy. "Even so, come, Lord Jesus!"

William MacDonald (Jan 7 1917 - Dec 25 2007)

An excerpt from "The Cradle and the Cross"

In Romans 1:1-4 we see Paul's approach. He refers to "the gospel of God, (which he [God] had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures)." Christianity is not a first-century invention. It is, in fact, the fulfillment of that which, with one voice, the Hebrew prophets consistently foretold for centuries.

There are more than 300 Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament. Why? So Israel could identify Him, when in the fullness of time God would send forth his Son (Galatians 4:4). The third chapter in the Bible contains the first prophecy of the Messiah's coming, His virgin birth ("the seed of the woman") and His destruction of Satan (Genesis 3:15). The prophets declared that He must be of the "lineage of David" (Jeremiah 23:5; 2 Samuel 7:10-16; Psalms 89:3-4) and rule upon David's throne. To prove that Jesus met this criteria, Matthew and Luke begin with the genealogy of Joseph and Mary.

Having rejected Jesus, the Jews still hope for their Messiah to come-but they hope in vain. Jesus Christ fulfilled Malachi 3:1 ("the Lord [Messiah], whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple") when He cast out the money changers and merchants (Mark 11:15). The destruction of the temple 38 years later in A.D. 70 made it impossible during the last 1,923 years for any would-be Messiah to fulfil that scripture. Moreover, all genealogic records were lost in the destruction of the temple, so a future "Messiah" would not be able to prove the necessary descent from David.

Yes, the temple will soon be rebuilt. Instead of cleansing it, however, as Christ did, Antichrist will defile it with his image and force the world to worship him as God: "he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God" (2 Thessalonians 2:4).

Jacob prophesied, "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah...until Shiloh [Messiah] come..." (Genesis 49:10). Shortly after the birth of Jesus, about A.D. 7, the sceptre departed when the Jews lost the right to enforce the death penalty. Thereafter, it was forever too late for Messiah to come. By God's grace, however, He had already come; and He will come again to rescue at Armageddon those who rejected Him the first time. They will know Him by the marks of Calvary ("they shall look upon me whom they pierced"; Zechariah 12:10). The sceptre having departed from Judah, Christ, instead of being stoned by the Jews, was executed by the Romans, whose supreme penalty was crucifixion. Thus was fulfilled yet another prophecy: "...they pierced my hands and my feet" (Psalms 22:16)!

But back to the cradle. Caesar Augustus had no inkling of the momentous effect of his decree "that all the world should [return to the city of one's birth to] be taxed" (Luke 2:1). That decree brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem in time for the birth of her "firstborn son" (so she had other children) in fulfillment of Micah 5:2: "But thou, Bethlehem...out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel...."

What depth of meaning there is in the simple statement, "when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son" (Galatians 4:4)! His birth had to occur before the sceptre departed from Judah; His death, after. His birthplace was determined by a Roman decree; His death and its method of execution, by the Roman occupation of Israel. He had to come before the temple was destroyed and with it the genealogic records.

The "fullness of time" has passed. No one else can meet the Messianic criteria laid down by the Hebrew prophets! That simple phrase, however, carries a much deeper meaning than we have seen above. If the timing of His birth causes us to marvel, the timing of Christ's death is even more precise and full of meaning...

Dave Hunt

Hymn 809

If I could only tell Him as I know Him,
My Redeemer who has brightened all my way;
If I could tell how precious is His presence,
I am sure that you would make Him yours today.

If I could only tell you how He loves you,
And if we could through the lonely garden go;
If I could tell His dying pain and pardon,
You would worship at His wonderful feet, I know.

Redemption songs

Gems from my reading

Well, it will be strange to find myself in heaven; but it won't be a strange Christ - one I have known these many years. How little I know of Him! I am glad He knows me. - J. N. Darby contemplating his death (11th April 1882, 18 days before his death)

I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. - the Lord Jesus Christ (John 10:14)

Thy word is like a garden, Lord, with flowers bright and fair;
And everyone who seeks may pluck a lovely cluster there.
Thy word is like a deep, deep mine; and jewels rich and rare
Are hidden in its mighty depth for every searcher there.

Thy word is like a starry host: a thousand rays of light
Are seen to guide the traveler, and make his pathway bright.
Thy word is like an armory, where soldiers may repair,
And find for life's long battle day, all needful weapons there.

O may I love Thy precious word, may I explore the mine,
May I its fragrant flowers glean, may light upon me shine.
O may I find my armor there, Thy word my trusted sword;
I'll learn to fight with every foe the battle of the Lord.

Edwin Hodder

It is Jesus

Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. - Matt. 11:28
And I will give unto them eternal life; and they shall neverperish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. - John 10:28

There is a voice through earth's wild clamor calling,
To all the heavy laden and oppressed
Sweet as the cooling dew at even calling:
"Come unto Me and rest."
It is the voice of Jesus, still entreating,
To all the comforless and all sad;
Day after day His tender call repeating,
"Come unto Me and I will make you glad."

There is a hand outstretched in tenderest pity
Where all the weary and the wondering roam.
Waiting to lead them to the heavenly city,
To bring the homeless home.
It is the hand of Jesus, still upholding,
Strong to deliver, mighty still to keep;
And none shall pluck from out that safe unfolding
The weakest one of all His blood-bought sheep.

There is a Form that walks life's stormy ocean,
Bidding the noise of tempest cease;
Crying along through all the wild commotion,
"In Me ye shall have peace."
Oh it is Jesus comming o'er the waters,
As once He walked the waves of Galilee,
Speaking to all earth's shipwrecked sons and daughters,
"Be not afriad, have faith, have faith in Me."

There is a Love that longs with deep affection
To gather all the sin-sick sons of men,
Beneath its wings of shelter and protection,
And give them health again.
It is the love of Jesus, sweet with longing,
His full salvation to the world to give;
Crying to all the dead, earth's highways thronging,
"Come unto Me, come unto Me and live."

Annie Johnson Flint

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. - John 16:33

In the world, tribulation; but in Jesus -- peace;
The heart of the whirlwind where its roarings cease,
A little home waiting, still and light and warm,
A safe sanctuary from the night and storm.

In the world, tribulation; but in Jesus -- rest;
A sure place of refuge for the sore-opprest,
A guarded pavilion no device can take,
A strong-walled fortress no assault can shake.

In the world tribulation; but in Jesus -- joy;
A full cup of gladness that can never cloy,
A sweet fountain rising out of Marrah's tide,
A spring of rejoicing that is never dried.

In the world, tribulation; but in Jesus -- peace;
A deep, quiet harbor where the high waves cease,
A long-desired haven on a friendly shore,
Where the wild winds of oceans sweep the soul no more.

In the world, tribulation, trials all around,
For on earth no resting and no joys are found;
Let us flee to Jesus where all sorrows cease;
Here alone is gladness, here alone is peace.

Annie Johnson Flint