O LORD,
I live here as a fish in a vessel of water,
only enough to keep me alive,
but in heaven I shall swim in the ocean.
Here I have a little air in me to keep me breathing,
but there I shall have sweet and fresh gales;
Here I have a beam of sun to lighten my darkness,
a warm ray to keep me from freezing;
yonder I shall live in light and warmth for ever.
My natural desires are corrupt and misguided,
and it is Thy mercy to destroy them;
My spiritual longings are of Thy planting,
and Thou wilt water and increase them;
Quicken my hunger and thirst after the realm above.
Here I can have the world,
there I shall have Thee in Christ;
Here is a life of longing and prayer,
there is assurance without suspicion,
asking without refusal;
Here are gross comforts, more burden than benefit,
there is joy without sorrow,
comfort without suffering,
love without inconstancy,
rest without weariness.
Give me to know that heaven is all love,
where the eye affects the heart,
and the continual viewing of Thy beauty
keeps the soul in continual transports of delight.
Give me to know that heaven is all peace,
where error, pride, rebellion, passion raise no head.
Give me to know that heaven is all joy,
the end of believing, fasting, praying,
mourning, humbling, watching, fearing, repining;
And lead me to it soon.
12/27/2011
Earth and Heaven
A prayer I enjoyed today from The Valley of Vision:
12/23/2011
The Very Visible Promise of Spring
It weighs on my heart that I haven't been more diligent in posting on this blog. There are many flashes of inspiration that come and I think, "Yesss! That will make a splendorous blog entry!" Then time creeps up and past and that inspiration from a week ago waves a regretful goodbye.
Then there are also the stirrings and happenings that I just want to hold dear in my own heart and not share with the few that would be inclined to read what I've written. They are my treasures. Why risk the trampling of my exceeding lovely, iridescent pearls? (Sorry to intimate that some of you may be of the swine variety...Matthew 7:6.) But really, if I am worried about that, why indeed have I started a blog?
So here is one joy that has caused me to laugh and leap about lately: the very visible promise of Spring. Near to the official start of Fall, a charming old man put hand to ear and asked with a gleam in his eye, "Hear that? It's the sound of the crocuses coming up. Spring's right around the corner!" Now, that comment was a bit overly optimistic even for me, being still a whole season away from the dark barrenness of Winter. Now the calendar states that finally the first day of that dreary, disconsolate season is upon us, but guess O guess what I just saw at Save On Foods? Bulb planters! Yes, the primulas are shining their bright funny faces at us and I believe that Spring's right around the corner!
There is evidence everywhere. I've always known that rhododendrons put out their flower buds right after they finish blooming. Those buds stand dormant for nigh to a whole year before they open and dazzle us with feminine colour and delight. But there are more dormant buds and hopeful shoots every which way! Check out some of the supposedly dead, bare branches on various trees next time you're out on a walk. They are primed and ready for the increase of light leading to the eventual full flourishing of fruit!
So, I can call Winter dreary and disconsolate, but know that I don't entirely mean it. It's really been one of the driest, least grey Fall seasons we've ever had, or so it seems, and I have my own hypothesis as to an explanation for that. And even if Winter turns sour and bitter and rains down on us that true Vancouver rain (i.e. rain that drizzles miserably for 2+ weeks straight), we can take heart in the very visible promise of Spring. The evidence is everywhere - for those who have eyes to see, that is.
Then there are also the stirrings and happenings that I just want to hold dear in my own heart and not share with the few that would be inclined to read what I've written. They are my treasures. Why risk the trampling of my exceeding lovely, iridescent pearls? (Sorry to intimate that some of you may be of the swine variety...Matthew 7:6.) But really, if I am worried about that, why indeed have I started a blog?
So here is one joy that has caused me to laugh and leap about lately: the very visible promise of Spring. Near to the official start of Fall, a charming old man put hand to ear and asked with a gleam in his eye, "Hear that? It's the sound of the crocuses coming up. Spring's right around the corner!" Now, that comment was a bit overly optimistic even for me, being still a whole season away from the dark barrenness of Winter. Now the calendar states that finally the first day of that dreary, disconsolate season is upon us, but guess O guess what I just saw at Save On Foods? Bulb planters! Yes, the primulas are shining their bright funny faces at us and I believe that Spring's right around the corner!
There is evidence everywhere. I've always known that rhododendrons put out their flower buds right after they finish blooming. Those buds stand dormant for nigh to a whole year before they open and dazzle us with feminine colour and delight. But there are more dormant buds and hopeful shoots every which way! Check out some of the supposedly dead, bare branches on various trees next time you're out on a walk. They are primed and ready for the increase of light leading to the eventual full flourishing of fruit!
So, I can call Winter dreary and disconsolate, but know that I don't entirely mean it. It's really been one of the driest, least grey Fall seasons we've ever had, or so it seems, and I have my own hypothesis as to an explanation for that. And even if Winter turns sour and bitter and rains down on us that true Vancouver rain (i.e. rain that drizzles miserably for 2+ weeks straight), we can take heart in the very visible promise of Spring. The evidence is everywhere - for those who have eyes to see, that is.
12/10/2011
On Grace
I suppose it would be ideal for me to save the sharing of this poem until Mother's Day, but I like the bulk of it too much to keep it for the right occasion. John Piper wrote this poem for his mother Ruth on Mother's Day one year:
On Grace
Some people tell me I was free,
When I believed in Christ;
And by my power got victory,
When all the world enticed.
I think they did not know my heart,
Nor theirs. Let it be said
That I for one had sought no part
In rising from the dead.
They wonder at the sovereign rights
That I allow my King,
And puzzle at the worship heights
To which His rule gives wing.
But I will rest God's grace today
On this (I need no other):
He did not give me any say,
But chose for me my mother.
Published in "Taste and See: Savouring the Supremacy of God in all of Life" (2005).
On Grace
Some people tell me I was free,
When I believed in Christ;
And by my power got victory,
When all the world enticed.
I think they did not know my heart,
Nor theirs. Let it be said
That I for one had sought no part
In rising from the dead.
They wonder at the sovereign rights
That I allow my King,
And puzzle at the worship heights
To which His rule gives wing.
But I will rest God's grace today
On this (I need no other):
He did not give me any say,
But chose for me my mother.
Published in "Taste and See: Savouring the Supremacy of God in all of Life" (2005).
12/03/2011
Good Advice on Helping the Depressed
Ministering to the Depressed from HeadHeartHand Media on Vimeo.
David Murray offers some sound wisdom
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