Joshua can write his name!
Thursday, 30 October 2008
No more than Necessary
He sat by a fire of sevenfold heat,
As He looked at the precious ore,
And closer He bent with a searching gaze
As He heated it more and more.
He knew He had ore that could stand the test,
And He wanted the finest gold
To mold as a crown for the King to wear,
Set with gems with a price untold.
So He laid our gold in the burning fire,
Though we would have asked for delay,
And He watched the dross that we had not seen,
And it melted and passed away.
And the gold grew brighter and yet more bright,
But our eyes were so dim with tears,
We saw but the fire-not the Master's hand,
And questioned with anxious fears.
Yet our gold shone out with a richer glow,
As it mirrored a Form above,
That bent o'er the fire, though unseen by us,
With a look of unspeakable love.
Should we think that it pleases His loving heart
To cause us a moment's pain?
No so! for He saw through the present cross
The joy of eternal gain.
So He waited there with a watchful eye,
With a love that is strong and sure,
And His gold did not suffer a bit more heat,
Than was needed to make it pure.
('Streams in the Desert' Devotional p.407)
As He looked at the precious ore,
And closer He bent with a searching gaze
As He heated it more and more.
He knew He had ore that could stand the test,
And He wanted the finest gold
To mold as a crown for the King to wear,
Set with gems with a price untold.
So He laid our gold in the burning fire,
Though we would have asked for delay,
And He watched the dross that we had not seen,
And it melted and passed away.
And the gold grew brighter and yet more bright,
But our eyes were so dim with tears,
We saw but the fire-not the Master's hand,
And questioned with anxious fears.
Yet our gold shone out with a richer glow,
As it mirrored a Form above,
That bent o'er the fire, though unseen by us,
With a look of unspeakable love.
Should we think that it pleases His loving heart
To cause us a moment's pain?
No so! for He saw through the present cross
The joy of eternal gain.
So He waited there with a watchful eye,
With a love that is strong and sure,
And His gold did not suffer a bit more heat,
Than was needed to make it pure.
('Streams in the Desert' Devotional p.407)
Wednesday, 29 October 2008
More reflections...
The following are excerpts taken from the book: 'From Grief to Glory' by James W. Bruce III. (A book written for grieving parents who have lost a little one.)
He was the music of our home,
A day that knew no night.
The fragrance of our garden bower,
A thing all smiles and light.
Above the couch we bent and prayed
In the half-lighted room,
As the bright hues of infant life
Sank slowly into gloom.
The form remained; but there was now
No soul our love to share;
Farewell, with weeping hearts, we said,
Child of our love and care.
But years are moving quickly past,
And time will soon be o'er;
Death shall be swallowed up in life
On the immortal shore.
Then shall we clasp that hand once more,
And smooth that golden hair;
Then shall we kiss those lips again,
When we shall meet him there.
-Horatius Bonar (A nineteenth-century Scottish minister and hymn writer, He and his wife lost five children in successive bereavements.)
This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life. (Psalm 119:50)
Wherefore should I make my moan,
Now the darling child is dead?
He to early rest is gone,
He to paradise is fled.
I shall go to him, but he
Never shall return to me.
God forbids his longer stay,
God recalls the precious loan,
God hath taken him away,
From my bosom to his own.
Surely what he wills is best!
Happy in his will, I rest.
Faith cries out, it is the Lord!
Let him do as seems him good.
Be thy holy name adored,
Take the gift awhile bestowed;
Take the child no longer mine,
Thine he is, forever thine.
-Charles Wesley (lost five of his eight children)
I am happy in spirit, but the flesh is sorrowful and will not be content; the parting grieves me beyond measure. -Martin Luther
Ah! when the mighty wings of the angel of death nestle over your heart's treasures, and his black shadow broods over your home, it shakes the heart with a shuddering terror and a horror of great darkness....As I stand by the little grave, and think of the poor ruined clay within, that was a few days ago so beautiful, my heart bleeds. But as I ask, 'Where is the soul whose beams gave that clay all its beauty and preciousness?' I triumph.
-Robert L. Dabney (lost three sons to diphtheria, two of those sons died within two weeks of each other)
What'er my God ordains is right;
here shall my stand be taken;
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine,
Yet I am not forsaken.
My Father's care is round me there;
He holds me that I shall not fall;
And so to Him I leave it all.
-Samuel Rodigast
"Real grief is not easily comforted. It comes like ocean waves...some are small...others are stronger...and cause you to stagger. Then there are the overwhelming waves with an undertow that can turn your world upside down and drag you out into deep waters. In times such as those, the mourner desperately needs an anchor. And, indeed, God has promised his people a blessing if they patiently endure. He has guaranteed the promise so that we might lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope is the anchor of the soul, and it is sure and steadfast (Heb. 6:19)" (p. 70-71)
No doubt affliction now seems to you a far more intense and real thing than it ever did before; the griefs of human life are far more awful and terrific to you now than they ever before seemed. But the power of grace is the master of them...
-Letter from a friend to Dr. Robert Dabney
Safe in the arms of Jesus,
safe on his gentle breast,
There by his love o'er shaded,
sweetly my soul shall rest.
Hark! 'tis the voice of angels,
borne in a song to me
Over fields of glory, over the jasper sea.
Safe in the arms of Jesus,
safe on his gentle breast,
There by his love o'er shaded,
sweetly my soul shall rest.
-Fanny Crosby (She wrote over 9,000 hymns, was blind and lost her only child. She was known to give everything she had and to think nothing of herself.)
He was the music of our home,
A day that knew no night.
The fragrance of our garden bower,
A thing all smiles and light.
Above the couch we bent and prayed
In the half-lighted room,
As the bright hues of infant life
Sank slowly into gloom.
The form remained; but there was now
No soul our love to share;
Farewell, with weeping hearts, we said,
Child of our love and care.
But years are moving quickly past,
And time will soon be o'er;
Death shall be swallowed up in life
On the immortal shore.
Then shall we clasp that hand once more,
And smooth that golden hair;
Then shall we kiss those lips again,
When we shall meet him there.
-Horatius Bonar (A nineteenth-century Scottish minister and hymn writer, He and his wife lost five children in successive bereavements.)
This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life. (Psalm 119:50)
Wherefore should I make my moan,
Now the darling child is dead?
He to early rest is gone,
He to paradise is fled.
I shall go to him, but he
Never shall return to me.
God forbids his longer stay,
God recalls the precious loan,
God hath taken him away,
From my bosom to his own.
Surely what he wills is best!
Happy in his will, I rest.
Faith cries out, it is the Lord!
Let him do as seems him good.
Be thy holy name adored,
Take the gift awhile bestowed;
Take the child no longer mine,
Thine he is, forever thine.
-Charles Wesley (lost five of his eight children)
I am happy in spirit, but the flesh is sorrowful and will not be content; the parting grieves me beyond measure. -Martin Luther
Ah! when the mighty wings of the angel of death nestle over your heart's treasures, and his black shadow broods over your home, it shakes the heart with a shuddering terror and a horror of great darkness....As I stand by the little grave, and think of the poor ruined clay within, that was a few days ago so beautiful, my heart bleeds. But as I ask, 'Where is the soul whose beams gave that clay all its beauty and preciousness?' I triumph.
-Robert L. Dabney (lost three sons to diphtheria, two of those sons died within two weeks of each other)
What'er my God ordains is right;
here shall my stand be taken;
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine,
Yet I am not forsaken.
My Father's care is round me there;
He holds me that I shall not fall;
And so to Him I leave it all.
-Samuel Rodigast
"Real grief is not easily comforted. It comes like ocean waves...some are small...others are stronger...and cause you to stagger. Then there are the overwhelming waves with an undertow that can turn your world upside down and drag you out into deep waters. In times such as those, the mourner desperately needs an anchor. And, indeed, God has promised his people a blessing if they patiently endure. He has guaranteed the promise so that we might lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope is the anchor of the soul, and it is sure and steadfast (Heb. 6:19)" (p. 70-71)
No doubt affliction now seems to you a far more intense and real thing than it ever did before; the griefs of human life are far more awful and terrific to you now than they ever before seemed. But the power of grace is the master of them...
-Letter from a friend to Dr. Robert Dabney
Safe in the arms of Jesus,
safe on his gentle breast,
There by his love o'er shaded,
sweetly my soul shall rest.
Hark! 'tis the voice of angels,
borne in a song to me
Over fields of glory, over the jasper sea.
Safe in the arms of Jesus,
safe on his gentle breast,
There by his love o'er shaded,
sweetly my soul shall rest.
-Fanny Crosby (She wrote over 9,000 hymns, was blind and lost her only child. She was known to give everything she had and to think nothing of herself.)
Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Reflections
Below are words of encouragement taken from the book 'From Grief to Glory'. I will start with the longest one which is of great encouragement to me as a mother still grieving over her daughter. Following are other excerpts that have been a comfort. I hope you enjoy them.
To a Christian Gentlewoman [23 April 1628]:
My love in Christ remembered to you. I was indeed sorrowful when I left you, especially since you were in such heaviness after your daughter's death; yet I am sure you know that the weightiest end of the cross of Christ that is laid upon you, lies on your strong Saviour. For Isaiah said that in all your afflictions He is afflicted (Is. 63:9). O blessed Saviour, who suffers with you! Your soul may be glad, even to walk in the fiery furnace, with the Son of Man, who is also the Son of God. Take courage. When you tire, he will bear both you and your burden (Ps. 55:22). In a little while you shall see the salvation of God.
Your lease on your daughter has run out; and you can no more quarrel against your great Superior for taking what He owns, than a poor tenant can complain when the landowner takes back his own land when the lease is expired. Do you think she is lost, when she is only sleeping in the bosom of the Almighty? If she were with a dear friend, your concern for her would be small, even though you would never see her again. Oh now, is she not with a dear friend, and gone higher, upon a certain hope that you shall see her again in the resurrection? Your daughter was a part of yourself; and, therefore, being as it were cut in half, you will be grieved. But you have to rejoice; though a part of you is on earth, a great part of you is glorified in heaven.
Follow her, but do not envy her; for indeed it is self-love that makes us mourn for them that die in the Lord. Why? Because we cannot mourn for them since they are happy; therefore, we mourn on our own private account. Be careful then, that in showing your affection in mourning for your daughter that you are not, out of self-affection, mourning for yourself.
Consider what the Lord is doing. Your daughter has been plucked out of the fire, and she rests from her labours. Your Lord is testing you by casting you in the fire. Go through all fires to your rest. And now remember, that the eye of God is upon the burning bush, and it is not consumed; and He is gladly content that such a weak woman as you should send Satan away frustrated. Honour God now, and shame the strong roaring lion, when you seem the weakest.
Should you faint in the day of adversity? Recall the days of old! The Lord still lives; trust in Him. Faith is exceedingly charitable and believes no evil of God. The Lord has placed in the balance your submission to His will and your affection for your daughter. Which of the two will you choose? Be wise; and as I trust you love Christ better, pass by your daughter, and kiss the Son. Men lop the branches off their trees so they may grow up high and tall. The Lord has lopped your branch off by taking from you many children, so that you would grow upwards, setting your heart above, where Christ is at the right hand of the Father.
Prepare yourself; you are nearer your daughter this day than you were yesterday. Run your race with patience; let God have what belongs to Him. Do not ask Him for the daughter who has been taken from you, the daughter of faith; but ask Him for patience; and in patience possess your soul. Lift up your head; your redemption draws near.
Your affectionate and loving
friend in the Lord Jesus,
Samuel Rutherford
('From Grief to Glory' by James W. Bruce III p. 147)
Psalm 107 "Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons.... Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and burst their bonds apart. Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love..."
"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." Psalm 116:15
Clearly, accomplishment in life cannot be measured in terms of years alone. It often happens that those that die young have accomplished more than others who live to old age. Even infants, who sometimes have been with the parents only a few days, or even hours, may leave profound influences that change the entire course of the life of the family. And undoubtedly, from the Divine viewpoint, the specific purpose for which they were sent into the world was accomplished. It is our right neither to take life prematurely, nor to insist on its extension beyond the mark that God has set for it. -Loraine Boettner
God consoles His suffering people, and His consolations, which are proportioned to the nature and degree of their suffering, shall surely appear to all who stick to His truth and trust Him with their souls. It is a demonstration of the faithfulness of God to those that, suffering according to His will, do commit the keeping of their souls toHim in well-being, as unto a faithful Creator. (1 Peter 4:19)
-John Bunyan
To a Christian Gentlewoman [23 April 1628]:
My love in Christ remembered to you. I was indeed sorrowful when I left you, especially since you were in such heaviness after your daughter's death; yet I am sure you know that the weightiest end of the cross of Christ that is laid upon you, lies on your strong Saviour. For Isaiah said that in all your afflictions He is afflicted (Is. 63:9). O blessed Saviour, who suffers with you! Your soul may be glad, even to walk in the fiery furnace, with the Son of Man, who is also the Son of God. Take courage. When you tire, he will bear both you and your burden (Ps. 55:22). In a little while you shall see the salvation of God.
Your lease on your daughter has run out; and you can no more quarrel against your great Superior for taking what He owns, than a poor tenant can complain when the landowner takes back his own land when the lease is expired. Do you think she is lost, when she is only sleeping in the bosom of the Almighty? If she were with a dear friend, your concern for her would be small, even though you would never see her again. Oh now, is she not with a dear friend, and gone higher, upon a certain hope that you shall see her again in the resurrection? Your daughter was a part of yourself; and, therefore, being as it were cut in half, you will be grieved. But you have to rejoice; though a part of you is on earth, a great part of you is glorified in heaven.
Follow her, but do not envy her; for indeed it is self-love that makes us mourn for them that die in the Lord. Why? Because we cannot mourn for them since they are happy; therefore, we mourn on our own private account. Be careful then, that in showing your affection in mourning for your daughter that you are not, out of self-affection, mourning for yourself.
Consider what the Lord is doing. Your daughter has been plucked out of the fire, and she rests from her labours. Your Lord is testing you by casting you in the fire. Go through all fires to your rest. And now remember, that the eye of God is upon the burning bush, and it is not consumed; and He is gladly content that such a weak woman as you should send Satan away frustrated. Honour God now, and shame the strong roaring lion, when you seem the weakest.
Should you faint in the day of adversity? Recall the days of old! The Lord still lives; trust in Him. Faith is exceedingly charitable and believes no evil of God. The Lord has placed in the balance your submission to His will and your affection for your daughter. Which of the two will you choose? Be wise; and as I trust you love Christ better, pass by your daughter, and kiss the Son. Men lop the branches off their trees so they may grow up high and tall. The Lord has lopped your branch off by taking from you many children, so that you would grow upwards, setting your heart above, where Christ is at the right hand of the Father.
Prepare yourself; you are nearer your daughter this day than you were yesterday. Run your race with patience; let God have what belongs to Him. Do not ask Him for the daughter who has been taken from you, the daughter of faith; but ask Him for patience; and in patience possess your soul. Lift up your head; your redemption draws near.
Your affectionate and loving
friend in the Lord Jesus,
Samuel Rutherford
('From Grief to Glory' by James W. Bruce III p. 147)
Psalm 107 "Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons.... Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and burst their bonds apart. Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love..."
"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." Psalm 116:15
Clearly, accomplishment in life cannot be measured in terms of years alone. It often happens that those that die young have accomplished more than others who live to old age. Even infants, who sometimes have been with the parents only a few days, or even hours, may leave profound influences that change the entire course of the life of the family. And undoubtedly, from the Divine viewpoint, the specific purpose for which they were sent into the world was accomplished. It is our right neither to take life prematurely, nor to insist on its extension beyond the mark that God has set for it. -Loraine Boettner
God consoles His suffering people, and His consolations, which are proportioned to the nature and degree of their suffering, shall surely appear to all who stick to His truth and trust Him with their souls. It is a demonstration of the faithfulness of God to those that, suffering according to His will, do commit the keeping of their souls toHim in well-being, as unto a faithful Creator. (1 Peter 4:19)
-John Bunyan
A Book for Grieving Parents
It's called From Grief to Glory by James W. Bruce IIIA wonderful little book to comfort and encourage parents who have lost one or more young children. Bruce looks for comfort from saints of old who have had similar experiences. He gathers letters, poems, and other snippets from Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon, John Bunyan, John Calvin and many many others who walked the way of sorrow and were comforted by God's mercies.
Click here for website.
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