He Is Building a Palace

Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”

~C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Christian Classics Ethereal Library

https://www.ccel.org/

The Best Prayers

The best prayers have often more groans than words.
~John Bunyan

Sons of God

The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.
~ Clive Staples Lewis

It Is Well With My Soul

Be Thou My Vision

Dark Place to Light

Drug down into Darkness
Swept through the Mire by Despair
Bogged down in Quagmire
Bereft to the Core

Held by Him in Hopelessness
Alone but not So
Whelmed by the Waves
Distressed to the Bone
Disappointment Disgust
Grudges Long Held
All Worked for Good
Suddenly Darkness Felled
Just but a Shadow
Affliction Momentary and Light
Pain will Subside
Grief will Lift like a Kite
Sun Shining Brightly
Deep Peace on all Shores
Never Left nor Forsaken
Jesus' Love and Care not just a Lore

How Dare I

How dare I doubt Him
No I will trust
Impossibilities arise
Untoward circumstances I’m thrust
Standing and walking in sinking sand
What eyes see only a small glimpse
Peace and rest in the palm of Your hand

Breathe

We breathe in Your Presence
We breathe out Your Praise
We breathe in Your Peace
We breathe out Your Poise
We breathe in Your Glory
We breathe out Your Grace
We breathe in Your Fullness
We long to see Your Face

Heaven's Joy

"He who with the help of God's grace becomes aware of the will's constant movements and learns to direct them toward God will never fail to taste something of heaven's joy even in this life and, certainly in the next, he will savor it fully." 

The Cloud of Unknowing p. 42

Faith?

Faith as a dart?
No doubt in your heart?
Cursed an empty fig tree?
Commanded a mountain into the sea?

Faith as a mustard seed?
Heaven and earth agreed
Withered hands, blind eyes, and demons obey
Faith in God sees all things new made

Exercised faith weapon of choice
Be healed! Be whole! Gives heaven a voice

Your kingdom come Your will be done
God increase our faith till we be like Your Son!

Transfigured!

Even the most amazing life experience bane knowing eternity is flowing through our veins

It's all a shadow, not only the galaxies above, but the sea below and the kindest gesture of love

As it flashes from the east to the west the Day arrives, the Power on high fills and transfigures our lives

Changed at last, unimaginable bliss, no more pain and angst a thing of the past, only swallowed up in the feelings of a kiss

Shade

I'm sure there are gorgeous trees in heaven, but I won't want any shade there!

Worship?

Could completely abandoned, unabashed, unfettered worship flowing from the deepest recesses of our heart and spirit toward the God of heaven and earth be the highest form of loving Him? When there is no more sacrifice to make, no more labor to do or burdens to carry, no more poor to care for, no naked to clothe, no imprisoned to visit, no hungry to feed, no dying to hold, might wholly focusing on and adoring Abba Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit—enraptured in His Presence—be the pinnacle of our existence?

Let Nothing Disturb Thee

Let nothing disturb thee
Let nothing dismay thee
All things pass
God never changes.
Patience attains
All that it strives for.
He who has God
Finds he lacks nothing
God alone suffices.

St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)

Smile

For those of us who love Him, what's it going to be like when we are all gathered before The Throne of God and we see Jesus' first smile?!

All I Ever Wanted

All I ever wanted,
was to be broken
by your grace.
Your burning touch
on my pen,
branding my heart
with your face.

Yearning
for your wisdom,
I paint humbly
across the page.
Tracing
mercy’s promise,
on the canvas
of your embrace.

Freely I have received,
freely bending me.
Bowing myself
in your hand,
lift the scales
from my heart,
let me see.

Forging
this crumbled child,
into a soul
that breathes desire.
Fill these cracks
with purpose.
Compose my life
with your fire.

Used with permission: Copyright 2011, Christi Armstrong

Cannibals

When James Calvert went out as a missionary to the cannibals of the Fiji Islands, the ship captain tried to turn him back, saying, "You will lose your life and the lives of those with you if you go among such savages." To that, Calvert replied, "We died before we came here."

Have you let Jesus wash your feet today?

God I Look To You

Walking Mass

Oh Lord Jesus, I just want to be a walking mass of the Presence of God!

Peace

Pride, position, pomp, power, property, payment, do not equal PEACE!

Be Thou My Vision

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

6th Century Irish Hymn

Hound of Heaven

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days; I fled Him, down the arches of the years; I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears I hid from Him, and under running laughter. Up vistaed hopes I sped; And shot, precipitated, Adown Titanic glooms of chasmed fears, From those strong Feet that followed, followed after. But with unhurrying chase, And unperturbèd pace, Deliberate speed, majestic instancy, They beat--and a Voice beat More instant than the Feet-- "All things betray thee, who betrayest Me." I pleaded, outlaw-wise, By many a hearted casement, curtained red, Trellised with intertwining charities (For, though I knew His love Who followed, Yet was I sore adread Lest having Him, I must have naught beside); But if one little casement parted wide, The gust of His approach would clash it to. Fear wist not to evade, as Love wist to pursue. Across the margent of the world I fled, And troubled the gold gateways of the stars, Smiting for shelter on their clanged bars; Fretted to dulcet jars And silvern chatter the pale ports o' the moon. I said to dawn, Be sudden; to eve, Be soon; With thy young skyey blossoms heap me over From this tremendous Lover! Float thy vague veil about me, lest He see! I tempted all His servitors, but to find My own betrayal in their constancy, In faith to Him their fickleness to me, Their traitorous trueness, and their loyal deceit. To all swift things for swiftness did I sue; Clung to the whistling mane of every wind. But whether they swept, smoothly fleet, The long savannahs of the blue; Or whether, Thunder-driven, They clanged his chariot 'thwart a heaven Plashy with flying lightnings round the spurn o' their feet-- Still with unhurrying chase, And unperturbèd pace, Deliberate speed, majestic instancy, Came on the following Feet, And a Voice above their beat-- "Naught shelters thee, who wilt not shelter Me." I sought no more that after which I strayed In face of man or maid; But still within the little children's eyes Seems something, something that replies; They at least are for me, surely for me! I turned me to them very wistfully; But, just as their young eyes grew sudden fair With dawning answers there, Their angel plucked them from me by the hair. "Come then, ye other children, Nature's--share With me," said I, "your delicate fellowship; Let me greet you lip to lip, Let me twine with you caresses, Wantoning With our Lady-Mother's vagrant tresses' Banqueting With her in her wind-walled palace, Underneath her azured daïs, Quaffing, as your taintless way is, From a chalice Lucent-weeping out of the dayspring." So it was done; I in their delicate fellowship was one-- Drew the bolt of Nature's secrecies. I knew all the swift importings On the wilful face of skies; I knew how the clouds arise Spumèd of the wild sea-snortings; All that's born or dies Rose and drooped with--made them shapers Of mine own moods, or wailful or divine-- With them joyed and was bereaven. I was heavy with the even, When she lit her glimmering tapers Round the day's dead sanctities. I laughed in the morning's eyes. I triumphed and I saddened with all weather, Heaven and I wept together, And its sweet tears were salt with mortal mine; Against the red throb of its sunset-heart I laid my own to beat, And share commingling heat; But not by that, by that, was eased my human smart. In vain my tears were wet on Heaven's gray cheek. For ah! we know not what each other says, These things and I; in sound I speak-- Their sound is but their stir, they speak by silences. Nature, poor stepdame, cannot slake my drouth; Let her, if she would owe me, Drop yon blue bosom-veil of sky, and show me The breasts of her tenderness; Never did any milk of hers once bless My thirsting mouth. Nigh and nigh draws the chase, With unperturbèd pace, Deliberate speed, majestic instancy; And past those noisèd Feet A voice comes yet more fleet-- "Lo naught contents thee, who content'st not Me." Naked I wait Thy love's uplifted stroke! My harness piece by piece Thou hast hewn from me, And smitten me to my knee; I am defenseless utterly. I slept, methinks, and woke, And, slowly gazing, find me stripped in sleep. In the rash lustihead of my young powers, I shook the pillaring hours And pulled my life upon me; grimed with smears, I stand amid the dust o' the mounded years-- My mangled youth lies dead beneath the heap. My days have crackled and gone up in smoke, Have puffed and burst as sun-starts on a stream. Yea, faileth now even dream The dreamer, and the lute the lutanist; Even the linked fantasies, in whose blossomy twist I swung the earth a trinket at my wrist, Are yielding; cords of all too weak account For earth with heavy griefs so overplussed. Ah! is Thy love indeed A weed, albeit amaranthine weed, Suffering no flowers except its own to mount? Ah! must-- Designer infinite!-- Ah! must Thou char the wood ere Thou canst limn with it? My freshness spent its wavering shower i' the dust; And now my heart is a broken fount, Wherein tear-drippings stagnate, spilt down ever From the dank thoughts that shiver Upon the sighful branches of my mind. Such is; what is to be? The pulp so bitter, how shall taste the rind? I dimly guess what Time in mist confounds; Yet ever and anon a trumpet sounds From the hid battlements of Eternity; Those shaken mists a space unsettle, then Round the half-glimpsed turrets slowly wash again. But not ere him who summoneth I first have seen, enwound With blooming robes, purpureal, cypress-crowned; His name I know, and what his trumpet saith. Whether man's heart or life it be which yields Thee harvest, must Thy harvest fields Be dunged with rotten death? Now of that long pursuit Comes on at hand the bruit; That Voice is round me like a bursting sea: "And is thy earth so marred, Shattered in shard on shard? Lo, all things fly thee, for thou fliest Me! Strange, piteous, futile thing, Wherefore should any set thee love apart? Seeing none but I makes much of naught," He said, "And human love needs human meriting, How hast thou merited-- Of all man's clotted clay rhe dingiest clot? Alack, thou knowest not How little worthy of any love thou art! Whom wilt thou find to love ignoble thee Save Me, save only Me? All which I took from thee I did but take, Not for thy harms. But just that thou might'st seek it in my arms. All which thy child's mistake Fancies as lost, I have stored for the at home; Rise, clasp My hand, and come!" Halts by me that footfall; Is my gloom, after all, Shade of His hand, outstreched caressingly? "Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest, I am He Whom thou seekest! Thou dravest love from thee, who dravest Me." 
Francis Thompson (1859-1907) 

Jesus Culture - Rooftops

Enjoyment of God

“The enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To fully enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows; but God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams, but God is the ocean.” 
Jonathan Edwards (1761)

Jesus Loved...

‎"Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister [Mary] and Lazarus." John 11:5 & "Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples [John], whom Jesus loved." John 13:23--Four people listed as being loved by Jesus--We can all add our names to that list!

Hillsong United - Yahweh (Faith + Hope + Love) HQ

Uncommon Currency

In the natural, we all need to work to earn money to go about our daily lives. We spend years getting an education and learning trades that will help us provide for ourselves and our families. We interact with our families & friends, talking with them, hugging and kissing them, and so on. We're thrilled and grateful when we have a good job, home for our family, food in our bellies, education for our children! Without an income of some kind it's nearly impossible to live! In correlation, the Kingdom of God, which is of course a supernatural realm merging and converging with the natural realm, also has currencies for lack of a better word. Gold would be one epitomy of a powerful commodity that can be quickly turned into any currency around the world. God doesn't usually appear physically to us and sit down for a chat in our livingrooms or walk over and give us a hug! And yet, He is very present, as the Bible tells us, wherever we are in the four corners of the earth. We cannot escape His Presence! He longs for an intimate relationship with us and would like us to do and be the same. Praying, talking with the Lord, communing with Him, waiting on the Lord, is among many other things, a currency that is far weightier and precious, than gold. It can move mountains! It is the most common vehicle chosen for intimacy and communication in our relationship with our Creator! Prayer is hard currency! What is passionate prayer? Affectionate prayer? Wars, famines, and droughts have ceased after men and women have spent time in prayer! People have been saved, healed and delivered when the children of the Most High pray. "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." Praying is as real an act as putting your arms around the Lord Jesus like John the Beloved had the privilege of doing. Oh God teach us to pray!

Chew On This for A While!

...Christ in you, the hope of glory. 

Colossians 1:27b (NKJV)

True Spiritual Joys

Man cannot live without joy; therefore when he is deprived of true spiritual joys it is necessary that he become addicted to carnal pleasures. 

St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)

Who Is This God

Click on the link above and enjoy everyone!

Mystery of the Indwelling Spirit

The mystery of the indwelling Spirit is one of the most neglected realities. Theologically I believe it but in reality I live as though I walk alone, even when I have a Helper, a Teacher, and an eager Friend longing to live life with me. O, to walk in perpetual conversation with the One who knows me best and loves me most, to walk by faith and not by sight, leaning into this invisible Companion.


Misty Edwards from a facebook post on Aug. 25, 2010

Experience

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, but spiritual beings having a human experience.”

Teilihard de Chardin (1881-1955), Jesuit priest

Psalm 34

¹ I will bless the LORD at all times;
         His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
 ² My soul shall make its boast in the LORD;
         The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
 ³ Oh, magnify the LORD with me,
         And let us exalt His name together.
        
 ⁴ I sought the LORD, and He heard me,
         And delivered me from all my fears.
 ⁵ They looked to Him and were radiant,
         And their faces were not ashamed.
 ⁶ This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him,
         And saved him out of all his troubles.
 ⁷ The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him,
         And delivers them.
        
 ⁸ Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good;
         Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
 ⁹ Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints!
         There is no want to those who fear Him.
 ¹⁰ The young lions lack and suffer hunger;
         But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.
        
 ¹¹ Come, you children, listen to me;
         I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
 ¹² Who is the man who desires life,
         And loves many days, that he may see good?
 ¹³ Keep your tongue from evil,
         And your lips from speaking deceit.
 ¹⁴ Depart from evil and do good;
         Seek peace and pursue it.
        
 ¹⁵ The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
         And His ears are open to their cry.
 ¹⁶ The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
         To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
        
 ¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears,
         And delivers them out of all their troubles.
 ¹⁸ The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart,
         And saves such as have a contrite spirit.
        
 ¹⁹ Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
         But the LORD delivers him out of them all.
 ²⁰ He guards all his bones;
         Not one of them is broken.
 ²¹ Evil shall slay the wicked,
         And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.
 ²² The LORD redeems the soul of His servants,
         And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.


A Psalm of David (NKJV)

Every Christian

"Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter.”
Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Thank You!

Thank You Father for sending Your Son. Thank You Lord Jesus for suffering and dying for us. Thank You Holy Spirit for raising Jesus from the dead so that we might have life everlasting with the Three in One!

777

The Number of The Feast!
from: John Crowder

Inner Sweetness

"For it is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, and unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience, they are not the better for having heard the truth. The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts." A.W. Tozer (The Pursuit of God)

Veni Creator Spiritus

COME, Holy Spirit, Creator blest,

and in our souls take up Thy rest;

come with Thy grace and heavenly aid

to fill the hearts which Thou hast made.

O comforter, to Thee we cry,

O heavenly gift of God Most High,

O fount of life and fire of love,

and sweet anointing from above.

Thou in Thy sevenfold gifts are known;

Thou, finger of God's hand we own;

Thou, promise of the Father, Thou

Who dost the tongue with power imbue.

Kindle our sense from above,

and make our hearts o'erflow with love;

with patience firm and virtue high

the weakness of our flesh supply.

Far from us drive the foe we dread,

and grant us Thy peace instead;

so shall we not, with Thee for guide,

turn from the path of life aside.

Oh, may Thy grace on us bestow

the Father and the Son to know;

and Thee, through endless times confessed,

of both the eternal Spirit blest.

Now to the Father and the Son,

Who rose from death, be glory given,

with Thou, O Holy Comforter,

henceforth by all in earth and heaven.

Amen.

Rabanus Maurus Magnentius (circa 780 – 4 February 856)

St. Patrick's Breastplate

I arise today

Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,

Through the belief in the threeness,

Through confession of the oneness

Of the Creator of Creation.

I arise today

Through the strength of Christ's birth with his baptism,

Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,

Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension,

Through the strength of his descent for the judgment of Doom.

I arise today

Through the strength of the love of Cherubim,

In obedience of angels,

In the service of archangels,

In hope of resurrection to meet with reward,

In prayers of patriarchs,

In predictions of prophets,

In preaching of apostles,

In faith of confessors,

In innocence of holy virgins,

In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today

Through the strength of heaven:

Light of sun,

Radiance of moon,

Splendor of fire,

Speed of lightning,

Swiftness of wind,

Depth of sea,

Stability of earth,

Firmness of rock.

I arise today

Through God's strength to pilot me:

God's might to uphold me,

God's wisdom to guide me,

God's eye to look before me,

God's ear to hear me,

God's word to speak for me,

God's hand to guard me,

God's way to lie before me,

God's shield to protect me,

God's host to save me

From snares of devils,

From temptations of vices,

From everyone who shall wish me ill,

Afar and anear,

Alone and in multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,

Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,

Against incantations of false prophets,

Against black laws of pagandom

Against false laws of heretics,

Against craft of idolatry,

Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,

Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.

Christ to shield me today

Against poison, against burning,

Against drowning, against wounding,

So that there may come to me abundance of reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,

Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ on my right, Christ on my left,

Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,

Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,

Christ in every eye that sees me,

Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today

Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,

Through belief in the threeness,

Through confession of the oneness,

Of the Creator of Creation.

St. Patrick (circa 389-461)

Christian Mystics Musings

Christian Mystic is not an oxymoron. Christian Mystics have been around all throughout the history of the Church, starting with the likes of Mary Magdalene and John the Beloved from the New Testament to Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) and Brother Lawrence (1614-1691) and many unknown brothers and sisters in Jesus to this very day. Many of us believers in the West have unfortunately been fed and taught to live a spiritually non-experiential everyday Christian life. In some cases we've even been taught to suppress spiritual feelings and live a more cognitive Christianity. How many sermons in the US or in the West have you heard preached on how we can encounter and practice the manifest Presence of God? Yet, God is patient with us and is renewing His bride, increasing the longing and yearning in our hearts for Him. MORE LORD is our cry! Give all of us a fiery passionate love for You Lord God! May we truly love You with all of our hearts, minds, souls, and strength! Love in Jesus, Clint (admin.)

Mystics

Mystics are men and women who...are wonder-workers who have fulfilled Jesus' prediction that His disciples would perform greater works than He did. Their miracles fascinate us because they are windows to the supernatural. But more than that, mystics show us what can happen when God touches human beings. Their lives paint a picture of what men and women become when God transforms them.
We get the word mystic from a Greek root that means "mystery." A mystic is a person who is "introduced into the mysteries." Broadly speaking, all Christians are mystics. We believe that by faith we are initiated into the mysteries of Christ's death and resurrection. But most Christians are not mystics in the technical sense because we have yet to penetrate the Christian mysteries in depth. That's what sets a true mystic apart from the crowd. Mystics enjoy a special closeness to God. They get rid of all the clutter in their hearts to make more room for God.

from the book "Mystics & Miracles: True Stories of Lives Touched by God" by Bert Ghezzi p. xi

Brown to Blue?

Just a tiny child
Three years old,
And a mother with a heart
All of gold.
Often did that mother say,
Jesus hears us when we pray,
For He's never far away
And He always answers.

Now, that tiny little child
Had brown eyes,
And she wanted blue instead
Like blue skies.
For her mother's eyes were blue
Like forget-me-nots. She knew
All her mother said was true,
Jesus always answered.

So she prayed for two blue eyes,
Said "Good night",
Went to sleep in deep content
And delight.
Woke up early, climbed a chair
By a mirror. Where, O where
Could the blue eyes be? Not there;
Jesus hadn't answered.

Hadn't answered her at all;
Never more
Could she pray; her eyes were brown
As before.
Did a little soft wind blow?
Came a whisper soft and low,
"Jesus answered. He said, No;
Isn't No an answer?"

Amy Carmichael (1867-1951) Missionary to India

Higher Power

"Jesus was not crucified for being a good citizen, for being just a little nicer than everyone else. The powers of his day correctly saw him and his followers as subversives because they took orders from a higher power than Rome or Jerusalem. ...Jesus reduced the mark of a Christian to one word. 'By this all men will know that you are my disciples,' he said: 'if you love one another.' The most subversive act the church can take is consistently to obey that one command."

Philip Yancy in What's So Amazing About Grace p. 239

One Hundred Men

"Of one hundred men, one will read the Bible; the ninety-nine will read the Christian."

Dwight L. Moody (1837-1899)

Banishment Into Bliss

"... Those whom he saves from hell, he brings to heaven. He turns exile into ecstacy, and banishment into bliss."

Charles H. Spurgeon (1834–1892)

Ad Infinitum

Oh, we are not going to suffer in eternity, only here during this life for but a little while! We who love Jesus and suffer with Him now are going to experience unimaginable ecstasy forever together! Heaven is waiting! A new heaven and a new earth will be created! Eternity has begun! May the Lord help us be faithful now to His great commands and leading. O God, that you would give all of us a daily taste of and hunger for what is coming, Who is coming and is now in us. We will be rewarded with His wonderful Presence ad infinitum, breathing in bliss beyond any of our wildest comprehension! Waves of His Glory. Lavished with His love, worshipping before Him without inhibitions. Clint (admin)

Burning Heart, Flaming Tongue

“A burning heart will soon make room for a flaming tongue.”

Charles H. Spurgeon (1834–1892)

JESUS-Full of Grace and Truth

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’”
John 1:14, 15 (NKJV)

Lincoln's Proclamation

By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

Whereas, the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the Supreme Authority and just Government of Almighty God, in all the affairs of men and of nations, has, by a resolution, requested the President to designate and set apart a day for National prayer and humiliation.

And whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.

And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment, inflicted upon us, for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole People? We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!

It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.

Now, therefore, in compliance with the request, and fully concurring in the views of the Senate, I do, by this my proclamation, designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th. day of April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting and prayer. And I do hereby request all the People to abstain, on that day, from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite, at their several places of public worship and their respective homes, in keeping the day holy to the Lord, and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion.

All this being done, in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope authorized by the Divine teachings, that the united cry of the Nation will be heard on high, and answered with blessings, no less than the pardon of our national sins, and the restoration of our now divided and suffering Country, to its former happy condition of unity and peace.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty seventh.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln
William H. Seward, Secretary of State.

Washington, D.C.

March 30, 1863

Into the Darkness

... But beyond that again, utter blackness as if they had come to the edge of moonless and starless night.
Caspian shouted to the boatswain to keep her back, and all except the rowers rushed forward and gazed from the bows. But there was nothing to be seen by gazing. Behind them was the sea and the sun, before them the Darkness.
"Do we go into this?" asked Caspian at length.
"Not by my advice," said Drinian.
"The Captain's right," said several sailors.
"I almost think he is," said Edmund.
Lucy and Eustace didn't speak but they felt very glad inside at the turn things seemed to be taking. But all at once the clear voice of Reepicheep broke in upon the silence.
"And why not?" he said. "Will someone explain to me why not."
No one was anxious to explain, so Reepicheep continued:
"If I were addressing peasants or slaves," he said, "I might suppose that this suggestion proceeded from cowardice. But I hope it will never be told in Narnia that a company of noble and royal persons in the flower of their age turned tail because they were afraid of the dark."
"But what manner of use would it be plowing through that blackness?" asked Drinian.
"Use?" replied Reepicheep. "Use, Captain? If by use you mean filling our bellies or our purses, I confess it will be no use at all. So far as I know we did not set sail to look for things useful but to seek honor and adventure. And here is as great an adventure as ever I heard of, and here, if we turn back, no little impeachment of all our honors."
Several of the sailors said things under their breath that sounded like "Honor be blowed," but Caspian said:
"Oh, bother you, Reepicheep. I almost wish we'd left you at home. All right! If you put it that way, I suppose we shall have to go on. Unless Lucy would rather not?"
Lucy felt that she would very much rather not, but what she said out loud was, "I'm game."
"Your Majesty will at least order lights?" said Drinian.
"By all means," said Caspian. "See to it, Captain."...

The Chronicles of Narnia
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader pp 190-193
by Clive Staples Lewis

To Venture On Wilder Seas Where Storms Will Show Your Mastery

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope and love.
This we ask in the name of our captain, who is Jesus Christ.

A Prayer of Sir Francis Drake

An Anvil

"The Church is an anvil which has worn out many hammers...."

[1853 G. De felice Hist. Protestants of France I. II. v. 156 (tr. Beza to King of Navarre, 1562)] &
[1908 A. Maclaren Acts of Apostles i. 136]

Why Do The Nations Rage...?

Psalm 2 (NKJV)

1 Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us.”

4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The Lord shall hold them in derision.
5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,
And distress them in His deep displeasure:
6 “Yet I have set My King
On My holy hill of Zion.”

7 “I will declare the decree:
The LORD has said to Me,
‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
8 Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron;
You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’”

10 Now therefore, be wise, O kings;
Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
11 Serve the LORD with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,
And you perish in the way,
When His wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.