I Have Been Redeemed

I would like to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. May the Lord fill your hearts and minds with gratitude. We have much to be thankful for. When asked, we often say, I am thankful for my friends, family, house, and many other things. These things are gifts, and we must be thankful for them. We take so much for granted. So, on this day of Thanksgiving, seek to be thankful for everything, the burnt Turkey, the soggy stuffing, the friends and family you get to share it with. 

The world is full of blessings for which we need to be thankful; however, I would like to speak of a particular blessing for which we must be filled with gratitude. We finite human beings don’t understand. We have had the pleasure of seeing a glimpse of it, but it is beyond all comprehension. No matter how hard we try, we will not even scratch the surface of its depths. Just thinking about it, is enough to make us go mad. It is altogether wonderful and incomprehensible. I speak of “unconditional love,” that while we where yet sinners Christ died for us. We have been redeemed!

In this life, we are angered by those that offend us, treat us poorly, and even reject us. It is enough to steal our joy, our passion, and our love. But, “WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US.” We cannot understand the depths of this love. “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.” [Romans 5:7] We have constantly rejected and scorned Christ. We have left our first love. We have taken up arms against the King of kings. By nature, we hate our God. Yet, yet!, in this state of rebellion, in this state of rejection, it pleased God to bruise His son for us. It please the Lord to die, to make men righteous. 

“He was wounded for our transgression, and by his stripes, we are healed.” “We esteemed stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.” The son of the living God took upon flesh and dwelt among us and obediently died and gave himself for us. This is completely beyond all imagining. We serve a long suffering God. 

So, when you think someone has wronged you, remember from where you have come. When you think of yourself, remember the gift of Jesus Christ. Die to yourself. Anything you are given on this earth, dead family members, a torn up past, a family that doesn’t love you, is much better than you deserve. Anything short of HELL is better than you deserve. Remember, those terrifying yet wonderful words, “While you were yet a sinner, Christ died for you.” 

Read the account of his death. You hung him there with your transgressions, you spat upon him and hit him with the palms of your hands. Tell me, do you experience this? He was rejected by not only his disciples, but most of all, he we rejected by his Heavenly Father. Can you say the same? “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” “The Lord hath appeared of old unto me and said, I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore, with lovingkindness have I drawn you.” Jesus was forsaken, in order to give us the promise that we shall never be forsaken.

Dear reader, be thankful for this gift of love. Be thankful for this offering that satisfied divine justice. What you deserved has been taken away from you, and you have seized upon the inheritance of another. You have been greatly blessed. Be ye humble, and when asked what you are thankful for today, look at the person and solemnly say, “I have been redeemed.” 

What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!

What wondrous love is this, O my soul!

What wondrous love is this

That should cause the Lord of bliss 

To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,

To bear the dreadful curse for my soul!

Soli Deo Gloria

BY THE GRACE OF GOD

     The great and dreadful God that inhabiteth eternity, that formed the earth, that leadeth the host of the stars, who holds all time and all space in His hand. Lord Jehovah, have mercy upon me and be gracious unto me. 
     Today, O Lord, is a day to reflect and consider, a day to ponder and look back. You brought me into this world by Thy power and Thy might. You formed me and fashioned me in my mother's womb. You breathed the breath of life into me, and I became a living soul. O Lord, my sustainer.
Lord, you brought me into this world and gave me a wonderful family. O Lord, I do not deserve Thy mercy. I have been greatly blessed because Jesus Christ was greatly cursed. 
     O Lord, over the many years, days, months, weeks of my life, I have sinned against Thee. I have dishonored Thy name. Each time I have sinned, I have blasphemed Thy Holy name. The years of my life have been years of sin, heartache, and pain, but they have also been years of joy. 
     By Thy hand and by Thine arm, I am sustained. Though I have greatly sinned against Thee, Thy mercy and Thy redemption hath been greater than my sin. O Lord, I live because Thou didst see fit to give me life. I am redeemed because Thou didst see fit to save me. Thy lovingkindness has sustained me. Thy hand hath guided me. O lord, had it not been for Thee, I would not exist. Thou art my life blood and sustainer. To be apart from Thee is death.
     O Lord, what mercies have I met with along my journey. What joy I have felt. O Lord, I praise Thy glorious name. 
     Continue to guide me, O Lord. Continue to lead me. I cannot live apart from Thee. Thou art the health of my countenance and my God. Make me to glorify Thee. Make me to advance Thy kingdom. Make me to live in bondage and service to Thee in the years to come. May I redeem the time, O Lord, for Thee. My precious King, have mercy upon me and lead me to do Thy will. 
     Not my will be done, but Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
    

Sola Deo Gloria

All Creatures of our God and King

All creatures of our God and King

Lift up your voice and with us sing,

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou burning sun with golden beam,

Thou silver moon with softer gleam

O praise Him! O praise Him!

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou rushing wind that art so strong

Ye clouds that sail in Heaven along,

O praise Him! Alleluia!

Thou rising moon, in praise rejoice!

Ye lights of evening, find a voice!

 O praise Him! O praise Him!

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou flowing water, pure and clear,

Make music for thy Lord to hear,

O praise Him! Alleluia!

Thou fire so masterful and bright,

That givest man both warmth and light.

O praise Him! O praise Him!

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Let all things their Creator bless,

And worship Him in humbleness,

O praise Him! Alleluia!

Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son,

And praise the Spirit, Three in One!

O praise Him! O praise Him!

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Sola Deo Gloria

Worth While - Ella Wheeler Wilcox

It is easy enough to be pleasant, 

When life flows by like a song,

But the man worth while is one who will smile 

When everything goes dead wrong.

For the test of the heart is trouble 

And it always comes with the years,

And the smile that is worth the praises of earth.

Is the smile that shines through tears.

It is easy enough to be prudent,

When nothing tempts you to stray,

When without or within no voice of sin

Is luring your soul away;

But it's only a negative virtue 

Until it is tried by fire,

And the life that is worth the honor on earth,

Is the one that resists desire.

By the cynic the sad, the fallen, 

Who had no strength for the strife

The world's highway is cumbered to-day,

They make up the sum of life.

But the virtue that conquers passion,

And the sorrow that hides in a smile

It is these that are worth the homage on earth 

For we find them but once in a while. 

Sola Deo Gloria

True Happiness

"Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered." - Psalm 32:1


Despite more government regulations, the world shaking at trouble, natural disaster after natural disaster, I AM FREE. My freedom has been payed for once and for all. Throughout history, freedom of people-groups has come through great blood shed, heartache, and pain. No half hearted effort, no gold or silver, no innanimate objects, can purchase true freedom. NO, true freedom is purchased with blood.  


Jesus Christ came to purchase the freedom of His people. He came to pay the bride price. He came as a ransom to set us free. What glorious freedom we enjoy because of Him. 


If you were to take all of the curses for disobedience in the Bible and place them on Christ, this is what He undertook for you. If you take all the blessings and turn them around into their negative, He drank that cup for you. The wrath of God against sin was in the cup that Christ drank for you. 


You stood at God's tribunal. You were put in the balance and found wanting. Guilty, was the charge. As the sentence was being pronounced, Jesus Christ came and received the sentence for you. You stood alone, but Christ came and stood with you. You were naked before the judge, but Christ came and clothed you, and pronounced the words, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you." The gavel came down, and your charge was acquitted. 


Christ was humbled, so you may be exalted. Christ was naked on the cross, so you may be clothed. Christ wore a crown of thorns, so you may ware a crown of righteousness. Christ descended into Hell, so you can ascend into Heaven. Lastly, Christ ascended into Heaven, so you can forever have an advocate with the Father. 


Oh yes, "blessed is the man whose trespass is forgiven, whose sin is covered." Christ is your Lord. Christ has covered your sin. Praise be to the Lord. 

"O to grace how great a debtor 

Daily I'm constrained to be!

Let thy goodness, like a fetter, 

Bind my wandering heart to Thee.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

Prone to leave the God I love;

Here's my heart, O take and seal it, 

Seal it for the courts above."

- Robert Robinson

Sola Deo Gloria

There Will Always Be Something to Do - Edgar Guest

There will always be something to do, my boy;
There will always be wrongs to right;
There will always be need for a manly breed
And men unafraid to fight.
There will always be honor to guard, my boy;
There will always be hills to climb,
And tasks to do, and battles new
From now to the end of time.

There will always be dangers to face, my boy;
There will always be goals to take;
Men shall be tried, when the roads divide,
And proved by the choice they make.
There will always be burdens to bear, my boy;
There will always be need to pray;
There will always be tears through the future years,
As loved ones are borne away.

There will always be God to serve, my boy,
And always the Flag above;
They shall call to you until life is through
For courage and strength and love.
So these are things that I dream, my boy,
And have dreamed since your life began:
That whatever befalls, when the old world calls,
It shall find you a sturdy man.

At the Presence of the LORD

"Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence, As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence! When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence."   [Isaiah 64:1-3]


Sola Deo Gloria