A Net in Time

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faith

I Stand Amazed in the Presence

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I saw this song in my hymnal and my heart just smiled.  I stand amazed in the presence is a great song that answers my hearts question.  

and wonder how he could love me
a sinner condemned unclean

i stand amazed in the presence caption with person looking at mountarin

Lyrics

I stand amazed in the presence
Of Jesus the Nazarene,
And wonder how He could love me,
A sinner, condemned, unclean.

Refrain

O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!

For me it was in the garden
He prayed: Not My will, but Thine.
He had no tears for His own griefs,
But sweat drops of blood for mine.

Refrain

In pity angels beheld Him,
And came from the world of light
To comfort Him in the sorrows
He bore for my soul that night.

Refrain

He took my sins and my sorrows,
He made them His very own;
He bore the burden to Calvary,
And suffered and died alone.

Refrain

When with the ransomed in glory
His face I at last shall see,
’Twill be my joy through the ages
To sing of His love for me.

Refrain

Author and History

Charles H. Gabriel of this fantastic song.  He also wrote Send the Light.  In the ways of music, Mr. Gabriel was a self-taught man, teaching himself to play the reed organ in his formative years. 

Charles Hutchison Gabriel spent the firsts 17 years of his life on his Iowa farm. In his early years he was interested in military bands and wrote several marches.  He devoted his life to music putting together music books, composing melodies, writing a variety of songs, and writing how-to books for playing instruments. 

Pondering

What happens when you stop for a moment to recognize how wonderful something is?  Do you feel taken aback, surprised, delighted, afraid, or something else?   

We should feel all these things when we are faced by the Lord, after all we just saw last week how he is majesty and meekness at the same time.  But I Stand Amazed in his Presense asks us to hold dear to us the Love he holds for us.  Not just at the moment of salvation but throughout our lives.

I don’t know about you, but two things happen to me. Either I’m amazed that Jesus came, loved me, and then died for me.  I don’t truly understand such love.  Or the flip side happens.  I know of his love but I don’t pay it the heed it should have. I don’t marvel at it, seem impressed, afraid or even awestruck.  Hymns such as this one draws me back to that wonderful and it’s FANTASTIC to sing about it with others who love the same Lord. 

Meekness and Majesty

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Graham Kendricks put together this song of remembering. Remembering who Jesus is, a dichotomy contained within one. Have we ever really considered just who Jesus is?  That dichotomy that is present with our Saviour at all times.  Let Meekness and Majesty show you more of the Lord.

Meekness and Majesty, text on palm leaf

Lyrics of Meekness and Majesty

Meekness and majesty manhood and deity
In perfect harmony the Man who is God
Lord of eternity dwells in humanity
Kneels in humility and washes our feet
 
O what a mystery meekness and majesty
Bow down and worship for this is your God
This is your God
 
Father’s pure radiance perfect in innocence
Yet learns obedience to death on a cross
Suffering to give us life
Conquering through sacrifice
And as they crucify prays Father forgive
 
O what a mystery meekness and majesty
Bow down and worship for this is your God
This is your God
 
Wisdom unsearchable God the invisible
Love indestructible in frailty appears
Lord of infinity stooping so tenderly
Lifts our humanity to the heights of His throne
 
O what a mystery meekness and majesty
Bow down and worship for this is your God
This is your God
This is your God
 
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Graham Kendrick
Meekness and Majesty lyrics © Thankyou Music, Thank You Music Ltd.

Author and History

Son of a Baptist preacher, Graham Kendricks was born in Northamptonshire in 1950.  He’s released some 38 albums and has been writing music for a good 30 years.   This translates into more than 450 songs. 

He began his career singing with a band doing evangelistic work, he eventually branched out as a single artist.  Reading a question/answer in Crosstalk I appreciated his viewpoint on worship music. “We need more of the revelation that flows from teaching the Word of God in our worship, and that our worship will rise in proportion to it.”  (source)

Ponderings

As I listened to this video above I heard Graham Kendricks say the following : “You don’t normally see these two words side by side…but that’s what we have when we think of God…made manifest to us in Jesus Christ. And that is the wonder of the God we worship.”  Isn’t that a good statement?  That wonder mixed with the very weakness that Jesus held.  It’s an amazing thing if you think about it. 🙂

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How Great Our Joy

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A happy, quick moving song, How Great our Joy is only sorta familiar to me.  I’ve had the pleasure of singing it often enough to recognize it but not enough to have it memorized. It’s a lovely hymn that walks you through the angels’ conversation with the shepherds.

How Great Our Joy

Lyrics

While by the sheep we watched at night,
Glad tidings brought an angel bright.

Refrain

How great our joy! Great our joy!
Joy, joy, joy! Joy, joy, joy!
Praise we the Lord in heaven on high!
Praise we the Lord in heaven on high!

There shall be born, so He did say,
In Bethlehem a Child today.

Refrain

There shall the Child lie in a stall,
This Child who shall redeem us all.

Refrain

This gift of God we’ll cherish well,
That ever joy our hearts shall fill.

Refrain

Author and History

We actually don’t know who wrote this hymn, it is a tra­di­tion­al Ger­man ca­rol. In fact you might know this other German Christmas carol as well.  O come Little Children.    Theodar Baker translated the first two verses into English.  In fact, if you want to know about this Christmas song, Celebrating Holidays did a write up that might intrigue. 

Pondering How Great Our Joy

Don’t you just love songs that speak scripture back to you?  Sometimes in not exact words, but in the overall telling.  It’s lovely to sing God’s word back to him!  

In this one we start with the shepherds and quickly move to the angels.  The angels tell the glad tidings of a child to be born in Bethlehem.  It closely with how this child is a gift of God, and we sing of our great joy. 

It’s so true isn’t it? That joy we have in the hope given to us?  It’s just marvellous and worth singing about.  🙂

What Child is This

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I recently wrote a poem called Darkness Fell, where I asked the question, what happens when hope appears?  The question is, where does our hope spring from?  It starts with a baby born. What Child is This is a Christmas hymn that talks about this child of hope who was born. 

What Child is This

Lyrics to What Child is This

What child is this who, laid to rest
On Mary’s lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?
This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
Haste, haste, to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the son of Mary.

Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christians, fear, for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you.
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the son of Mary.

So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh,
Come peasant, king to own Him;
The King of kings salvation brings,
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.
Raise, raise a song on high,
The virgin sings her lullaby.
Joy, joy for Christ is born,
The Babe, the son of Mary.

William C. Dix, managed an insurance company, but his heart was in writing the poetry of worship.  Born in Bristol, England in 1837 to a father who was a surgeon.  He wrote more than 40 hymns in his life time, among them “As with Gladness Men of Old“. 

The three verses of this song, which is more popular in North America than it is in it’s native land of England, were taken from a poem called “Manger Throne”.  

Pondering

Memory of Sin

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So I went to bible study this morning where we are studying No Other Gods by Kelly Minter.   Today’s lesson was based on the life of Leah and Rachel being married to Jacob.  What a messed up family relationship stuff that was.   Laban cheating his son-in-law, love and unlove in the same household, sisters having to share a man, babies/no babies.  What a total mess.   Anyways, as we walked through the lesson learning about how to handle sin, and jealousy, envy and anger one of the ladies commented that the memory of her sin makes her feel guilty, even after she repents, and what should she do with that?  The memory of sin created guilt.  

Memory of sin

Go: Memory of sin

I remember it,
Clear as a bell,
That day I walked out of the store.
Grabbing some pop I didn’t pay for.

Immediately as I left I felt the sting
Conviction of wrong-doing
There, I did it again.
I didn’t go back.

Over time that sin
It weighed me down
Conviction encouraging me
To make it all right.

Finally driven
Back to the store
I paid for a pop,
But I left it at the door.

Conviction assuaded,
I knew I did right.
But the guilt of the day
Kept me up at night.

What do I do?
How can I make it right?
I ALREADY DID IT!
I made it ALRIGHT!!!

Til finally God
When I cried out again
Said Leave it my child
at the cross once again.

Forgiveness you sought.
Freely given it was.
You made it alright with
The place you stole from.

Leave it with me.
It’s covered you see.
Don’t let old memories
Drive you away from me.

And then I remembered
The difference between
Guilt and conviction,
It’s not always easy to see.

Conviction drive you
To repair what is wrong.
Guilt causes a wedge
It’s not where you belong.

Leave the past to the past
Once forgiveness is given.
Tell the guilt now
Good riddance.

Stop

Another poem in this years write 31 days challenge.   Have you been having fun?  I hope so!  

Things We Shouldn’t Practice

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Practice makes perfect or so the say, practice, practice, it’ll be better another day.  And there are many things in life to practice, good behaviour, new skills, kindness, patience, faith and more.   So many good things to practice, but what about the things we shouldn’t practice?

Things we shouldn't practice

Go: Things We Shouldn’t Practice

All quotes are from the NIV.

You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices.   Leviticus 18:3

9 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. 13 You must be blameless before the Lord your God.   Deut. 18:9-13

No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house; no one who speaks falsely will stand in my presence.  Psalm 101:7

For fools speak folly, their hearts are bent on evil: They practice ungodliness and spread error concerning the Lord; the hungry they leave empty and from the thirsty they withhold water. Is. 32:6

“‘Because you did not remember the days of your youth but enraged me with all these things, I will surely bring down on your head what you have done, declares the Sovereign Lord. Did you not add lewdness to all your other detestable practices?  Ezekiel 16:43

But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.  Matt. 7:26

“Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.”  Romans 3:13

But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”  Rev. 21:8

Stop

write 31

Today’s write 31 days challenge is the word practice.  Are you taking part?   

Tests of a Christian

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Test… It means different things to different folks.  Electrical, school work, Character, even the tests of a Christian…

In our life recently, test has meant it seems like ENDLESS hours of a hard-working man tracking down an electrical problem in our 2005 Silverado.  Testing circuits to see if they work, looking hard to find a broken wire. 

My son has been studying his science lately in preparation for taking a test or two.  He’s happy there are no tests in history, just papers and finishing assignments (and answering questions from his mom!).  🙂  A happy report from him with a 20/21 on his in school course test.

It’s left me thinking what I can write on for the word test.  This morning’s sermon in church gave me the answer to that.  The tests of a Christian. 

Tests of the christian

Go: Tests of a Christian

In 1 Thessalonians these words we read:
We give thanks to God
Always for you….
Remembering….
Your work of faith and
Labour of Love and
Steadfastness of Hope
In our Lord Jesus Christ.

Test One
Your work of faith.
This struck me hard.
That faith, this belief we have
in an unseen God.
We need to hold it.
Holding is a work you know?
Believing in something we can’t quite see.
And what we see is like a dim mirror.
Yet, this unseen thing, changes our lives
In ways we don’t always understand.
The continued trust we have is
Our work of faith.

Test two
Labour of love.
Christ loves us.
We love Christ.
This intertwined love
Causes us to do
Acts of service.
A way of worship
Living out love.

Test Three
Steadfastness of hope.
Because of faith we know
This thing to be true.
Spoken out in Revelations.
Shown the spoiler that
Christ has won the battle.
So we have this hope,
A hope that is steadfast because
Our faith is sure.
So anything we face here,
Can’t shine a light on
What awaits us.
A better future.
Pain, suffering, agony.
It will fade in
The light of what awaits.

Stop

write 31

This is part of the Write 31 days challenge.  Check out the writers here.