We Will Remember
>> Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses:
but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
Psalm 20:7
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Be Ready Always
>> Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Sarah asked me to write a post "all about my life" ... but, due to your interest and my time, how about I spare you and just give one situation instead? :)
As for a lot of you around here, Wednesday is our "errands day" and this particular week the bank was first on the list. I had been in a really cheerful, happy mood all day and cashing my paycheck certainly didn't hurt my moral any! After being called to the counter, the man helping me out asked how I was doing (wonder how many times he asks that in one day!). "Great!" I replied, and said something about it being a wonderful week. I think he was a little taken back by my answer, probably because everyone around me seemed to be having a depressing day (maybe their paycheck wasn't what they wanted :) ). After keying in a few numbers to pull up my account, he asked me why I felt it had been a good week-- why I was so joyful. I felt an instant heart freeze-- I had an opportunity to tell him of the joy of the Lord and only about 3 minutes to witness... but it was one of those times where no verses, no words came to mind to lead in to talking about salvation... I missed my opportunity. It's one thing to jump right in to taking about the Lord to a fellow Christian, but when you're introducing the very idea of an actual communicative relationship with Christ and trying to explain the resulting joy in a way that's not confusing with all the words we're familiar with in our "Christian circles"... that has to be something you've already prepared.
All week his question has been plaguing my mind. 1 Peter 3:15 says,
All week his question has been plaguing my mind. 1 Peter 3:15 says,
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you...
How would you have answered him? Why are you joyful? I should have been prepared to take that small opportunity as a divine appointment and share with him the joy only a personal relationship with Christ can bring. Part of a Christian's testimony is his or her attitude on the commonest of days-- an attitude that should not draw attention to oneself by flirting, or silliness, not bring others down by being rude or depressing, but one that brightens the room and brings glory to the name of Christ: joy! We are surrounded with people who are looking for peace, looking for joy, looking for love. The way we handle ourselves in simple, ordinary situations like a stop at the bank is enough to prick the curiosity of others.
"My yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
Proverbs 10:30
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The Secret Place
>> Wednesday, March 4, 2009
He that dwelleth in the secret place
of the most High
shall abide under the shadow
of the Almighty.
of the most High
shall abide under the shadow
of the Almighty.
Psalm 91:1
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The Destruction of Sennacherib
>> Sunday, March 1, 2009
The story of this poem is taken from 11 Kings 18 and 19 concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria who went to Jerusalem, then capital of Judah, to conquer the Jews with his vastly superior army. However, the Baal-worshiping Assyrians lost 185,000 men in one night when the Angel of the Lord slew them.
The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.
Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen:
Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.
For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!
And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.
And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail:
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.
And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.
Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen:
Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.
For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!
And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.
And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail:
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.
And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!
George Gordon, Lord Byron
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There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
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