A Debtor to Mercy Alone ~ Hymn

A Debtor to Mercy Alone

A debtor to mercy alone,
Of covenant mercy I sing;
Nor fear, with Thy righteousness on,
My person and offering to bring.
The terrors of law and of God
With me can have nothing to do;
My Savior’s obedience and blood
Hide all my transgressions from view.

The work which His goodness began,
The arm of His strength will complete;
His promise is Yea and Amen,
And never was forfeited yet.
Things future, nor things that are now,
Nor all things below or above,
Can make Him His purpose forgo,
Or sever my soul from His love.

My name from the palms of His hands
Eternity will not erase;
Impressed on His heart it remains,
In marks of indelible grace.
Yes, I to the end shall endure,
As sure as the earnest is giv’n;
More happy, but not more secure,
The glorified spirits in Heav’n.

Words: Augustus M. Toplady, 1771.

A Celtic Hodgepodge

“May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow, and may trouble avoid you wherever you go.”
Luckily, Joyce from This Side of the Pond, has a fresh set of questions for us to answer for Wednesday Hodgepodge!
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1. St. Patrick’s Day lands on March 17th. Do you believe in luck? Are there things you do thinking they’ll  bring good luck or  things you avoid because they’re considered bad luck? 
Nyet, nyet, nyet. 🙂
I believe in the sovereignty and providence of God. This is a deep subject.
———
Here is a quote (Daily Doctrine pg. 97, Providence, DeYoung) that sheds some light on this belief;
“If sovereignty is God’s power to do whatever he pleases, providence is the wonderful good news that this power is pro-us. “Providence is the almighty and ever present power of God by which he upholds, as with his hand, heaven and earth and all creatures, and so rules them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty–all things, in fact, come to us not by chance but from the fatherly hand.” Therefore, we can be patient when things go against us, thankful when things go well, and have confidence for the future that nothing will separate us from God’s love (Heidelberg Catechism Q/A 27,28).
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2. Forest-lime-sage-mint-olive-emerald…what’s your favorite shade of green? 
Of these shades sage is my favorites. I really enjoy the combination of pink and green.
Purple/lavender and green is a lovely combo, too.
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3. In Ireland the meal on this day is often a hearty beef or lamb stew served with colcannon (mashed potato mixed with cabbage and leeks). In the US corned beef and cabbage is the more typical St. Patty’s Day meal. Will you/did you mark the day with one of these dishes? Baked-fried-roasted-mashed…what’s your favorite way to eat a potato?

We have enjoyed corned beef and cabbage on this day and other days, too.

 

On Monday, because my creative energy levels are at minus something,  I bought a package deal for a slow cooker corned beef and cabbage meal. I just have to open the package and put all the ingredients in the slow cooker. Everything is washed and ready to go, corned beef, carrots, potatoes and cabbage with a spice packet, too. On Tuesday morning I put all the ingredients in the slow cooker and let it prepare itself. The aroma was wonderful during the day. We enjoyed the meal when it was ready to eat.

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4. What color of the rainbow best represents your personality/mood today? Tell us why. 

I’m going with a lighter answer here after my deep one in question one!

Sisters wknd 076

Yellow is the color I’ll go with, as in daffodils and sunshine. I like to smile and share the light.  Daffodils and sunshine make me smile and tell me Spring is on the way. The photo is of  my sisters in a sea of daffodils, in the glorious sunshine from 2016 in Mount Vernon, Washington State!

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5. Which ‘lucky’ quote resonates with you. Elaborate. 

 ‘Luck is not something you can mention in the presence of self-made men.’ E.B. White 

‘Diligence is the mother of good luck.” Benjamin Franklin 

‘Luck is where opportunity meets preparation.’ Seneca 

‘Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.’ Ralph Waldo Emerson 
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I’ll go with ‘Luck is where opportunity meets preparation.
We are just back from 16 days abroad and many good things culminated in the research that we made before we landed in all the places we visited. The preparation made the opportunities more meaningful and enjoyable.
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6. Insert your own random thought here. 

An Old Celtic Blessing

May the blessing of light be on you –
light without and light within.
May the blessed sunlight shine on you
and warm your heart
till it glows like a great peat fire.

IMGP7563

I Believe in God the Father ~ Hymn

 

I Believe in God the Father

I believe in God the Fa­ther,
Who cre­at­ed Heav’n and earth;
Made the stars to shine so bright­ly,
Gave each liv­ing thing its birth.
I be­lieve in God the Fa­ther,
And in Je­sus Christ His Son,
Who was cru­ci­fied on Cal­v’ry
For the sins that all have done.

I be­lieve He died, was bur­ied,
Rose again, no more to die;
And as­cend­ing to His Fa­ther,
Took His seat with Him on high.
I be­lieve in God the Spir­it,
Sent to us from Heav’n above,
And the Church our bless­èd Sav­ior
Hath re­deemed by His great love.

I be­lieve in His for­give­ness,
And His won­drous pow­er to save;
In a glo­ri­ous re­sur­rect­ion,
And a life be­yond the grave.
I be­lieve in God the Fa­ther,
I be­lieve in God the Son,
And in God the Ho­ly Spir­it,
Everlasting Three in One.

Words: Fanny Crosby, 1892.

The Promised Land ~ Hymn

The Promised Land

Far from these narrow scenes of night
Unbounded glories rise,
And realms of infinite delight
Unknown to mortal eyes.

Far distant land—could mortal eyes
But half its joys explore,
How would our spirits long to rise,
And dwell on earth no more!

There pain and sickness never come,
And grief no more complains!
Health triumphs in immortal bloom,
And endless pleasure reigns!

From discord free and war’s alarms,
And want and pining care,
Plenty and peace unite their charms,
And smile unchanging there.

There rich varieties of joy,
Continual feast the mind;
Pleasures which fill, but never cloy,
Immortal and refined!

No factious strife, no envy there,
The sons of peace molest,
But harmony and love sincere,
Fill every happy breast.

No cloud those blissful regions know,
For ever bright and fair!
For sin, the source of mortal woe,
Can never enter there.

There no alternate night is known,
Nor sun’s faint sickly ray;
But glory from the sacred throne
Spreads everlasting day.

That glorious Monarch there displays
His beams of wondrous grace;
His happy subjects sing His praise,
And bow before His face.

O may the heavenly prospect fire
Our hearts with ardent love,
Till wings of faith and strong desire
Bear every thought above.

Prepare us, Lord, by grace divine,
For Thy bright courts on high;
Then bid our spirits rise and join
The chorus of the sky.

Words: Anne Steele, 1760.

Before Thy Mercy Seat, O Lord ~ Hymn

Before Thy Mercy Seat, O Lord

Before Thy mer­cy seat, O Lord,
Behold, Thy serv­ants stand,
To ask the know­ledge of Thy Word,
The guid­ance of Thy hand.

Let Thy eter­nal truths, we pray,
Dwell rich­ly in each heart;
That from the safe and nar­row way
We nev­er may de­part.

Lord, from Thy Word re­move the seal,
Unfold its hid­den store,
And as we read, teach us to feel
Its val­ue more and more.

Help us to see a Sav­ior’s love
Shine forth from ev­ery page,
And let the thoughts of joys ab­ove
Our in­most souls en­gage.

Thus, while Thy Word our foot­steps guides,
Shall we be tru­ly blest,
And soon ar­rive where love pro­vides
An ev­er­last­ing rest.

Words: William H. Bathurst, 1841.

Thank you, LORD.

Some of the women at our church are going through a Bible Study book on Heaven. This was one of the exercises in Session two that I wanted to be able to access on my blog. We looked at the following Scriptures to identify the path to the Father. We rephrased each verse using first-person pronouns. It was a good exercise for me.

The Scripture references in order are; Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8, John 3:18, John 3:16, Romans 5:8, Acts 4:12 and Romans 10:9-10.

I have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The wages for my sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus my Lord. By grace I have been saved through faith that is not my own-it is a gift of God. If I believe in Him I am not condemned but if I do not believe in the name of the only Son of God I am condemned already. For God so loved me that He gave his only Son that if I believe in Him I will not perish but have eternal life. God showed his love for me in that while I was still a sinner Christ died for me. There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to me by which I must be saved. If I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead, I will be saved. With my heart I believe and am justified and with my mouth I confess and am saved.

Thank you, LORD!

 

Jesus, Thy Church With Longing Eyes ~ Hymn

Jesus, Thy Church With Longing Eyes

Jesus, Thy church with long­ing eyes
For Thine ex­pect­ed com­ing waits:
When will the pro­mised Light arise,
And glo­ry beam from Zi­on’s gates?

E’en now, when tem­pests round us fall,
And win­try clouds o’er­cast the sky,
Thy words with plea­sure we recall,
And deem that our re­demp­tion’s nigh.

Come, gra­cious Lord, our hearts re­new,
Our foes re­pel, our wrongs re­dress,
Man’s root­ed en­mi­ty sub­due,
And crown Thy Gos­pel with suc­cess.

O come, and reign o’er ev­ery land;
Let Sa­tan from his throne be hurled;
Let na­tions bow to Thy com­mand,
And grace re­vive a dy­ing world.

Yes, Thou wilt speed­ily ap­pear;
The smit­ten earth al­rea­dy reels;
And not far off we seem to hear
The thun­der of Thy cha­ri­ot wheels.

Teach us, in watch­ful­ness and pray­er,
To wait for the ap­point­ed hour,
And fit us for Thy grace to share
The tri­umph of Thy con­quer­ing pow­er.

Words: William H. Bathurst, 1831.

Truth for Today #181

Friday February 20th

On Fridays my posts will include verses that stood out in my readings from the Bible during the 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 continue to dig deep into God’s truth.

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

Announcement: Please be aware that Truth for Today posts will be on a break until sometime at the end of March. 

2 Chronicles 14:11

And Asa cried to the LORD his God, “O LORD, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O LORD, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.”

2 Chronicles 16:9

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.

From Vera:

“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?” ‭‭

Psalm‬ ‭56‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭ESV‬

From Maristella:

Do not lose hope in times of trouble, for God is working in the unseen. His hand is steady, and His timing is perfect in bringing good out of difficulty.

Isaiah 43:19.

From Dianna:

“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
In the city of our God, His holy mountain.
Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth,
Is Mount Zion in the far north,
The city of the great King.
God, in her palaces,
Has made Himself known as a stronghold.””

Psalm 48:1-3

From Cheryl:

. . . how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him . . . ”

Hebrews 2:3

 

Wide O’er Earth’s Remotest Border ~ Hymn

 

Wide O’er Earth’s Remotest Border

Wide o’er earth’s re­mot­est bor­der
Long had mid­night dark­ness dwelt,
Darkness, par­ent of dis­or­der,
Darkness, such as might be felt.

But the Lord of life des­cend­ing
From His man­sion in the skies,
Peace and joy His steps at­tend­ing,
Bids a glo­ri­ous light arise.

Jesus comes; in si­lent won­der
Nations hail the new-born light,
While He rends the veil asun­der
Which con­cealed Him from their sight.

Now the prince of dark­ness trembles,
For his reign is near its end;
All his forces he as­sem­bles
His frail em­pire to de­fend.

Vain at­tempt! the word is spok­en,
Christ shall reign on ev­ery shore;
Soon shall Sa­tan’s rod be brok­en,
Sin and dark­ness be no more.

Words: William H. Bathurst, 1831.

Truth for Today #180

Friday February 13th

On Fridays my posts will include verses that stood out in my readings from the Bible during the 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 continue to dig deep into God’s truth.

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

1 John 3:1-3

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

From Vera:

“But I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no savior.”

‭‭Hosea‬ ‭13‬:‭4‬ ‭ESV‬‬

From Barbara:

“….. besides me there is no savior.” Hosea 13:4 Truer words cannot be said. How thankful I am for my redemption through Jesus Christ!

From Karen:

Psalm 118:24

This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.