"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints"
Psalm 116:15
I had always assumed that this verse spoke of God's compassion on dying Christians, as He looked upon their final suffering, but recently I realized that the death of a believer is precious for a different reason. The suffering of a dying child would indeed evoke the Father's compassion, but I believe that the preciousness of a saint's death has entirely to do with the joy of being in perfect fellowship with that child, for to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. (2 Cor. 5:6-8)
For those who have confessed their sins to God and asked for His forgiveness, to die is to be instantaneously translated to the glories of heaven and the presence of the Lord Himself! This is a precious transition for the believer, one to be looked forward to with great anticipation.
When a loved one is absent from us, we may communicate with them, but we still miss them. However much we are in contact with them, we still long to see them in person.
This verse makes me think that it is the same with God. We may communicate with Him in prayer, but He still desires to have us present with Him. Thus, when one of His beloved children passes into glory, it is a precious thing to Him.
What a wonderful thing it is to be counted precious by the God of the universe!
Showing posts with label Bible. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bible. Show all posts
Saturday, April 5, 2014
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
The Light of the World...
"Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. " Isaiah 60:1
"A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel." Luke 2:32
"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." 2 Cor. 4:6
~
May the glory of the Lord shine round about your heart this Christmas!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Early Thirst
(Psalm 63)
The quiet light begins to dawn.
My soul awakes, as it is drawn
By silent thirst, with op'ning eyes
To cast off night and from slumber rise.
~
A soul a-thirst, all consuming need
To open Thy word and upon it feed.
As a droughted land, dry and parched I lay
'Till thus I awoke at break of day.
~
I long, not for water for a thirsty tongue ,
Nor yet for heart-soothing songs to be sung;
No! 'Tis more needful than all for me
To wake, arise, and commune with Thee.
~
Oh, with my thirsty eyes to see
Thy power and glory revealed to me!
--To know your blest presence nearer yet
Than when in Thy house with Thee I met!
~
More than life my Lord, my all!
Thy lovingkindness doth upon me fall.
I shall proclaim how great Thou art
With joyful lips and hungry heart.
~
While life is in me, I'll praise Thy name
And bless Thee, evermore the same
With greatful heart my hands I'll raise
And offer up my inadequate praise.
~
I come, and know that Thou shalt fill
My hungry soul, this morn so still,
As with a feast of extravegant things
Fit to be set before the richest kings!
~
Thus satisfied at last, I raise
My sated heart and lips to praise
The greatness of Thyself, and then
Begin to hunger, and to feed again!
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Voiceless Rejoicing
The past 4 days I have been without my voice due to allergies. I naturally tend to complain when such things happen to me, but Ephesians 5:20 says that we ought to give thanks always in all things, so here are a few things I am (silently) giving thanks for.
*My K-4 class is learning to pay close attention to their teacher.
*I actually experienced silence in my classroom during a schoolday!!
*I am less likely to say something I shouldn't
*I have an excuse to sleep more. : )
*I got to enjoy listening to my church's choir sing during the cantata rehersal today.
*Tea, anyone?
*I have an excuse not to make phone calls. : )
Seriously, though. It is strangely blessed to be without my normal speaking voice for a while. I am learning to appreciate silence, and to listen to others.
*My K-4 class is learning to pay close attention to their teacher.
*I actually experienced silence in my classroom during a schoolday!!
*I am less likely to say something I shouldn't
*I have an excuse to sleep more. : )
*I got to enjoy listening to my church's choir sing during the cantata rehersal today.
*Tea, anyone?
*I have an excuse not to make phone calls. : )
Seriously, though. It is strangely blessed to be without my normal speaking voice for a while. I am learning to appreciate silence, and to listen to others.
Monday, May 25, 2009
What is God Like?
It is the age-old question that has claimed the attention of countless men and women much smarter than myself. God by definition defies just description, being so much greater and magnificent than we could ever imagine. Perhaps that is what is meant in I Corinthians 13:12, which speaks to the fact that presently we know in part, having only what we can comprehend, but that when we join God in heaven, we shall fully know Him.
Yet, we do know in part –God has given us much information about Himself in the Bible. One passage that gives a very clear insight into the character of God is I Corinthians 13.
I John 4:8 states that God is love. The Greek word used in this verse for love is the same as that translated “charity” in I Corinthians 13 (According to my Strong’s Concordance). So, we may conclude that since the Bible tells us that God is love, the description of love given in I Corinthians 13 is, in fact, a description of God Himself. Not to say that it is an exhaustive description, but it does give a very clear picture of some aspects of the nature of God.
Charity suffereth long, and is kind…
God is often described in the Bible as longsuffering, for example in Exodus 34:6 when the Lord was meeting with Moses on Mount Sinai, His name was proclaimed, “And The Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth…” (emphasis mine) As to kindness, there is Psalm 117: “O praise the Lord, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. For His merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the Lord endureth for ever. Praise ye the Lord.”
Charity envieth not...
There is a difference between envy and jealousy. Envy is, according to my dictionary, “To repine at another’s prosperity or happiness”, while jealousy deals with the suspicion of faithlessness in the area of love. (Although God never “wonders” if there is something more precious to His child than Himself --He always knows.) In other words, God does not covet what is ours, nor does He covet or despise our happiness. God is elsewhere described as a jealous God, but He does not envy. He simply wants our love for Him to eclipse whatever else is in our lives.
Charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up...
God is not --as most humans are—“puffed up” with undue pride. The word vaunt means to boast or brag ostentatiously. It is true that God speaks of His own greatness, but unlike the prideful boasting of man, every word God speaks is true and deserved.
Doth not behave itself unseemly...
The word unseemly means unbecoming, improper, or indecent. God is never any of those things! His complete holiness prevents it.
Seeketh not her own...
If Christ had sought “His own”, He would never have yielded Himself to be tortured and die that we might be saved. God is the perfect example of selfless sacrifice.
is not easily provoked...
As we have already seen, God is longsuffering. He never acts prematurely or harshly. The prophets often were frustrated with how wicked God allowed His people and other nations to become. They would ask God why He would not just punish them right away. God’s timing is perfect, however, and His punishments just, so He let them go, keeping His wrath from falling on them until their cup of wickedness was full. We may not understand God’s timing or purposes, but we may understand that He is just, not acting out on a short temper or a rash decision.
thinketh no evil...
Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” God does not sit up in heaven, plotting how to “get even” with sinful humans. Rather, He mercifully works all things together for the good of His children, (Romans 8:28) even when we disobey.
Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth...
God, in His complete holiness, cannot take pleasure in sin. He is not, as we too often are, blinded by the lies of Satan which enshroud sin in a web of deceitful pleasure. He sees through our attempts to lie to ourselves, (and Him) seeking to justify our wickedness. Rather, God delights in the truth. He delights in seeing us read His word, learning and understanding the freeing truth He has so graciously given to us.
Beareth all things...
According to my Strong’s Concordance, the word for “beareth” has the connotation of bearing patiently. God does not complain. He bears the pain and sorrow of man’s constant wickedness, yet does so patiently and silently, only speaking for the benefit of others.
believeth all things...
–I must admit that this one stumped me for a while. How could the God who made everything have beliefs? Yet, if we ascribe to Plato’s definition of knowledge, belief is necessary to knowledge, and God is all-knowing, so He must have beliefs. We tend to think of beliefs as pertaining to things that are unknown, but if one were to look at life like a philosopher, one would see that beliefs can concern things that we are quite certain are true. Thus, it is possible for God to have beliefs. His differ from ours, however, in that all of God’s beliefs are true and certain.
hopeth all things...
This is one of those attributes of God that I shall probably not fully understand until I get to heaven. How can God hope, being omniscient? Yet, I have always thought of hope as the joyful expectation of belief fulfilled. In that sense, it would be possible for God to hope; since His beliefs are always true, and thus always come to pass, he might joyfully expect them to do so.
endureth all things...
Patient endurance is built on belief and fueled by hope. God patiently endures man’s terrible wickedness, with the hope of the coming eternity we will spend with Him after the judgment day, when there will be no more sin to so sorrow and pain Him.
Charity never faileth...
God will never fail! No matter what must come to pass in our lives, no matter how others wrong us, no matter how faithless we are, God will never fail. It is we who so often fail God, and then seek to blame Him for our failures.
-I apologize for the lengthiness of this post, but I was so excited about this passage, I wanted to try to do it justice. : )
Yet, we do know in part –God has given us much information about Himself in the Bible. One passage that gives a very clear insight into the character of God is I Corinthians 13.
I John 4:8 states that God is love. The Greek word used in this verse for love is the same as that translated “charity” in I Corinthians 13 (According to my Strong’s Concordance). So, we may conclude that since the Bible tells us that God is love, the description of love given in I Corinthians 13 is, in fact, a description of God Himself. Not to say that it is an exhaustive description, but it does give a very clear picture of some aspects of the nature of God.
Charity suffereth long, and is kind…
God is often described in the Bible as longsuffering, for example in Exodus 34:6 when the Lord was meeting with Moses on Mount Sinai, His name was proclaimed, “And The Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth…” (emphasis mine) As to kindness, there is Psalm 117: “O praise the Lord, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. For His merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the Lord endureth for ever. Praise ye the Lord.”
Charity envieth not...
There is a difference between envy and jealousy. Envy is, according to my dictionary, “To repine at another’s prosperity or happiness”, while jealousy deals with the suspicion of faithlessness in the area of love. (Although God never “wonders” if there is something more precious to His child than Himself --He always knows.) In other words, God does not covet what is ours, nor does He covet or despise our happiness. God is elsewhere described as a jealous God, but He does not envy. He simply wants our love for Him to eclipse whatever else is in our lives.
Charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up...
God is not --as most humans are—“puffed up” with undue pride. The word vaunt means to boast or brag ostentatiously. It is true that God speaks of His own greatness, but unlike the prideful boasting of man, every word God speaks is true and deserved.
Doth not behave itself unseemly...
The word unseemly means unbecoming, improper, or indecent. God is never any of those things! His complete holiness prevents it.
Seeketh not her own...
If Christ had sought “His own”, He would never have yielded Himself to be tortured and die that we might be saved. God is the perfect example of selfless sacrifice.
is not easily provoked...
As we have already seen, God is longsuffering. He never acts prematurely or harshly. The prophets often were frustrated with how wicked God allowed His people and other nations to become. They would ask God why He would not just punish them right away. God’s timing is perfect, however, and His punishments just, so He let them go, keeping His wrath from falling on them until their cup of wickedness was full. We may not understand God’s timing or purposes, but we may understand that He is just, not acting out on a short temper or a rash decision.
thinketh no evil...
Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” God does not sit up in heaven, plotting how to “get even” with sinful humans. Rather, He mercifully works all things together for the good of His children, (Romans 8:28) even when we disobey.
Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth...
God, in His complete holiness, cannot take pleasure in sin. He is not, as we too often are, blinded by the lies of Satan which enshroud sin in a web of deceitful pleasure. He sees through our attempts to lie to ourselves, (and Him) seeking to justify our wickedness. Rather, God delights in the truth. He delights in seeing us read His word, learning and understanding the freeing truth He has so graciously given to us.
Beareth all things...
According to my Strong’s Concordance, the word for “beareth” has the connotation of bearing patiently. God does not complain. He bears the pain and sorrow of man’s constant wickedness, yet does so patiently and silently, only speaking for the benefit of others.
believeth all things...
–I must admit that this one stumped me for a while. How could the God who made everything have beliefs? Yet, if we ascribe to Plato’s definition of knowledge, belief is necessary to knowledge, and God is all-knowing, so He must have beliefs. We tend to think of beliefs as pertaining to things that are unknown, but if one were to look at life like a philosopher, one would see that beliefs can concern things that we are quite certain are true. Thus, it is possible for God to have beliefs. His differ from ours, however, in that all of God’s beliefs are true and certain.
hopeth all things...
This is one of those attributes of God that I shall probably not fully understand until I get to heaven. How can God hope, being omniscient? Yet, I have always thought of hope as the joyful expectation of belief fulfilled. In that sense, it would be possible for God to hope; since His beliefs are always true, and thus always come to pass, he might joyfully expect them to do so.
endureth all things...
Patient endurance is built on belief and fueled by hope. God patiently endures man’s terrible wickedness, with the hope of the coming eternity we will spend with Him after the judgment day, when there will be no more sin to so sorrow and pain Him.
Charity never faileth...
God will never fail! No matter what must come to pass in our lives, no matter how others wrong us, no matter how faithless we are, God will never fail. It is we who so often fail God, and then seek to blame Him for our failures.
-I apologize for the lengthiness of this post, but I was so excited about this passage, I wanted to try to do it justice. : )
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Truly Worthwhile
The last week or so I have been analyzing the way I spend my time. Even with all my extra time, I was not accomplishing anything worthwhile, and I knew something needed to be changed. So, I began to think about how I spent my time. Thanks to God's working through my years of piano teacher training, I have enough self-discipline that procrastinating on homework has not been an issue so far. I was completing my homework, but not accomplishing much else during the day, which was discouraging.
In the midst of evaluating how I was spending my time, I came across a transcript of a radio broadcast by John MacArthur called, “Making the Hard Decisions Easy”, which was very thought-provoking. (If you’re interested in reading it, go to: http://www.gty.org/Resources/Sermons/80-24) In this sermon, MacArthur gives ten questions to help one to know if the things one is spending time on are truly worthwhile. Between that and the challenges at the ladies’ retreat I went to this weekend, the Lord really started to show me some areas in which I need to be more faithful with my time.
By God’s grace, the issue for me is not so much whether the things I am spending time on are bad or not, but rather, which good thing I ought to be spending my time on at a given moment. For example: reading, writing letters or e-mails to friends, writing posts for this blog, playing the piano –none of these things are inherently bad, but they may not be the best thing for me to be doing if there is something more important to do. Spending time reading in my room is not a bad thing, unless Mommy needs help in the kitchen or Tris wants me to come see his newest project in the garage. It is merely a matter of choosing that which is best.
I am reminded of the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10. While Martha was bustling around getting a meal ready and making sure everything was perfect for Jesus, Mary sat at His feet, hanging on His every word. In the midst of all the stress of the day, Martha becomes indignant at her sister’s apparent inactivity. When she asks Jesus to tell her sister off, He rebukes her instead. “Martha, Martha,” He said, “Thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” (vv.41-42)
Anything that gets in the way of our time with God, praying and reading His word, is not worth it. James 4:17 says, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” If I know that I should be spending time with God, but do something else instead, the Bible says that is sin. Not that the other thing is necessarily evil, it’s just not best, and it’s coming between me and God. It is sin. The same principle applies to other areas as well. Whenever I know I ought to be doing one thing, and I do another instead, then according to James 4:17, that is sin.
So, that’s what God has been teaching me this week.
In the midst of evaluating how I was spending my time, I came across a transcript of a radio broadcast by John MacArthur called, “Making the Hard Decisions Easy”, which was very thought-provoking. (If you’re interested in reading it, go to: http://www.gty.org/Resources/Sermons/80-24) In this sermon, MacArthur gives ten questions to help one to know if the things one is spending time on are truly worthwhile. Between that and the challenges at the ladies’ retreat I went to this weekend, the Lord really started to show me some areas in which I need to be more faithful with my time.
By God’s grace, the issue for me is not so much whether the things I am spending time on are bad or not, but rather, which good thing I ought to be spending my time on at a given moment. For example: reading, writing letters or e-mails to friends, writing posts for this blog, playing the piano –none of these things are inherently bad, but they may not be the best thing for me to be doing if there is something more important to do. Spending time reading in my room is not a bad thing, unless Mommy needs help in the kitchen or Tris wants me to come see his newest project in the garage. It is merely a matter of choosing that which is best.
I am reminded of the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10. While Martha was bustling around getting a meal ready and making sure everything was perfect for Jesus, Mary sat at His feet, hanging on His every word. In the midst of all the stress of the day, Martha becomes indignant at her sister’s apparent inactivity. When she asks Jesus to tell her sister off, He rebukes her instead. “Martha, Martha,” He said, “Thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” (vv.41-42)
Anything that gets in the way of our time with God, praying and reading His word, is not worth it. James 4:17 says, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” If I know that I should be spending time with God, but do something else instead, the Bible says that is sin. Not that the other thing is necessarily evil, it’s just not best, and it’s coming between me and God. It is sin. The same principle applies to other areas as well. Whenever I know I ought to be doing one thing, and I do another instead, then according to James 4:17, that is sin.
So, that’s what God has been teaching me this week.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Knowing the Truth
I just finished a paper today for school. (for those of you who are sick of hearing about my various and sundry school assignments, that's all I'll say about it.) : ) Because my topic was Judaism, I have been reading a lot about that lately. In the course of my reading, I was astounded at how little Jews in general know about their scriptures. This may be in part because so many branches of Judaism do not believe that the Old Testament is inspired, but I believe that the problem is very simple -they do not know it because they do not read it.
As I was discussing this with Mommy this afternoon, I realized that Christians today have a similar problem. How well do we know the Bible? How much time do we devote to studying it?
I found a few verses on the subject that I thought I would share:
Job 23:12 says: "...I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food." Are we willing to skip breakfast to make sure we are spending time with God in the morning? Is feeding our souls more important to us than feeding our stomachs?
Psalm 1: 1-2 "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law doth he meditate day and night."
John Bunyan once said "He who runs from God in the morning wil scarcely find Him the rest of the day." My "bad days" are always those that I have not started out with reading the Bible. (or those days when I merely skim it, not really paying attention.)
Psalm 119:9 "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy word." and verse 11 says "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee." It is easier for the Holy Spirit to bring a verse to mind to convict or encourage when we know the verses in the first place!
I Peter 3:15 "But sanctify the Lord God in your earts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear"
This is especially hard, because it means knowing not only what you believe, but why.
And one last verse from the many relevent ones in Psalm 19-verse 24. "Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors." God's word is to be read for guidance and for delight! It should not be a chore, but a blessing.
"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
-John 8:32
As I was discussing this with Mommy this afternoon, I realized that Christians today have a similar problem. How well do we know the Bible? How much time do we devote to studying it?
I found a few verses on the subject that I thought I would share:
Job 23:12 says: "...I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food." Are we willing to skip breakfast to make sure we are spending time with God in the morning? Is feeding our souls more important to us than feeding our stomachs?
Psalm 1: 1-2 "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law doth he meditate day and night."
John Bunyan once said "He who runs from God in the morning wil scarcely find Him the rest of the day." My "bad days" are always those that I have not started out with reading the Bible. (or those days when I merely skim it, not really paying attention.)
Psalm 119:9 "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy word." and verse 11 says "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee." It is easier for the Holy Spirit to bring a verse to mind to convict or encourage when we know the verses in the first place!
I Peter 3:15 "But sanctify the Lord God in your earts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear"
This is especially hard, because it means knowing not only what you believe, but why.
And one last verse from the many relevent ones in Psalm 19-verse 24. "Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors." God's word is to be read for guidance and for delight! It should not be a chore, but a blessing.
"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
-John 8:32
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