Thou Who thus has loved me, give me love like this!

Many crowd the Savior's Kingdom,
Few recieve His Cross,
Many seek His consolation,
Few will suffer loss
For the dear sake of the Master,
Counting all but dross.

Many sit at Jesus' table,
Few will fast with him
When the sorrow cup of anguish
Trembles to the brim-
Few watch with Him in the garden
Who have sung the hymn.

Many will confess His wisdom,
Few embrace His shame,
Many, should He smile upon them,
Will His praise proclaim;
Then, if for a while He leave them,
They desert His Name.

But the souls who love Him truly
Whether for woe or bliss,
These will count their truest heart's blood
Not their own but His;
Saviour, Thou Who thus hast loved me,
Give me love like this.

-Unknown Author

Saviour, Thou Who thus hast loved me, give me love like this!

<3

From prayer that asks that I may be
Sheltered from the winds that beat on Thee,
From fearing when I should aspire,
From faltering when I should climb higher,
From silken self, O Captain, free
Thy soldier who would follow Thee.

From subtle love of softening things,
From easy choices, weakenings,
Not thus are spirits fortified,
Not this way went the Crucified,
From all that dims Thy Calvary,
O Lamb of God, deliver me.

Give me the love that leads the way,
The faith that nothing can dismay
The hope no dissapointments tire,
The passion that will burn like fire,
Let me not sink to be a clod:
Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God.

-Amy Carmichael

Delight

I LOVE GOD. Talking about Him, hearing about Him, reading about Him, and thinking about Him are the greatest pleasures of my existence. I was thinking about Joel Osteen the other day when I saw the cover of one of his books. His smile was so big it was about to split his face wide open. The name of the book, I cannot remember, but it was something about the joy of the Lord and finding strength in God. As I turned the book over I thought, "This man delights in God too!" How can that be?! He seems happy to talk about God. He has devoted countless hours to writing about God and teaching things about Him. He seems overall delighted in his relationship with God. I think that it is fair to say that if I asked him what he enjoyed the most he would say that God was what he enjoyed the most. So I was wondering and asking God the difference was between my delight in God and Joel's?

It is a good thing to delight in the Lord, and Scriptures talk about it numerous times. David talks about how much he loves God and delights in His commands. Also, Psalm 14:1 "A fool hath said in his heart there is no God". Even Darwin was blown away with the brilliant design of the eyeball, and himself said that considering evolution when looking at the eyeball was... absurd. Of course only God could have created that! So basically the fact that I delight in God just shows me that I am not stupid. Even people who don't believe in God find Him amazing. And there I was thinking that Joel and I were something for delighting in God. Pshaw! There was needed hit to my pride. :-) God is a brilliant Creator, perfectly perfect; He mightily mighty; He is justly just; He is honestly honest, and this list goes on. Who couldn't delight in that?! THAT is humbling and rightfully so!!

So all this brought me to an entirely new question: The question is not who delights in God... The question is who does God delight in? Jeremiah 9:23-24 is just one of the verses that lets us know what God delights in.

"Thus says the Lord: Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD."

And as it says in Jeremiah 9:23 and 24, and in many other places in the scripture God delights in steadfast love, justice and righteousness. He hates selfishness, unjust behavior, and unrighteous acts, thoughts, etc,. The only one that God could possibly delight in is Christ. By this standard Joel Osteen and Grace Chambers are what my brother would call "Epic Failures". On the other hand, Christ is the only one who meets that standard of being steadfastly loving, just, and righteous. God recognized this, and told us all through His Word (several times) that He did delight in His Son. "This is my Son in whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:17, 12:18, 17:5, Mark 1:11, Luke 3:22) To gain the delight of God we must be sinless as Christ, which is what Christ made possible at the cross for those who will repent of the way we want to live and will give our life to follow Him. Sadly this just might be where Joel and I are different... Anyone can delight in God, but to gain the delight of God that is what is truly important.

Matthew 7:22-23 "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

So the point of sharing this whole thing is this: Are you one who delights in God, but finds that God cannot delight in you? You aren't the only one. God has said that many people delight in Him, in His strength and power, but He finds no delight in them, because of their sin. (Matthew 7:23, and 25:41)The difference between you and them is that you are on this side of judgement and you can find forgiveness and freedom from sin now, through Christ. Don't delay. It truly is a delight to know that I not only can delight in God now but that I will be able to delight in Him throughout all eternity.

One Day Closer

Luke 12:37-38 "Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants."

These verses make me so excited! Jesus really is coming and He is coming soon. I cannot wait for that day, but one thing I would love to know: Will I be ready? Will He find me watching and working diligently, faithfully for Him? What exactly will I be doing when He does come?

When Jesus comes (if He comes while I live) I want Him to find me on the edge of my seat so to speak, ready to bounce out of this world into the next at any moment. I want to be enjoying the daylights out of Him, His Word, His glory, etc. Wouldn't it be nice (I think I am speaking mostly to girls with these examples. :-)) to meet Christ having been a faithful and submissive worker like Ruth, or a bold ambassador like Esther? Wouldn't it be wonderful to be found a faithful sutdent of God's Word like Mary? I think any of these would be wonderful, but I wonder how I will meet Him?

While I am still in bed because of this "character building" (lol) surgery, I have had time to think about what I should be doing when I actually can move. :-) Here is one of the verses I have been thinking about:

Jesus said in John 9:4 "I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work."

These last few months have drug by so slowly I felt like time had literally stopped. Thankfully it didn't. :-) Even as slow as these last months have been... they are gone and they are not coming back. My time on this earth is very short. I got here just a few years ago and I'll be leaving soon too. The thought of this could send me into a panic attack, "SO-gasp-MUCH-gasp TO DO gasp!" However it doesn't, because I know that what I have done or will do has nothing to do with whether or not I am Christ's and He is mine. That being said what I am doing on earth is a prelude to what I will be doing in heaven. So I really cannot be waiting until then to get started. Now is the time to obey, now is the time to repent, now is the time to praise, now is the time to thank, now is the time to worship, etc, etc, you get the idea.

1 John 4:10 "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son [to be] the propitiation for our sins."

Wow! That is great great love. And we only love Him because He first loved us. When you do something for someone you love, does it feel like a chore? NO. It really doesn't. It is a pleasure. It is delightful, fun, thrilling, and every other good word there I can't think of at this moment. So if obeying God is so easy and fun, why don't I do it? Well that is the difference between here and heaven. My redeemed spirit wars constantly against my flesh, and that is what makes this rough. But I don't have to be afraid because Christ overcame the world and He will provide a way of escape from temptation. He is very faithful. Now back to what I meant to talk about: What kind of things do I need to be doing to get ready for His coming? How can I trim my lamps, and tirelessly watch for Him?

I can be about what He has given me to do NOW. Broadly speaking this would be like, studying the Scriptures, encouraging my family, and fellow brothers and sisters in Christ (the Church), sharing the gospel, etc. Specifically it means that I have to stop wasting time. There are so many time wasting traps these days, that before I even realize it I am sucked these traps. But God has asked that I be READY when He comes, and that means putting away the distractions that have nothing to do with watching for Him. Guys, He is coming and coming soon!

"Be ye therefore ready also for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not." -Matthew 25:40

May the Lord Find Us Faithful by Mac Lynch

"God has not given us the spirit of fear, But has given us the strength to obey.
With power and sound mind, with love the unfailing kind, Oh, be not ashamed of His way.

[Chorus] May the Lord find us faithful, May His Word be our banner held high.
May the Lord find us faithful, Everyday tho' we live tho' we die.

No man that seeketh after things of this life, Is a soldier, who passes the test.
Be faithful, be working, be running, be serving, Be searching His word for His best.

[Chorus] May the Lord find us faithful, May His Word be our banner held high.
May the Lord find us faithful, Everyday tho' we live tho' we die.

Living or dying may honor be Thine. From this wretched life, You loved and forgave.
A life that is on fire, be only our heart's desire, Be faithful from now to the grave.

May the Lord find us faithful. May His Word be our banner held high. May the Lord find us faithful every moment, Every day, every hour! Everyday tho' we live tho' we die..."

This song is so beautiful and so very encouraging. The tune is very catchy too (can't get it out of my head today), but I can't find it on youtube, so you will just have to imagine it. :-)