Pain's furnace heat within me quivers, God's breath upon the flame doth blow; And all my heart in anguish shivers And trembles at the fiery glow; And yet I whisper, "As God will!" And in the hottest fire hold still.
He comes and lays my heart, all heated, On the hard anvil, minded so Into His own fair shape to beat it With His great hammer, blow on blow; And yet I whisper, "As God will!" And at His heaviest blows hold still.
He takes my softened heart and beats it; The sparks fly off at every blow; He turns it o'er and o'er and heats it, And lets it cool, and makes it glow; And yet I whisper, "As God will!" And in His mighty hand hold still.
Why should I murmur? for the sorrow Thus only longer-lived would be; The end may come, and will tomorrow, When God has done His work in me; So I say trusting, "As God will!" And, trusting to the end, hold still. --Julius Sturm
1.13.2012
1.11.2012
1.10.2012
Through Prayer!
Transcribed excerpts from the sermon "Voices" by Rev. Lee Stoneking
"And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." Matthew 21:22
"I am convinced, thoroughly convinced, that through prayer there is no problem that can't be solved. There is no sickness that can't be healed. There is no burden that can't be lifted. There is no storm that can't be weathered. There is no motive that can't be uncovered. There is no devastation that can't be relieved. There is no sorrow that can't be erased. There is no poverty cycle that cannot be broken. There is no sinner that can't be saved. There is no perishing that can't be rescued. There is no fallen that can't be lifted. There is no hurt that cannot be removed. There is no difference that cannot be dissolved. There is no hindrance that can't be shaken. There is no limitation that cannot be assaulted.
There is no mourning that cannot be comforted. There are no ashes that cannot become beauty. There is no heaviness that can't be covered with the garment of praise. There is no thirst that can't be quenched. There is no hunger that can't be filled. There is no dry ground that can't be flooded. There is no desert that can't blossom. There is no congregation that can't be revived. There is no preacher that can't be unctionized. There are no church pews that can't be filled. There is no church board that cannot become one. There is no community that can't be Christianized. There is no nation that cannot be transfigured.
There is nothing, there is nothing, there is nothing, there is nothing, that God cannot do by prayer. If we will pray, we can change anything because inside of us there is a power that reaches out to God and never returns empty. It's like a hand; it's like a hand; it's like a voice ...You can throw your hands in the air; you can lift your voice to God and He will answer by fire!...But in spite of all I have just recited for you, you have to somewhere decide, on an individual basis, how much of Jesus you want? And how much of yourself you are willing to give? Your entire future in God depends on the answers that you give to those two questions. How much of Jesus do I really want? How much of myself am I willing to give?
"And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." Matthew 21:22
"I am convinced, thoroughly convinced, that through prayer there is no problem that can't be solved. There is no sickness that can't be healed. There is no burden that can't be lifted. There is no storm that can't be weathered. There is no motive that can't be uncovered. There is no devastation that can't be relieved. There is no sorrow that can't be erased. There is no poverty cycle that cannot be broken. There is no sinner that can't be saved. There is no perishing that can't be rescued. There is no fallen that can't be lifted. There is no hurt that cannot be removed. There is no difference that cannot be dissolved. There is no hindrance that can't be shaken. There is no limitation that cannot be assaulted.
There is no mourning that cannot be comforted. There are no ashes that cannot become beauty. There is no heaviness that can't be covered with the garment of praise. There is no thirst that can't be quenched. There is no hunger that can't be filled. There is no dry ground that can't be flooded. There is no desert that can't blossom. There is no congregation that can't be revived. There is no preacher that can't be unctionized. There are no church pews that can't be filled. There is no church board that cannot become one. There is no community that can't be Christianized. There is no nation that cannot be transfigured.
There is nothing, there is nothing, there is nothing, there is nothing, that God cannot do by prayer. If we will pray, we can change anything because inside of us there is a power that reaches out to God and never returns empty. It's like a hand; it's like a hand; it's like a voice ...You can throw your hands in the air; you can lift your voice to God and He will answer by fire!...But in spite of all I have just recited for you, you have to somewhere decide, on an individual basis, how much of Jesus you want? And how much of yourself you are willing to give? Your entire future in God depends on the answers that you give to those two questions. How much of Jesus do I really want? How much of myself am I willing to give?
Pray Against--
I was incredibly stirred by an email I recieved from World Network of Prayer this evening-- The following list was extremely applicable for my own life and will probably be for yours as well!
Take a few minutes to ask for God to protect his people and foil the enemy's hindering tactics:
1. Physical and mental distractions
2. Feelings of heaviness or tiredness
3. Feelings of hopelessness
4. Accusations that you're not worthy to pray
5. Misleading satanic opportunities
6. A sense of panic
7. Self centered or selfish thoughts
8. Interruptions
9. Bombardment of thoughts
10. Worry and lack of trust
11. Opposition to godly Pastoral authority
-John Hanson
Take a few minutes to ask for God to protect his people and foil the enemy's hindering tactics:
1. Physical and mental distractions
2. Feelings of heaviness or tiredness
3. Feelings of hopelessness
4. Accusations that you're not worthy to pray
5. Misleading satanic opportunities
6. A sense of panic
7. Self centered or selfish thoughts
8. Interruptions
9. Bombardment of thoughts
10. Worry and lack of trust
11. Opposition to godly Pastoral authority
-John Hanson
If you want to see true motives, true intentions, true levels of character and true committment, fast and pray. It NEVER fails to bring all the dirt to the surface. Despite deep spiritual attack, I am blessed to be part of the deepest move of God I have yet to see in our church. Thankful God exposes sin, saves the sinner, reaches the hungry heart and protects His annointed.
1.09.2012
What Are You Doing With Your Pain?
A deeper look into the life of Chicago lawyer, Horatio Spafford, gives us his heartbreaking interlude with loss. This man bravely penned the beloved hymn It Is Well after enduring the loss of his young family in a tragic accident.
I have forever been intrigued with this story, simply for the huge amount of submission to God's sovereignty it requires. The painful, dark place he found himself in was an oppurtunity for further pain...or an oppurtunity to heal. He choose, with God's help, to heal.
Have you ever prayed for God's will, then secretly expected your own plan to happen? I can answer yes, a million times!
I'm learning that my will and plans pale in comparision to His. So the most important thing I can do is allow my heart to get so lost in His that I can do nothing but WANT His perfect will. I must not react in hatred, vengence or worry. Unforgiveness cannot reign over forgiveness. Though it never comes easily, and at times I lack understanding, healing CAN come. Healing comes ONLY thru Jesus, nothing else can satisfy that part of my heart.
Even at the point of your life-altering loss or pain, you can go to a quiet place and pen the words It Is Well!
I am going to do something good... for Jesus... with my pain. I hope that is what you choose, too.
It Is Well
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
The elder Norman Paslay I used to say, "The Will of God, at any cost."
"Is it well with thee?... And she answered, It is well." -2 Ki. 4:26
"Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul." -Psa. 146:1
I have forever been intrigued with this story, simply for the huge amount of submission to God's sovereignty it requires. The painful, dark place he found himself in was an oppurtunity for further pain...or an oppurtunity to heal. He choose, with God's help, to heal.
Have you ever prayed for God's will, then secretly expected your own plan to happen? I can answer yes, a million times!
I'm learning that my will and plans pale in comparision to His. So the most important thing I can do is allow my heart to get so lost in His that I can do nothing but WANT His perfect will. I must not react in hatred, vengence or worry. Unforgiveness cannot reign over forgiveness. Though it never comes easily, and at times I lack understanding, healing CAN come. Healing comes ONLY thru Jesus, nothing else can satisfy that part of my heart.
Even at the point of your life-altering loss or pain, you can go to a quiet place and pen the words It Is Well!
I am going to do something good... for Jesus... with my pain. I hope that is what you choose, too.
It Is Well
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
The elder Norman Paslay I used to say, "The Will of God, at any cost."
"Is it well with thee?... And she answered, It is well." -2 Ki. 4:26
"Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul." -Psa. 146:1
1.01.2012
The music began and the bride walked in. No, I take that back. She "tromped" in. White dress (albeit her 4th or 5th marriage, I can't recall), Harley boots, and tatoos covering her bare back. She tripped on her dress multiple times, finally just yanking it up and marching forward in a huff. And she snorted multiple times.
This was the scene from a wedding I recently attended. It was unlike anything I had seen before. Of course, the groom was none the wiser and it is safe to say that in their minds, it was a beautiful day. And no, they won't read my blog. :)
I was reminded of this experience during my recent study of Proverbs 31.
"Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life." Proverbs 31:1-3
The bride represents certain things in our minds. She has grace. She is not thrown together or disheveled. She is beautiful. Her beauty is not only outward though. She represents prayerfulness, faithfulness, sincerity, reliability, confidence, intelliegence, tenderness and passion. Those essential traits that prolong and maintain her ranks in the true league of beauty.
The following is one of my favorite excerpts from The Christian Wife by J. R. Miller and is a masterful description of what we should strive to be:
Commonly, today's bride doesn't represent goodness. In fact, their dependence is weak, indolent helplessness. They lean—but impart no strength. They cling—but they sap the life. They put forth no hand to help. They loll on sofas or promenade the streets; they dream over filthy novels; their homes are in disarray. They are utterly useless—and being useless they become burdens even to manliest, tenderest love. Instead of making a man's life stronger, happier, richer—they absorb his strength, impair his usefulness and hinder his success.
Yet, dependence is beautiful when it does not become weakness and inefficiency. The true wife clings and leans—but she also helps and inspires. Her husband feels the mighty inspiration of her love in all his life. Toil is easier, burdens are lighter, battles are less fierce—because of the face that waits in the quiet of the home, because of the heart that beats in loving sympathy whatever the experience, because of the voice that speaks its words of cheer and encouragement when the day's work is done. No wife knows how much she can do to make her husband honored among men, and his life a power and a success, by her loyal faithfulness, by the active inspiration of her own sweet life!
So when his heart is crushed, beneath her smile it gathers itself again into strength. De Tocqueville wrote of his wife: "You cannot imagine what she is in great trials. Usually so gentle, she then becomes strong and energetic. She watches me without my knowing it; she softens, calms and strengthens me in difficulties which distract me—but leave her serene." An eloquent tribute—but one which thousands of husbands might give. Being a true Christian woman, as the one described in Proverbs 31, is the best thing I could ever devote myself to becoming.
This was the scene from a wedding I recently attended. It was unlike anything I had seen before. Of course, the groom was none the wiser and it is safe to say that in their minds, it was a beautiful day. And no, they won't read my blog. :)
I was reminded of this experience during my recent study of Proverbs 31.
"Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life." Proverbs 31:1-3
The bride represents certain things in our minds. She has grace. She is not thrown together or disheveled. She is beautiful. Her beauty is not only outward though. She represents prayerfulness, faithfulness, sincerity, reliability, confidence, intelliegence, tenderness and passion. Those essential traits that prolong and maintain her ranks in the true league of beauty.
The following is one of my favorite excerpts from The Christian Wife by J. R. Miller and is a masterful description of what we should strive to be:
Commonly, today's bride doesn't represent goodness. In fact, their dependence is weak, indolent helplessness. They lean—but impart no strength. They cling—but they sap the life. They put forth no hand to help. They loll on sofas or promenade the streets; they dream over filthy novels; their homes are in disarray. They are utterly useless—and being useless they become burdens even to manliest, tenderest love. Instead of making a man's life stronger, happier, richer—they absorb his strength, impair his usefulness and hinder his success.
Yet, dependence is beautiful when it does not become weakness and inefficiency. The true wife clings and leans—but she also helps and inspires. Her husband feels the mighty inspiration of her love in all his life. Toil is easier, burdens are lighter, battles are less fierce—because of the face that waits in the quiet of the home, because of the heart that beats in loving sympathy whatever the experience, because of the voice that speaks its words of cheer and encouragement when the day's work is done. No wife knows how much she can do to make her husband honored among men, and his life a power and a success, by her loyal faithfulness, by the active inspiration of her own sweet life!
So when his heart is crushed, beneath her smile it gathers itself again into strength. De Tocqueville wrote of his wife: "You cannot imagine what she is in great trials. Usually so gentle, she then becomes strong and energetic. She watches me without my knowing it; she softens, calms and strengthens me in difficulties which distract me—but leave her serene." An eloquent tribute—but one which thousands of husbands might give. Being a true Christian woman, as the one described in Proverbs 31, is the best thing I could ever devote myself to becoming.
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