Category Archives: Holy Spirit

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

Truth for Today #127

Thursday January 16th

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! 

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgement, with every secret thing whether good or evil.

Proverbs 16:6

By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for, And by the fear of the LORD one keeps away from evil.

1 Corinthians 10:31

Whether, then, you eat or you drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

From Vera:

“But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭43‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

From Diana:

Psalm 41:13.

Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, From everlasting to everlasting.

Amen and Amen.

From Karen:

Isaiah 1:18

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Truth for Today #126

Thursday January 9th

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! 

Romans 15:33

May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

Isaiah 9:6

For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
    and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Philippians 4:7

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

From Cathy:

Genesis 8:1A “But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and livestock with him in the boat.”

And I know He always remembers us too, which is very comforting to me.

From Vera:

“After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.””
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭15‬:‭1‬ ‭

From Dianna:

“By day, God will command His lovingkindness;

And by night, His song will be with me,

A prayer to the God of my life.”

Psalm 42:8

From Karen:

Genesis 1:31  And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

We Three Kings ~ Hymn

We Three Kings

We three kings of Or­ient are;
Bearing gifts we tra­verse afar,
Field and fount­ain, moor and mount­ain,
Following yon­der star.

Refrain

O star of won­der, star of light,
Star with roy­al beau­ty bright,
Westward lead­ing, still pro­ceed­ing,
Guide us to thy per­fect light.

Born a king on Beth­le­hem’s plain
Gold I bring to crown Him again,
King for­ev­er, ceas­ing ne­ver,
Over us all to reign.

Refrain

Frankincense to of­fer have I;
Incense owns a de­ity nigh;
Prayer and prais­ing, voic­es rais­ing,
Worshiping God on high.

Refrain

Myrrh is mine, its bit­ter per­fume
Breathes a life of ga­ther­ing gloom;
Sorrowing, sigh­ing, bleed­ing, dy­ing,
Sealed in the stone cold tomb.

Refrain

Glorious now beh­old Him arise;
King and God and sac­ri­fice;
Alleluia, Al­le­lu­ia,
Sounds through the earth and skies.

O star of won­der, star of light,
Star with roy­al beau­ty bright,
Westward lead­ing, still pro­ceed­ing,
Guide us to thy per­fect light.

 

Love Divine, All Loves Excelling ~ Hymn

Love Divine, All Loves Excelling

Love di­vine, all loves ex­cel­ling,
Joy of Heav’n to earth come down;
Fix in us thy hum­ble dwell­ing;
All thy faith­ful mer­cies crown!
Jesus, Thou art all com­pas­sion,
Pure un­bound­ed love Thou art;
Visit us with Thy sal­va­tion;
Enter ev­ery trem­bling heart.

Breathe, O breathe Thy lov­ing Spir­it,
Into ev­ery trou­bled breast!
Let us all in Thee in­her­it;
Let us find that se­cond rest.
Take away our bent to sin­ning;
Alpha and Ome­ga be;
End of faith, as its be­gin­ning,
Set our hearts at li­ber­ty.

Come, Al­migh­ty to de­liv­er,
Let us all Thy life re­ceive;
Suddenly re­turn and ne­ver,
Never more Thy tem­ples leave.
Thee we would be al­ways bless­ing,
Serve Thee as Thy hosts above,
Pray and praise Thee with­out ceas­ing,
Glory in Thy per­fect love.

Finish, then, Thy new cre­ation;
Pure and spot­less let us be.
Let us see Thy great sal­va­tion
Perfectly re­stored in Thee;
Changed from glo­ry in­to glo­ry,
Till in Heav’n we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns be­fore Thee,
Lost in won­der, love, and praise.

Words: Charles Wesley, 1747.

Looking back at Christmas Preparations

On Monday afternoon Jamie and the Grands came over to do a little baking. I remembered to take a few photos.

First up was making our mom’s Roolyet, Russian nut roll.

Icing cookies and adding sprinkles was next on the agenda. We also made Russian Tea Cookies that look like snowballs.

I got some help with this puzzle while they were here and I had to finish it up on Christmas Eve since I wanted to set the table for Christmas dinner.

On Christmas Eve the table was set early for our Christmas dinner. On Christmas day our west side kids were driving over the mountains and through the valleys to meet up with our Colville kids and us for dinner and stockings.

Stockings were all hung and ready for Santa. He has to be creative to since we don’t have a fireplace.

We’ve enjoyed hearing from friends and family near and far!

Christmas Eve we attended the candlelight service at our church and had a quiet evening with our feet up anticipating lots of standing and prepping of the Christmas meal on Christmas Day.

It’s always a joy when we see the two cars from the west pull into our driveway along with the car from just 8 miles away in the East.

Hope your Christmas was filled with the wonderful reality of the Incarnation and the wonder of God becoming Man and being with us.

Happy Boxing Day!

Merry Christmas Day 2024

Child in the Manger

1 Child in the manger,
infant of Mary;
outcast and stranger,
Lord of all;
Child who inherits
all our transgressions,
all our demerits
on Him fall.

2 Once the most holy
Child of salvation
gently and lowly
lived below;
now as our glorious
mighty Redeemer,
see Him victorious
o’er each foe.

3 Prophets foretold Him,
infant of wonder;
angels behold Him
on His throne;
worthy our Savior
of all our praises;
happy forever
are His own.

Mary MacDougal MacDonald United Kingdom 1789-1872. Born at Ardtun, daughter of a farmer and Baptist cleric, Duncan MacDougal, northeast of Bunessan on the Ross of Mull, she was a Gaelic poet who lived at Cancan, Bunessan on Mull, Scotland. She never spoke English. She married Neil MacDonald and settled into a life as a crofter’s wife. While at her spinning wheel she passed time by singing hymns and poems, some of her own composition. She was a devout Baptist. Some of her hymns reached beyond her locality. The tune of her best known hymn (same tune as hymn: “Morning has broken”) was an old Scottish melody she attached to her lyrics that helped popularize the hymn, translated from the Gaelic in 1888 by Lachlan McBean of Scotland

Merry Christmas to all. I hope you are His own!

Seeking for Me ~ Hymn

Seeking for Me

Jesus, my Sav­ior, to Beth­le­hem came,
Laid in a man­ger to sor­row and shame;
Oh, it was won­der­ful, blest be His name,
Seeking for me, for me:
Seeking for me, seek­ing for me,
Seeking for me, seek­ing for me,
Oh, it was won­der­ful, blest be His name,
Seeking for me, for me.

Jesus, my Sav­ior, on Cal­va­ry’s tree,
Paid the great debt and my soul He set free;
Oh, it was won­der­ful—how could it be?
Dying for me, for me!
Dying for me, dy­ing for me,
Dying for me, dy­ing for me,
Oh, it was won­der­ful—how could it be?
Dying for me, for me.

Jesus, my Sav­ior, in mer­cy and love,
Came from the man­sions of Hea­ven above,
Tenderly plead­ing with sin­ners like me,
Pleading for me, for me:
Pleading for me, plead­ing for me,
Pleading for me, plead­ing for me,
Tenderly plead­ing for sin­ners like me,
Pleading for me, for me.

Jesus, my Sav­ior, the same as of old,
While I did wan­der afar from the fold,
Gently and long He hath pled with my soul,
Calling for me, for me:
Calling for me, call­ing for me,
Calling for me, call­ing for me,
Gently and long He hath pled with my soul,
Calling for me, for me.

Jesus, my Sav­ior, will come from on high,
Sweet is the pro­mise as wea­ry years fly;
Oh, I shall see Him des­cend­ing the sky,
Coming for me, for me:
Coming for me, com­ing for me,
Coming for me, com­ing for me,
Oh, I shall see Him des­cend­ing the sky,
Coming for me, for me.

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!