Archive for March 2018

I Cannot Tell

2018-03-06 Hymns 4 comments

A Hymn on
the Mysteries of Christ

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I cannot tell why He, the King of Heaven,
Should leave the peace of all eternity,
Why God Himself should lay aside His splendor
To leave the Father’s side and come to me.
But this I know: our silence filled with singing,
And all our darkness fled from heaven’s light
When Christ the Lord, so human, yet so holy,
In love was born a child for me that holy night!

I cannot tell why He, the Joy of Heaven,
Should give Himself to suffer for my sin,
Why Holy God should love me in my shamefulness,
Why He should die to draw my soul to Him.
But this I know: that Christ the Lord is risen,
And praise His name, He’s risen now in me!
Because He lives, I’ll rise to life eternal!
He took my guilty heart, and I’m forever free!

I cannot tell when He will rule the nations,
How He will claim His loved ones as His own;
And who can tell the holy jubilation
When all His children gather ’round His throne.
But this I know: all flesh will see His glory,
And skies will burst as all creation sings.
The Son will rise on one eternal morning
When Christ, the Savior of the world, is Lord and King!

When the Time Comes

2018-03-04 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 

“Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” (John 12:23-25, 27-28, NIV)

Jesus knew His time had come. He was about to be
deserted by His closest friends,
mocked and humiliated by His enemies,
tortured,
condemned to death by His own people,
separated from His Father with whom He had enjoyed an eternity of intimate fellowship, and executed by the most brutal method known.

Yet how did He think of the hours ahead? He considered it His chance to show the entire world the amazing love of His Father. It was His chance to plant the seed from which a bountiful, eternal harvest would grow.

Facing His ordeal, He wasn’t begging for a way out. He was asking the Father to glorify Himself through all that was about to happen.

Father, that is my prayer as well. Through my difficult hours, glorify Yourself. Through my suffering, let the world see how marvelous and loving You are!

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Glorify Your Name
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Have You Lost Your First Love?

2018-03-01 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn No comments

A reflection on Revelation 2:4-7,
Christ’s letter to the church in Ephesus.

Nothing is as vital as having
a warm, active, loving, self-giving relationship
with God and
with His children.
Nothing!

Has your relationship cooled?
Have you lost your first love?
Is your love for God and for others as
warm,
natural, and
joyful
as it was at the beginning?

If not, follow Christ’s own words for restoring your love:

Remember the way your love was at the beginning.
Realize how you’ve changed,
and not for the better.
Realize what you’ve lost.

Repent.
Admit that you have been wrong.
Focus on what you have done wrong,
not on what they have done wrong.
Ask forgiveness,
from God and from the other people involved.
Commit to change, with God’s help.

Do the loving deeds you did at first.
Love is not an emotion,
to be chased like the wind.
Love is a decision.
Love is a commitment.
Love is action.
Do the loving deeds you did at the beginning, and
the emotion will return in its own time.

Love is the most excellent way to live.
Never let it slip away.
Treasure love.
Pursue love.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Daily Confession
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