To: Rebecca

Walter took her little hand and kissed it as if she had been a princess. Molly blushed, but did not take her hand from him. Walter might do what he liked with her ugly little hand! It was only to herself she called it ugly, however, not to Walter! Anyhow, she was wrong--her hand was a very pretty one. It was indeed a little rough with work, but it was gloved with honor! It would be good for many a heart to have hands that were so spoiled! Human feet get a little broadening with walking; human hands get a little roughened with labor. But what does it matter! There are others--after like pattern but better finished--being invisibly made, and ready by the time these are worn out, for all who have not shirked the work put before them."

-George MacDonald

George MacDonald (highlight to read)

For when a man is in love, what of poetry there is in him as well as what there is of any sort of good thing will rise to the surface. In love every man shows himself better than he is, though, thank God, not better than he is meant to become.

“They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.”

This verse unsettles me. As I was reading the last chapter of Revelation several days ago my eyes caught on it, as though I had been running along across the pages and unexpectedly stumbled. There was something surprising and frightening about it. Don’t get me wrong—I believe I will die someday. And, though it is somewhat more foggy, I also believe that I will be in heaven someday. These are words and concepts I am used to; they are theoretical. When I say that “I” will be in heaven someday I don’t actually picture myself there, I imagine a glorified spirit or some other such thing with my name. This verse says something less difficult to get used to: I will see God in the flesh. You will see Him, too.
I have been reading in Job recently. I turned back and re-read his famous desperate declaration, “this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.”

Yeah, it’s like that. :)
It may not be until after this mortal has put on immortality yet nevertheless I, and not another will see God. We will be together, you and I, and we will see Him face to face, and His name will be written on our foreheads. It will not be someone else with my name—in the future I will stand before him and remember my life in the past tense as a finished work, and I will meet my Creator and Redeemer and He will brand me as his own.

Consider how close at hand these events are! Even as you read this you have not read my words, but the testimony of an eye witness. Only four verses later the apostle John wrote, “Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship….” At the end of the chapter Jesus Himself speaks, declaring, “Surely I am coming quickly.”

As I wondered what these things meant another question came to mind: What will I say, when I meet God? Of course on that wonderful and dreadful day I will fall down and worship, as John did, but that first glimpse will be only the beginning. Will we sing praises and throw crowns only? Adam and Eve talked with God in the cool of the day. Abraham believed God, we read, and it was accounted to him for righteousness, “and he was called the friend of God.” Moses spoke with God inside the cloud of His presence. Enoch and Elijah did not die but were caught up to heaven, for they had this testimony, that they pleased God.
What did they say, these men of God, when they talked with Him? I can understand them listening to God, but what could a man possibly have on his mind that would interest God? Supposing God opened the heavens right now and I saw Him on His throne—would I not fall down and call out a curse on myself, as Isaiah? Suppose God lifted me up and rebuked my accuser. Suppose he put white robes on me and a clean turban, and touched my lips with a burning coal from the fire, what then? Surely I would be ready to prophesy and give Him glory and honor, but what would we TALK about? In what way could we be called friends, as Abraham, or speak in conversation, as Adam and Moses? Even if I were pure would God learn from my wisdom, or be interested in my observations?
We are said to be God’s children—perhaps he bears with our weak minds and small abilities as a parent delights in his child’s first attempts at speech. He loves us now and listens to our earnest prayers but He looks forward to the relationship he will have with us when we are no longer children, when we are glorified and able to stand in his presence. He nurtures, he teaches, and patiently waits for us to grow up. Through His word and Spirit we are growing now, and there will be all of eternity for us to study Him and continue to mature in wisdom and knowledge.

IF

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

--Rudyard Kipling

More Spurgeon

As a rule, I try not to get convicted by sermons on witnessing and evangelism. Wry and ironic as that statement is, there is some truth to it. It's never good to increase one's knowledge of holiness without its practice and when it comes to evangelism I've all but accepted the idea that I will never be a practitioner. No sense in feeling guilty about something that's not going to change! Be that as it may, here are some convicting words from Going Home, a Christmas Sermon:

"Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee." Mark 5:19

[Spurgeon's first points are to tell the story truthfully and humbly.] Next, tell it very earnestly. Let them see you mean it. Do not talk about religion flippantly; you will do no good if you do. Do not make puns on texts; do not quote Scripture by way of a joke: if you do, you may talk till you are dumb, you will do no good, if you in the least degree give them occasion to laugh by laughing at holy things yourself. Tell it very earnestly.
And then, tell it very devoutly. Do not try to tell your tale to man till you have told it first to God. When you are at home on Christmas day, let no one see your face till God has seen it. Be up in the morning, wrestle with God for them; and then you will find it easy work to wrestle with them for God. Seek, if you can, to get them one by one, and tell them the story. Do not be afraid; only think what good you may possibly do. Remember, he that saves a soul from death hath covered a multitude of sins, and he shall have stars in his crown for ever and ever. Seek to be, under God, saviours in your family, to be the means of leading your own beloved brethren and sisters to seek and to find the Lord Jesus Christ, and then one day, when you shall meet in Paradise, it will be a joy and blessedness to think that you are there, and that your friends are there too, whom God will have made you the instrument of saving. Let your reliance on the Holy Spirit be entire and honest. Trust not yourself, but fear not to trust him. He can give you words. He can apply those words to their hearts, and so enable you to "minister grace to the hearers."

He who has ears...

A friend at work heard that 9 firefighters in his hometown died in a roof cave-in. He is, in his own words, not on the best of terms with God but he knew quite a few of those men and asked me to pray that none of his friends were among the dead. I did pray. I asked God would make his power and mercy known to Brian by answering his prayer.

I told Brian tonight that I’d asked God to spare them, and whether he had any word yet. He answered, “oh yeah, turns out it wasn’t them at all because the guys who got hit were in their 40s. It’s still tragic, though...”

I was struck at the difference between us. God’s answer was right in front of his face, but he didn’t see it. I was also struck by God’s mercy. Jesus told the Pharisees that He would not tell them whether he was the Christ because they would not believe Him if He told them. God answered Brian’s prayer knowing he would be ignored and rejected.

But I saw it and gave Him thanks. In the coming months there will be many more opportunities to see God’s hand preserving us. I will recognize Him, and will worship, and I will remind Brian of the firefighters.

Galations 5:16

I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Sunday morning and the Pastor’s words were drifting past me like fall leaves. They filled the air, beautiful and alive, but difficult to capture. I resolved to listen, but the words and phrases I caught seemed inanimate and uninteresting.

I’m depressed but would rather not explain why. Five minutes until noon; he’ll be done soon.
…it must be in the context. Either he does not provide sufficient context to follow him and understand his points or I’m too preoccupied to listen. Probably the latter.

“
There was once a little boy lying in bed trying to go to sleep. ‘Daddy,’ he said, ‘I can’t sleep. How can I go to sleep?’
‘Close your eyes and lie still,’ his father responded.
‘I tried that; it doesn’t work.’
‘It will work. Close your eyes and go to sleep.’
‘I’m not sleepy, I can’t sleep.’

Nevertheless, the father was right. My friends, we do not know how we sleep, we do not know why. We just know that God made us to require it and we close our eyes and it happens. Brothers, THIS is how we stop doing the things that oppose Christ. This is the miracle of being a new creature in Christ. This is how we walk in the Spirit. Whatever troubles you this morning, whatever prevents you from walking a victorious Christian life, lay it here, and walk in the Spirit, for you are born of the Spirit and it is natural for you to walk in the Spirit. He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it. How does it happen? The Spirit is like the wind, Jesus said, we do not know where it comes from or where it is going, but it blows where it wishes.
”