Thy ceaseless, unexhausted love

Thy ceaseless, unexhausted love

Words: Charles Wesley (1707-1788)
Tune: University

Thy ceaseless, unexhausted love,
Unmerited and free,
Delights our evil to remove,
And help our misery.

Thou waitest to be gracious still;
Thou dost with sinners bear,
That, saved, we may thy goodness feel,
And all thy grace declare.

Thy goodness and thy truth to me,
To every soul, abound,
A vast, unfathomable sea,
Where all our thoughts are drowned.

Its streams the whole creation reach,
So plenteous is the store,
Enough for all, enough for each,
Enough for evermore.

Faithful, O Lord, thy mercies are,
A rock that cannot move;
A thousand promises declare
Thy constancy of love.

Throughout the universe it reigns,
Unalterably sure;
And while the truth of God remains
The goodness must endure.

Selah.

The goodness of the Lord in the land of the living

O tarry and await the Lord’s pleasure

Psalm 27 selection

You speak in my heart and say, ‘Seek my face.’
Your face, Lord, will I seek.
Hide not your face from me,
nor turn away your servant in displeasure.
You have been my helper;
cast me not away;
do not forsake me, O God of my salvation.
Though my father and my mother forsake me,
the Lord will sustain me.
Show me your way, O Lord;
lead me on a level path, because of my enemies.
Deliver me not into the hand of my adversaries,
for false witnesses have risen up against me,
and also those who speak malice.
What if I had not believed
that I should see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living!
O tarry and await the Lord’s pleasure;
be strong and he shall comfort your heart;
wait patiently for the Lord.

Selah.

Wild and beautiful

Persist, endure, follow, watch

To be recognized and accepted by a peregrine you must wear the same clothes, travel by the same way, perform actions in the same order. Like all birds, it fears the unpredictable. Enter and leave the same fields at the same time each day, soothe the hawk from its wildness by a ritual of behavior as invariable as its own. Hood the glare of the eyes, hide the white tremor of the hands, shade the stark reflecting face, assume the stillness of a tree.

A peregrine fears nothing he can see clearly and far off. Approach him across open ground with a steady unfaltering movement. Let your shape grow in size but do not alter its outline. Never hide yourself unless concealment is complete. Be alone. Shun the furtive oddity of man, cringe from the hostile eyes of farms. Learn to fear. To share fear is the greatest bond of all. The hunter must become the thing he hunts. What is, is now, and must have the quivering intensity of an arrow thudding into a tree. Yesterday is dim and monochrome. A week ago you were not born. Persist, endure, follow, watch.

J.A. Baker, The Peregrine

A faithtful look at recovery

Recovery or renewal?

Brian McLaren raises a serious point: in all our discussions of 'economic recovery,' just what are we trying to recover? Are we merely trying to go back to an unconstrained, greedy mentality? If so, recovery is idolatry. And it will not succeed long term.

For many people, economic recovery means getting back to where we were a few months or years ago. That means recovering our consumptive, greedy, unrestrained, undisciplined, irresponsible, and ecologically and socially unsustainable way of life. I'd like to suggest another kind of recovery, drawing from the world of addiction. When an addict gets into recovery, he doesn't want to go back and recover the "high" he had before, or even to recover the conditions he had before he began using drugs and alcohol. Instead, he wants to move forward to a new way of life---a wiser way of life that takes into account his experience of addiction. He realizes that his addiction to drugs was a symptom of other deeper issues and diseases in his life---unresolved pain or anger, the need to anesthetize painful emotions, lack of creativity in finding ways to feel happy and alive, unaddressed relational and spiritual deficits, lack of self-awareness, and so on.

Similarly, I'd like to suggest whenever we hear the word "recovery," we as a nation see it not as a call to get back our old addictive high, but rather as a call to face our corporate and personal addictions...

Important words.

A believing person has an obligation to stand up and be counted whenever s/he sees agendas and actions that will destroy the nation -- whether economics or politics or metaphysics --; however, believers also have an obligation not to accept terms of 'recovery' that refuse to acknowledge the responsibility of life before God.

All of life is spiritual if God exists.

Therefore all our answers must be spiritual in nature, giving clear account before God, never allowing ourselves to say, 'Oh, this is just politics,' or 'this is just economics.'

Selah.

A necklace of loyalty and trust

Loyalty and faithfulness

Do not let loyalty and faithfulness forsake you;
bind them round your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
So you will find favor and good repute
in the sight of God and of people.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own insight.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.

My child, do not despise the Lord?s discipline
or be weary of his reproof,
for the Lord reproves the one he loves,
as a father the son in whom he delights.

Selah.

Those unfading flowers round the throne of God

Those eternal bowers, man hath never trod

Words: John of Damascus, eighth century; trans. John Mason Neale, 1862
Tune: St. Alban's

Those eternal bowers, man hath never trod,
those unfading flowers round the throne of God:
who may hope to gain them after weary fight?
who at length attain them, clad in robes of white?

He who wakes from slumber at the Spirit's voice,
daring here to number things unseen his choice:
he who casts his burden down at Jesus' cross--
Christ' reproach his guerdon, all beside but loss.

He who gladly barters all on earthly ground;
he who, like the martyrs, says "I will be crowned;"
he whose one oblation is a life of love,
knit in God's salvation to the blest above.

Shame upon you, legions of the heavenly King,
citizens of regions past imagining!
Why with pipe and tabor waste the hours of light,
when he bids you labor, when he tells you, "Fight"?

Jesus, Lord of glory, as we breast the tide,
whisper thou the story of the other side;
where the saints are casting crowns before thy feet,
safe for everlasting, in thyself complete!

Selah.

A word for the day: The will of God is not too hard

Not too hard for you, nor too far away

Deuteronomy 30:11ff

Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?' Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?' No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.

See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

Selah.

A word for the day: God our refuge

A prayer of Moses, the man of God

Psalm 90

Lord, you have been our refuge
from one generation to another.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
or the land and the earth were born,
from age to age you are God.
You turn us back to the dust and say,
'Go back, O child of earth.'
For a thousand years in your sight
are like yesterday when it is past
and like a watch in the night.
You sweep us away like a dream;
we fade away suddenly like the grass.
In the morning it is green and flourishes;
in the evening it is dried up and withered.
For we consume away in your displeasure;
we are afraid because of your wrathful indignation.
Our iniquities you have set before you,
and our secret sins in the light of your countenance.
When you are angry, all our days are gone;
we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
The span of our life is seventy years,
perhaps in strength even eighty;
yet the sum of them is but labor and sorrow,
for they pass away quickly and we are gone.
Who regards the power of your wrath?
who rightly fears your indignation?
So teach us to number our days
that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.
Return, O Lord; how long will you tarry?
be gracious to your servants.
Satisfy us by your loving-kindness in the morning;
so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.
Make us glad by the measure of the days
that you afflicted us
and the years in which we suffered adversity.
Show your servants your works
and your splendor to their children.
May the graciousness of the Lord our God be upon us;
prosper the work of our hands;
prosper our handiwork.

Alleluia!

Selah.

Thanks to the Lord of the harvest

Thank you for latter rain: abundance

Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the LORD your God, for He has given you the autumn rains in righteousness. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. [Joel 2:23]

See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains! You too, be patient and stand firm... As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. [James 5:7,11f]

Selah.

A word for the day: rejoice in hope!

A destiny of affliction and glory

Rejoice in hope.

Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. — “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” — That no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this!

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. — May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. — Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory. — Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Rom. 12:12; Acts 14:22; Luke 14:27; 1 Thess. 3:3; Phil. 4:4; Rom. 15:13; 1 Pet. 1:3; 1 Pet. 1:8; Rom. 5:2

A destiny of victory: mighty warrior

Psalm 45 selection

Grace flows from your lips,
because God has blessed you for ever.
Strap your sword upon your thigh, O mighty warrior,
in your pride and in your majesty.
Ride out and conquer in the cause of truth
and for the sake of justice.
Your right hand will show you marvellous things;
your arrows are very sharp, O mighty warrior.
The peoples are falling at your feet,
and the king's enemies are losing heart.
Your throne, O God, endures for ever and ever,
a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of your kingdom;
you love righteousness and hate iniquity;
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness above your fellows.
All your garments are fragrant with myrrh, aloes and cassia,
and the music of strings from ivory palaces makes you glad!

Selah.

The Lover of souls brings rose from brier

Lover of souls, Thee have I heard

Lover of souls, Thee have I heard,
Thee will I sing, for sing I must;
Thy good and comfortable word
Hath raised my spirit from the dust.

In dusty ways my feet had strayed,
And foolish fears laid hold on me,
Until what time I was afraid
I suddenly remembered Thee.

Remembering Thee, I straight forgot
What other while had troubled me;
It was as though it all were not;
I only was aware of Thee.

Of Thee, of Thee alone, aware,
I rested me, I held me still;
The blessed thought of Thee, most Fair,
Dispelled the brooding sense of ill.

Then quietness around me fell,
And Thou didst speak; my spirit heard.
I worshiped and rejoiced, for well
I knew Thy comfortable word.

Whoso hath known that comforting,
The inward touch that maketh whole,
How can she ever choose but sing,
To Thee, O Lover of my soul!

Rose from brier

“I have no desire that my imprisonment should end before the right time; I love my chains. My senses, indeed, have not any relish for such things, but my heart is separated from them and borne over them.”

Madam Guyon said that. I cannot say that I love my chains in any literal sense whatever, nor do I believe that we are meant to do so. Our Lord did not tell the woman who was bound to love the cords that bound her. But in the sense that Madam Guyon meant the words [indeed, she said her senses had no relish for such things!] I believe that He can give us grace to find something truly lovable in that which [while He allows it to continue] is His will for us.

Disappointments, for example; in a quiet procession these weary little things have entered this room. After the foot began to mend other troubles came, one after the other, pulling me up just when it seemed as though I might soon begin to walk. As each corner was turned we thought it would be the last, but there was always another.

But one of the first of these disappointments was lighted by something so sweet and dear that I knew at once it could not be only for me, but must be for you – you who know so much about these matters of continuing trial and pain!

One of our Fellowship was at home on furlough, and he was to return to us on February 25; I had set my heart on being up and ready to meet him and the new brother whom he was bringing with him. I was sure I would be at the Welcoming Service to sing the welcome song, and for a month or so before that date it seemed as if I would indeed be there… Then all hope gradually faded. I was still in bed when they came – not even in a chair.

That morning of the Welcoming Service, while the chiming bells were ringing from the tower, in spirit I was far more in the midst of that beloved crowd in the House of Prayer than in my room. And I ached to be there really, not just in spirit – I ached until all of me was one ache; and then, each word as clear as though it slid down the clear chiming bells, deep within my heart, this little song within me:

Thou hast not that, My child, but thou hast Me,
And am not I alone enough for thee?
I know it all, know how thy heart was set
Upon this joy which is not given yet.

And well I know how through the wistful days
Thou walkest all the dear familiar ways,
As unregarded as a breath of air,
But there in love and longing, always there!

I know it all; but from thy brier shall blow
A rose for others. If it were not so
I would have told thee. Come then, say to Me:
My Lord, my Love, I am content with Thee.

“From thy brier shall blow a rose for others.” In the hills of South India there are tall and beautiful bushes of wild roses. The roses are larger than ours at home and of an unforgettable sweetness. But they were not called to mind by these words. I saw rather a little, low, very prickly bush in an old-fashioned English garden; it was covered with inconspicuous pink roses. But the wonder of the bush was its all-pervading fragrance, for it was a sweetbrier. And I saw One who has been long in the land where no thorns grow, cutting a spray from the bush, stripping the thorns off and giving it to me. And may those who walk the road and street, as unregarded as a breath of air, but there in love and longing, always there… may they find a rose from my brier caused to grow – and may they find no prickling thorn on the stem of this rose from my brier!

I think that when He whom our soul loveth comes so near to us, and so gently helps our human weakness, then what Madam Guyon wrote nearly three hundred years ago becomes a present truth. We are borne over the oppression that would hold us down, we mount up on wings, we find a secret sweetness in our brier. But it is not of us. It is Love that lifts us up. It is Love that is the sweetness!

Is the one who reads this in great weariness, or the exhaustion that follows a sore hurt, or in the terrible grasp of pain? He who loves as no one else can love, who understands to the uttermost, is not far away. He wants us to say, He can give it to us to say, “My Lord, my Love, I am content with Thee.”

Alleluia!

Selah.

Amy Carmichael, Rose from Brier, 50-53.

Merton and Mere Christianity

Christopher shared a Merton quote that is incredibly powerful in its call to 'mere Christianity.' In the article, "Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander," Merton devastates the modernist tendency to deny Jesus Christ as the Son of God, all the while claiming to be Christian:

I think, then, that in our eagerness to go out to modern man and meet him on his own ground, accepting him as he is, we must also be truly what we are. If we come to him as Christians we can certainly understand and have compassion for his unbelief -- his apparent incapacity to believe. But it would seem a bit absurd for us, precisely as Christians, to pat him on the arm and say "As a matter of fact I don't find the Incarnation credible myself. Let's just consider that Christ was a nice man who devoted himself to helping others!"

This would, of course, be heresy in a [Christian] whose faith is a radical and total commitment to the truth of the Incarnation and Redemption as revealed by God and taught by the Church. . . . What is the use of coming to modern man with the claim that you have a Christian mission -- that you are sent in the name of Christ -- if in the same breath you deny Him by whom you claim to be sent?

Wow. A truly prophetic voice.

Here Merton strikes the same prophetic note that C. S. Lewis often struck: Don't claim to believe in Jesus Christ if you don't believe in Him as the Son of God. Lewis’ quote in Mere Christianity is famous, but forever incisive:

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic -- on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg -- or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

What secularist Christians do -- often for the sake of relevance or rights -- is divest the Cross of Christ of its power. But in patronizing Christ we lose something infinite ourselves. And for our world.

Thanks Christopher, for the Merton quote. Incisive. Apt. Timely. True.