calling

  • Mary's Song ~ Holy Child, hidden in my womb | letter 131 on assurance & fighting for joy

    Luke 2:19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart...

    35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also)...

    Galatians 4:19  my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!
     
    Holy Child, hidden in my womb
    He has regarded my state lowly
    Ponder, O my soul, ponder Him

    Holy Child, silent in my womb
    According to Your Word, let it be
    Rejoice, O my soul, joy in Him

    This grace to me is given
    To the least of all the saints
    That I might preach Christ's riches
    Unsearchable from heaven

    Holy Child, hidden in thy womb
    Israel's Consolation and Glory
    Ponder, O mother, ponder Him

    Holy Child, silent in thy womb
    Your own soul will be pierced
    Worship, O mother, worship Him

    This grace to you is given
    To the least of all the saints
    That you might preach Christ's riches
    Unsearchable from heaven

    Holy Child, hidden in my womb
    May I bless my Lord night and day
    Ponder, O my soul, ponder Him

    Holy Child, silent in my womb
    Though the sword may pierce
    Worship, O my soul, worship Him

    This grace to me is given
    To the least of all the saints
    That I might preach Christ's riches
    Unsearchable from heaven

    Holy Child, hidden in my womb
    Through sorrow and adversity
    Worship, O my soul, worship Him

    Holy Child, silent in my womb
    Uphold me in my integrity
    Bless, O my soul, ever bless Him

    This grace to me is given
    To the least of all the saints
    That I might preach Christ's riches
    Unsearchable from heaven

    Though the way be hard and grievous
    Holy Child, hidden in my womb
    May my tongue bless and never curse

    Set a watch over my heart and lips
    Holy Child, silent in my womb
    May I not speak like a woman foolish

    This grace to me is given
    To the least of all the saints
    That I might preach Christ's riches
    Unsearchable from heaven

    In the sharpest providence
    Holy Child, hidden in my womb
    Send grace sufficient to trust

    Bless Him, O my soul, only bless
    Holy Child, silent in my womb
    Rejoice and do not curse Him

    This grace to me is given
    To the least of all the saints
    That I might preach Christ's riches
    Unsearchable from heaven

    Holy Child, hidden in my womb
    Never leave or forsake me
    May Christ in me be formed

    A vessel for Your glory
    Make me pure and holy
    A steward trustworthy

    This grace to me is given
    To the least of all the saints
    Though sorrowful, may I rejoice
    Unspeakably from heaven

    Holy Child, hidden in my womb
    In summer's sun and winter's gloom
    Keep me faithful and ever true

    Holy Child, silent in my womb
    In fallen world, this darkened tomb
    May Your love ring, Your light consume

    This grace to me is given
    To the least of all the saints
    Though sorrowful, may I rejoice
    Unspeakably from heaven

    Throughout all your pilgrimage
    Cling to Christ, your confidence
    Remember God's good purpose:

    This grace to you is given
    To the least of all the saints
    That you might preach Christ's riches
    Unsearchable from heaven

    This grace to you is given
    To the least of all the saints
    Though sorrowful, always rejoice
    Unspeakably from heaven

    * * *

    Philippians 4:4  Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.


    Psalm 141:1  LORD, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee. 2  Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. 3  Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips. 4  Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties. 5  Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities. 6  When their judges are overthrown in stony places, they shall hear my words; for they are sweet. 7  Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth, as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth. 8  But mine eyes are unto thee, O GOD the Lord: in thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute. 9  Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of the workers of iniquity. 10  Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I withal escape.

    Job 1:21  And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”

    22  In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong...

    Job 2:9  Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. 10  But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

    Ephesians 3:8  Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ...

    II Corinthians 6:10  As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

    I Peter 1:2  Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. 3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4  To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 8  Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory...

    "Whenever it looks like he is buried for good, Jesus is doing something awesome in the dark." ~ John Piper


    Related:

    Magnificat
    Fourth Sunday of Advent: The Magnificat
    Happy Mother's Day: Mary's "Kingdom Availability" and "Kingdom Vision"
    the story of Christmas ~ the story of Holy disruption
    The story of Job: bad luck, God's sovereign will or ?
    Lenten Reflections: He answered nothing...But Jesus still answered nothing.
    Lenten Reflections: the servant's tongue
    O, this cross! ~ We are but vessels
    "And they cast him out." (John 9) ~ Providence is not surprised
    "Blessed is the Man that endureth Temptation" by Joseph Hart
    As the Visible Disappoints
    Embittered, pricked in heart? Go into the sanctuary of God (Psalm 73)
    Psalm 131 ~ Lord, calm my soul; Lord, wean my soul in this mephitic air | W.H. Hewitson
    Where do you go when the world is unlovely? (Psalm 84 & the theology of Biblical counseling)
    In hope against hope believe, Blessed are all who believe

    My other letters on assurance & fighting for joy including:

    Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

    Work found at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Antonello_da_Messina_036.jpg  / CC BY-SA 3.0 / {{PD-Art|PD-old-100}}

  • If I be not given spiritual sight ~ "with unveiled face" (letter 127 on assurance & joy)

     
    II Corinthians 3:16  But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18  And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

    Ii Corinthians 4:1 Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not... 18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

    If I be not given spiritual sight,
    If I cannot see through Your light,
    I will grow weary, give up the fight

    If I be not given eternal sight,
    If not strengthened with all Your might,
    I will tire and faint, give up faith's fight

    If I did not hear Your sovereign call:
    "Of all My sheep, not one will irretrievably fall!"

    If I did not hear Your true announcement:
    "All My sheep will return, all the remnant!"

    If I did not see Your promise beaming:
    "All My sheep from all nations will come streaming!"

    If I did not see Your eternal pleading:
    "For you and all My sheep, I am ever interceding!"

    If I did not feel Your comfort conveyed:
    "I did not say to you and all My sheep, 'Seek Me in vain!'"

    If I were not given spiritual sight,
    If I could not see through Your light,
    I would grow weary, give up the fight

    If I were not given eternal sight,
    If not strengthened with all Your might,
    I would tire and faint, give up faith's fight

    Immortal till my days are done at last
    Through fierce tempest and enemies' blast
    The Gospel net I will strive to cast

    The Kingdom of God is like leaven
    God's wisdom to worldly eyes hidden
    To the elect, the aroma of heav'n

    For Your sheep, by Your Spirit sustained
    Through suffering, temptation and pain
     Rejoicing as Jesus Christ is proclaimed

    In heavenly places sufficient grace is stored
    In every trial and tribulation, mercy pours
    Importunate cries are always heard, never ignored

    Tasting and seeing Your goodness, glory and grace
    Lightening my darkness, lifting Your countenance
    Nourished by You, my portion, living sustenance

    Jesus, here in Your yoke, peace found, I sweetly rest
    Yet ever laboring, my eye on the harvest:
    Worship to the slain Lamb, the joy of the elect

    If I were not given spiritual sight,
    If I did not see through Your light,
    I would grow weary, give up the fight

    If I were not given eternal sight
    If not strengthened with all Your might,
    I would tire and faint, give up faith's fight

    My God, Your goings forth have been from of old
    With unveiled face, Your glory I behold
    Manifold mercies and graces untold

    Through the lattice, a whisper and a glimpse
    Confirming Your weary inheritance
    Bless the Lord, who loads me daily with benefits

    No longer consumed by the earthly
    Looking beyond the seen to eternity
    Glory to glory! I have received mercy!

    From strength to strength, to Zion I ascend
    On Christ alone I seek to depend
    With You I sup, my exceeding joy, my friend

    Psalm 84:4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah. 5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them. 6 Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools. 7 They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God. 8 O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah.

    Isaiah 40:28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. 29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.


     

    Colossians 1
    11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;
    12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light...

    Related:

    My other letters on assurance and fighting for joy, including:

    In darkest place
    Where do you go when the world is unlovely? (Psalm 84 & the theology of Biblical counseling)
    Hudson Taylor: a man who found rest in the yoke of Christ
    but not too hard with Me (calling, doubt & assurance)
    ML-J on depression in the ministry
    Though beyond all measure I be pressed ~ "the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials"

    Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

    Photo credit: http://www.dnr.sc.gov/news/Yr2006/dec25/dec25_eagle_pic.html

  • we did not choose, He chose us, worthy the Lamb, solus Christus

    Psalm 65:4  Blessed is the one you choose and bring near,
    to dwell in your courts!
    We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
    the holiness of your temple!

    we did not choose, He chose us
    worthy the Lamb, solus Christus

    the Most Holy Place no longer shut
    how precious the Lamb's atoning blood

    we did not choose, He chose us
    worthy the Lamb, solus Christus

    sinners clothed with His perfect righteousness
    Israel's Holy One kissed the leprous

    we did not choose, He chose us
    worthy the Lamb, solus Christus

    great love and rich mercies poured on us
    repentance wrought through God's kindnesses

    we did not choose, He chose us
    worthy the Lamb, solus Christus

    hearts once wild, anxious and restless
    now quieted by our Father's caresses

    we did not choose, He chose us
    worthy the Lamb, solus Christus

    brought near to abide in His holy house
    to taste and see God's satisfying goodness

    we did not choose, He chose us
    worthy the Lamb, solus Christus

    faces unveiled, beholding His brilliance
    filled with living water, our hearts gush

    we did not choose, He chose us
    worthy the Lamb, solus Christus

    love, blessing and adoration rush
    a sanctified, noble exuberance

    we did not choose, He chose us
    worthy the Lamb, solus Christus

    grace found us in the wilderness
    sealed and carried upon His breast

    we did not choose, He chose us
    worthy the Lamb, solus Christus

    Zion's stone set forth, rejected by the builders
    to us, the pearl, magnificent obsession

    we did not choose, He chose us
    worthy the Lamb, solus Christus

    this was the Lord's doing: marvelous!
    God made Him to become sin for us

    we did not choose, He chose us
    worthy the Lamb, solus Christus

    one anthem, one eternal chorus
    all the saints shout, glad and joyous

    we did not choose, He chose us
    worthy the Lamb, solus Christus

    grace upon grace, blessed assurance
    love compelling, exult in His righteousness

    we did not choose, He chose us
    worthy the Lamb, solus Christus

    all you worms lifted, raised up from the dust
    Jesus Christ alone forevermore bless

    we did not choose, He chose us
    worthy the Lamb, solus Christus

    o, press on to know Him, all you saints
    know the riches of His inheritance

    we did not choose, He chose us
    worthy the Lamb, solus Christus

    the love of God all knowledge surpasses
    sup with Him, be filled with all God's fullness

    we did not choose, He chose us
    worthy the Lamb, solus Christus

    called out of death and darkness
    appointed to lives of obedience

    we did not choose, He chose us
    worthy the Lamb, solus Christus

    a royal priesthood, a chosen generation
    to show forth His most excellent greatness

    we did not choose, He chose us
    worthy the Lamb, solus Christus

    Spirit baptized to be His witnesses
    to dying men from all the nations

    we did not choose, He chose us
    worthy the Lamb, solus Christus

    showered with exceeding riches
    elect to declare His praises

    we did not choose, He chose us
    worthy the Lamb, solus Christus

    wholly blessed, the nations to bless
    God making His appeal through us

    we did not choose, He chose us
    soli Deo gloria, solus Christus


    Psalm 71:15  My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
    of your deeds of salvation all the day,
    for their number is past my knowledge.
    16  With the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD I will come;
    I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.

    Does your mouth tell of the LORD's righteous acts and His deeds of salvation all the day? Do you remind others of Christ's righteousness, His alone?


    Acts 4:19 Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20  for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”

    Have you ever found yourself in the same position as Peter and John were, where you couldn't help but speak of the Lord Jesus Christ?

    John 7:37  On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 39  Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

    You may profess to be a Christian, but have you ever drunk of the living Christ? Have you tasted and seen He is good? Have you experienced times when those rivers of living water spring up and burst and flow out of your heart through the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit to witness to others of God's mercies and grace?

    In Philippians 3, though the apostle Paul already knew Christ, he wrote of pressing on to know Christ more. In Ephesians 1 and 3, though the Ephesian Christians were saved, though they had entered into a knowledge of God's inheritance, though they knew of Christ's love for them, yet Paul was praying for these saints to enter into an even greater and deeper and higher and knowledge of their inheritance and of God's love for them in Jesus Christ. Are you urgently desiring these things for yourselves? Do you pray such prayers for yourself and all the saints? I would urge you to read those chapters prayerfully and then ask God to give you grace to examine your own life, your prayers, your desires and your ambitions in light of God's Word.

    In II Corinthians, Paul writes of the love of God controlling believers.

    II Corinthians 5:14  For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15  and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

    16  From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18  All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19  that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20  Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21  For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

    Have you ever known such an experience of the love of God? Is the love of God increasingly controlling, compelling and constraining you so you no longer desire to live for yourself but desire to live for Christ and to be an ambassador for Christ? Are your ambitions holy or worldly?

    If the love of God is not controlling you, who or what is? Who or what is your master? To whom or what are you bowing? Have you usurped God's rightful place to reign? How are you continuing to bow to and serve your own selfish, fleshly desires? How are you being controlled by the world's desires? Are you standing firmly in the center of your life, controlling your life and not rendering yourself to God's Spirit to work in you – in effect quenching and grieving and limiting the Holy Spirit of God?

    If you are a new creation, you are an ambassador for Christ: you are sent out into the world, just as our Lord was sent into this world ... John 20:21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22  And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

    Have you known Almighty God's endowment through His promised Holy Spirit? Have you seen the living God working in you an increasing desire and ability to fulfill Jesus' commandment to be His witnesses to the end of the earth?

    Acts 1:8  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

    Philippians 2:12  Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13  for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

    If you have been saved by grace, if you have been drawn to God's house, ought you not be exulting in God's goodnesses to you and exalting Him before all peoples?

    if you have drunk of Christ's living water, ought not rivers of living water be bubbling up and flowing out of you into the dry and parched world?

    If you have known God's love, ought His love not be compelling you to know Him more and to live to Him and to make Him and His praises known to the ends of the earth?

    Through whom else does God make His appeal to a lost world but through His own chosen people?

    LORD God, open our lips, that we might drink of You more and more deeply, so our mouths will declare Your praise more and more widely, that we might work out what You are working in us for Your good pleasure and for the glory of Your name.

    Isaiah 43
    18  Remember not the former things,
    nor consider the things of old.
    19  Behold, I am doing a new thing;
    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
    I will make a way in the wilderness
    and rivers in the desert.
    20  The wild beasts will honor me,
    the jackals and the ostriches,
    for I give water in the wilderness,
    rivers in the desert,
    to give drink to my chosen people,
    21  the people whom I formed for myself
    that they might declare my praise.

    I Peter 2:4  As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5  you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6  For it stands in Scripture:

    “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,
    a cornerstone chosen and precious,
    and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

    7  So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,

    “The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone,”

    8  and

    “A stone of stumbling,
    and a rock of offense.”

    They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

    9  But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10  Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

    Related:

    we are but worms ~ nothing good dwells in us, nothing but our Christós
    Jeremiah 23 - THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS
    Advent #2 WHY HAS JESUS COME? to give his life as a ransom for many
    Bible Reading: Lamentations 1:12-Is His Sacrifice nothing to you?
    Forgiveness & cleansing of sin leads to God's Commission: "Penitents should be preachers"
    Have you adopted God's purpose for the nations for your joy & His glory?
    every brand snatched is a brand dispatched ~ Reflections on 9/11, Redemption & God's Mission
    Is your ambition holy? / What are you living for? (Louis Paul Lehman) / The Christian's Aim
    In which circle do you take your stand? ~ Hewitson's holy ambition ~ Are you a true disciple?
    Why not pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit
    The flags unfurled ... Christ's eternal banner | Lloyd-Jones ~ a third type of assurance
    Can there be more? | letter 113 on assurance & fighting for joy
    "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men" | How are we to follow Jesus?
    True Calvinism Is NOT
    my soapbox
    Blogging to build up the ruined Church of God (includes Piper on preaching as expository exultation)
    may you hear joy & gladness (letter 83 on assurance & fighting for joy)
    Bible Reading: Things To Look for in a Church–What We Find in Solomon's Temple, # 3: Worship
    Things To Look for in a Church, 9: "Pearl Freaks" (a.k.a. a Kingdom-Obsessed People)
    What is a nominal Christian?
    Barabbas we save, Jesus Christ we slay (the mockery of profession ~ decisional regeneration)
    Don't Waste Your Singleness | Single one ... be single-eyed
    "And Jacob was left alone" ~ Don't waste your loneliness

    Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Emphasis mine.
     
    Photo credit: The Woman of Samaria at the Well by James Tissot found at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brooklyn_Museum_-_The_Woman_of_Samaria_at_the_Well_%28La_Samaritaine_%C3%A0_la_fontaine%29_-_James_Tissot_-_overall.jpg - PD - c. 1886-1894

naphtali_deer

About me...

Christian hedonist in training. Pressing on to know more and more of the joy of the LORD. Pleading with God to rend the heavens and revive and refresh my own soul, as well as His Church, to His praise, honor and glory.

Thank God. He can make men and women in middle life sing again with a joy that has been chastened by a memory of their past failures. ~ Alan Redpath

My other websites

tent of meeting: Prayer for reformation & revival

(See also Zechariah821. Zechariah821 is a mirror site of tent of meeting, found on WordPress)

deerlifetrumpet: Encouragement for those seeking reformation & revival in the Church

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