Friday Reflections

It's been awhile since I've done one of these. However, upon reading these posts and watching these videos, I was moved to share them. It is a great need in the Church today to be reminded of those things outside of our home and church-body. There is a great cry in the land and Christ is calling you and I to lift up prayer and intercede for these little ones, and the ones yet to be born! Sometimes, I become so burdened by the cares within my own little circle that I feel I can hardly make the time to lift up deep, fervent, Spirit-born prayers for these little ones. But our Lord can and will powerfully move within a half hour of your time surrendered to His kingdom's cause.

Today, We Remember ~ Kisses from Kate

Compassion for the Orphans ~ Douglas Phillips (Vision Forum)

The Auschwitz Within - Church at Ellerslie - Eric Ludy sermon

Lilias Trotter: Focussed - A Story and a Song

Sometimes, I just don't have the words to express my heart. And then I find that there are sisters who have gone before me that found those words. Words that came after years of surrender to the One who fills all in all and meets every supply and need.

It was in a little wood in early morning. The sun was climbing behind a steep cliff in the east, and its light was flooding nearer and nearer and then making pools among the trees. Suddenly, from a dark corner of purple brown stems and tawny moss there shone out a great golden star. It was just a dandelion, and half withered - but it was full face to the sun, and had caught into its heart all the glory it could hold, and was shining so radiantly that the dew that lay on it still made a perfect aureole round its head. And it seemed to talk, standing there - to talk about the possibility of making the very best of these lives of ours.

For if the Sun of Righteousness has risen upon our hearts, there is an ocean of grace and love and power lying all around us, an ocean to which all earthly light is but a drop, and it is ready to transfigure us, as the sunshine transfigured the dandelion, and on the same condition - that we stand full face to God.

Gathered up, focussed lives, intent on one aim - Christ - these are the lives on which God can concentrate blessedness. It is "all for all" by a law as unvarying as any law that governs the material universe.

We see the principle shadowed in the trend of science; the telephone and the wireless in the realm of sound, the use of radium and the ultra violet rays in the realm of light. All these work by gathering into focus currents and waves that, dispersed, cannot serve us. In every branch of learning and workmanship the tendency of these days is to specialize - to take up one point and follow it to the uttermost.

And Satan knows well the power of concentration; if a soul is likely to get under the sway of the inspiration, "this one thing I do," he will turn all his energies to bring in side-interests that will shatter the gathering intensity.

And they lie all around, these interests. Never has it been so easy to live in half a dozen good harmless worlds at once - art, music, social science, games, motoring, the following of some profession, and so on. And between them we run the risk of drifting about, the "good" hiding the "best" even more effectually than it could be hidden by downright frivolity with its smothered heart-ache at its own emptiness.

It is easy to find out whether our lives are focussed, and if so, where the focus lies. Where do our thoughts settle when consciousness comes back in the morning? Where do they swing back when the pressure is off during the day? Does this test not give the clue? Then dare to have it out with God - and after all, that is the shortest way. Dare to lay bare your whole life and being before Him, and ask Him to show you whether or not all is focussed on Christ and His glory. Dare to face the fact that unfocussed, good and useful as it may seem, it will prove to have failed of its purpose.

What does this focussing mean? Study the matter and you will see that it means two things - gathering in all that can be gathered, and letting the rest drop. The working of any lens - microscope, telescope, camera - will show you this. The lens of your own eye, in the room where you are sitting, as clearly as any other. Look at the window bars, and the beyond is only a shadow; look through at the distance, and it is the bars that turn into ghosts. You have to choose which you will fix your gaze upon and let the other go.

Are we ready for a cleavage to be wrought through the whole range of our lives, like the division long ago at the taking of Jericho, the division between things that could be passed through the fire of consecration into "the treasury of the Lord," and the things that, unable to "bide the fire" must be destroyed? All aims, all ambitions, all desires, all pursuits - shall we dare to drop them if they cannot be gathered sharply and clearly into the focus of "this one thing I do"?

Will it not make life narrow, this focussing? In a sense, it will - just as the mountain path grows narrower, for it matters more and more, the higher we go, where we set our feet - but there is always, as it narrows, a wider and wider outlook, and purer, clearer air. Narrow as Christ's life was narrow, this is our aim; narrow as regards self-seeking, broad as the love of God to all around. Is there anything to fear in that?

And in the narrowing and focussing, the channel will be prepared for God's power - like the stream hemmed between the rock-beds, that wells up in a spring - like the burning glass that gathers the rays into an intensity that will kindle fire. It is worthwhile to let God see what He can do with these lives of ours, when "to live is Christ."

How do we bring things to a focus in the world of optics? Not by looking at the things to be dropped, but by looking at the one point that is to be brought out.

Turn full your soul's vision to Jesus, and look and look at Him, and a strange dimness will come over all that is apart from Him, and the Divine "attrait" by which God's saints are made, even in this 20th century, will lay hold of you. For "He is worthy" to have all there is to be had in the heart that He has died to win.

~ Lilias Trotter

Hath not each heart a passion and a dream,
Each some companionship for ever sweet,
And each in saddest skies some silver gleam,
And each some passing joy, too fair and fleet,
And each a staff and stay, though frail it prove,
And each a face he fain would ever see?

And what have I? an endless stream of love,
A rapture, and a glory, and a calm,
A life that is an everlasting Psalm,
All, O Beloved, in Thee.
- Tersteegen

Dawn

A weaving of light and shadow, as the old year dies. But they are the light and shadows not of a sunset, but of dawn - a dawn that will turn its dreams into realities.

"A dim aurora rises in my East

Beyond the line of jagged questions hoar

As if the head of our intombed High Priest

Began to glow behind the unopened door:

Sure the gold wings will soon rise from the gray!

They rise not. Up I rise, press on the more,

To meet the slow coming of the Master's day."

~ Lilias Trotter

We wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. ~ Titus 2:13-14

I never made a new year's post on my blog. I'm sure this will qualify as one.

This past month has been one of the longest and hardest stretches. And Yeshua, so faithfully upholding His own. O for grace to Love Him More!

Children of the Heavenly Father

Safely in His bosom gather

Nestling bird nor star in heaven

Such a refuge e’er was given

God His own doth tend and nourish

In His holy courts they flourish

From all evil things He spares them

In His mighty arms He bears them

Neither life nor death shall ever

From the Lord His children sever

Unto them His grace He showeth

And their sorrows all He knoweth

Though He giveth or He taketh

God His children ne’er forsaketh

His the loving purpose solely

To preserve them pure and holy

Lo their very hairs He numbers

And no daily care encumbers

Them that share His ev’ry blessing

And His help in woes distressing

Praise the Lord in joyful numbers

Your Protector never slumbers

At the will of your Defender

Ev’ry foe man must surrender.

Cleaning the Sanctuary

It has been many months of preparation and, mostly, waiting. The sale of our home is going through and we have found a lovely town-home to rent. Lord willing, we will be settled in our new home by mid to late January. In short, this past week has been nothing short of busy and full. I was finally motivated to go through a bunch of my stuff and pack, as well as get rid of things. Because my sister and I shall have to share a room in our new home, my aim was to lessen my measure of stuff. Sometimes, you don't care what it is, you just want to get rid of it. One accumulates so much when you have your own space.

As I was looking through my mass of folders and papers (no matter how many times a year I clean through my room, my storage boxes and desk breed paper!!), I couldn't help but relate the cleaning of my room to the need that the Spirit has pressed upon me to purify certain selfish tendencies, habits, and motives from my life. It brought to my mind some very simple, but significant and foundational teaching from Leslie Ludy's book, Authentic Beauty.

More than likely, most of our “trash” has been residing within us for so long we don’t even realize it’s there. And yet its presence will hinder true intimacy with our Lord for as long as it is allowed to remain in our hearts. A lifestyle of lily whiteness can flow only out of an inner being that has been made lily white by Jesus Christ.

...Regular trash removal became a vital, ongoing process in my life from that point forward. And each time I allowed myself to receive Christ’s cleansing touch, as painful as it might be, it chased me even deeper into the loving, healing embrace of my heroic Lord.

Invited your Prince to thoroughly examine every nook and cranny of your heart….ask Him to show you any hidden sins lingering within you, any subtle compromises or wrong habits you have allowed to creep into your life, and any situation or relationship in your life that needs to be made right.

We often need the fresh reminder to clean out the sanctuary. The significance of being a temple of the Holy Spirit, a bearer of the name of Christ, and a vessel for the Lord's chosen work demands us to deal with the areas of compromise in our life. Often times, I have found that they are habits that we've lived so long with that we hardly recognize them as something sinful in us that needs to be dealt with. It could be as small as the way in which you choose to converse with a friend; the focus of a conversation or subject matter is, perhaps, less than edifying. It's in "small" areas such as that, that I have recognized so many selfish and immature tendencies. Are we allowing the Spirit to gaurd the door of our mouth and heart? Or, are we willfully turning to fleshly habits?

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight,O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. ~ Psalm 19:14

I'm always reminded of the zeal that Josiah, Ezra, Nehemiah, and countless other men from Scripture who sought to keep the Temple sacred, pure, and truly set apart for the worship and service of God. In chapter 13 of the book of Nehemiah, we find Nehemiah, once again, needing to restore the Temple. After spending much devoted time to its rebuilding, establishing reforms, and confirming the convenant between Israel and the Lord, he returns to his post as cupbearer of King Artaxerxes. However, after some time, he asks leave of the king to return to Jerusalem, where he soon finds the Temple defiled.

...and I then discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, preparing for him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber. Then I gave orders, and they cleansed the chambers, and I brought back there the vessels of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense. (v. 7-9)

I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each to his field. So I confronted the officials and said, "Why is the house of God forsaken?" (v. 10-11)

In those days I saw in Judah people treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them on the day when they sold food. Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah, in Jerusalem itself! Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, "What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day? Did not your fathers act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath." (v. 15-17)

As soon as it began to grow dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I stationed some of my servants at the gates, that no load might be brought in on the Sabbath day. Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. But I warned them and said to them, "Why do you lodge outside the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you." From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath. Then I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy. (v. 19-22)

In those days also I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but only the language of each people. And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. And I made them take oath in the name of God, saying, "You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. (v. 23 - 25)

Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work; and I provided for the wood offering at appointed times, and for the firstfruits. (v. 30-31)

Not only did he cleanse everything that was foreign from the Temple, but he also set up the things that were holy and sacred. He intentionally set out to restore the duties and services. How many times do we deal with the sin and impurities in our lives, but never make the changes needed to maintain a pure and devoted life to Christ? His grace is sufficient and He supplies us with everything needed to live a life wholly consecrated to Him; will we not walk in the power of His calling? Let us not become negligent of these earthly temples, but let us press onward to know the fullness of the life that we are called to in Christ.

What is the secret to great living? Entire separation to Christ and devotion to Him. Thus speaks every man and woman whose life has made more than a passing flicker in the spiritual realm. It is the life that has no time for trifling that counts. ~ Amy Carmichael

9 Ways to Pray for Your Soul

1. For the desire of my heart to be toward God and his Word.

Incline my heart to Your testimonies and not to gain. (Psalm 119:36)

2. For the eyes of my heart to be opened.

Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Your law. (Psalm 119:18)

3. For my heart to be enlightened with these “wonders.”

[I pray] that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened. (Ephesians 1:18)

4. For my heart to be united, not divided, for God.

O Lord, I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name. (Psalm 86:11)

5. For my heart to be satisfied with God and not with the world.

O satisfy us in the morning with Your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. (Psalm 90:14)

6. For strength in this joy, and endurance during the dark seasons.

[I pray that God] would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man. (Ephesians 3:16)

7. For visible good deeds and works of love to others.

[I pray that you] will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord...bearing fruit in every good work. (Colossians 1:10)

8. For God to be glorified.

Hallowed be thy name. (Matthew 6:9)

9. In Jesus’ name.

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him? (Romans 8:32)

Friday Reflections - The Lost Ones

These colorful beads are handmade by the women of the Karamajong tribe in Africa. This is how they make an income to provide for their family. It's simply amazing to wonder about the soul whose hands made this necklace. Who is she? Who are her children? And does she know Jesus?

I've recently been purchasing several of these for friends and family through 147 Million Orphans, which gives to ministries like Amazima and Project Hopeful. Even in the midst of an incredibly busy college semester, the Lord keeps directing my heart to the lost ones, the ones without names. In the past months, the ache has been ever present and, yet, it's easy to get so caught up in one's own life and trials among a circle of family/friends. How is it possible to have a burden for the souls you know near at home as well as for souls abroad of whom you've not even met? How is it possible to not be driven to despair at the brokenness in front of you as well as for those nameless souls across the miles and across the seas? Because there is a Sovereign hand that upholds all. Nothing I give, say, or do for any one, home or abroad, is effective unless I am first wholly devoted to my Yeshua, no longer caught up with the cares of this world or my own life. I am reminded of a precious quotation from Amy Carmichael that humbles my heart when I begin to despair a little:

"...there are some among us who heart-break is that they have no sure and certain hope about their dearest, who have passed beyond reach of human love and influence. May I offer this which comes to me in the form of a question: Does to be out of reach of our love and influence mean to be out of reach of His who said, "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me?" ?"

- Amy Carmichael

As I wait upon the Lord's direction of my life, He continually gives me glimpses into His heart for the orphan, the widow, the afflicted, oppressed, or slaves...each of them living in the shadow of hunger, shame, death, abuse. Hearts crying out for salvation. Hands eager to receive. Souls ready to be loved.

Sometimes, it makes you feel so utterly desperate. O Lord, I am willing for you to use me in any way You so desire and will. If You are only asking me to pray for these little souls tonight, then, Holy Spirit of God, pray in and through me. Don't allow me to become indifferent as I have so many times before!

From a blog called Conspiracy of Hope (Orphans):

Every 15 SECONDS, another child becomes an AIDS orphan in Africa

Every DAY 5,760 more children become orphans

Every YEAR 2,102,400 more children become orphans (in Africa alone)

143,000,000 Orphans in the world today.

Approximately 250,000 children are adopted annually, but…

Every YEAR 14,050,000 children still grow up as orphans and AGE OUT of the system

Every DAY 38,493 children AGE OUT

Every 2.2 SECONDS, another orphan child AGES OUT with no family to belong to and no place to call home

In Ukraine and Russia 10% -15% of children who age out of an orphanage commit suicide before age 18

60% of those girls are lured into prostitution

70% of those boys become hardened criminals

Many of these children accept job offers that ultimately result in their being sold as slaves. Millions of girls are sex slaves today, simply because they were unfortunate enough to grow up as orphans.

"While women weep, as they do now, I'll fight; while children go hungry, as they do now I'll fight; while men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now, I'll fight; while there is a drunkard left, while there is a poor lost girl upon the streets, while there remains one dark soul without the light of God, I'll fight, I'll fight to the very end!" ~ William Booth, founder of Salvation Army.

Lord, teach me first to fight on my knees interceding for these souls. Here I wait for Your call to Go.

Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. ~ Psalm 68:5

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

whose hope is in the LORD his God,

who made heaven and earth,

the sea, and all that is in them,

who keeps faith forever;

who executes justice for the oppressed,

who gives food to the hungry

The LORD sets the prisoners free;

the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.

The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;

the LORD loves the righteous.

The LORD watches over the sojourners;

he upholds the widow and the fatherless...

~ Psalm 146:5-9

Our inheritance...

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

~ Ephesians 1:3-14

Bestowed, Favoured ~ charitoō

1) to make graceful

a) charming, lovely, agreeable

2) to peruse with grace, compass with favour

3) to honour with blessings

Lavished, Abound ~ perisseuō

1) to exceed a fixed number of measure, to be left over and above a certain number or measure

a) to be over, to remain

b) to exist or be at hand in abundance

1) to be great (abundant)

2) a thing which comes in abundance, or overflows unto one, something falls to the lot of one in large measure

3) to redound unto, turn out abundantly for, a thing

c) to abound, overflow

1) to be abundantly furnished with, to have in abundance, abound in (a thing), to be in affluence

2) to be pre-eminent, to excel

3) to excel more than, exceed

2) to make to abound

a) to furnish one richly so that he has abundance

b) to make abundant or excellent

blueletterbible.org

Of tea and book giveaways!

Now for something a little more light-hearted.

Ah, tea....

Autumn and winter are my favorite months precisely for this very reason. As another college semester is drawing near to an end, I find myself looking forward to many days of reflection, Bible study, relaxation, prayer, and meditation this winter break....with my cup of tea! Whether it's a flavored black tea, herbal tea, or green tea - each cup is filled with wonders! Apparently, some past well-known authors shared similar thoughts...

There is a great deal of poetry and fine sentiment in a chest of tea.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

You can't get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.

~ C.S. Lewis

The mug from the washstand was used as Becky's tea cup, and the tea was so delicious that it was not necessary to pretend that it was anything but tea.

~ Frances Hodgson Burnett, A Little Princess

Each cup represents an imaginary voyage.

~ Catherine Douzel

Now, on a more important note, I must announce that Ladies Against Feminism is hosting a New Leaf Press Book giveaway on their blog! And well, I must promote it as it is a very worthy giveaway. :-) So, my dearest readers, go on over and join in!

Friday Reflections

It's Friday again! So, here's a small variety of my favorite posts that I gathered for the day. Feel free to leave feedback! I pray that these are edifying to my readers as they have been for me.

A Starry Cluster ~ Jim Elliot

Singing And Logic ~ Of Austen and Conflict (a very clever, wonderful post by a very dear sister of mine!)

Stay at Home Daughters Fellowship ~ Single-Minded: Content in Him

NRJohnson ~ Praying Till We Pray (A.W. Tozer)

Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints,

for those who fear him have no lack!

The young lions suffer want and hunger;

but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

~ Psalm 34:9-10

{Untitled}

Soft hands

A clover of warmth

You unfold me

Drawing in my heart by a silkened touch.

Velvet melodies

Of luminous lullabies

You sing to me

Empty this calloused vessel to fill.

Soulful echoes

An intimate hush

You quiet me

By the lightest strain of a whisper.

~ By yours truly, Spring 2009.

This little poem was very much prophetic. It was only until the coming months after I penned it that it became truly a reality in which I shall never forget. It was the day I came to know Calvary Love. I look back on the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord in my life and I can only sigh with inexpressible thanksgiving! My Yeshua - He is my salvation and the rock of my heart forever!

"In open fields of wild flowers/she breathes the air and flies away/she thanks her Jesus for the daises and the roses/in no simple language/someday she'll understand the meaning of it all/He's more than the laughter or the stars in the heavens/as close a heartbeat or a song on her lips/someday she'll trust Him and learn how to see Him/someday He'll call her and she will come running/and fall in His arms and the tears/will fall down and she'll pray/I want to fall in love with You..."

~ Jars of Clay, Love Song for a Savior