I Cannot Tell

2018-03-06 Hymns 5 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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Father and Son

2018-02-27 Hymns, Uncategorized No comments

A Hymn based on
John, chapters 14 – 17

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In joy and in grieving, in love and in loss
I share in the Father and Son.
Reflecting their glory, enduring the cross,
I walk in the Father and Son.

Refrain:
One with You, Father,
One in Your Son,
Breathing Your Spirit, our union begun,
Rich in Your blessing,
Secure in Your grace,
Glimpsing the heaven that shines in Your face.

In speaking and doing, I’m never alone –
I follow the Father and Son.
When needing a strength far exceeding my own,
I cling to the Father and Son.

Embraced and empowered by all that You are,
O Father and Spirit and Son,
I share in Your fullness, Your mind and Your heart,
O Father and Spirit and Son!

A Glance Backward

2018-02-25 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Have I not commanded you?
Be strong and courageous.
Do not be terrified;
do not be discouraged,
for the Lord your God
will be with you wherever you go.
(Joshua 1:9, NIV)

Faithful, Faithful, Faithful.
I look back over my life, and
I am startled by the love I thought I knew.
You pursued me when I couldn’t see You in my darkness.
You whispered in my ear,
You clutched my heart,
then stood in front of me and declared that
YOU were God.
I knew it was true.
As I bowed, You gave me new life—
Your life.
I was warmed by the fire of Your love,
and in its light, I saw Your glory all around me,
leading me on.

You’ve taught me that
Your deliverance, Your forgiveness,
are daily gifts,
flowing from the fountain of Your eternal love.
Viewing my past journey,
I see only Your hand
guiding, teaching, holding me,
giving my life a consistency that is Yours, not mine.
The power of Your presence has
always, always, always been there,
though I only glimpse it now and again.

Father,
Eternally Faithful One,
make our bond of love and trust
as iron.
Make it a living cord from Your heart to mine.
Draw my eyes constantly to You,
making simple faith my every breath.
Great God of power and tireless love,
in every situation,
with every desire,
with all my energies,
be my God.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Your Ceaseless, Unexhausted Love
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Pursue Love

2018-02-22 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn No comments

A reflection on Revelation 2:1-4,
Christ’s letter to the church in Ephesus,
based on 1 Corinthians 12:31 – 13:3; 14:1

God is love, and
the surest mark of His children is love:
true,
active,
self-sacrificing love.

Without love, the greatest spiritual gifts are meaningless.
Pursue love.

Without love, wisdom and knowledge are worthless.
Pursue love.

Without love, all our efforts, all our accomplishments are empty noise.
Pursue love.

Love is the most excellent way to live.
As we grasp for all the best of life,
we too often ignore its most precious possibility: a
constant,
personal,
interactive,
loving,
transforming relationship with the Living God.
As we humbly receive His love,
we love Him in return.
As we love Him,
we grow in our love for His children.

In the beautiful, perfect Kingdom of our Father,
love is the coin of the realm,
not money.
Love will never lose its value.
Pursue love.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Ever Full and Overflowing
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All-conquering Love

2018-02-20 Hymns No comments

A Hymn based on
Christ, the Conquering Lamb

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Sovereign, all-transcending Lord,
Holy mystery, feared, adored,
In Your mighty Son we see
All Your love’s humility.

Christ the Lion, now the Lamb,
Gives Himself, the great I AM.
Christ, the Prince of Paradise,
Dies a slaughtered sacrifice.

Christ the Victor, in defeat,
Makes Your victory all complete.
As He prays His final breath,
Sovereign life now swallows death.

In His conquering strength we see
Deep and glorious mystery
Glowing from Your heart above:
Holy, fierce, all-conquering love.

Listen for His Word

2018-02-18 Devotional with Hymn No comments

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders…
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is majestic.
The voice of the Lord twists the oaks
and strips the forests bare.
And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
(Psalm 29:3-4, 9, NIV)

God spoke, and the universe came into being.
He didn’t need to shape it by His hands.
He is completely sovereign.
When He expresses His will, matter obeys.
He is the Lord of all reality.

Yet we seldom listen for His Word to us.
We rarely hunger for His perfect wisdom
or trust His unfailing love.
We chase what is too petty to satisfy us.
We seek security in what is weak and small and sure to pass away.
We refuse to fully face His greatness
and our utter helplessness.

Show me your ways, O Lord,
teach me your paths;
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long. (Psalm 25:4-5, NIV)

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Is There Any Word from the Lord?
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Centered on Jesus

2018-02-15 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn No comments

A prayer response to Revelation 2 & 3,
the letters to the seven churches.

Father, examine my desires.
Examine my hopes.
Examine my thoughts.
Examine my words.
Examine my habits and
all my actions.
Examine each of my relationships.

Father, I long for You to find
Your holy Son Jesus
at the center of all these.

Examine our family.
Examine our Sunday School class.
Examine our local church.
Examine our association of churches.
Examine Your universal Church,
for we are to be
His Body and
His Bride.

Merciful Father, may Jesus Christ be at the heart of
all we are and
all we do.
When the world listens to us,
may they hear Jesus.
When they look at us,
may they see Your holy, loving, energetic, self-sacrificing Son,
Jesus Christ.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: One in Purpose, One in Passion
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Lay Aside Your Passing Pleasures

2018-02-13 Hymns No comments

A Hymn for Lent

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Lay aside your passing pleasures.
Look beyond what cannot last.
Shallow hopes are mere distractions.
Earthly comforts soon are past.
See in Christ a grand horizon.
Find a life more rich and vast.

Raise your eyes and see the Savior.
Feel His love, and hear His call.
Follow Him in self-denial.
Find your Father all in all.
Take the cross, accept the suffering.
Soon the cost will seem so small.

Gladly trade your crumbling treasure.
Gain the pearl of greatest price.
Life is more than pain and pleasure.
Life in Him is true delight.
Find your freedom, find your glory,
Find yourself in Jesus Christ.

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