Faith

He Will Pour Out His Spirit

March 20, 2017 By Annette1 Leave a Comment

Today we are reading from Ezekiel 39:25-29. Last time we met we learned about God’s Holiness made Manifest. You can read more in my Ezekiel Studies here and here.

We saw how the Lord’s holiness was made apparent to all…from Israel to the nations surrounding her.

Now we find God making a promise to his people. He will

restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel
I will be jealous for my holy name.

The end result of that should be this:
26 They shall forget their shame and all the treachery they have practiced against me,

So here’s the scene. God gave his people a safe to live, they turned around and did their own thing. Ignoring him, communing with false gods/idols and just generally making his name a mockery. God corrected them for their action.

He has now gathered them together out of enemy names, thereby vindicating his holiness. The surrounding nations have seen this great thing the Lord has done.

And so : they shall know that I am the Lord
their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations and then
assembled them into their own land. I will leave none of them remaining
among the nations anymore. 29 And I will not hide my face anymore from them, when I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, declares the Lord God.”

We have gone from God hiding his face from his people. No longer leaving his people scattered, to a God who has brought his people together again. A God who is saying to his people and to the nations surrounding them I AM THE LORD GOD.

I almost missed this part ” I will not hide my face anymore from them, when I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel”. God is going to pour out his Spirit on his people.

You know what happens when God pours his Spirit out on his people? Do you really know what happens?

Lives are changed!

Consider what has happened when God has moved in the past? Jerusalem was rebuilt, pentecost, A spiritual revival happened in New England, an underground church developed in China, and more. When God pours out his spirit lives are changed abundantly.

Something I’ve learned is revivals also happen in small ways… like when God changed the Life of Francis Lyte (a pastoral hymn writer you’ll learn about later). A dying man’s words changed his faith, and so his church grew! Or when a faithful family prays and their neighbourhood is changed, or when a parent prays over a unrepentant child and sees their child come to faith. Lives changed.

I read these words I will not hide my face anymore from them, when I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel and I don’t want to be a person God hides his face from. I want to be the one that God pours his Spirit out on them abundantly. So let me live my life this way. Aware of God’s abundant favour upon my life. Let me always remember that the God is serve and follow and cling to is the LORD GOD. Yes?

Hymn Study: Praise the Lord: Ye Heavens Adore Him

March 20, 2017 By Annette1 Leave a Comment

Praise The Lord: Ye Heavens, Adore Him.

This is an older hymn, the first two verses found pasted inside the jacket of the hymnbook for the London’s Foundling Hospital. This was an orphanage that was famous for their children’s chorus led by trained musicians. It is remembered today through the hymnbook “Psalms, Hymns and Anthems of the Foundling Hospital, of 1796”. (source Cyber Hymnal) There is a museum dedicated the the London Foundling Hospital.

The first two verses were penned by an anonymous author, the third verse was penned by Edward Osler.

The author of the first verse paraphrased Psalm 148, showing all creation praising the Lord. Then it shows how the Lord created all, and all the world obeys his voice. Verse two shows God’s care for his creation, how his promises never fail. Osler’s third verse is our praise to God.

Edward Osler was a physician and author. He worked as physician from 1819 to 1836. After which he devoted himself to literary pursuits. Over time he ended up as the editor of the Royal Cornwall Gazette. He wrote several literary works as well as hymns. (source hymnary)

Lyrics:

Praise the Lord: ye heavens, adore Him;
Praise Him, angels in the height.
Sun and moon, rejoice before Him;
Praise Him, all ye stars of light.
Praise the Lord, for He hath spoken;
Worlds His mighty voice obeyed.
Laws which never shall be broken
For their guidance He hath made.

Praise the Lord, for He is glorious;
Never shall His promise fail.
God hath made His saints victorious;
Sin and death shall not prevail.
Praise the God of our salvation;
Hosts on high, His power proclaim.
Heaven and earth and all creation,
Laud and magnify His name.

Worship, honor, glory, blessing,
Lord, we offer unto Thee.
Young and old, Thy praise expressing,
In glad homage bend the knee.
All the saints in Heaven adore Thee;
We would bow before Thy throne.
As Thine angels serve before Thee,
So on earth Thy will be done.
______________________________

I thought this tune quite different, I liked how she sang it, but not sure if it would work as congregational singing. She didn’t sing the entire hymn.

A finally a more traditional approach

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And it was good! Our week Feb 19-25

February 27, 2017 By Annette1 4 Comments

We planned a bit of a short week this week. Plans to go away this weekend, a vehicle in need of repair, and knowing the learning takes place in many different ways. 🙂 School happened! Life happened. And it was good! 🙂

Monday
Today was family day, so the lad did his minimal schooling that he does on days off, and off we went to first take part in a demonstration Karate Class and then to go for a walk at the Pinery. We did some pokemon going while we are there, toured through Grand Bend and just hung out together.

Tuesday
Ice experiment…ooh.. fun with matches!

The lad made cake!
It was his turn to cook, he saw the cake in the cupboard and his eyes…. oh my, they just lit up! “It’s my turn to cook! Let’s have cake!”

He was a bit downcast when I mentioned that just cake for supper was not acceptable… which led him to ask for helped in making perogies.

Dad, not being a lover of perogies opted to make himself some other dish instead.

Wednesday
Food bank. Regular schooling. The lad pushed hard and was done by 1230. 🙂
Had a lovely walk together in the afternoon the lad and I did. New Pokemon out and running around, so we had to chase them down. 🙂

Thursday
School, the lad’s report this week on the Cari bou.
Garbage day, lovely weather, car work to do… we called it done as early as we could. 🙂

The lad helped clean the cars out and helped dad work on the rear brakes. They also fixed the side mirror that I accidentally broke off after over correcting from someone taking a corner really wide. (I avoided being hit but the car mirror…not so much).

Rabbit picture taking day.

Friday
Gramma coming over since hubby and I are heading out for the weekend.
The lad did practical schooling today making cheese buns. 🙂 He’ll also be doing animal husbandry and housework with gramma this weekend.

Saturday-Sunday
Hubby and I just schleped around together. We had a wonderfully relaxing weekend doing absolutely nothing but wandering around together, looking and talking and just being alone without distraction.

Faith and Word Prompts
Set your face against Mount Seir. Devotion on Ezekiel 35
Sunday sermon. Can you build the church for others?
A Wife ‘s Understanding of God. chapter two of excellent wife book
You Will know that I am the Lord. Devotion on Ezekiel 36:1-15
Forgetting the Holiness of God. Devotion on Ezekiel 36:16-24
For His Name’s Sake. Devotion on Ezekiel 36:22-37
Pajamas are Opt ional. word prompt post on pajamas
Oh to be Slow. World Prompt on the word Slow.

Reviews
Earth-Space Colouring Book.
Conspiracy of S ilence.

Jack Lond on and the Klondike Gold Rush.

A Dog’s Purpose.

Homeschooling and Life
ABC Blogging. F is for frogs. Frogs with tails.. think on it. 🙂
Art Series: Earth-Space Colouring book. Cool resource for astronomy lessons.
Hymn Study: Have th ine Own Way Lord.
Chi cken Heart Casserole.
Books for Canada, the Cana dian North (Jack London).
STEM: Building a Robotic Hand.
The Lad’s Resea rch: The Caribou.

Linking up at the following Places:

Homeschool Highlights.
Family Friday Link Ups:
Weird Unsocialized homeschoolers: Weekly Wraps Up.
Homeschool blog and tell.

Sunday Sermon: God’s emerging future: becoming the church for others

February 21, 2017 By Annette1 Leave a Comment

This sermon is the the Christian Reformed Church. Still learning this ministers style so note taking is still a work in progress with him.

Hymns/songs
Here I am to worship
Jesus be the Centre
Have thine own way Lord
Spirit of the living God
Jesus, all for Jesus

Scripture
Nehemiah 5

Sermon Notes:

As a church we need to keep moving towards God’s emergent future.
But what seems like the future (default) seems to be the way to go.
So there is conflict between the two.

In chapter 5 you can see this conflict, the selfishness of the people pushing towards their default future rather than God’s emergent future

The Israelites had broken down into a bunch of selfish folks…looking out to their own interests.

. A famine and people weren’t sharing with each other
. Government was over taxing them
. An influx of workers is straining their resources
. They were charging interest to each other

This selfishness brought the community to a standstill.

They sought their own needs, not the needs of the people.

How does this passage apply to us today?
. How are we sharing our finances with the church?
. How are we using our money for God?
. Are we remembering who we are the church for?

Stop
Restore
Promise
Praise

Stop.
Nehemiah was angry. He didn’t react immediately. He stopped and thought.
He told them to stop what they were doing. Stop being self-centered.

Restore.
Go back to being what they were, make it right, correct the situation. Restore the healthy community.

Promise
Make an oath. Promise this solemnly. Be accountable.

Praise.
The people said amen…so be it. They praised God.

The Israelites, called to be a holy nation, walking in the fear of the Lord.

This church is to be a testament of God to the people around us.
What is more important to us? This testimony or our own needs.

Be challenged
Be encouraging
Be generous

Do this all on account of Jesus.

Be part of a missional church.

Hymn Study: Have thine Own Way Lord

February 20, 2017 By Annette1 Leave a Comment

Lyrics:

1 Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Thou art the potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after thy will,
while I am waiting, yielded and still.

2 Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Search me and try me, Master today!
Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now,
as in thy presence humbly I bow.

3 Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Wounded and weary, help me I pray!
Power, all power, surely is thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine!

4 Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Hold o’er my being absolute sway.
Fill with thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me!

United Methodist Hymnal, 1989

Written by Adelaide A. Pollard, a woman who wrote hymns, but we can’t be sure how many as she seldom signed them. Her devotion was to furthering the cause of God, not to seeking recognition for her own work.

This particular hymn was inspired by the prayer of an elderly woman who asked God to simply “Just have your own way with us”.

“As Adelaide left the prayer meeting that night the phrase from that
prayer, “Have Thine own way”, rang in her mind. On the way home she
formed the lyrics in her mind and before going to bed that night, she
wrote the words on paper.” (source)

The tanbible includes this tidbit “Upon
returning home that evening, Miss Pollard mediated on the story of the
potter, found in Jeremiah 18:3-4.

Then
I went to the potter’s house, and behold, he wrought a work on the
wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of
the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the
potter to make it.”

Some hymnals have altered verse two to say

2 Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Search me and try me, Savior today!
Wash me just now, Lord, wash me just now,
as in thy presence humbly I bow.

The reason for that change being found here. Personally I think she’s meaning how our hearts are changed from being dark with sin to be being white with the light of being cleansed by God’s work in our lives.

Hymn Study: For The Beauty of the Earth

February 6, 2017 By Annette1 Leave a Comment

Hebrews 13:15-16 – “Through Him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name.”

Written by Folliot S. Pierpoint, this is a hymn of praise and thanksgiving and was originally written as a song for the Eucharist (The Lord’s Supper).

Pierpoint was the author of several poetry collections, including The Chalice of Nature and Other Poems (1855), Songs of Love, the Chalice of Nature, and Lyra Jesu (2nd Edition, 1858). The words of this hymn appeared in Lyrica Eucharistica, The Hymnal Noted (second edition, 1864). (source)

Pierpoint was born in Bath, England in 1835. He was educated at Queens College in Cambridge, and later taught at Somersetshire College, where he was a teacher of classics.

He wrote numerous poems, but For the Beauty of the Earth is the only one he is remembered for today. Not only did he write books of poetry, but also produced two hymnals. He was 29 years old when he wrote this particular hymn.

The song was inspired by the beauty of the countryside that surrounded
him. Pierpoint wrote praises of God for the beauties all around him
into the lyrics. Take for instance beauty of the earth and sky, beauty
of each hour, and the joy of human love that he incorporates into the
lyrics. (source)

The words to the original text can be found here. The tune Dix was written by Conrad Kocher in 1838, also the tune used for As with Gladness Men of Old.

Pierpoint died at age 82 having written 7 volumes of poetry.

Originally the last two lines of each verse read:

Christ our God, to thee we raise
This our sacrifice of praise.

(source)

Lyrics

(1) For the beauty of the earth,

For the glory of the skies;

For the love which from our birth,

Over and around us lies;

Lord of all, to Thee we raise