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Written by Calvin Fox
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Monday, 15 June 2009 18:42 |
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Today's Hymn, original written by Edward Mote in 1834 but here rearranged by me, is a goldmine of comforting Doctrine for lost Sinners and suffering Saints.
When darkness seems to veil [God's] face, what do I do? I rest on his unchanging grace; Our circumstances may change, even worsen; but God and His care for us does not! This is true even when He seems hidden to our sight. The suffering but wise Saint knows this and rests on that assurance. in every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. This is a reference to Hebrews 6:13-19 When God made a promise to Abraham, because he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and multiply you.” 17 In the same way, when God desired to show even more clearly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it by an oath, 18 so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible that God would prove false, we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to seize the hope set before us. 19 We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul ... |
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Last Updated on Sunday, 28 June 2009 13:16 |
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Written by Calvin Fox
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Tuesday, 07 October 2008 09:39 |
Alleluia! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Repeatedly, the Psalmist writes statements like this. Praising the Lord is as essential to living as a Christian as is prayer; singing those praises is as natural as breathing. And singing is not the same as listening. Here it is, the first thing Monday morning and we are exhorted to be singing- singing songs of praise to God about God. Why? It focuses our minds and hearts on what is truly important at the top of the day. It puts into proper perspective everything else on our must do list and schedule. Can you imagine what today would be like if everyone you meet with, everywhere you go, is singing songs of praise to God? Put not your trust in rulers, nor in any child of earth, for there is no help in them. When they breathe their last, they return to earth, and in that day their thoughts perish. We are not anarchists. We do not want chaos in our world today. We must have good "rulers" (not only in Washington, but a good boss, a good manager or supervisor where we work); but trust them as the ultimate, final authority who have the power of life and death in their hand? Oh no! They put their pants on like all the rest of us. They are human and mortal like everyone else. They are not GOD. Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help! whose hope is in the Lord their God; Who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them; who keeps his promise for ever; Talk about a proven track record. Talk about accomplishments and experience. We can do no better for our ultimate Ruler than the Creator of heaven and earth. And, unlike all others, He keeps His promises! Who gives justice to those who are oppressed, and food to those who hunger. The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord cares for the stranger; he sustains the orphan and widow, God is the father of all activists. He seeks social and economic justice. He is concerned about medical care. He is involved with main street folks and with backstreet people. He comes to the aid of all His people who suffer. The Lord loves the righteous, whatever street they live on, whether they enjoy a sixpack or wine in a glass or never touch alcohol at all. but [He] frustrates the way of the wicked. In pursuing social justice, He does not give the wicked what they want. He does not come to their rescue, rather He frustrates them. That, too, is justice! The Lord shall reign for ever, your God, O Zion, throughout all generations.
Alleluia!
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 07 October 2008 10:05 |
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Written by Calvin Fox
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Saturday, 04 October 2008 09:05 |
I love the Lord, because he has heard the voice of my supplication, because he has inclined his ear to me whenever I called upon him. The cords of death entangled me; the grip of the grave took hold of me; I came to grief and sorrow. Ever felt like you were being strangled or sufficated by something? Ever felt something was sucking the very life out of you? Ever just wanted to cry? I went through a period some 30 years ago, when that was all I could do- for days. I felt my life had been totally undone. Then I called upon the name of the Lord: ‘O Lord, I pray you, save my life.’ At the end of my rope, when I could take no more, I pleaded with the Lord. Actually, I couldn't put my thoughts and feelings into words. I began to use the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. There are wonderful prayers in it for every occasion and I found some that put into words what I was going through. Using them, I was able to pray. Notice the prayer was not, "Lord, take my life", but "Lord save my life" I did not want to stop living. I wanted to be alive while I was living. That would require inner healing and a new direction. The Lord heard my "supplication". Gracious is the Lord and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The Lord watches over the innocent; I was brought very low and he helped me. Yes, I was brought very low and He helped me, Yes, He did. It took months, but He saved my living. I would begin again. I had come though a very painful time, by His grace. Turn again to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has treated you well. [He has] rescued my life from death, my eyes from tears and my feet from stumbling. Yes, He has. Our "soul" or "Heart" is the inner center of our being. We can have a lot of trouble that does not disturb our heart; not easy, but we deal with it. Then there are those things that that really get to us deep down and break our heart or crush our soul. This is what the Psalmist is dealing with here. In such moments, we we need to firmly talk to our selves: stop! calm done! refocus on the goodness of the Lord. He has treated you well and He will do it again! Trust Him again! and get on with living. Move forward. The best defense is an offense. OK, but what should I be doing? How shall I repay the Lord for all the good things he has done for me? I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living. Get back on the bicycle and ride (remember hearing that when you were a child? It is still good advice.) Walk with the Lord in public, at work, where people are. Activate your faith, don't sit on it. Get back into fellowship with other Christians, most of all, get back to corporate Worship! I will lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. I will fulfil my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 07 October 2008 10:04 |
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Written by Calvin Fox
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Monday, 22 September 2008 12:50 |
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Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous; it is good for the just to sing praises. Praise the Lord with the harp; play to him upon the psaltery and lyre. Sing for him a new song; sound a fanfare with all your skill upon the trumpet. Why should we do this? Why should we get so excited about God? This Psalm is full of reasons. The first is the power of His Word. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, by the breath of his mouth all the heavenly hosts. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all who dwell in the world stand in awe of him. For he spoke and it came to pass; he commanded and it stood fast. Obviously, the Word of God in these verse is not the Scripture! This is the Word which brought Creation into existence, ages before Scripture was penned. This Word is the mind of God expressed. [Scripture is the Word of God written.] God thought of all the maple and oak trees we have here in New England and the palm trees in Hawaii. Then God spoke His thoughts and the trees appeared and have been appearing ever since. All of Nature is the continual expression of the Mind of God. This causes our mouths to drop, our hearts to skip and our minds to reel and we stand in awe of God and His creative Word. This is the beginning of Worship. For the word of the Lord is right,...and all his works are sure. What God thinks and what He does are inseparable. Both are reliable, trustworthy and good in evey sense. God is more than a creative force, He is a Person and person whith a moral nature. We do not believe in, let alone worship, blind Fate. He loves righteousness and justice; the loving-kindness of the Lord fills the whole earth. Inasmuch as the Creator God is always and everywhere immanent in the world in which we exist, we can see evidence of Him everywhere today- another reason to worship Him. The Lord brings the will of the nations to naught; he thwarts the designs of the peoples. But the Lord’s will stands fast for ever, and the designs of his heart from age to ag Having a Mind, God has designs and plans, a purpose and will, that are unchanging and can not fail. Nations and Peoples also have plans and designs, they can not stand against His. He is omipotent and sovereign. Another reason to worship Him. Therefore, Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord! happy the people he has chosen to be his own! Of course, the Psalmist meant Israel. But we should pray that our Nation, too, will do what is pleasing in the sight of the Lord! And be sure, the Creator God knows everything that goes on in the world. The Lord looks down from heaven, and beholds all the people in the world. From where he sits enthroned he turns his gaze on all who dwell on the earth. He fashions all the hearts of them and understands all their works. He knows about our economic woes; more than that, be assured He knows of our greed and corruption! and neither Congress nor the Fed can save us from that.. With God, there are no buyouts! There is no king that can be saved by a mighty army; the strong are not delivered by great strength; The horse is a vain hope for deliverance; for all its strength it cannot save. The Good News is- The eye of the Lord is upon those who fear him, on those who wait upon his love, To pluck their lives from death, and to feed them in time of famine. [Therefore] Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. Indeed, our heart rejoices in him, for in his holy name we put our trust. -more worship! Let your loving-kindness, O Lord, be upon us, as we have put our trust in you. AMEN! |
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Last Updated on Monday, 22 September 2008 14:06 |
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QT Thots
