Love that Never Fails

"There is no spot in thee." -Song of Solomon 4:7

"Jesus Christ has no quarrel with His spouse. She often wanders from Him, and grieves His Holy Spirit, but He does not allow her faults to affect His love. He sometimes chides, but it is always in the tenderest manner, with the kindest intentions: it is "my love" even then. There is no remembrance of our follies, He does not cherish ill thoughts of us, but He pardons and loves as well after the offence as before it. It is well for us it is so, for if Jesus were as mindful of injuries as we are, how could He commune with us? Many a time a believer will put himself out of humour with the Lord for some slight turn in providence, but our precious Husband knows our silly hearts too well to take any offence at our ill manners."

Dec. 3rd Morning and Evening

O to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be! Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love; here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Guest Post for Forthright Fixation

This post is to let you know that I don't plan to post anything today because you can go read this.
...it's a long one.

My Daughter, My Child

As I went about one day last week, I found myself humming parts of the following Keith Green recording. I listened to the song and realized I was singing words meant to be spoken from God. The Lord met me in that moment... these words are His heart toward His children, toward me!

My son, My son, why are you striving
You can't add one thing to what's been done for you
I did it all while I was dying
Rest in your faith, my peace will come to you

My child, My child, why are you weeping
You will not have to wait forever
That day and that hour is in My keeping
The day I'll bring you into Heaven

For when I hear the praises start
My child, I want to rain upon you
Blessing that will fill your heart
I see no stain upon you
Because you are My child and you know me
To me you're only holy
Nothing that you've done remains
Only what you do in Me

My precious bride, the day is nearing
When I'll take you in My arms and hold you
I know there are so many things that you've been hearing
But you just hold on to what I have told you


I read Ps. 103 this morning. I was doing really well on committing the passage to memory. Usually I prefer the English Standard Version, but for Ps. 103, the wording found in my pocket New International Version couldnt have been better in relation to this song.

I will praise the Lord each morning, each moment of each day, for this: His unchanging heart of love, guidance and counsel toward me allowed by His work of salvation in me because of the substitution that took place on the cross.

"He let go of His Son so that He could hold on to us."

Note: the 'keith green recording' link goes to a youtube video of a cover for the song, but I liked the cover more than the video of the actual recording.

Growing in Discipline: Tidbits

There's a cry in my heart for Your glory to fall, for Your presence to fill up my senses.
There's a yearning again; a thirst for discipline, a hunger for things that are deeper.

Could You take me beyond?
Could You carry me through?
If I open my heart could I go there with You?
For I've been here before, but I know there's still more- Oh, Lord, I need to know You.

For what do I have if I don't have You, Jesus?
What in this life could mean any more?
You are my rock; You are my glory
You are the lifter of my head, the lifter of this head

Just finished this book. Took this one off of the shelf this one last night.

That Starfield lyric line about having a thirst for discipline, that's me right now. I've been wasting my days. I've been given the ability and responsibility to manage my schoolwork, my education! Maybe I've attempted on my own and here I am with satisfactory progress this year, moving confusing granted. ;-) I have tried, and have sought the Lord for help on different levels. Maybe I didnt do either of those completely or enough. What I know is: I have been irresponsibly and continually squandering the time in which to accomplish tasks.

first |fərst|
coming before all others in time or order; earliest; fundamental
met with or encountered before any others; foremost in position, rank, or importance
our first priority; foremost, principal, highest, greatest, paramount, top, uppermost, prime, chief, leading, main, major; overriding, predominant, prevailing, central, core, dominant;

Yesterday I was discouraged. Last and this week I've been trying to wake up earlier- a hard thing. I want to even say tortorous some days. How the morning plays out can have such an effect on the rest of the day. Bad morning, not so much work gets done before lunch, school has to go until dinner or after oh, and ya, I probably never changed out of my pajamas or touched my hair.

On a positive note, today has been a day of small victories. I woke up and started school by 8:30. It's 2pm and I've finished all but half of an argumentation lecture and history reading, oooh, maybe I need to do some essay prep too. The source of praise, whether I have a bad or a good day, is that God is giving me to grace to have transcendent joy.. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God..." has continually been on the brain since the reference to it in a friendship message at YPCG awhile back and due to reading the above linked Mark Pearce book, which was a fabulous read by the way. First. It's highly probably that devotions was not the first thing I did upon waking up. Yes, devotions are wonderful; meeting God and experiencing his Word is irreplacable and we should thirst for it. However, I am growing in consciously keeping Christ first in my heart and mind throughout the day (whether I was able to begin it in such a fashion or not).

“Nothing can be more hurtful to the service, than the neglect of discipline; for that discipline, more than numbers, gives one army the superiority over another”
-George Washington

CG Party

It is in trials when we doubt two things- that God is near and that He is good...
How has God been near, and how has He been good this year?

{luminaries up to the house}

I was sitting on the floor in the middle of our livingroom. We'd just finished singing six or so Christmas carols... Christmas carols, in our livingroom. I dont think I can express what that meant & means to me. "Joy to the world the Lord has come"- that is why our family celebreates Christmas to begin with! It was a vivid reminder of the centrality of the word 'joy' in Christmas for us two years ago and last year. There I was feeling warm and comforted in the sort-a-center of forty-some people who were all singing those words.

Mr. T. talked about the past year and the trials he knew we had all come across, the changes: moving, a job, health-wise, financially. There is no way to sugar-coat a trial. It's a hard thing whatever it may be. I was however so refreshed yesterday to face the smaller daily trials I have with confidence. The Lord brought me and my family through the trials of the past and there we were having a Christmas party in our house. The result of the dominant trial of this year (moving. just see the many, many blog posts) resulted last night in a house full of people, talking, a house full of laughter, food, happiness and friendship. We've had alot of people in the house thus far, most of them being carpenters, plumbers, electricians. ;-) To have those we have come to love in the house was much better!

I couldnt be more happy with my white elephant present- a bicycle tire with green light strung around it. We have a pair of size eight sparkly pink shoes needed to relocate to another home.