A Treasure Within

Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Psalm 119:11

"There is a great difference between Christians and worldlings. The worldling hath his treasure in jewels without him; the Christian hath them within. Neither indeed is there any receptacle wherein to receive and keep the word of consolation but the heart only. If thou leave it in thy mouth only, it shall be taken from thee; if thou have it in thy book only, thou shalt miss it when thou hast most to do with it; but if thou lay it up in thy heart, as Mary did the words of the angel, no enemy shall ever be able to take it from thee, and thou shalt find it a comfortable treasure in the time of thy need."
~ William Cowper

Mothering Her Savior

And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Luke 1: 46-47

She had every reason to rejoice. Yes, to fear also, but this servant of the Lord was being given the highest honor that would ever be bestowed on any woman. The above drawing is a favorite of mine. Why? It's because of her hands. What other response could there be for this woman to this Child?

May we too bow to Him, now exalted, and rejoice.

Christmas blessings to any and all who may stop by. Praying that Mary's Savior is yours also.

Handel's Reflection

Think on this as we enjoy the Hallelujah chorus this Christmas season.

"What a wonderful thing it is to be sure of one's faith! How wonderful to be a member of the evangelical church, which preaches the free grace of God through Christ as the hope of sinners! If we were to rely on our works--my God, what would become of us?"

~ George Frideric Handel

Our Priority

A dear man, the pastor from our "mother" church who mentored our little beginning work at its inception as well as over the years, was with us last evening to preach once again. It was so special because he and another pastor who both brought the messages the Sunday we began as a church were the same two speakers at yesterday's anniversary services. These were the two men who ordained our pastor that same day.

Pastor B. spoke to us as a congregation. He spoke in that same familiar fatherly tone which he always used in the past. He wanted to remind us of something so very important: we as a body of believers need to continue to have the same priority as we go forward that the Apostle Paul had.

A. He reminded us first of Paul's Apostolic Authority and how Jesus had appeared to him personally.

B. He reminded us most importantly that Paul's priority was the preaching of the gospel, and ours must be also.

C. He reminded us lastly exactly what the gospel message is, as outlined in I Corin. 15:3-4.

He exhorted us over and again to keep that gospel message about Jesus' death, burial and resurrection as our primary focus. I for one believe that we cannot be reminded of these things too often.

"Silver" Church Anniversary

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Matthew 18:20

Above is a drawing of the building where I worship with the fellow believers who make up our congregation. We're having a celebration tomorrow for our 25th anniversary as a body and for that I'm very thankful. I made a post about it at my other blog if anyone is interested in reading it.

To God be the glory.

Charity Vaunteth Not Itself . .

"Humility is a most essential and distinguishing trait in all true piety. It is the attendant of every grace, and in a peculiar manner tends to the purity of Christian feeling. It is the ornament of the spirit; the source of some of the sweetest exercises of Christian experience; the most acceptable sacrifice we can offer to God; the subject of the richest of his promises; the spirit with which he will dwell on earth, and which he will crown with glory in heaven hereafter."

~ Jonathan Edwards, from Charity and Its Fruits

Note: I have recently become a member of a new venture on the Internet, a fellowship group called The Reformed Quotes Fellowship, which is exciting for me because of my love for the quotes of some of the great Reformers of the past. Now I'll be connecting with others of like mind and who have that same love. They have asked that we post at least four quotes per month and that I would love to do! I've set aside Wednesday as quote day, at least to start out. I'll see how that works out. If you know me and are familiar at all with this blog, you know that's one of the primary reasons we've been here anyway, so I doubt if you'll only see quotes on Wednesdays.

Many blessings to any of my fellow "quoters" who stop by! I'll try to visit you as often as possible.

Glory to His Name!

An old gospel song from the days of my youth. The people who used to sing it had little education and probably never read a book on theology. Many of them had Bibles that were torn, worn, and falling apart. But THEY were not falling apart inasmuch as the Lord had placed the theology in their hearts.
Glory to His Name.

Down at the cross where my Savior died,
Down where for cleansing from sin I cried,
There to my heart was the blood applied;
Glory to His Name!

I am so wondrously saved from sin,
Jesus so sweetly abides within;
There at the cross where He took me in;
Glory to His Name!

Oh, precious fountain that saves from sin,
I am so glad I have entered in;
There Jesus saves me and keeps me clean;
Glory to His Name!

Come to this fountain so rich and sweet,
Cast thy poor soul at the Savior’s feet;
Plunge in today, and be made complete;
Glory to His Name!

Refrain
Glory to His Name,
glory to His Name:
There to my heart was the blood applied;
Glory to His Name!

~ Elisha A. Hoffman

The Tangled Web

My thoughts, before they are my own
Are to my God distinctly known;
He knows the words I mean to speak
Ere from my opening lips they break.
~~Isaac Watts

I have gone through many seasons of disappointment and even discouragement about my various writing projects. This work is one of them. Our Lord has made it clear to me that any thoughts of publishing the companion to Aunt Jane's Hero need to be abandoned. I realized it some time ago, but it was a difficult realization. There were several other disappointments and somehow it all got wrapped up in my neglect of this beloved blog. It has always been the favorite of all my blogs, but I suppose the state of my heart with respect to writing in general, Speakable Gifts publications in particular, somehow implicated "Scraps of Glory" in the mix. I don't believe that our Lord would have it be so. In fact, I do not believe He has been pleased with me in this.

So, I am not only picking up my dear "Scraps" again, but also my little thoughts, or notes if you would, from my companion work for this priceless Prentiss gem. None of the other issues I've been dealing with have been resolved, but the many months of delight I took in pouring my heart into Horace and Maggie and the others need not go totally to waste. I can still share bits and pieces of the fruit of those precious "labors" here.

Not too many people come here anymore. There was a time when many did. It's obviously a further proof of the often unfortunate results of neglect. That includes all types of neglect. But we won't get into that. Let's just say a few words about chapter 8 of this dear book, and pick up and go on. Let's see what God determines to do with what we do here in the days to come, if anything. Thankfully, that's His call, as is all of everything His call. As always, I don't know how often we'll make posts in this series, but we'll see.

Now to Chapter 8, very briefly. The most noticeable thing about this chapter is all of the entanglements of misconception and uncertainty. It's a chapter of high emotions, particularly on the part of Horace and Maggie, and unfortunately, these two young folks are ensnared by their own intensity of feelings. Annie is caught up in the web of confusion as well and a new primary character, Tom White, is promptly woven into the network. You enter the chapter with an array of inaccurate conclusions among the principals and when the occurrences of this segment are over, you see that everything is still quite muddled. You leave with a sense of wondering how and when it will all be unwoven. You can't wait to see how the author, as she always does, will uncover God's purposes in the lives of people, though fictional, who are so much like all of us in so many ways.

How many of us have gotten ourselves into all kinds of entanglements because of our emotions? If we're honest, we'd be willing to admit that it has been far too often. Misreading actions and words of others, drawing conclusions with little facts to support them, speculating and making presumptions about this person and that situation, and on and on. When will we learn to prayerfully leave matters to a sovereign and omniscient God? When will we learn to wait patiently for Him, trusting that in His own good time, He'll guide our steps and make His way plain?

Please, Lord, may I begin learning now.

The Lord's Prayer

What a blessing. All glory to our Lord in Heaven. Thanks to Johnny Farese for sending this out to many of us the other day. Oh! And don't forget to turn off the music on the sidebar when you listen. Someone suggested viewing it in full screen.