Friday, March 22, 2013

 
Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill
And every man a scribe by trade.
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
 
This poem, written in 1050 AD by a Jewish man, named Meir Ben Isaac Nehorai, a cantor (synagogue singer) in Worms, Germany, is called the Haddamut. In 1917 in America, it was found written on the wall of a man’s room in an asylum when he was carried to his grave. He obviously wrote it in a period of sanity. This inspired a California pastor, Frederick Lehman, to write two more verses and a refrain.
 
The Love of God
 
The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.
 
When years of time shall pass away,
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
When men, who here refuse to pray,
On rocks and hills and mountains call,
God’s love so sure, shall still endure,
All measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—
The saints’ and angels’ song
 
Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill
And every man a scribe by trade.
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
 
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How marvelous and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints' and angels' song.

Monday, March 4, 2013

His Intent

 
 
"Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him" Job 13:15 KJV
 
Two weeks on bedrest after I had surgery to close a small pressure sore had passed slowly, and I expected good news from my surgeon.
 
On arrival in the clinic, a nurse looked at, measured and took a picture of the incision. “Well there are six sutures, but it looks like it doesn’t want to stick together.” My heart sank for a few minutes. Then, while talking to God, I knew I’d make it through whatever the doctor deemed necessary.
 
When he came in and looked at the incision, he agreed with the nurse. His solution: add four sutures. Before he spoke again I said, “Doc, do you think it would help if I stay in bed longer?” He said, “It would probably help.”
 
So back on bed rest for two more weeks, I read my devotion from “Joni and Friends.” It began:
 
"His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realm." Ephesians 3:10
 
The powers and principalities, all the heavenly hosts and the dark rulers of the universe, millions of unseen beings are intensely interested to see just how "able" God is to sustain the weak and the weary.
 
Ephesians 3:10 tells us that God teaches the unseen world all about Himself, and He does it using you and me as His audio-visual aids. We are used of the Lord to show the universe how great, awesome, and wonderful God and His grace are.*
 
There’s more but you can see the power of God that changed my outlook yesterday. Reading this note from Joni opened my eyes again to God’s unchanging faithfulness.
 
Are you where God can use you to teach the unseen (and seen) world about His love, power, and grace?
 
In Christian Love,
Berta
 
*Taken from More Precious Than Silver. Copyright © 1998 by Joni Eareckson Tada. www.joniandfriends.org