"I thank God for all the strokes with which I was driven from darkness unto
light. It is better that we arrive beaten and bleeding at our glorious goal than
that we decay happily and contented in darkness. As long as things were right
with us, we did not know anything of God and the salvation of our souls."

- Abraham Poljak
A Jew who survived and escaped the brutality of Nazi Germany

Purpose to Praise

Snowflakes swirl down to kiss the ground below, leaving a frosted carpet of white. My eyes fluttered open this morning to peer through the crack of my window, and I let out a gasp to see snow drifting on the rooftop. The world looked like an inverted snowglobe, feathery flakes spinning softly through the air.

On days like these the heart beats the pulse of praise. A day of first snowfall, no school with Thanksgiving break, sleeping in, time at one's leisure . . .

A brother coming home, kitchen all a-bustle, friends coming to stay, family to gather . . .

Time to read, sip tea, watch a movie, soft yarn in one's hands, toasting in the warmth of a crackling fire . . .

It brings the spring in the step, puts a song in the heart, praise on my lips.

:: :: ::

Why can't all my days be like this? Or . . . can they? Can I sing praise on the bad days, too?

I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; May my meditation
be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the LORD.

Psalm 104:33-34

This verse immediately reminded me of Joni Erickson Tada. Despite her increased trial of battling cancer on top of paralysis, she continues to sing praises to her Lord and King. When listening to a Revive Our Hearts podcast the other day, I was challenged at how she could easily break out into song in the midst of her hardship. Her attitude is God-given, an attitude each of us should pray and long for: the heart of praise no matter where we stand.

:: :: ::

In good times and in bad times may my heart and mouth be faithful to declare your greatness. Let me not become muddled with faithless thoughts. Turn my heart to see your Light--your glory--in every place you ordain. By your grace enable my heart to purpose to praise you every day, whatever the circumstance. Let me praise you as long as I live.

Let Us Praise

Thanksgiving season serves as a reminder to turn our hearts in praise toward God. However, should we not have this attitude every day?

:: :: ::

Nancy Leigh DeMoss gives 9 reasons to praise God in her Seeking Him devotional:

1. God loves praise and is looking for worshipers.
2. Praise is the primary occupation of heaven. We’ll do it for eternity.
3. God commands us to praise Him.
4. He deserves our worship and praise.
5. We were created to bring Him pleasure and praise Him.
6. Praise takes us into His presence.
7. Praise is a cure for spiritual dryness.
8. It defeats Satan.
9. Praise sets us free from spiritual bondage.

Let's remind ourselves to turn our gaze to the one who deserves true praise every day. How can I praise Him today?

:: :: ::

Word for Today

Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.

Psalm 55:7

Not Mine, But Thine

"[One of the marks of Christian maturity which a believer should seek is] an acquiescence in the Lord's will founded in a persuasion of His wisdom, holiness, sovereignty, and goodness. . . . So far as we attain to this, we are secure from disappointment. Our own limited views, and short-sighted purposes and desires, may be, and will be, often over-ruled; but then our main and leading desire, that the will of the Lord may be done, must be accomplished. How highly does it become us, both as creatures and as sinners, to submit to the appointments of our Maker! and how necessary to our peace! This great attainment is too often unthought of, and overlooked; we are prone to fix our attention upon the second causes and immediate instruments of events; forgetting whatever befalls us is for His purpose, and therefore must be right and seasonable in itself, and shall be in the issue be productive of good. From hence arise impatience, resentment, and secret repinings, which are not only sinful, but tormenting; whereas, if all things are in His hand, if the very hairs of our head are numbered; if every event, great and small, is under the direction of His providence and purpose; and if He has a wise, holy, and gracious end in view, to which everything that happens is subordinate and subservient;--then we have nothing to do, but with patience and humility to follow as He leads, and cheerfully to expect a happy issue . . . How happy are they who can resign ALL to Him, see His hand in every dispensation, and believe that for He chooses better for them than they possibly could for themselves!"

-John Newton

Quote from Respectable Sins, by Jerry Bridges

"Shall the Potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its Maker, 'He did not make me'; or the thing formed say of Him who formed it, 'He has no understanding'?

"But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our Potter; we are all the work of your hand."

Isaiah 29:16, 64:8

Do You Need Faith Today?

The same God who was yesterday is still the same today.

In the second part of Helen Roseveare's autobiography entitled He Gave Us A Valley, Roseveare tells of the aftermath of the Simba uprising in the Congo, where she served as a missionary doctor in the 1960s. One chapter discloses the story of a narrow escape provided by God alone.

Another night seventeen wild youths, armed with spears, clubs and crowbars, swarmed into school, demanding our vehicle, the keys and the driver. After much haggling, I was eventually forced to drive them to Wamba, 70 miles east, in darkness and rain with no lights or windscreen wipers. Two miles up the road we pulled in at a plantation factory, to ask for petrol and motor-oil. When a local mechanic brought these, he was then asked to repair the lights and self-starter. I meanwhile stood alone in the dark, conscious that death was very near. I had earlier deliberately disconnected lights, starter and wipers, an act that, when discovered, would be considered blatant sabotage and worthy of instant death. At that moment, I became conscious that I was not alone. Turning my head, I found John once again standing beside me, and Joel, a first year student, with him.

The lights shone out. Shortly afterwards the engine revved up. In a moment of startled silence as the engine cut out, the rebel lieutenant asked if it had been an act of sabotage. 'Assuredly', the mechanic replied: and seventeen enraged youths turned on the three of us, now clearly visible in the full glare of the headlights. The three of us tensed to the assault, expecting to be instantly in the Lord's presence, when, suddenly, all seventeen were checked, poised in full charge, unable to move a muscle. God had stepped in. It was as though we were surrounded by an invisible barrier of heavenly glory, which blinded our assailants as the midday sun might have done.

'God on! Kill us--it doesn't matter. We shall go to be with Jesus which is far better. But one day, God will demand our blood at your hands.'

Suddenly, inexplicably, as though they had forgotten our existence, they swung round, loosed from the grip of the paralyzing power. Laughing and jeering they piled into the van, forcing the mechanic to drive them away into the night.

And the three of us were left there in the dark and the rain, alone and cold, but alive. As we walked home in awestruck silence, my heart was deeply moved that these two had stood by me, ready to die if need be, rather than let me face the ordeal alone.

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and delivers them.

Psalm 34:7

Resource:

Roseveare, Dr. Helen. He Gave Us A Valley. 2nd ed. Scotland, UK: Christian Focus Publications, 2006. 23-24.

He Does It

Over the last week or two I have been perusing a book entitled Give Me This Mountain, by Dr. Helen Roseveare. This sister in Christ served as a missionary in Africa, where she later suffered severe trials. Perhaps at a later date I will write more about her journey as I continue to read the story God fashioned for her life.

However, while reading of the basis of her testimony and the early stages of her faith in Christ, I found it encouraging to know even the most solid, enviable heroes of the faith undergo times of uncertainty--times when they seek assurance in faith. Roseveare struggled following the first years of her conversion, stating, "I made myself almost ill through my preoccupation with my own holiness or rather lack of it!" (Roseveare, 57). She adds,

"As has often been said, a carrot cannot grow if it is continually dug up to see how it is getting on. Nervous individuals can make themselves chronically ill by taking their temperature four times a day and noting each little rise and fall. Likewise, persistent introspection can work one up into a highly tense state of spiritual sickness" (Roseveare, 57).

Reading these words made me heave a sigh of relief. To know there
is no formula for spirituality . . . for it all does not depend on ME.
Trusting in God to complete His work delivers a feeling of peace to one's soul.

"Of course, I can never be holy!" Roseveare adds. "How simple, when one realizes that the Lord knows me as I am in all my weaknesses, loves me, and waits to impart Himself, His own holiness, His life, living in me" (Roseveare, 58).

HE does it.

And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6