Jesus, the Ever-Living One

 Jesus, the Ever-Living One

Before He made the heavens and the earth,

Before angelic hosts announced His birth,

Before His public ministry began,

Jesus was central to the Father's plan.

He came. He loved and served. And then He died.

His shed blood did our forgiveness provide.

Victorious, He arose to life anew,

To give life to sinners like me and you.

Because our Savior lives eternally, 

So shall we if in Him we do believe.

Thus God's Gift will continue on and on

Throughout the ages 'round the heav'nly throne.

All the redeemed will lift up holy hands,

And sing right along with the heav'nly band.

Saints will gladly praise Him for all He's done,

And thank God for the gift of His dear Son.

Jesus Christ, the Ever-Living One.

(c) April 2023 by Johnnie Ann Burgess Gaskill

In Need of Chiseling

After reading a portion of a long story* about Jacob, I wrote these words in my journal:

“Thank You, Father, for a rich time in Your Word! I needed to be reminded of Your great grace that is so evident in the life of Jacob.                                          

He was a liar, a deceiver, a schemer...; but instead of obliterating him, You chiseled** away on him year after year in order to remove those sins (and others!) and to reveal the Jacob You saw in him before he was born, the Jacob You intended him to be.”

Dear Reader, God will do the same for you and me if we want Him to. So let's let Him. In fact, let's ASK Him to change us.

*Genesis, chapter 25 and following

**A term used by Beth Moore in The Quest, p.128

In His Hands

O Father, I want to be as pliable as a lump of clay in Your hands and as silent. By that I mean I don’t want to question Your design of me. I acknowledge that You have every right to make me--and to use me--however You wish.

Yet, as You know, Father, I tend to look at other “vessels” You have made and to want to be like them. And, as You also know, I tend to think my many flaws make me of little use to You. Forgive me for demeaning your design of me. You knew exactly what You were doing when You created me. Forgive me for being unwilling to believe You want to use me.

Father, I acknowledge that I am the work of Your hands and that You can and will use me for Your purposes—whether in common or uncommon ways, whether in special service or lowly service. The choice is Yours. I'm content with whatever You choose. I'm excited to see what You will do in me and with me and through me.

Behold as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in Mine (Jeremiah 18:6).

Be kind!

Taken in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, in 2015

Clean Heart, Clean Speech

Ripe Figs

People can tame all kinds of animals and birds and reptiles and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is an uncontrollable evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it breaks out into curses against those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? Can you pick olives from a fig tree or figs from a grapevine? No, and you can't draw water from a salty pool.

~James 3: 7-12, New Living Translation

But the words you speak come from the heart...

~Jesus in Matthew 15:18

Create in me a clean heart, O God.

~David in Psalm 51:10

Note: The heart refers to the whole inner man (the soul, mind, spirit, will) that makes a person what he is (a conscious, intelligent, responsible being). 

God's Mercies

For You, O LORD, are good, 

and ready to forgive; 

and plenteous in mercy 

to all who call on You.

~David, Psalm 86:5

A Prayer for the Nations

O Father, all the nations of the world are in great, great need of You! Thus, I offer this prayer, based on Your Holy Word:

May Your people, the sheep of Your pasture, give thanks to You forever; from generation to generation may Your people in every nation recount Your praise, may we tell of all Your goodness to and Your great love for Your people. (Psalm 79:13)

May Your people who are called by Your name humble ourselves, and pray and seek Your face and turn away from our wicked ways so that You will hear from heaven and will forgive our sins and heal our land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

O Father, as Your Holy Word says, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any nation.” (Proverbs 14:34). May people from every nation acknowledge, with great shame, that their nation is filled with sin because individual citizens are filled with sin. Therefore, You cannot—and will not—exalt any such nation, even our own nation. O Father, help us to cry out to You for cleansing and restoration, as David did in Psalm 51:1-2. May his prayer be our prayer:

Have mercy on me; have mercy on us, O God, according to Your steadfast love; 

according to Your abundant mercy 

blot out my transgressions; 

blot out our transgressions. 

Wash me, wash us, thoroughly 

from our individual and collective iniquity, 

and cleanse each and all of us from sin!

After a Rain

Have you ever seen clearer shining than that which follows a shower? Then the sun transforms the rain-drops into gems, the flowers look up with fresher smiles and faces glittering from their refreshing bath, and the birds from among the dripping branches sing with notes more rapturous, because they have paused awhile. So, when the soul has been saturated with the rain of penitence, the clear shining of forgiving love makes the flowers of gladness blossom all around.

~From a sermon ("The Joy of the LORD, the Strength of His People") delivered by C. H. Spurgeon on the Lord's Day Morning, December 31, 1871, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington