Elliot's biography of Amy Continues to Inspire

On the Indian Continent Amy Carmichael was "given a Christian tract to translate. It read:

“Let us meditate on the All-Pervading Spirit, 

the Fountain of Bliss, 

the Incomparable one, 

Eternal, 

Immaculate, 

Light dwelling in tranquility ...

Incorporeal, 

Omniscient, 

Unalterable, 

Holy, 

Distant, and yet near, 

Light dwelling in tranquility, 

All-Comprehensive, 

Possessor of Perfect Felicity, 

pure intelligence, 

inexpressible,   

and inconceivable …”

Oh! that we might meditate upon Him, too!

The story goes on that when she asked the old Hindu scholar (who had asked her to do the translation) if he believed all this, how he could worship stones he was adamant in his answer. Elliott writes that "Amy, acutely aware of being, in herself, nothing more than a clay pot - ordinary, plain, fragile - knew that the pot held a priceless treasure which the old Hindu scholar had never seen: "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (2 COR 4:6) 

Elliot's Biography of Amy Carmichael

I read this book last year and was so blessed that I turned down some pages to copy quotes form. Just now getting to it!

“By July 10 she was comfortably ensconced in a room of the China Inland Mission in Shanghai. She made it her own by hanging family photos and the mottoes she cherished:

FAITH IS THE VICTORY, CHRIST THE CONQUEROR, NOT I BUT CHRIST, JUST FOR TODAY          

and a single embroidered word, RABBONI, Mary’s word when she saw the risen Christ: My Master!

On the table lay a calendar with the words, “The Lord thinketh upon me.” She reminded her correspondents of the million a month dying without Christ in China, and the eighty thousand dead of plague in Hong Kong in the previous few weeks.”

‘To any whom the Divine Hand is beckoning: count the cost, for He tells us to, but take your slate to the foot of the Cross and add up the figures there.’”

I am trying to simplify my life this year and my notorious desk. (Bob will be cheering when he reads that because he sees it every day!)  Perhaps I can adorn it with these or similar sayings of inspiration.

Better yet, see tomorrow's blog for a meditation idea from a long ago Christian tract in India.

Nothing is Too Hard for God

2 COR 4:6-7 "For it its God who said, "Let light shine our of darkness," who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us."
 
Recently while praying for someone my heart was heavy and I asked the Lord to show me HOW to pray for that person. He graciously reminded me of 2 COR 4 (which, by the way, I am trying to memorize this year). He showed me this person floundering in darkness and asked if I would just pray that she would be wrapped in His light. As Lord of the Universe he is able to MAKE light shine out of darkness. Nothing is too difficult for God.
Jeremiah 32:17 “Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.
So I continue in prayer for her. I light a candle in the house as a reminder to stay in prayer asking the Lord to bathe her in light, surround her in His light, invade her darkness with the light of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Praying in accordance as He has shown me has brought me a curious sense of peace. Then I heard in my dream that this person was going to have "reticular surgery." The second time this was impressed upon me I looked up reticular. My iPad dictionary defines reticular as an adjective saying: 1. Resembling a net in form; netlike: reticular tissue. 2. Marked by complexity; intricate. Bob thinks it refers to an eye surgery. I began to blow off the dream and then in prayer began to realize that the Lord is about to perform the surgery and my prayer that the eyes of her heart be opened may be on the horizon.
Now who was blown away? This Ohio woman. So my candle is lit to remind me to intercede. The Lord is at work even when I do not know it. i saw this in calligraphy at the Convent last autumn. It rings through my heart now!
"Landrum P. Leavell wrote, "Have you ever thought that light is aggressive? It is. When you open a curtain in a lighted room to the outside darkness, light spills out - darkness does not spill in. The light pushes back the darkness." Let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. MT 5:14 NIV"

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Even so, my Lord, push back the darkness and open the eyes of those who sit in darkness. (Isaiah 9:2) The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. (Mt 4:16) Help them focus on Your goodness and care for them. Draw them into Your Kingdom. Amen.

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Streams in the Desert and Still Upward

Ezekiel 41:7 The side rooms all around the temple were wider at each successive level. The structure surrounding the temple was built in ascending stages, so that the rooms widened as one went upward. A stairway went up from the lowest floor to the top floor through the middle floor.
 

"Still upward be thine onward course:
For this I pray today;
Still upward as the years go by,
And seasons pass away.
 
"Still upward in this coming year,
Thy path is all untried;
Still upward may'st thou journey on,
Close by thy Saviors side.
 
"Still upward e'en though sorrow come,
And trials crush thine heart;
Still upward may they draw thy soul,
With Christ to walk apart.
 
"Still upward till the day shall break,
And shadows all have flown;
Still upward till in Heaven you wake,
And stand before the throne."

This poem from Streams in the Desert, possibly written by Spurgeon, brought several things to mind for me. First the obvious challenge of embarking on a New Year. This becomes a more poignant excursion for me as I grow older. The verse from Ezekiel took me by surprise and I had to go back and read it. I forgot about all the measuring in that book! The Temple represents for me the dwelling of God. We are told in 1 Peter that we are to be priests and kings unto God. 1 Peter 2:4-5, 9-10 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Ezekiel 44:28 “‘I am to be the only inheritance the priests have. You are to give them no possession in Israel; I will be their possession."

So how are we to grasp this possession and fulfill this role of royal priesthood? How might we ascend still upward in our fellowship with God? The Nautilis shell represents for me my spiritual journey. The rooms get larger as the shell grows to accomodate the growth of the animal. Our fellowship with God is to grow as we learn of Him, trust Him more and fellowship with Him. My intimacy with Him draws me into the center of my being, much like the center of the shell. The more I practice being in His presence, the more quickly I can descend " the stairway from the top floor through the middle florr to the lowest floor." As I withdraw from the things of the world, occupations of anxiety, regular courses of thought, He seems to draw more near to me. In fact, I am just peeling away the layers of distraction that I might live more aware of Him.

Today I could not go to intercede at the Church Office as my car is being repaired. So I determined to pray here at home. I was awakened with a song in my heart, "Forever Reign." I made my way through the first few morning necessaries and into prayer. The place in my heart where I meet God is like no other. I used a list of names of those in our church leadership and the song to draw me back to the purpose of my prayer anytime my attention wandered. And I felt certain that this song is for our part of the Body of Christ for 2013.



When I moved on to my devotional reading, I found the poem "Still Upward" and came to blogging.


I pray that as you journey into 2013 the call will resound in your soul to travel "Still Upward" into the larger places of fellowship and ministry where your Lord awaits you, and also into the deeper places of intimacy with Him where He can touch and direct your heart. Be His living stone. He has promsied to BE your possession and inheritance. Possess your inheritance. May you be richly blessed with an increased awareness of His presence.

 

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Cloverton Blesses Me

Just heard this for the first time and then found it on YouTube. Enjoy! Enjoy!
Thank You, Lord, for yet another New Year. Be with us increasingly always, we pray.

Cloverton

I heard about this baby boy 
Who comes to earth to bring us joy
And I just want to sing of this song to you
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
With every breath I'm singing Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

A couple came to bethlehem 
Expecting child, they searched the inn
To find a place for your were coming soon 
There was no room for them to stay
So in a manger filled with hay
God only son was born oh Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

The shepherds left their flocks by night
To see this baby wrapped in light
A host of angels led them all to you
It was just as the angels 
You'll find him in a manger bed
And there you'll meet your Savior Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

A star shown bright out in the east
To bethlehem, the wise-man three
Came many miles a journey long for you
Into the place at which you were
Their frankincense, gold, and myrrh
They came to you and cried out Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

I know you came to rescue me
This baby boy would grow to be
A man who'd one day die for me and you
Our sins will drive the nails in you
That rugged cross, was my cross too
And every breath you drew was Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah

Old Chorus Revisited

Psalm 63:3-4 KJV Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.
Year ago, in Women's Aglow, we used to sing this Psalm. I had not thought of it in a long time until I read the Olive Tree 30 Day devotional this morning. They quoted Matthew Henry's writing:

Praise with Joyful Lips
Topic: Joy, Praise
Psalm 63: 3- 6
"Even in suffering, we do not lack material for praise. A believer with this frame of mind values the loving- kindness of God more than life. God's loving- kindness is our spiritual life, and that is better than temporal life. We must praise God with joyful lips; we must carry out our Christian duties with cheerfulness, and spread the praises of God from a principle of holy joy. Praising lips must be joyful lips.
David was in continual danger; care and fear kept his eyes wide open and gave him wearisome nights, but he comforted himself with thoughts of God. The mercies of God, when called to mind in the night, support the soul, making darkness cheerful."
In this winter season of longer nights and less sunshine I pray you will find abundant reasons to praise our Creator. He is our life and His loving-kindness surpasses our understanding.
 
May you be blessed with a increased awareness of His presence.

 

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