Love For Christ

Let John MacArthur speak to your heart today. (Don't forget to turn off the music on the sidebar.)

Death at Nain

And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. Luke 7:11-15

Our morning sermon yesterday was accompanied by tears being shed by the preacher and many of the hearers alike. You see, there were many words about dying and funerals. There were necessary words about sin, the cause of all the heartache. Pastor D. talked about the young man who died and about his mother. Much of the sermon tore at our hearts quite a bit. But like all good preaching, we were brought at last to Jesus, the One who conquered sin and death. As Pastor said, He is the central figure in the passage. He is the One who told the dead man to arise and the dead DID arise and was alive again. We were told once again, and may we never tire of hearing it, that this Jesus is the one and only deliverer from death and the grave.

And, we sang my favorite song that is so often sung at funerals in celebration of the homegoing of a believer: "The Sands of Time of Sinking." A blessed day indeed. My favorite stanza from that hymn:

O Christ, he is the fountain,
The deep sweet well of love!
The streams on earth I've tasted
More deep I'll drink above:
There to an ocean fullness
His mercy doth expand,
And glory, glory dwelleth
In Emmanuel's land.

So, death at Nain ended with victory at Nain. I would like to remind you dear ones once again that this same Jesus is ready and willing to save YOU from the consequences of YOUR sin if you but come to Him. If you already know Him, don't you agree that we have a mighty and compassionate Savior?

A Good Word for Today's Happenings

¹Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.

²He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.

³How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence.

⁴They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.

⁵My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.

⁶He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.

⁷In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.

⁸Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.

⁹Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.

¹⁰Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.

¹¹God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.

¹²Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy: for thou renderest to every man according to his work. (Psalm 62, King James Version)

Refusing to Go In

And he was angry, and would not go in--Luke 15:28 [The elder brother from the Prodigal Son parable.]

. . .Now the labors of the day were over. "The plowman homewards wends his weary way." And he was hungry and he needed food. He was weary and he needed rest. He was soiled and stained with his day's work, and he wanted a change of raiment in the evening--and all that he needed in that evening hour was stored and treasured in his father's house. "And he was angry, and would not go in." He missed the very things that he was needing. All that would freshen him and make him strong again, he lost because he stayed outside the door. He was a soiled, weary, and hungry man, and everything was ready for the taking, yet no one forced him to the taking of it when he deliberately stood without. Is not that always the pity of it, when a man refuses the love of Jesus Christ? Is he not missing just what he most needs, and needs the more, the more has has been faithful? For all of us are soiled and we need cleansing; and all of us are weak and we need strength, and all of us are hungering and thirsting, and Christ alone can satisfy that hunger. My brother and sister, I want you to come in not to please me, but for your own sake first. I want you to come in, because just what you need now is waiting you in Christ. I want you to come in because that heart of yours is restless and unsatisfied and hungry; because when you were tempted last you fell, and you are missing the very thing you need.

~ George Morrison, Meditations on the Gospels

I Am My Neighbor's Bible

Another poem that was included in a birthday card from my mom contains sweetly worded truths that are always worth remembering. I think all too often we get hung up on what's important to ourselves personally, while failing to consider our effect on the world around us.

I am my neighbor's Bible

He reads me when we meet;

Today he reads me in my home--

Tomorrow on the street.

He may be relative or friend

Or slight acquaintance be;

He may not even know my name,

Yet he is reading me.

And pray, who is this neighbor

Who reads me day by day,

To learn if I am living right

And walking as I pray?

Oh, he is with me always

To criticize or blame;

So worldly-wise in his own eyes,

And "sinner" is his name.

Dear Christian friends and brothers,

If we could only know

How faithfully the world records

Just what we say and do,

Oh, we would write our record plain

And come in time to see

Our worldly neighbor won to Christ

While reading you and me.

~ Anon

What a message Mom has left for me even though there are times it gets forgotten. I ask the Lord to embed these words in my heart.

No Man . . .

"No man ever said, at the end of his days, 'I have read my Bible too much, I have thought of God too much, I have prayed too much, I have been too careful with my soul.'" ~ J.C. Ryle

Paper Momentos - Poems from Mom

I've been cleaning out drawers and closets this week and included in all that is a container and box holding greeting cards, notes, letters, and misc. wedding invitations and programs. I've been going through these items, trying to decide what to throw out as the pile has been growing over the years. Needless to say, I've been having trouble allowing myself to trash any of the precious memories contained in these various stationery items. How can I discard that heartfelt note of thanks written to me by my dear friend? Or the words of comfort written by another while my mom was here in our home during her dying weeks? Can I let the garbage man shred up any of the funny little notes or pictures my children wrote or drew when wee ones? I just can't. I'm afraid someone else will have to do it.

And then there are the greeting cards. Since I've been married, I have every card given to me by my husband and children. No way are they being trashed. It was when I started looking through the birthday cards my mom gave me over the years that I gave up on my initial project. Instead, I transferred everything into plastic ziploc bags for safekeeping. They may be just pieces of paper in plastic bags, but to me they are worth more than gold. There is no amount of money that anyone could give me that would surpass their value. They'll be worth very little to anyone else in the world, but to me they are priceless. So they stay for as long as I stay.

I found an extra blessing while going through my mom's cards. I forgot that in her later years she began taping poems to my birthday cards, poems which she had carefully cut out with pinking shears from some unknown source. I didn't appreciate those poems then nearly as much as now. Partly because she's gone, of course, but also because I appreciate poetry more as I grow older. So bear with me as I share with you a few of these poems from my mom in this and a few of the following posts coming up.

Some of the cards have the year recorded, but this one didn't. The card was a beautiful shade of pale blue/green and was entitled "A Daughter's Loving Ways," containing a lovely poem of its own, but these were the words lovingly taped to the left inside:

I can no longer grasp your tiny hand and lead you across a street,
Nor tuck you in at night against the chill,
Nor kiss your precious flawless baby face,
But, I can pray.

I can no longer take you to the House of God,
Nor read to you from His precious Holy Word,
Nor tell you what is right, and what is wrong,
But, I can pray.

For you are grown and from my constant care are gone,
To choose YOUR way and live YOUR life,
And be what you WILL in YOUR own way,
But, I STILL pray.

~ Mabel B. Rambo


And she did.

There is a Fountain

Please turn off the music on the sidebar if you'd like to listen to this. A lovely rendition of one of our dearest hymns. I hope you have lost all of your guilty stains through the blood of the Lord Jesus. Listen and be blessed:



In that day there will be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. Zechariah 13:1

Dear Soul, Be Still

Be still! Just now be still!
Something thy soul hath never heard,
Something unknown to any song of bird,
Something unknown to any wind, or wave, or star,
A message from the Fatherland afar,
That with sweet joy the homesick soul shall thrill,
Cometh to thee if thou canst but be still.

"Be still! Just now be still!
There comes a presence very mild and sweet;
White are the sandals of His noiseless feet.
It is the Comforter whom Jesus sent
To teach thee what the words He uttered meant.
The willing, waiting spirit, He doth fill.
If thou would'st hear His message,
Dear soul, be still!

--Unknown

One Cow

On a very cold, snowy Sunday in February, only the pastor and one farmer arrived at the village church. The pastor said, 'Well, I guess we won't have a service today.' The farmer replied: 'Pastor, even if only one cow shows up at feeding time, I feed it.'

I found the above short story on a site of amusing Christian stories. Once, not too long ago, I thought I had only one of my Sunday school students show up. I was thinking about what to do--perhaps send him to another class or what? The "problem" was solved when two more students arrived that day. But after reading the above, it really touched me that even if I have just the one on any given Lord's Day, I should do all the Lord allows to give to that one young soul all God has for him or her at that particular time. What a lesson for not only pastors, but Sunday school teachers as well.