Tuesday, May 31, 2022

June 2022 DSW - The Wisdom of God

 Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite.  Psalm 147:5



This month's collection of Scripture is about God's wisdom and the greatness and immensity of His understanding.  If you have ever wanted to marvel at the depth of His Godly Awesomeness, this is the month for you!

Write out one Scripture each day; I've put the day's numbers so you can keep track.  Either save the picture below and print it out (I format them for my half-sheet A5 binder) or write them down in your notebook.

Enjoy!


Monday, May 30, 2022

Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove

 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.  And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.  Acts 2:2-4


Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove
Isaac Watts (1674-1748)

Come, Holy Spirit, Heav'nly Dove,
with all They quick'ning pow'rs;
kindle a flame of sacred love
in these cold hearts of ours.

Look, how we grovel here below,
fond of these earthly toys;
our souls, how heavily they go,
to reach eternal joys.

In vain we tune our formal songs,
invain we strive to rise;
Hosannas languish on our tongues,
and our devotion dies.

Father, and shall we ever live
at this poor dying rate.
Our love so faint, so cold to Thee,
and Thine to us, so great?

Come, Holy Spirit, Heav'nly Dove,
with all Thy quick'ning pow'rs;
Come, shed abroad a Savior's love,
and that shall kindle ours.

.....
Isaac Watts was disturbed with "business-as-usual" Christianity.  He knew that the only way Christians could be shaken out of their lethargy was if they had a fresh touch of the Spirit.  Just as Jesus is described both as a meek lamb and a fearsome lion, so the Holy Spirit is described as both a dove and fire.  Sometimes Christians need to experience the Holy Spirit as a gentle dove, but often we need to know Him as a roaring fire.  

One stanza of this hymn that is often omitted from this hymn is "Father, and shall we ever live at this poor dying rate, our love so faint, so cold to Thee, and Thine to us so great?"  It was this contrast between our love for us that disturbed Watts.  He knew that only the fire of the Spirit could kindle our hearts into deeper love.

Let us pray to seek how the Spirit is working and be ever-mindful of His gentle nudging.  

.....


And now for something completely different: 




Friday, May 20, 2022

TOOLKIT - Resurrection in the Old Testament

  Put these verses in your Bible Toolkit.




I've been seeking out verses on different topics and this is my latest discovery.  Enjoy!

Resurrection in the Old Testament

1 Kings 17:17-24

17 Now it came about after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.

 18 So she said to Elijah, “What do I have to do with you, O man of God?  You have come to me to bring my iniquity to remembrance and to put my son to death!”

 19 He said to her, “Give me your son.” Then he took him from her bosom and carried him up to the upper room where he was living, and laid him on his own bed.

 20 He called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, have You also brought calamity to the widow with whom I am staying, by causing her son to die?”

 21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, I pray You, let this child’s life return to him.”

 22 The Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him and he revived.

 23 Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.”

 24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

 

 

2 Kings 4:18-20; 32-37

18 When the child was grown, the day came that he went out to his father, to the reapers. 

19 And he said to his father, “My head, my head!” And his father said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 

20 When he had carried him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her lap until noon, and then he died.

 

32 When Elisha entered the house, behold the boy was dead, laid on his bed. 

33 So he entered and shut the door behind them both, and he prayed to the Lord. 

34 Then he got up on the bed and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, his hands on his hands, and he bent down on him; and the flesh of the child became warm. 

35 Then he returned and walked in the house back and forth once, and went up and bent down on him; and the boy sneezed seven times, then the boy opened his eyes. 

36 And he called Gehazi and said, “Call this Shunammite.” So he called her. And when she came to him, he said, “Pick up your son.” 

37 Then she came in and fell at his feet and bowed down to the ground, and she picked up her son and left.

 

 

Job 19:25-27

25 Yet as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last, He will take His stand on the earth.
26 Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I will see God,
27 Whom I, on my part, shall behold for myself, and whom my eyes will see, and not another. My heart faints within me!

 

 

Psalm 71:20-21

20 You who have shown me many troubles and distresses will revive me again, and will bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
21 May You increase my greatness and turn to comfort me.

22 I will also praise You with a harp, and Your truth, my God; I will sing praises to You with the lyre, Holy One of Israel.

 

 

Psalm 16:8-11

I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will dwell securely.
10 For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; You will not allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.
11 You will make known to me the way of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

 

 

Psalm 49:13-15

13 This is the way of those who are foolish, and of those after them who approve their words. Selah
14 Like sheep they sink down to Sheol; death will be their shepherd; and the upright will rule over them in the morning, and their form shall be for Sheol to consume so that they have no lofty home.
15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, for He will receive me. Selah

 

 

Isaiah 26:19-20

19 Your dead will live; their corpses will rise.  You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, for your dew is as the dew of the dawn, and the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.

20 Come, my people, enter your rooms and close your doors behind you; hide for a little while until indignation runs its course.

 

 

Isaiah 53:10-11

10 But the Lord desired to crush Him, causing Him grief; if He renders Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.
11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; by His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, for He will bear their wrongdoings.

 

 

Ezekiel 37:7-10

So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a loud noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 

And I looked, and behold, tendons were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. 

Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘The Lord God says this: “Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe on these slain, so that they come to life.”’” 

10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

 

 

Daniel 12:2-3

And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. 

And those who have insight will shine like the glow of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

 

Hosea 6:1-2

“Come, let’s return to the Lord.  For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.
He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him.

 

 

Jonah 1:17-2:2, 6-7, 10

17 And the Lord designated a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish for three days and three nights.

 

Jonah’s Prayer

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the stomach of the fish, 

and he said, “I called out of my distress to the Lord, and He answered me.  I called for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice.

 

I descended to the base of the mountains.  The earth with its bars was around me forever, but You have brought up my life from the pit, Lord my God.
While I was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to You, into Your holy temple.

 

10 Then the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.


Thursday, May 19, 2022

At the Moment of Salvation #6 (a weekly series)

   ...that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; or with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.  Romans 10:9-10

There is a lot of information in this list (and I haven't taken it all in or deeply studied it yet) so don't worry if you don't understand it all.  Just take little bites and keep studying.  I have printed these 40 Things onto half sheets of paper to keep in my A5 Bible Reference binder.

If you have questions about becoming a believer, please comment to me and I will do my best to point you in the right direction.  Or, find a Christian you know to ask them about it, or go to a trusted pastor. 

.....

At the moment of salvation, every believer in Jesus Christ receives 40 things from God. Of the 40 things, 39 of them are permanent and can never be removed from the believer - even by God himself! The only temporary thing is the Filling of the Holy Spirit which we lose due to our own free will to act against God. We can repeatedly gain the Filling of the Spirit following confession of our known sins to the Father.

.....

6. Baptism of the Holy Spirit

We are placed into union with Jesus Christ through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:1-2; Romans 8:38-39; 1 Corinthians 15:22, 1 Corinthians 12:13; 1 John 5:11-12

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2)

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:22)

For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. (1 Corinthians 12:13)

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. (1 John 5:11-12)

Wednesday, May 18, 2022

The Names of God - Toolkit

 I wanted to share another Daily Scripture Writing set of Scriptures.  You could write these out and put them in your Reference Binder under your Bible Toolkit tab.  A Bible Toolkit is sort of a personalized concordance of Scriptures about a specific topic.



Names of God reformatted 210518.docx


Monday, May 16, 2022

Lord Jesus Christ, Be Present Now

 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me.  These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you.  

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.  Do not leat your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

John 14:24-27

.....

Lord Jesus Christ, Be Present Now
German Hymn
Cantionale Sacrum, 1651
Translated by Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878)

Lord Jesus Christ, be present now,
our hearts in true devotion bow,
Thy Spirit send with grace divine,
and let Thy truth within us shine.

Unseal our lips to sing Thy praise,
our souls to Thee in worship raise,
Make strong our faith, increase our light
that we may know Thy name aright.

Until we join the hosts that cry,
"Holy art Thou, O Lord, most high!"
And in the light of that blest place
fore'er behold Thee face to face.

Glory to God the Father, Song,
and Holy Spirit, Three in One!
To Thee, O blessed Trinity,
be praise throughout eternity!

.....

There are several ways to answer the question, Where is Jesus?  As God, He is omnipresent and all around us.  He said that He was somehow present in the poor and needy people whom we might meet.  Scripture also speaks of Him sitting at the right hand of God.  This is an honorable place and where He waits for the right time to return to the triumphantly return to earth.  Through His Spirit, He is present in our hearts.

If Jesus is in all these places, why should we invite Him to be present now?  There are several other Scriptures of which you might want to take note.  One verse says that the Lord inhabits His people's praise.  Another says that He would be there where two or three are gathered, each time we worship.  And Christ is in some way present when we observe the Lord's Supper.

This lovely hymn is a call to worship, inviting Christ to inspire, inhabit, and enjoy our praises.  It also serves to remind us that Christ has promised to join us on such occasions.

.....

Lord Jesus Christ, Be Present Now - YouTube

Monday, May 9, 2022

Holy Spirit, Truth Divine

 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.  Galatians 5:1-18


Holy Spirit, Truth Divine

Samuel Longfellow (1819-1892)

Holy Spirit, Truth divine,
dawn upon this soul of mine;
word of God and inward light,
wake my spirit, clear my sight.

Holy Spirit, Love divine,
glow within this heart of mine; 
kindle every high desire,
perish self in Thy pure fire.

Holy Spirit, Power divine,
fill and nerve this will of mine;
by Thee may I strongly live,
bravely hear and nobly strive.

Holy Spirit, Right divine,
King within my conscience reign;
be my Lord, and I shall be
firmly bound, forever free.

.....

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, one of the first great American poets, is acclaimed for works like "Evangeline," "The Song of Hiawatha," and "Tales of a Wayside Inn."  About the same time he was penning "Tales of a Wayside Inn," his brother, Samuel Longfellow, was compiling a hymnbook.  Samuel included in this hymnbook a hymn he had recently written called, "Holy Spirit, Truth Divine."  

The hymn itself is one that is acceptable to all Christians.  The Holy Spirit is lauded as truth, love, power, and right.  The last stanza reminds us of the words in the Gospel of John where it says that the Holy Spirit would convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.  The Spirit does carry on this  ministry within us as that "still, small voice" that shows us the way.  As Longfellow wrote, may we pray that the Holy Spirit reign as king within our consciences.
.....

Samuel Longfellow - Wikipedia

Samuel Longfellow | Hymnary.org


Thursday, May 5, 2022

At the Moment of Salvation - 40 Things - 4 & 5

  ...that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; or with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.  Romans 10:9-10

There is a lot of information in this list (and I haven't taken it all in or deeply studied it yet) so don't worry if you don't understand it all.  Just take little bites and keep studying.  I have printed these 40 Things onto half sheets of paper to keep in my A5 Bible Reference binder.

If you have questions about becoming a believer, please comment to me and I will do my best to point you in the right direction.  Or, find a Christian you know to ask them about it, or go to a trusted pastor. 

.....

At the moment of salvation, every believer in Jesus Christ receives 40 things from God. Of the 40 things, 39 of them are permanent and can never be removed from the believer - even by God himself! The only temporary thing is the Filling of the Holy Spirit which we lose due to our own free will to act against God. We can repeatedly gain the Filling of the Spirit following confession of our known sins to the Father.

.....

4. A Human Spirit

We receive a "regenerative" human spirit. The human spirit is created by the Holy Spirit as part of His regeneration ministry. Romans 8:16; 1 Corinthians 2:14

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. (Romans 8:16)

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14)

5. Imputed Everlasting Life

We receive the imputation of everlasting life from God the Father to our regenerative human spirit. And at the same instant, we share the eternal life Christ through positional truth. This is our double portion of eternal life. 1 John 5:11-12

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. (1 John 5:11-12)

 .....

To see past entries, search for the "40 Things" label in the Search box on the mail blog page.

Tuesday, May 3, 2022

Mom's Church Songbooks (full of photos!)

I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;

I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.

May my praise be pleasing to Him;

As for me, I shall rejoice in the Lord.

Psalm 104:33-34


[[[This post is full of pictures, so grab a cool beverage and take in all this musical goodness!]]]

My grandma played the piano and organ and led congregational singing; my mom mostly led the congregational singing but played the piano for herself.  She also sang whilst playing said piano and convinced me to sing harmony with her.  Some special memories, for sure.

I found some old songbooks my mom had given me before she became incapacitated by aphasia.  Some were hers and some were her mom's.  Look at these covers!  #oldschool


You'll notice Grandma had two of the black/white/green songbooks in the lower right corner.  I can imagine she had one copy kept in the piano bench at church (you know, where you lifted up the piano bench seat and there was storage underneath) and one she kept on her piano in the parsonage.  That book was published in 1943!

Here is the inside cover:


.....

In the upper middle left is a book of grandma's called "One Hundred Hymns and Gospel Songs" by Frank C. Huston published in 1955.  Here are some images of the inside covers:




That dedication above:  I don't have that nose tickle and a throat lump, not at all.


What joy Mr. Huston must have found in leading people in worship!

.....

Grandma was a Bullet Journaler!  Okay, not in the sense we know today, but she sure listed out some lyrics in the well-worn composition book you see below.

She had two volumes of these composition books and they were kept together.  So much so that the coils have intertwined with each other and have essentially become one book.  I didn't have the heart to take them apart.


        


    

Look at that last picture (above).  She had written out words to "Jesus Loves Me" in two different languages:  Shona and Portuguese.  Grandma and Grandpa were always missions-oriented.  Must be where I get it.

.....

The following booklets are some of the ones my mom had.  They are mostly from the 1970s so you might see some real groovy-ness in these pictures.  Enjoy!  #eyecandy


   

   

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.....

  


,,,,,

Some extra special groovy-ness in the booklet below.  We'd think the book was a steal at $1.25 today!  I sure was fascinated by the embroidery pictured on the cover below.  I made sure it was displayed prominently on my mom's piano.  I secretly wanted that embroidery on a pair of jeans--can you blame me?  I don't remember my mom giggling at my girlishness organization or how many times she secretly gave me the ol' SideEye.  #notfarfromthetree

   

A pic of some groovy 1970s graphics for ya:


Some cool-hair-groovy-ness below:

What conditioner did he use?  Honestly.

   

Check out that last picture above:  "What?  No guitars where you are? No bass? No drums?  Take heart!  They're as close as your music supplier!"
This book was published in 1971 and churches were moving toward using more instruments besides the piano and organ.  Church music had to change with the times whether we liked it or not.

.....
Please share your memories in the comments; I'd love to hear them!

I know I am very much looking forward to spending the rest of eternity singing with the Saints in that heavenly choir, joining my parents and grandparents and great-grandparents along with these amazing men and women who wrote these songs and compiled these collections.

"We're all walking each other Home."