Run To Jesus

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

— Matthew 11:28-29 (NIV)

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Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us…For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

— Romans 8:35, 37-39 (ESV)

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Weak and wounded sinner
Lost and left to die
O, raise your head, for Love is passing by

Come to Jesus
Come to Jesus
Come to Jesus and live!

Now your burden’s lifted
And carried far away
And precious blood has washed away the stain, so

Sing to Jesus
Sing to Jesus
Sing to Jesus and live!

And like a newborn baby
Don’t be afraid to crawl
And remember when we walk
Sometimes we fall, so

Fall on Jesus
Fall on Jesus
Fall on Jesus and live!

Sometimes the way is lonely
Steep and filled with pain
So if your sky is dark and pours the rain, then

Cry to Jesus
Cry to Jesus
Cry to Jesus and live!

O, and when the love spills over
And music fills the night
And when you can’t contain your joy inside, then

Dance for Jesus
Dance for Jesus
Dance for Jesus and live!

And with your final heartbeat
Kiss the world goodbye
Then go in peace, and laugh on Glory’s side, and

Fly to Jesus
Fly to Jesus
Fly to Jesus and live!

— Untitled Hymn lyrics (Chris Rice)

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O, beloved.

Our hearts get so mixed up sometimes, yes? (gentle) Almost imperceptibly, unknowingly, our perspective is twisted, only the tiniest bit, and we shift our hearts and minds from worshipping the Creator to worshipping the creature.

In some ways, it’s so much easier to worship that which we can see and know and love here, yes, beloved? We see beauty and know tenderness and such great Love in one another - and that truly is His gift to us, His double witness, I do believe. But beloved? The beauty, the tenderness, the Love here…it’s only given by Him in the first place to point our eyes upward, so that we might behold such beauty and tenderness and Love in Christ Himself - in His sinless life here, in His suffering, in His death on the cross, in His resurrection and His ascension, and His reigning now in victory with the Father! That’s why He allows us to know such things in one another here and now, beloved, don’t you think? (tender)

We long for one another, yes - and I hope and pray and beg that He will choose to give us every good gift that our hearts desire in His time, and I will do so until my dying breath - but what our hearts are really longing for, beloved, even more than one another, is Jesus. And what only He can give, in Himself.

Just like you are pleased with my good gifts, the truth is that, apart from me, they would mean nothing to you, yes? The pebble, the match, the rubber band, the coin…And so it is with Christ, beloved. Apart from Him, even the very best gift He could give us would seem empty and meaningless. (tender)

So what then to do? How then to live? (gentle)

Run to Jesus, beloved!

As the rain pours down, washing all the dirt and ‘old’ away, run to Him! Weak and wounded as you are, as stained and heavy-burdened, come to Him. As lonely and misunderstood as you feel traveling through the valley of the shadow of death, cry to Him, beloved. He delights to be all that you need! Your neediness is His gift, not to cause you frustration or pain, but to draw you tenderly to Himself.

This is what He is trying to do just now, beloved, do you see? (gentle) Do you see how He’s wooing you back to Himself once again? Showing you that He is the only One who can truly satisfy you, fully?

O, beloved! How He loves you! How He desires you! How patiently He is waiting for you to come to Him! And when you’ve come to Him, cried to Him, fallen on Him, grieved before Him, confessed and repented and surrendered it all to Him yet again - then perhaps, beloved, you will be ready to sing before Him and dance before Him, giving Him all thanks and praise, all honor and glory, beloved? (hopeful) For He is good! He’s invited us into His Song, into His Feast, into His Love, beloved - He has! Let us not reject His kind invitation, please? Let Him not find us so enthralled with one another that we are too busy, too neglectful of His invitation to join Him in all glory and the celebration of eternal victory, please?

We will run to Him, Together! For He is our Beloved, the One who can save and strengthen and satisfy. We trust in Him. We rest in Him. We are bound up Together in His Love, now and always, beloved! All praise be to Jesus! Nothing can separate us from His Love!

When Everything Feels Dead

There will be some days, beloved, when everything in you feels dead.

You won’t want to eat. You won’t want to sleep. You’ll feel scared and alone, like you just lost your best friend, your most priceless treasure. All the world will feel dark and you’ll want to give up. You’ll want to sit in a corner and cry for days, for weeks perhaps...trying to cry out all the sadness and pain.

You’ll feel frantic at times, anxiously scrambling about for anything firm to cling on to. You’ll feel despondent at other times, snot dripping and loud wailing, not able to care about anything or anyone, only lost in your own sense of despair, like a drowning person taking water into the lungs, unable to save yourself.

You’ll want to die. You’ll think about the train and how fast it goes, how close it is. You’ll think about bridges and medicines and cars and viruses. You’ll think about the lady in the novel you read in high school, how she swam out into the ocean one morning with the sunrise and never swam home again. You’ll curl up into a ball on the cold floor of a dark room, praying for Him to destroy you in His wrath and anger, for it’s what you deserve, what you feel like you want. 

You’ll beg Him to take you Home, and you’ll feel angry that He hasn’t with each breath you take. You’ll tell Him you’re finished, that it’s too hard here, that even opening your eyes feels impossible. You’ll feel weaker and more hopeless than you ever have in your entire life.

And then.

Just when you’re ready to run away, he will come.

He will stoop down beside you and draw you up. He will wipe your tears away, even as more fall. He will be tender with you and reassure you. He will forgive you.

He will cut your food into small bites and feed you. He will bring you cool water for your parched mouth. He will smile at you, gently, and hold your hand, and rub his fingers across your skin. 

He will make light in attempt to eek out a tiny smile from your lips. Every time you bow your head in shame and sadness, he will lift your chin gently, until your eyes meet his and you see his overwhelmingly beautiful Love for you flowing right on out.

He will let your weary body sag against him and he will hold you in his strong but gentle arms. His hands in your hair, he will whisper truths and sweet promises. He will adore you, even as you are falling to pieces. Even your boogers, he will gladly wipe away with his fingers and thumb, smiling gently all the while, and telling you how he delights in every part of you, always; with italics, he will say.

He will tell you that that which is most precious, we keep hidden away, like the gold coin you gave him. That our Love is like that - being stored up in Heaven, ready to be let loose on the Day when the Master returns with His key and unlocks the treasure He has been saving and safely storing up for so long.

He will remind you that nothing is lost. Nothing of real value. No, beloved. (gentle) For All Things are being made New even now. He will tell you that we are like grass, here today and gone tomorrow, that He is coming Soon. His jaw, your hip...we’re falling apart Together, he will say, joyfully.

And beloved? You will be able to rise then. Not strong yet, still so very weak, tears still just below the surface at every moment, but...rise you will. Only in part and feebly, now, but One Day, in all glory and strength and power.

Rest in this, beloved.

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But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive Together with Christ — by grace you have been saved — and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

— Ephesians 2:4-7 (ESV)

I Love You, My Little Girl.

“Do you know that your daddy loves you?”
”Yes, I know my daddy loves me.”
”Is your daddy mean and bad to you?”
”No, you don’t like to be mean.”
”Is your daddy a horrible, bad daddy?”
”No.”
”Then listen to what daddy is going to say, I would like to tell you why I had to say ‘no’ to what you wanted to do, but I can’t. If I explained it to you, you wouldn’t understand anyway, so here’s what you need to do. You need to walk down the hallway and say to yourself, ‘‘I don’t know why daddy said no to me, but I know my daddy loves me and I’m going to trust my daddy.’ I really do love you.”
”I love you too.”

—March 26th - New Morning Mercies (Paul Tripp)

I Love You, I Love You, I Love You.

The voice of despair says, “I sin over and over again. After endless promises to myself and others to do better next time, I find myself back again in the old dark places. Forget about trying to change. I have tried for years. It didn’t work and it never will work. It is better that I get out of people’s way, be forgotten, no longer around, dead.”

This strangely attractive voice takes all uncertainties away and puts an end to the struggle. It speaks unambiguously for the darkness and offers a clear-cut negative identity.

But Jesus came to open my ears to another voice that says, “I am your God, I have molded you with my own hands, and I love what I have made. I love you with a love that has no limits, because I love you as I am loved. Do not run away from me. Come back to me—not once, not twice, but always again. You are my child…I am your God—the God of mercy and compassion, the God of pardon and love, the God of tenderness and care. Please do not say that I have given up on you, that I cannot stand you anymore, that there is no way back. It is not true. I so much want you to be with me. I so much want you to be close to me. I know all your thoughts. I hear all your words. I see all your actions. And I love you because you are beautiful, made in my own image, an expression of my most intimate love. Do not judge yourself. Let my love touch the deepest, most hidden corners of your heart and reveal to you your own beauty, a beauty that you have lost sight of, but that will become visible to you again in the light of my mercy. Come, come, let me wipe your tears, and let my mouth come close to your ear and say to you, ‘I love you, I love you, I love you.’”

— You Are The Beloved - March 21st (Nouwen)

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Beloved? (gentle)

You are loved. I most often like to consider you as a tender flower—a flower radiant in Beauty and splendor. I say this, and think this, and I believe this with hope…that it will also shape your precious perspective; that it might prove to be helpful—for your good. Because, after all, it’s difficult to invoke self-pity on something as innocent, as delicate, and lovely…as the most beautifully arrayed flower in all of His creation, yes? (tender)

I believe He sees us like this. How could He not?

We know a little about what it’s like to create something. For, we are, indeed, little creators - in a way - like Him. Although, we, of course, cannot create things that are inherently good, and we cannot create things from nothing. But, when we do create something, something that we feel is remarkable…we dote on it, yes? We consider it to be wonderful! In a way, we are implanting a small portion of ourselves into the very thing we create. Some part of our unique self is now fixed upon this new thing…some piece of our consciousness, our personality, our perspective, our thought, our longings, our wants, our needs, our affections, our passions – ourself – is instilled or embedded into this newly created thing. And, truly, as long as we feel as though the final result is an accurate reflection of us—who we are, what we are hoping to express, make manifest—we are pleased.

Now, of course, with God and us, it’s a bit more complex, yes? Because we aren’t really “fixed”, or I should say, it doesn’t feel like we’re precisely fixed. We have our own will, our own imagination, our own aspirations, wants, desires…and yet, we are created in His image. Which means that deep within our spirit, our very soul, we will only and truly be satisfied in Him—in the kinds of things that He loves. Any deviation from that matrix is a perversion, a separation, a mutation from His design—Him. But, my point is, We are created in His image, we are, in some way, a reflection of Him. He loves us!

Beloved? (gentle) Rest in this love, please.

I love you, I love you, I love you.

Flowers: Humbled & Exalted

To those who admit - and who can deny it? - that flowers are a special and most unmerited gift to brighten the path which man’s transgressions have darkened with sadness, and strewn with thorns, it is a touching circumstance that, be the seasons what they may, there is no month in the twelve without its attendant blossoms.

If the human eye possessed a microscopic power, what a spectacle of beauty would burst upon it, and that too in wintry time, among the family of mosses alone! But such not being the extent of the visual organ entrusted to us, we are not left to go groping about with glasses. Enough is given to common ken to prompt a song of praise, ‘Wonderful are Thy works, Lord God Almighty!’

It is a peculiar feature in this part of those wonderful works, that, although we lack not tall shrubs, even trees, that win the upturned eye to explore the abundance of their beautiful tints, still the far greater portion of our most valued flowers draw the gaze downwards by their lowly stature; while their own faces, raised to heaven, set us the example of looking thitherward.

It is remarkable that the blossoms of lofty plants are most frequently pendulous; those of the dwarf family the reverse. The golden clusters of the beautiful laburnum, and the shining silver of the yet lovelier acacia, how gracefully they bend and fall, as though ashamed of being placed so high; while the innocent daisy, made to be trampled on, and her neighbor, the spruce little butter-cup, lift up their broad bright eyes, in unreserved freedom.

Thus the great one of the earth, when touched by Divine grace, rejoices to be brought down; and the brother of low degree can also rejoice in that he is exalted into a greatness that the world knows not of.

A Life Lesson

Beloved? (gentle)

Consider with me for a moment, this life, please.

This world, we live in, is broken, yes? Aye. It is, indeed, verily broken.

And, what, do you think, is the purpose of all this pain, this sorrow, this grief?

One might say it’s for our maturity, our growth, our…’being refined’. Yes, I do believe that is true…but I think there may be an even more important lesson, a higher purpose, a singular, proper, response.

Please, consider with me this life, Together, from the beginning.

“In the beginning, God…”

God was in the beginning. He created many things, and these things were good, “very good,“ just like Him – for He is good. He created us, in His image. What a thing to be marveled! And, what mysteries are still hidden in such words, yes?! He then said to us:

“You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” —Genesis 2:16–17 (ESV)

Of course, our minds can wonder…we can try and guess as to why He said such things, we can speculate as to the purpose behind such a command…and yet, I’m not sure it’s all that helpful, or even possible to determine such matters.

Instead, we should trust Him, and take Him at His Word, for His Words are true, and good.

History reveals our choice – our choice is still lived out day by day, sadly, wherever sin remains. That awful day in which we rebelled, we decided to distrust our Creator. We wondered: perhaps He isn’t good, perhaps we know better?

And…life…became hard.
Life became, bitter.

His Words, reveal to us, time and again…and our own life experience day by day, moment by moment, tell us: how we, created in His image, are miserable without Him; how we, trying to go our own way, can, and never will be, satisfied.

I…(pondering) wonder, if the main purpose, if I dare call it that, in this life, this time set apart from Him, in this way; is Him trying to show us, in vivid (gory) detail, just how very miserable life is apart from Him.

He is…graciously telling us: I told you so. And, not just saying it, but allowing us to live in it, to experience its depth, its lack of fulfillment, its emptiness, its sadness, its sorrow – apart from Him.

And oh! What a gracious lesson to be learned, beloved! What better way to know, to feel the depravity, the lack, the lifeless void apart from Him…and what an incredible, awful, yet effective, way to fully appreciate all of the joy and life in Him and Him alone, yes?

He hasn’t abandoned us, beloved. He hasn’t stopped loving us. He is still, very good. So good in fact, that He put on bodily form. He humbled Himself and took on flesh, just like us, and lived among us, and became “a Man of Sorrows” with us. His Love for us wasn’t limited, His Love is faithful, steadfast, and everlasting.

He will, some Day, say: “Come!” And we will, Together, see Him as He is and rejoice and be glad. We will know in our hearts that He, and He alone, is God and there is no other. He is good, and there is no good apart from Him.

We will know that life apart from Him isn’t life at all, really. It’s miserable, because we will have lived it, and felt it, and tasted its bitterness.

He gives us the gift of faith, even now, so that we can exercise our pathetic, weak, muscle of belief. Let us put our trust in Him.

Let our eyes ever be toward the Lord, for He will pluck our feet from the net, beloved.

The Surpassing Glory Of God

Since o’er Thy footstool here below
Such radiant gems are strewn,
O, what magnificence must glow,
Great God, about Thy throne!
So brilliant here these drops of light, —
There the full ocean rolls — how bright!

If night’s blue curtain of the sky —
With thousand stars inwrought,
Hung like a royal canopy
With glittering diamonds fraught —
Be, Lord, Thy temple’s outer veil,
What splendor at the shrine must dwell!

The dazzling sun at noonday hour —
Forth from His flaming vase
Flinging o’er earth the golden flower
Till vale and mountain blaze —
But shows, O Lord, one aim of Thine;
What, then, the Day where Thou dost shine!

O, how shall these dim eyes endure
That noon of living rays!
Or how our spirits, so impure,
Upon Thy glory gaze!
Anoint, O Lord, anoint our fight,
And fit us for that world of Light.

— Miss N.A.W Priest, 1860

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O, beloved!

These words reminded me how everything He has created for us here is designed for us to know more of His glory There, yes?! (delighted) Every flower, every tree, every cloud, every star, every singing bird, every song, every laugh, every tear, beloved…they only exist at all to show us more of Him! (gentle)

And isn’t He magnificent, beloved?! We can see His glory, His beauty, His goodness just by looking around - at His world, at His people, at His Love, beloved! We see and know His Love even now, don’t we?! (gentle)

And He is the same yesterday and today and forever, beloved! His glory, His beauty, His Love…it will never change, not ever - come what may! We can rest in the care of such a stable and merciful God, can we not, my sweet one? Yes, beloved. We can. (tender)

And beloved? Do you see what He’s doing? How He’s fitting us, molding us, breaking us, into sons and daughters, king and queens, who will fit right in There, in the kingdom of Light?! He wants to take us into His glory, His Light, His Love! He’s making a way for us to be with Him forever There, beloved! That’s what this life is all about, really! (gentle)

And so…we submit, willingly, gladly, to His will, His ways! We look around us and are reminded, at all times, of His Love! He is mysterious, beloved, ‘tis true! but He has given us clues, little glimpses of Himself, everywhere! Will you look for them, for Him, with me, please, beloved? He wants to reveal Himself to us! He wants us to see!

I pray that our eyes would be ever open to see His goodness and Love! That we would never lose sight of His hidden treasures here, all of which only serve to lift our eyes upward, to what is Real and True, that which will Soon become Life for us, beloved! Soon, all of this world will be but a distant memory, do you know? (gentle)

We give thanks Together for His mercy to us, in revealing Himself to us now!

May all praise, honor, and glory be unto His name, now and forevermore!

Amen.

Arise! Awake! Ascend!

O spirit, freed from earth,
Rejoice thy work is done!
The weary world’s beneath thy feet,
Thou brighter than the sun.

Arise, put on the robes
That the redeemed win;
Now sorrow has no part in thee,
Thou sanctified within!

Awake, and breathe the air
Of the celestial clime!
Awake to Love which knows no change,
Thou who hast done with Time!

Awake, lift up thine eyes!
See, all heaven’s host appears!
And be thou glad exceedingly, —
Thou who hast done with tears.

Ascend! thou art not now
With those of mortal birth;
The living God hath touched thy lips,
Thou who hast done with earth!

—Mrs. Howitt, 1860

How Long?

My God, it is not faithlessness
That makes me say, ‘How long?’
It is not heaviness of heart
That hinders me in song;
’Tis not despair of truth and right,
Nor coward dread of wrong.

But how can I with such a Hope
Of glory and of Home,
With such a joy before my eyes,
Not wish the Time were come,
Of years the Jubilee, — of days
The Sabbath and the sum!

These years, what ages have they been!
This life, how long it seems!
And how can I, in evil days,
Mid unknown hills and streams,
But sigh for those of Home and heart,
And visit them in dreams?

Yet peace, my heart, and hush, my tongue;
Be calm, my troubled breast;
Each hurrying hour is hastening on
The everlasting rest;
Thou knowest that the Time thy God
Appoints for thee is best.

Let faith, not fear nor fretfulness,
Awake the cry, ‘How long?’
Let no faint-heartedness of soul
Damp thy aspiring song;
Right comes, truth dawns, and night departs
Of error and of wrong.

— The Cross-Bearer

Unexpected Tender Love

The Master came one night to the door and knocked with the iron hand of the law; the door shook and trembled upon its hinges. But the man piled every piece of furniture that he could find against the door, saying, “I will not admit the man.” The Master turned away, but soon He returned, and with His own soft hand, using most that part where the nail had penetrated, He knocked again—softly and tenderly. This time the door did not shake, but, strange to say, it opened, and there upon his knees the once unwilling host was found rejoicing to receive his guest. “Come in, come in; you have knocked in such a tender way that my heart is turned to you. I could not think of your pierced hand leaving its blood-mark on my door and of your going away without my welcome. Your love has won my heart.” And so it is in every case that loving-kindness wins the day.

— Morning and Evening (February 29th - Morning), C. H. Spurgeon

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O, beloved!

His Love is so very tender, is it not? What gracious Love! What compassion! What humility!

What astounds me most, is when I consider who it is that Loves with this tender knock. It is Christ, the Son of God, Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, the Creator and Sustainer of life—Life Himself, the great “I Am”!

My faint and feeble spirit, breathless, exhales a gasp: “WOW!”

This Master, He is God of the Universe. He speaks, and from His breath, Life is formed from nothing! Without knowing His true character–His Love–one might think it absurd, unsuitable, and completely inappropriate for the God Almighty to behave in such a way, especially to someone, anyone for that matter! who chooses to ignore His presence.

But, wonder of wonders!…He not only shows great mercy, when His wrath would be most perfectly justified; but He…(flabbergasted) humbles Himself! He stoops low and tenderly, gently, speaks softly. He calms our fears, and assures us that nothing should hinder us in coming to Him. He has already, most positively removed any and all barriers to His Love. He instead, beckons us: “Come.”

Beloved? (gentle) Come. He welcomes us, with open arms. May we run to Him, now and always; for He speaks tenderly to us. This is Him, breathing new words of life into us, yes? Indeed. For we were dead. We are verily dead without His Love. We would still be pining for love, this very moment, if it hadn’t been for His tender words spoken to us. Aye! We are loved with a steadfast, everlasting Love!

All praise and glory and honor be His, now and forevermore!

Has He disgraced Himself by stooping low to save us? Oh no! No. (said in a hushed tone) He is most exalted! His magnificence shines bright—brighter than the sun! He is Beauty. What tender Love! What unexpected grace!

He is good.

The Other World

It lies around us like a cloud, —
A world we do not see;
Yet the sweet closing of an eye
May bring us there to be.

Its gentle breezes fan our cheek;
Amid our worldly cares
Its gentle voices whisper love,
And mingle with our prayers.

Sweet hearts around us throb and beat,
Sweet helping hands are stirred,
And palpitates the veil between
With breathings almost heard.

The silence — awful, sweet, and calm —
They have no power to break;
For mortal wounds are not for them
To utter or partake

So thin, so soft, so sweet they glide,
So near to press they seem, —
They seem to lull us to our rest,
And melt into our dream.

And in the hush of rest they bring
’Tis easy now to see
How lovely and how sweet a pass
The hour of death may be.

To close the eye, and close the ear,
Wrapped in a trance of bliss,
And gently dream in loving arms
To swoon to that — from this.

Scarce knowing if we wake or sleep,
Scarce asking where we are,
To feel all evil sink away,
All sorrow and all care.

Sweet souls around us! watch us still,
Press nearer to our side,
Into our thoughts, into our prayers,
With gentle helpings glide.

Let death between us be as naught,
A dried and vanished stream:
Your joy be the reality,
Our suffering like the dream.

— Mrs. H.B. Stowe, 1860

The Seed Must Die

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

— Colossians 3:3-4

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The seed must die before the corn appears
Out of the ground, in blade and fruitful ears.

Low have these ears before the sickle lain,
Ere thou canst treasure up the golden grain.

The grain is crushed before the bread is made,
And the bread broke ere life to man conveyed.

O be content to die, to be laid low,
And to be crushed, and to be broken so,

If thou upon God’s table mayst be bread,
Life-giving food for souls a’ hungered.

— R.C. Trench

Prepare Me To Seek You

O Lord, teach me to pray, that I may call upon your name. Prepare my heart to seek, and open your ears mercifully to hear me.

Almighty and eternal Lord God, you are the Creator and Continual Preserver of all things, both in heaven and earth. By your gracious providence I was at first fearfully and wonderfully made, and even now you keep me and preserve.

I am the workmanship of your hands, and I desire to humble both soul and body before your heavenly majesty.

So here in your presence, Lord I confess my own unworthiness to come before you, to call upon you, or to perform the least duty that will concern your worship and glory.

Because my heart is polluted and unclean, I beg you to be gracious to me for Jesus Christ your Son’s sake. For the sake of his promise, truth, and mercy, have mercy upon me.

Pardon and forgive all the sins, iniquities, and trespasses I have ever committed against you, in what I have said or what I have done.

Amen.

— Robert Parker

Willing Captives

After what He has done for us, nothing is too great for us to do for Him. Our body, our soul, our spirit we cheerfully render up to His dominion, neither count we ought of our nature to be our own. As He has redeemed us entirely, so in the entirety of our manhood we belong altogether to Him; and if there be a part of our nature which has not been subdued to Him, we desire Him to conquer it by force of arms, for its rebellion against Him is sorrow to ourselves.

Jesus is our rightful Lord, His wounds attest it, and any other lord hath dominion over any other portion of our nature, that lordship is usurped and ought to be cast down. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ claims us in the same way as Jacob claimed that particular portion, for we are His spoil, taken in battle.

Almighty grace bowed us down when we were stiff-necked; almighty grace delivered us from our habits of sin when we were fast bound by them; almighty grace broke the iron bars of our despair and led us into liberty; let all the glory be ascribed unto the Almighty Redeemer. With a high hand and an outstretched arm He brought us forth from the Egypt of our lusts and taught our willing feet the way to the heavenly Canaan.

And now we grace His chariot wheels as servants, not in manacles of iron, but in silken fetters of love.

‘As willing captives of our Lord;
we sing the triumphs of His Word,’

And confess Him to be our Master and none beside.

— ‘The Way of Honour’ - ‘Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit’ Vol. 19 p. 352 (C.H. Spurgeon)

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O, beloved!

We know such pain this side of eternity, do we not? We know that all of humanity is either captive to sin or captive to Christ, yes? But beloved, one kind of captivity is that which binds in manacles of iron, and results in death. And the other kind of captivity is that which binds in silken fetters of love, and results in Life! Which shall we choose, beloved? Which indeed?!

Consider with me all He has done for us, beloved? He has loved us with an everlasting love, even when we were entirely unlovable (as we are still, in fact). He has planted His Word in our hearts, and given us a desire to know more of Him. He has placed us in and amongst of a Body where we can learn to love and forgive, and practice confessing and repenting, over and over again. He has revealed Himself to us in our pain and sorrow, caused us to grieve and ache that we might long to dwell with Him forever. He has promised us Forever Love, Forever Peace, One Day! All that He has given already, beloved! Do we not want to be His willing servants?

We give Him ourselves cheerfully, yes? We ask Him to subdue any bit of rebellion in our hearts. We ask Him to do His will, not our own. We are grieved by what grieves Him, aren’t we, beloved?

We wouldn’t want any other Master, would we? For who could be gentler, more gracious, more powerful, more loving, more tender, more forgiving than our great God? He changes not, beloved! His Love for us is forever - no matter what comes!

May we delight to be bound by Him, beloved! May we thank Him, that He gives us the honor of being His captives! For He is a gentle and just Master! He binds us only with His Love, beloved - nothing more! Isn’t that amazing?!

Therefore, we will bow low before Him Together, today and every day! We practice bowing now, beloved, but One Day, the worship of our Beloved King will be our one vocation, our holy aim! I can hardly wait, beloved- for such joy as this!

Willing captives, beloved! This is who we are, now and always! Praise Him!

True Freedom

I heard through missionaries of a boy overseas who had memorized Jesus’ entire Sermon on the Mount. He did it in such record time and with such apparently little effort that someone called him in to find out how he had done it. “Well,” said the boy, “I would memorize a verse and then trust God to help me put it into practice. Then I would memorize the next verse and say, ‘Lord, help me to live this one, too.’” The boy said that in that fashion he had memorized the entire Sermon on the Mount. That boy had truth on his side. He did not consider truth to be something objective, simply to be filed in the mind as knowledge. Rather, truth to him was also subjective—to be acted on. Truth becomes real to us within our beings by obedience and faith.

— Discipleship (A.W. Tozer)

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God.”

— John 8:31–47 (ESV)

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O, beloved,

You sit here, from a distance…admiring that boy. His simple faith, his simple application, his simple trust. He has a heart after God’s own Heart. You desire to be like him, yes? You…memorize God’s Holy Words so that they may penetrate and infiltrate your every fiber of your heart, mind, and soul. It all seems so simple on the onset, or from the outside looking in—externally.

And yet, once you begin the actual work, once you begin applying the truths of God to your own heart, it’s as if all of a sudden a great war begins. Battle is waged, and there is much bloodshed, much dying, much grief, much sorrow, much…pain. You feverishly apply the truth as a healing balm on your wounds all the more vigorously, the more lavishly…or you attempt at such things. And it’s as if the truth itself has the most attractive smell in all the world to all forms of darkness and evil. They come out of nowhere, led in by its scent, knowing, they too, have an opportunity.

Beloved? You cannot put on God’s truth without His help. Either it will rub right off you, numb you, or repel you. You must seek His aid. Every Word considered, must be absorbed, and dissolved, with prayer. Ask Him, beloved. O, my soul—ask Him! (tears) Ask Him to apply it gently, if you must. Or…perhaps He will know that it needs to be robustly applied with much agitation, much exfoliation. Either way, ask, beloved. (gentle) And let Him do His work. Fervently ask Him to apply it liberally, that it may cover you.

Why is His truth so very precious? Truth provides rest. Truth sets you free from doubt, beloved. O, soul…with truth, there is no fear. His truth will set you free. He offers it, it is His good gift, beloved. Take it. Put it on, wear it, live it. May it be the definitive and final point of rest for your weary soul—this day, and every day you draw breath.

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O, Father,

Please, may your truth set us free. Help us to ingest it—may it become part of us. I love you.

Amen.