Category Archives: Holiness

The Head That Once Was Crowned ~ Hymn

The Head That Once Was Crowned

The head that once was crowned with thorns
Is crowned with glo­ry now;
A royal di­adem adorns
The migh­ty vic­tor’s brow.

The high­est place that Heav’n af­fords
Belongs to Him by right;
The King of kings and Lord of lords,
And Hea­ven’s eter­nal Light.

The joy of all who dwell above,
The joy of all be­low,
To whom He ma­ni­fests His love,
And grants His name to know.

To them the cross with all its shame,
With all its grace, is giv’n;
Their name an ev­er­last­ing name,
Their joy the joy of Heav’n.

They suf­fer with their Lord be­low;
They reign with Him above;
Their pro­fit and their joy to know
The mys­te­ry of His love.

The cross He bore is life and health,
Though shame and death to Him,
His peo­ple’s hope, His peo­ple’s wealth,
Their ev­er­last­ing theme.

Words: Thomas Kelly

Deity and Humanity

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,  who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:5-8

We made one last trip to Spokane on Thursday for some specific items before our Christmas celebrations begin.

We enjoyed the sunrise along the highway.

And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Hebrews 1:3

This morning in Let Earth Receive Her King ~ Daily Readings for Advent, Alistair Begg shares this lesser  known Christmas Carol. I’m highlighting some of the words.

Once in roy­al Dav­id’s ci­ty
Stood a low­ly cat­tle shed,
Where a mo­ther laid her ba­by
In a man­ger for His bed:
Mary was that mo­ther mild,
Jesus Christ her lit­tle child.

He came down to earth from Hea­ven,
Who is God and Lord of all,
And His shel­ter was a sta­ble,
And His cra­dle was a stall;
With the poor, and mean, and low­ly,
Lived on earth our Sav­ior ho­ly.

And, through all His won­drous child­hood,
He would hon­or and ob­ey,
Love and watch the low­ly maid­en,
In whose gen­tle arms He lay:
Christian child­ren all must be
Mild, obe­di­ent, good as He.

For He is our child­hood’s pat­tern;
Day by day, like us He grew;
He was lit­tle, weak and help­less,
Tears and smiles like us He knew;
And He feel­eth for our sad­ness,
And He shar­eth in our glad­ness.

And our eyes at last shall see Him,
Through His own re­deem­ing love,
For that Child so dear and gen­tle
Is our Lord in Heav’n above,
And He leads His child­ren on
To the place where He is gone.

Not in that poor low­ly sta­ble,
With the ox­en stand­ing by,
We shall see Him; but in Hea­ven,
Set at God’s right hand on high;
Where like stars His child­ren crowned
All in white shall wait around.

Once in Royal David’s City ~ Cecil F. Alexander, 1848.

Smile, Your On Wednesday Hodgepodge

Blogging…where everyday is Candid Camera day.

Time for a holly jolly candid Hodgepodge. Thank you to Joyce From This Side of the Pond!

1. What’s one thing you want to get done before the calendar flips to a new year?

There is not one thing that stands out to be accomplished. I was considering weeding out some Christmas decor before everything is put back into the bins for next year. Some of our stuff is tired looking. Maybe I’ll designate one bin for the things I can let go.

2. What’s something that brought a smile to your face this year?

Thankfully there were many things. I am a smiley person in general. Our family times together always brings a smile on my face and generally there are belly laughs, too. The wonderful weather we enjoyed in Scotland in September brought many smiles and gratitude! We have our children’s play/musical this coming weekend and I know that will keep me smiling. It is called The Loaned Manger, a western themed presentation. Both Addy and JJ will be performing. Addy has some key singing parts and JJ is Joseph this year.

3. What do you like on a cracker? Do you have a favorite cracker variety? 

We really enjoyed Jo’s Cranberry Jalapeno dip at Thanksgiving and when JJ was here on Monday he said “I’ll get the crackers for the cream cheese” as if I kept that dip around every day. Hilarious! (JJ is Five)

4. Do you have plans for ringing in the new year in a fun or special way? Are you typically awake at midnight on the last day of the year? 

We have entered the dud zone when it comes to New Year’s celebrations. We are typically in bed and the fireworks might wake us up at midnight! In our part of Washington state it is generally too dry with fire danger on July 4th so people around these parts stock up on fireworks to shoot off on New Year’s Eve instead.

5. What are three words that describe your 2024? 

Celebrating Fifty Years! 

We were married in 1974 so 2024 marks our 50th wedding anniversary. We have celebrated well starting at the end of June with a getaway to Walla Walla for a weekend of fun with our family of 10. We celebrated again in Scotland in September and we celebrated on the actual day with an overnight trip to Coeur d’Alene.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I saw that common phrase this year on facebook, ‘keep Christ in Christmas’ and my reaction was a new one. There is no way anyone can keep Christ out of Christmas, even if you don’t know Christ or celebrate Him. The darkness (Satan) has been trying to eliminate God from the beginning of time. It started in the Garden of Eden. The light of the world will always overcome the darkness. Christ brought His light into the world and will continue to shine till one day the darkness will finally be cast away. Herod tried to kill Christ as a babe and did the unspeakable by killing all the male children in his realm thinking he could eliminate Jesus. God in His mercy preserved Jesus Christ for His role in becoming the Savior of the world by his sacrificial death on the cross so that man can be at peace with Holy God. Because of Jesus Christ’s perfect life and righteous sacrifice and resurrection our repentance, turning from sin, makes us acceptable to God and makes us redeemed in His sight. Christmas is all about Jesus Christ’s incarnation, Emmanuel, God with us. Jesus, fully God, became man for us. He condescended with love to make it possible for us to be reconciled to God and have eternal life with Him instead of eternal damnation in hell.

Praying that God is calling you to repentance and opening your spiritual eyes to see His Truth today.

Merry Christmas Hodgepodgers!

Who Are These Like Stars Appearing ~ Hymn

Who Are These Like Stars Appearing

Who are these like stars ap­pear­ing,
These be­fore God’s throne who stand?
Each a gold­en crown is wear­ing;
Who are all this glo­ri­ous band?
Alleluia! Hark, they sing,
Praising loud their heav’n­ly king.

Who are these of dazz­ling bright­ness,
These in God’s own truth ar­rayed,
Clad in robes of pur­est white­ness,
Robes whose lus­ter ne’er shall fade,
Ne’er be touch­ed by time’s rude hand?
Whence come all this glo­ri­ous band?

These are they who have con­tend­ed
For their Sav­ior’s hon­or long,
Wrestling on till life was end­ed,
Following not the sin­ful throng;
These who well the fight sus­tained,
Triumph through the Lamb have gained.

These are they whose hearts were riv­en,
Sore with woe and ang­uish tried,
Who in pray­er full oft have striv­en
With the God they glo­ri­fied;
Now, their pain­ful con­flict o’er,
God has bid them weep no more.

These, like priests, have watched and wait­ed,
Offering up to Christ their will;
Soul and body con­se­crat­ed,
Day and night to serve Him still:
Now in God’s most ho­ly place
Blest they stand be­fore His face.

Words: Theobald H. Schenk, 1719.

Fall Stages Hodgepodge

This photo is from the last event that we wore costumes to and it is from this season of life.

Jo From This Side of the Pond has challenged our memories once again for Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1. What are your current priorities in this season of life? Elaborate as much or as little as you like. 

At my stage of life I’m one fall away from a nursing home. My priority is to end life well. I want to keep cooperating with the Holy Spirit in conforming my life to be more like Christ. I want to love Jesus more because my life and my future are all tied up in what He did for me on the Cross. For that I am so grateful. Thankful that I am not spiritually dead anymore because I’ve been born again. I thank God the Father, who has qualified me to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered (rescued) me from the domain of darkness and transferred me to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom I have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:12-14

2. What’s one thing you wish you had more of? 

Retention. Being able to keep what I’ve read and or heard or studied in my memory bank.

3. Do you celebrate Halloween? If so, what are your Halloween traditions? Any special plans for Halloween this year? 

Some of our family in their costumes.

The only Halloween tradition that we have kept in the past was handing out candy to trick or treaters. I say in the past because here in our country setting we do not get any random trick or treaters. We do enjoy our grands being  driven over to show us their costumes and us treating them. That is the only plan this year, to have a treat ready for our Grands when they drop by.

4. Last thing you ate that contained chocolate? Last thing you made that called for chocolate? 

How is this for a complete Chocolate experience. On our Scotland trip we stopped at Highland Chocolatier and enjoyed some amazing world famous chocolate. I wrote about the experience here.

I haven’t made anything lately that has called for chocolate.

5. Do you prefer laid back weekends or do you like to have a lot of plans? Thinking back to this past weekend… which was it? 

I prefer laid back weekends with a touch of accomplishment. I don’t like to get to Monday morning wondering why I didn’t accomplish anything. Rest is important but laziness is not necessarily rest. This last weekend we attended our granddaughter’s basketball game in town on Saturday and then we had lunch out. Sunday, as usual, we attended our services at church and in the afternoon we had our ‘connection group’ and then had a quiet evening. That was the ideal amount of activity for me.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

We are enjoying Fall and enjoying getting photos of our Grands enjoying Fall to the fullest!

And this is one of my favorite Fall photos of their Father’s property before he had any inkling he’d have a beautiful wife and two children of his own.

Truth for Today #118

Thursday October 10th

On Thursdays my posts will include verses that stood out in my readings from the Bible during week. One, two, three or maybe more. If you have a verse/verses that you read during the week and would like to share, leave it/them in the comments and I will add it/them to the post. Let’s dig deep in God’s Truth again this year!

The verses that you share are appreciated and so encouraging, I’m thankful for them and for each of you! 

I’ll be late in posting your verses you share this week because I’m having laser surgery at noon in Spokane to correct some blurriness in my eyes. Here’s hoping there is improvement. 🙂 

Romans 12:9-13

9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit,[g] serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

From Maria:

Psalm 117:1-2

Praise the Lord, all you nations;

extol him, all you peoples.

For great is his love towards us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

From Vera:

“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭91‬:‭14‬-‭16‬ ‭ESV‬‬

For All the Saints ~ Hymn

For All the Saints

For all the saints,
Who from their la­bors rest,
Who Thee by faith
Before the world con­fessed,
Thy name, O Je­sus,
Be for­ev­er blessed.
Alleluia, Al­le­lu­ia!

Thou wast their rock,
Their fort­ress and their might;
Thou, Lord, their cap­tain
In the well fought fight;
Thou, in the dark­ness drear,
Their one true Light.
Alleluia, Al­le­lu­ia!

For the apos­tles’
Glorious com­pa­ny,
Who bear­ing forth
The cross o’er land and sea,
Shook all the migh­ty
World, we sing to Thee:
Alleluia, Al­le­lu­ia!

For the ev­an­gel­ists,
By whose blest word,
Like four­fold streams,
The gar­den of the Lord,
Is fair and fruit­ful,
Be Thy name ad­ored.
Alleluia, Al­le­lu­ia!

For mar­tyrs, who
With rap­ture kin­dled eye,
Saw the bright crown
Descending from the sky,
And see­ing, grasped it,
Thee we glo­ri­fy.
Alleluia, Al­le­lu­ia!

O blest com­mun­ion,
Fellowship di­vine!
We feeb­ly strug­gle,
They in glo­ry shine;
All are one in Thee,
For all are Thine.
Alleluia, Al­le­lu­ia!

O may Thy sol­diers,
Faithful, true and bold,
Fight as the saints
Who nob­ly fought of old,
And win with them
The vic­tor’s crown of gold.
Alleluia, Al­le­lu­ia!

And when the strife
Is fierce, the war­fare long,
Steals on the ear
The dist­ant tri­umph song,
And hearts are brave,
Again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia, Al­le­lu­ia!

The gold­en ev­en­ing
Brightens in the west;
Soon, soon to faith­ful
Warriors comes their rest;
Sweet is the calm
Of pa­ra­dise the blessed.
Alleluia, Al­le­lu­ia!

But lo! there breaks
A yet more glo­ri­ous day;
The saints tri­um­phant
Rise in bright ar­ray;
The King of glo­ry
Passes on His way.
Alleluia, Al­le­lu­ia!

From earth’s wide bounds,
From ocean’s far­thest coast,
Through gates of pearl
Streams in the count­less host,
And sing­ing to Fa­ther,
Son and Ho­ly Ghost:
Alleluia, Al­le­lu­ia!

Words: William W. How, 1864.

Communion Hymn

Communion Hymn

Amidst us our Beloved stands,
And bid us view His pierced hands;
Points to His wounded feet and side,
Blest emblems of the Crucified.

What food luxurious loads the board,
When at His table sits the Lord!
The wine how rich, the bread how sweet,
When Jesus deigns the guests to meet!

If now with eyes defiled and dim,
We see the signs but see not Him,
Oh, may His love the scales displace,
And bid us see Him face to face!

Our former transports we recount,
When with Him in the holy mount,
These cause our souls to thirst anew,
His marr’d but lovely face to view.

Thou glorious Bridegroom of our hearts,
Thy present smile a heaven imparts
Oh, lift the veil, if veil there be,
Let every saint Thy beauties see!

Words: C.H. Spurgeon

Church of God, Beloved and Chosen ~ Hymn

Church of God, Beloved and Chosen

Church of God, be­loved and chos­en,
Church of God, for whom He died,
Claim thy gifts, and praise the Giv­er,
Ye are washed and sanc­ti­fied—
Sanctified by God the Fa­ther,
And by Je­sus Christ His Son,
And by God the Ho­ly Spir­it,
Holy, ho­ly, Three in One.

By His will He sanc­ti­fi­eth,
By the Spir­it’s pow­er with­in;
By the lov­ing hand that chast­en­eth
Fruits of right­eous­ness to win;
By His truth and by His pro­mise;
By the Word, His gift un­priced;
By His own blood, and by un­ion
With the ris­en life of Christ.

Holiness by faith in Je­sus,
Not by ef­fort of thine own,
Sin’s do­min­ion crushed and brok­en,
By the pow­er of grace alone;
God’s own ho­li­ness with­in Thee,
His own beau­ty on Thy brow;
This shall be thy pil­grim bright­ness,
This thy bless­èd por­tion now.

He will sanc­ti­fy thee whol­ly;
Body, spir­it, soul shall be
Blameless til thy Sav­ior’s com­ing,
In His glo­ri­ous ma­jes­ty.
He hath per­fect­ed for ev­er
Those whom He hath sanc­ti­fied;
Spotless, glo­ri­ous, and ho­ly,
Is the Church, His chos­en bride.

Words: Francis Havergal, 1873.

Truth for Today #115

Thursday August 29th

On Thursdays my posts will include verses that stood out in my readings from the Bible during week. One, two, three or maybe more. If you have a verse/verses that you read during the week and would like to share, leave it/them in the comments and I will add it/them to the post. Let’s dig deep in God’s Truth again this year!

The verses that you share are appreciated and so encouraging, I’m thankful for them and for each of you! 

1 John 2:15-17

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world–the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life–is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

From Vera:

“For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of Lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the Lord your God. You shall serve him and hold fast to him, and by his name you shall swear. He is your praise. He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen.”
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭10‬:‭17‬-‭21‬ ‭ESV‬‬

From Karen:

Psalm 124:8

Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.