I’ve put this stanza by Whittier in an image, to preserve the spacing. It comes from his poem “The Reformer” and spoke powerfully to me this morning.
Filled with Husks
So much unknown — how this disturbs the mind!
But what we know should cause us greater alarm:
Our sins have doomed us! Self has brought us harm!
To seek the Lord, the devil has made us blind.
Glory for highness
To God belong both power and love,
Both glory and might — in gladness and light,
Let hearts and lips, with heavenly host,
Sing throaty praise — great throng of saints!
Let never escape the Name of God
From lips in vain, that lack in awe;
Hold high the Lord — the holy Lord —
His work and love and word and will.
UPLift: Better
by J. Randal Matheny © 2015
Trio of death are doubt, fear, and gloom,
Where faith, success, and certainty find no room;
‘Tis almost better to err than to despair —
Better still both truth and zeal to share. Continue reading
Your greatest fear
Tony Robbins was wrong. Our fears are not the most powerful motivators. The love and mercy of Jesus Christ move men more deeply, more quickly, more strongly.
But Robbins, who likely does not know that love, is right that fear is a powerful motivator. Absent the presence of Christ, fear moves us more than any other stimulus. Continue reading
Water from the springs
Fear kills joy. Trust feeds it. At the end of the first main block of material in Isaiah (chapters 1-12), the prophet describes God’s salvation (“God is my salvation,” v. 2 ESV), by means of a figure of fountains of water.
Joyfully you will draw water from the springs of deliverance.
Isaiah 12:3 NET
In this chapter of only six verses, the hymn of gratitude pours out the feelings of the people for their salvation.
The Christian remembers that he who thirsted on the cross brought to the world the living waters.
Father, I will not be afraid, but I will trust in your promise, and rejoice in the salvation we have in Christ. Amen.