DIGGING DITCHES

Elisha said, "As surely as the LORD Almighty lives, whom I serve, if I did not have respect for the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you or even notice you. ¹⁵ But now bring me a harpist."
While the harpist was playing, the hand of the LORD came upon Elisha ¹⁶ and he said, "This is what the LORD says: Make this valley full of ditches. ¹⁷ For this is what the LORD says: You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you, your cattle and your other animals will drink. ¹⁸ This is an easy thing in the eyes of the LORD; he will also hand Moab over to you. ¹⁹ You will overthrow every fortified city and every major town. You will cut down every good tree, stop up all the springs, and ruin every good field with stones."

DEEP THOUGHTS

So I've been contemplating for the last 2 weeks that I need to start blogging again. (More than just feeding my Facebook status updates to PoMonkey!) I've noticed that the pattern in my life is that PoMonkey falls by the wayside when a significant change happens in my life. I guess that makes sense. So much energy is directed toward the change, that there's little energy left for blogging, sharing thoughts, or even just uploading a monkey photo that makes me laugh!

So the prompting I've felt the last few weeks is really just to journal conversations in my life that seem to happen often...and usually involve lessons the Lord has taught me along the journey. I've also noticed that I tend to forget things if I don't write/type them. So really I've just been processing all these thoughts, and if I still have any PoMonkey followers out there...then you get to observe the process. Lucky you!

My current decision is whether I should post these types of things here, along with all the other crazy PoMonkey posts or whether I should put them in a separate blog. I created another one a while back, The Sparrow Still Falls, but then one of those life changes entered and it fell off my radar. But then I wonder if it's better and easier to have everything in one place! Thoughts?

Anyway, that's where I am at the moment. And as a teaser for things to come...my contemplations this week have been on the practice of the Daily Office and Sabbath. Have you heard of this? What are your thoughts? If not, I'm sure I'll be sharing more here or there or somewhere. I'll try to keep you posted.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

“You are -- strange as though it may seem, almost as hard to believe as the resurrection itself -- accomplishing something that will become in due course part of God's new world. Every act of love, gratitude and kindness; every work of art or music inspired by the love of God and delight in the beauty of his creation, every minute spent teaching a severely handicapped child to read or to walk, every act of care and nurture, of comfort and support for one’s fellow human beings and for that matter one’s fellow non-human creation; and of course every prayer, all Spirit-led teaching, every deed that spreads the Gospel, builds up the church, embraces and embodies holiness rather than corruption, and makes the name of Jesus honored in the world – all of this finds its way through the resurrecting power of God; into the new creation that God will one day make.”

-- N.T. Wright in his book, “Surprised by Hope”

QUOTE for TODAY

What think ye of Christ
is the test of both your state and your scheme.

You cannot be right in the rest
unless you think rightly of him.

-- John Newton

YES, AMAZING GRACE

Well, I'm coming off a very long, blog sabbatical. I can't predict right now if the sabbatical will begin again tomorrow or not. Sorry!

BUT...for now...
I'm sure most of you have already seen this video that is circling the internet and email, but I wanted to put it here so I could find it quickly.

I found it quite moving, but I always do with this song! Stay with it to the end!!!

Amazing Grace by Il Divo

SUNDAY WORSHIP

One thing I love about our church is the music! We sing a lot of hymns, many of them that I haven't heard in years. And most of them are songs that remind me of my childhood. Yesterday was no exception. Three songs/hymns that were a part of the service are ones I haven't heard in a long time:

Praise Him, Praise Him by Fanny Crosby. Listen.
My Redeemer by Philip Bliss. Listen.
He is Lord, a chorus that especially reminds me of summer camp. Listen.

We also sang Narrow Little Road which is a great song you may not be familiar with. I couldn't find a recording of it anywhere online, so the words will have to do.

Narrow Little Road by Mo Leverett

I believe in the love of God
It is an orphan's wildest dream
It is a narrow little road
It is an ever-widening desert stream

My Savior, I
I will leave this road
For the narrow

It is portrayed in the bread and wine
Let it fortify my bones
It is more than just a sign
It is the fountain from that desert stone

My Savior, I
I will leave this road
For the narrow

It is the path where the humble go
It is the narrow not the broad
It is the pathway down the hill
To the graveyard of the living God

My Savior, I
I will leave this road
For the narrow

The love of God is the hymn of hope
Let the needy join the throng
Let the widow hear and cope
Let the crippled rise to sing this song

My Savior, I
I will leave this road
For the narrow

HOLY WEEK - Saturday

Saturday
Psalm - Psalm 31:1-4, 15-16
Old Testament - Lam. 3:1-9, 19-24
Epistle - 1 Peter 4:1-8
Gospel - John 19:38-42

(Just click on the verse if you'd like to read it online.)

HOLY WEEK - Good Friday

Good Friday
Psalm - Psalm 22
Old Testament - Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Epistle - Hebrews 10:16-25
Gospel - John 18:1-19:42

(Just click on the verse if you'd like to read it online.)

HOLY WEEK - Thursday

Thursday
Psalm - Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19
Old Testament - Exodus 12:1-42
Epistle - 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Gospel - John 13:1-17, 31b-35

(Just click on the verse if you'd like to read it online.)

HOLY WEEK - Wednesday

Wednesday
Psalm - Psalm 70
Old Testament - Isaiah 50:4-9a
Epistle - Hebrews 12:1-3
Gospel - John 13:21-32

(Just click on the verse if you'd like to read it online.)

HOLY WEEK - Tuesday

Tuesday
Psalm - Psalm 71:1-14
Old Testament - Isaiah 49:1-7
Epistle - 1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Gospel - John 12:20-36

(Just click on the verse if you'd like to read it online.)

HOLY WEEK - Monday

Monday
Psalm - Psalm 36:5-11
Old Testament - Isaiah 42:1-9
Epistle - Hebrews 9:11-15
Gospel - John 12:1-11

(Just click on the verse if you'd like to read it online.)

HOLY WEEK

A friend sent a list of scriptures to read each day during Holy Week that I thought I would add to my daily quiet time. I thought I'd add them here each day this week so I can keep them for future years. (You may have to go back a couple of days to catch up...I did.)

Palm Sunday
Psalm - Psalm 31:9-16
Old Testament - Isaiah 50:4-9a
Epistle - Philippians 4:5-11
Gospel - Luke 23:1-49

(Just click on the verse if you'd like to read it online.)

TAKE MY LIFE

At church on Sunday we sang the hymn "Take My Life and Let It Be" written by Frances Ridley Havergal in 1874. I am very familiar with this song because it is one that we sang often through all my years of summer camp. (I know some of you BMA-er's read this...don't you remember the Whitefoot special music each week?) It brought back a lot of memories as I sang. But more than that, I was struck by the words. You know how you become so familiar with a song that you stop paying attention to the words? I found the red phrases below especially meaningful. I'm thankful for the reminder...they've been good words to have on my mind all week. If you don't know the song or haven't heard it in a while, I recommend prayerfully reading it now.

Take my life, and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to thee;
take my moments and my days,
let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands, and let them move
at the impulse of thy love;
take my feet, and let them be
swift and beautiful for thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing
always, only, for my King;
take my lips, and let them be
filled with messages from thee.

Take my silver and my gold,
not a mite would I withhold;
take my intellect, and use every power as thou shalt choose.

Take my will and make it thine;
it shall be no longer mine.
take my heart, it is thine own;
it shall be thy royal throne.

Take my love; my Lord, I pour
at thy feet its treasure store;
take my self, and I will be
ever, only, all for thee.