"He Lives"

I serve a risen Savior, He’s in the world today,
I know that He is living, whatever men may say;
I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer.
And just the time I need Him, He’s always near.

He Lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way
He Lives, He lives, salvation to impart!
You ask me How I know He lives?
HE LIVES WITHIN MY HEART.


In all the world around me, I see His loving care,
And tho my heart grows weary, I never will despair
I know that He is leading thru all the stormy blast,
The day of His appearing will come at last.

He Lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way
He Lives, He lives, salvation to impart!
You ask me How I know He lives?
HE LIVES WITHIN MY HEART.


Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian, lift up your voice and sing
Eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ the King!
The hope of all who seek Him, the help of all who find,
None other is so loving, so good and kind.

He Lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way
He Lives, He lives, salvation to impart!
You ask me How I know He lives?
HE LIVES WITHIN MY HEART.

Words and music by Alfred H. Ackley

Blessed Easter,
Linda

Why Lord?

The first of our six Easter services is tonight. This year the program is a bit of a departure from the traditional Easter programs we've done in the past. The theme this year is "You Are God," and the message is hope. It centers around the timeless question: "Why do bad things happen to good people?" - and when they do, where is God?

Four videos, testimonies of people who were walking closely with the Lord when unexpected and undeserved tragedy struck, are the centerpiece. There are beautiful songs that form a framework around the faces of those who have walked through the fire and come out with their faith still intact.

I'm reposting something I wrote a while ago when I was struggling with some of these same questions:


Far too often I find my mind is a battle field - faith and doubt warring in my heart. One of my memory verses is Psalm 32:7:
"For You are my hiding place. You protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory."

I sometimes say it as I walk, trying to keep the verses I've memorized alive in my little brain. It brings me comfort...until that dart from the enemy finds its mark and I begin the inevitable round of questions.

"If that is true Father, why is there so much suffering? Why do those who love You so dearly and serve You so well have such trouble come into their lives? Why do little children suffer pain and sorrow? Why do evil people do such terrible things?......"

I fight back with the truth I know - that He loves us and will do nothing to harm us. Sometimes the questions persist.

I read something today in my little devotional, "Joy and Strength" that answered the question in a way that could only be the gentle voice of the Spirit:

"Just as soon as we turn toward Him with loving confidence, and say, 'Thy will be done,' whatever chills or cripples or enslaves our spirits, clogs their powers, or hinders their development, melts away in the sunshine of His sympathy. He does not free us from the pain, but from its power to dull the sensibilities; not from poverty and care, but from their tendency to narrow and harden; not from calumny, but from the maddening poison in its sting, not from disappointment, but from the hopelessness and bitterness of thought which it so often engenders. We attain unto this perfect liberty when we rise superior to untoward circumstances, triumph over the pain and weakness of disease, over unjust criticism, the wreck of earthly hopes, over promptings to envy , every sordid and selfish desire, every unhallowed longing, every doubt of God's wisdom and love and kindly care, when we rise into an atmosphere of undaunted moral courage, of restful content, of child-like trust, of holy, all-conquering calm."
William W. Kinsley (b.1837)

In my humanity, I want to think that nothing bad will happen to His children, or if it does, He will miraculously intervene. In truth, He will. It just may not look the way I want it to look.

Where I pray for healing or deliverance from trouble, He may have something else in mind. It doesn't mean He has withheld His love or turned His back. It means He is doing something I cannot see - something of eternal value. He has promised that He would. He asks me to trust Him.

There is the crux of the matter - trust. I have been dragged kicking and screaming into trust. I have wanted my way because I couldn't imagine the circumstances we were walking through could possibly be good or right. He has patiently waited for me to look into His face, listen to His heart, and surrender to a love that knows no bounds.

He is not obligated to answer my questions. His wisdom is so far above mine and His power limitless. He is perfect and holy. He has never failed to keep His word and has loved me unconditionally. Who am I, this broken, unworthy vessel, to question Him? Yet He tenderly draws me to Himself and listens. Often He answers; sometimes He doesn't. Always He is all that He has promised to be. If I will simply trust Him, that is more than enough.

Blessings,
Linda

linking to Emily's Imperfect Prose

The Gift

He extends the gift
with hands marred and opened wide.
The two-fold gift contained in one,
life forever, life now.

I fumble for payment,
something to offer
for such priceless treasure,
something worthy of
such love.

He asks only faith
without trappings;
No ticking off the lists
of works,
No seeking to search out His judgements,
No striving to plumb the
depths of unfathomable ways.

Simple, child-like
faith.

Blessings,
Linda

linking to One Stop Poetry today

As For Me

I see them sleeping
when You needed their prayers.
Would my head nod too
had I been there?

I see them running
when they took You away.
Would my heart be racing, legs pumping
abandoning You too?

I hear him denying, with curses,
when he pledged to stand with You.
Would I say I didn't know You
when the darkness threatened?

How often, Lord Jesus,
do I sleep when I should pray,
run when I should stand,
hurt You with my words?

Now, as then,
You search my heart with eyes of love,
Speak words of forgiveness,
Give Your life that I may live.


a repost: our week is filled with choir rehersals and services thurs - sun, anticipating great and mighty things as we celebrate Jesus

Blessings,
Linda 

Thankful for Molly

I love books! I should confess right up front that I mostly love fiction. I own more books than any other single thing. I am ashamed to admit how many books are sitting on the "to read" shelf in my closet. And yet...I still can't go into the Half-Price Book Store and come out without an armload of books. I'm a little more conservative at the local Barnes and Noble, but it takes vast amount of will power for me to walk out empty-handed.

I have had to do some serious weeding through my bookshelves in recent years. We still have our house on the market and hiring a moving van just for my books seems a little extravagant. So the books that remain are those I treasure; the ones I know I will read again and again.

I am reading one of those books now - for the third time. I spent hours yesterday in a little English country village losing myself in the story of a young girl who, even in my dotage, has become a favorite heroine. Her name is Molly Gibson. Her story is written with beautiful elegance by Elizabeth Gaskell in the book "Wives and Daughters."

When I finally grow up, I want to be just a little bit like Molly. Here is just a little taste:

"Molly was dejected, she knew not why. Cynthia had drifted a little apart; that was not it. Her stepmother had whimsical moods; and if Cynthia displeased her, she would oppress Molly with small kindnesses and pseudo-affection. Or else everything was wrong, the world was out of joint,and Molly had failed in her mission to set it right, and was to be blamed accordingly. But Molly was of too steady a disposition to be much moved by the changeableness of an unreasonable person."

Oh to be of such steady character. I am all too easily influenced by the attitudes of those around me. It is easy to be sweet and kind when all is going well. If that sweetness and kindness isn't returned or appreciated, it is another matter altogether.

All of that to say I am thankful for good books - ones that are so beautifully written they take you to another time and place, all the while edifying and uplifting. I have no patience any more for books that make me squirm uncomfortably. I suppose that's why I more often than not find myself carried back to the 19th century.

I am thankful

165 - for Mrs. Gaskell and Molly

166 - crisp, clear spring days
167 - hummingbirds who have returned, entertaining us with their antics
168 - doves cooing
169 - answered prayer for a friend
170 - beautiful black and yellow butterfly
171 - chamomile tea before bed
172 - car - all repaired and looking like new
173 - calves frolicking
174 - horses playing in the fields
175 - smell of newly cut grass
176 - little pink roses
177 - time to sit in the sun room and read - the room filled with spring breezes and birdsong
178 - a letter from a new friend
179 - working outside - getting it done one small step at a time
180 - another drought, but knowing that He is faithful
181 - finding just the right outfit for the wedding
182 - the ministry of a smile

linking to Ann's Gratitude Community

Blessings,
Linda

"My Savior's Love"

The musical talent of Charles H. Garbriel was evident from the time he was a little boy. Born and raised on a farm in Wilton, Iowa in 1856, music was always a part of his life. His father led singing schools in their home, and the young Charles taught himself to play the new reed organ they had purchased.

Without any formal training, Charles began to travel and lead his own singing schools at the age of 17. In 1890 he took the position of music director of Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, San Francisco, California. It was while he was there that he wrote the hymn "Send the Light" for a missions celebration the church was having. It was his first commercial success.

In 1912 Charles moved to Chicago, Illinois and began working with Homer Rodeheaver’s publishing company. While working there he edited many song books. He himself is said to have written and/or composed between 7,000 and 8,000 songs. Among them is the hymn "My Savior's Love"

I stand amazed in the presence
Of Jesus the Nazarene,
And wonder how He could love me,
A sinner, condemned, unclean.

Refrain

O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!

For me it was in the garden
He prayed: “Not My will, but Thine.”
He had no tears for His own griefs,
But sweat drops of blood for mine.

Refrain

In pity angels beheld Him,
And came from the world of light
To comfort Him in the sorrows
He bore for my soul that night.

Refrain

He took my sins and my sorrows,
He made them His very own;
He bore the burden to Calvary,
And suffered and died alone.

Refrain

When with the ransomed in glory
His face I at last shall see,
’Twill be my joy through the ages
To sing of His love for me.

Refrain



Blessings,
Linda

On Distance

I'm joining Lisa-Jo, the Gypsy Mama, for Five Minute Friday today. The prompt is "On Distance."

start:

The days are slipping by like sand through my fingers. I watch the hour glass and look back with emotions too intermingled to sort through. Less than a month now and she will walk into the arms of the young man to whom she has given her heart.

I remember the day she came to us all smiles and soft curly hair. Our hearts were smitten from the first. I see her sitting in her little white bed with books, notebooks and writing tools spread out on the blanket; see her wearing her first formal and setting off for the big dance; watch through blurry eyes as she walked across the stage to receive her diploma; look in wonder at the beautiful woman she has become.

When she says the words that will make her wife, she will fly far away from us to live in another country an ocean away. Our hearts will go with her.

stop

Please visit Lisa-Jo to join the others at Five Minute Friday.

Blessings,
Linda