For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand, for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the Law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. - Romans 7:14-8:1
Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him. - Hebrews 9:28
Sinful flesh, O, how I hate thee! How I wish to obviate thee!
I am flesh, but Law is spirit, fighting evermore in me.
Sin there was, but Christ has killed it; yet I sin, though have not willed it.
O, how long must these things happen? O, how long must these things be?
For I do what I don't want to, turning from my Lord, from Thee;
No end to this can I see.
Yet, in Christ, my sin is ended, for it's not what I intended;
And, if not my will, no longer I who act so sinfully.
Now, in Christ, no condemnation for those who are new creation:
Christ has died to bear my sin, and now through Him I've been set free.
Twice He comes; salvation first, and second for the saved ones, we,
Waiting for our Lord to see.
[Black/Looking Forward to Christ's Second Coming]
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Thursday, December 1, 2011
The Light Will Come [Advent: Day 6 of 28]
The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them. - Isaiah 9:2
And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him
(For I am honored in the sight of the LORD,
And My God is My strength),
He says, "It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant,
To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also make you a light of the nations
So that My salvation may reach to the ends of the earth."
Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One,
To the despised One,
To the One abhorred by the nation,
To the servant of rulers,
"Kings will see and arise,
Princes also will bow down,
Because of the LORD who is faithful,
The Holy One of Israel who has chosen You." - Isaiah 49:5-7
The light will come to darkened land,
A great, great light from God's own hand;
Into the dark a light will shine
On those in darkness, for a sign
Of that great thing which God hath planned.
The LORD has promised to expand
The breadth and length of His command
As over all the world's wide line
The light will come.
The hopeless world by light is spanned
As comes through Him new life so grand
That He, despised, shall realign
The scattered parts, souls in decline.
Salvation nigh: across the land
The light will come.
[Green/Prophecies of Christ's Birth]
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them. - Isaiah 9:2
And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him
(For I am honored in the sight of the LORD,
And My God is My strength),
He says, "It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant,
To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also make you a light of the nations
So that My salvation may reach to the ends of the earth."
Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One,
To the despised One,
To the One abhorred by the nation,
To the servant of rulers,
"Kings will see and arise,
Princes also will bow down,
Because of the LORD who is faithful,
The Holy One of Israel who has chosen You." - Isaiah 49:5-7
The light will come to darkened land,
A great, great light from God's own hand;
Into the dark a light will shine
On those in darkness, for a sign
Of that great thing which God hath planned.
The LORD has promised to expand
The breadth and length of His command
As over all the world's wide line
The light will come.
The hopeless world by light is spanned
As comes through Him new life so grand
That He, despised, shall realign
The scattered parts, souls in decline.
Salvation nigh: across the land
The light will come.
[Green/Prophecies of Christ's Birth]
My Redeemer Lives [Advent: Day 5 of 28]
As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.
Even after my skin is destroyed,
Yet from my flesh I shall see God. - Job 19:25-26
For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol;
Nor will You allow your Holy One to undergo decay. - Psalm 16:10
Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights. - Jonah 1:17
My sin was laid before me, plain and clear,
And I, I fell before my mighty King.
Some hope I hoped to find to calm my fear,
And God then gave his word to stop death's sting.
But O, that lamb that bore, bore everything,
What now to him shall happen, if he dies?
His grave is with the wicked: there he lies.
But Thou, Thou shalt not leave, God who forgives,
Thou shalt not leave his soul down in the grave.
For me, I know that my Redeemer lives:
I'll see Him in my flesh through life He gave.
He went to death, no normal human slave:
As Jonah lay three days within the whale,
So He will lie three days, then will prevail.
[White/Prophecies of Christ's Birth]
And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.
Even after my skin is destroyed,
Yet from my flesh I shall see God. - Job 19:25-26
For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol;
Nor will You allow your Holy One to undergo decay. - Psalm 16:10
Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights. - Jonah 1:17
My sin was laid before me, plain and clear,
And I, I fell before my mighty King.
Some hope I hoped to find to calm my fear,
And God then gave his word to stop death's sting.
But O, that lamb that bore, bore everything,
What now to him shall happen, if he dies?
His grave is with the wicked: there he lies.
But Thou, Thou shalt not leave, God who forgives,
Thou shalt not leave his soul down in the grave.
For me, I know that my Redeemer lives:
I'll see Him in my flesh through life He gave.
He went to death, no normal human slave:
As Jonah lay three days within the whale,
So He will lie three days, then will prevail.
[White/Prophecies of Christ's Birth]
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
The Lamb [Advent: Day 4 of 28]
He is despised and rejected of men;
A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:
And we hid as it were our faces from him;
He was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows:
Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities:
The chastisement of our peace was upon him;
And with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned every one to his own way;
And the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
Yet he opened not his mouth:
He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before her shearers is dumb,
So he opened not his mouth.
He was taken from prison and from judgment:
And who shall declare his generation?
For he was cut off out of the land of the living:
For the transgression of my people was he stricken.
And he made his grave with the wicked,
And with the rich in his death;
Because he had done no violence,
Neither was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him;
He hath put him to grief:
When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin,
He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days,
And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
He shall see of the travail of his soul,
And shall be satisfied:
By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many;
For he shall bear their iniquities. - Isaiah 53:3-11 (KJV)
We sinned, which brought upon us death,
A death we can't avoid;
We fasted, prayed, spent every breath
For hope of sin destroyed.
And God delivered: He has said
That paid will be our sin,
For one will come with crownèd head,
And he, though dead, shall win.
He is despised, rejected, scorned,
A man well-knowing grief;
With bruises, wounds, and stripes adorned,
He loves beyond belief.
For we have gone astray, astray:
Like foolish sheep we are,
Yet God will lay on HIM our gray
And deadly sins that mar.
He, like a lamb, for sheep is slain,
Is struck down by the LORD;
He breaks apart the sin-made chain,
And we are his reward.
[Red/Prophecies of Christ's Birth]
A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:
And we hid as it were our faces from him;
He was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows:
Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities:
The chastisement of our peace was upon him;
And with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned every one to his own way;
And the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
Yet he opened not his mouth:
He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before her shearers is dumb,
So he opened not his mouth.
He was taken from prison and from judgment:
And who shall declare his generation?
For he was cut off out of the land of the living:
For the transgression of my people was he stricken.
And he made his grave with the wicked,
And with the rich in his death;
Because he had done no violence,
Neither was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him;
He hath put him to grief:
When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin,
He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days,
And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
He shall see of the travail of his soul,
And shall be satisfied:
By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many;
For he shall bear their iniquities. - Isaiah 53:3-11 (KJV)
We sinned, which brought upon us death,
A death we can't avoid;
We fasted, prayed, spent every breath
For hope of sin destroyed.
And God delivered: He has said
That paid will be our sin,
For one will come with crownèd head,
And he, though dead, shall win.
He is despised, rejected, scorned,
A man well-knowing grief;
With bruises, wounds, and stripes adorned,
He loves beyond belief.
For we have gone astray, astray:
Like foolish sheep we are,
Yet God will lay on HIM our gray
And deadly sins that mar.
He, like a lamb, for sheep is slain,
Is struck down by the LORD;
He breaks apart the sin-made chain,
And we are his reward.
[Red/Prophecies of Christ's Birth]
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Rain
The rain, damp rain upon the dusty sky,
Makes clear the air, and paints it purest blue;
But as the storm breaks, clouds still sailing by,
Above the floating wrack the sun shines through.
A cold wind blows, and autumn fills the air.
The wet gray sidewalk smells of changing seasons
As drops drip down and splash upon the stair.
O! this, among a thousand other reasons,
Convinces me of God’s great love for man:
That he would bless us with such stunning sights
As sunset-painted clouds o’er sky’s deep span
And whisper through the feel of starlit nights
In cold, crisp air—Ah! what more can be said?
Where God has spoken, how can words dare tread?
Makes clear the air, and paints it purest blue;
But as the storm breaks, clouds still sailing by,
Above the floating wrack the sun shines through.
A cold wind blows, and autumn fills the air.
The wet gray sidewalk smells of changing seasons
As drops drip down and splash upon the stair.
O! this, among a thousand other reasons,
Convinces me of God’s great love for man:
That he would bless us with such stunning sights
As sunset-painted clouds o’er sky’s deep span
And whisper through the feel of starlit nights
In cold, crisp air—Ah! what more can be said?
Where God has spoken, how can words dare tread?
Monday, October 10, 2011
The Times, They Are A-Changin'
I have a confession to make: I don't want to graduate. I have less than seven months of school left, and I'm really not ready to be done. I don't think I'm ready to move on into the "real world," so to speak. I want to have another year to finish my book and actually get tired of college. (I'm also still secretly hoping that my books will be instantly successful so I won't ever have to rely on a 9-to-5 job. I would much prefer the flexible schedule of writing, even if I was still writing 40 hours a week.) I also don't want to leave behind all the friends I've made who are two or three years behind me. Sure, I'll be around campus when I have the chance, I hope, and I'll still do things with all of these friends, but... it won't be the same. It won't be as easy as it is right now, when I still go to school here. I don't want to lose that.
But, at the same time, I trust God. I know that he put me both where I am and WHEN I am for a reason. I've always thought that I shouldn't be in the year I am because my closest friends are, with a few exceptions, either older or younger than I am, not the same age. When I'm the youngest in whatever I'm doing (freshman year, in particular), my friends are usually older, and when I'm the oldest, my friends are younger. I don't know why that happens, and I've always wished that I had either skipped a grade or taken a year off or something like that. But, God has me where I am for a reason. I don't know what that reason is, but I trust that God will bring good out of me being where and when I am. It may not be the good I would hope for, but... it will be better than the good I hope for, because, with God, how could it not be? I just have to learn to trust him.
But, at the same time, I trust God. I know that he put me both where I am and WHEN I am for a reason. I've always thought that I shouldn't be in the year I am because my closest friends are, with a few exceptions, either older or younger than I am, not the same age. When I'm the youngest in whatever I'm doing (freshman year, in particular), my friends are usually older, and when I'm the oldest, my friends are younger. I don't know why that happens, and I've always wished that I had either skipped a grade or taken a year off or something like that. But, God has me where I am for a reason. I don't know what that reason is, but I trust that God will bring good out of me being where and when I am. It may not be the good I would hope for, but... it will be better than the good I hope for, because, with God, how could it not be? I just have to learn to trust him.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
The Hard Things
For some reason, I feel like writing a new blog post. But I don't have a particular subject, so I'm just going to blather on for a while until I run out of things to say.
So I've been writing this book recently. It's interesting. I keep not wanting to write, but once I sit down and start reading, I make a lot of progress in not very much time. Honestly, the hardest part is just making myself sit down to write because I keep telling myself that I want to do something more interesting with my time. Between Sunday and Monday, I wrote over 3,000 words because I just sat down and wrote for a total of maybe 3 hours (probably a bit less, actually). That's a lot of words, considering a full-length novel is usually around 80,000 words. That means that, if I could sit down and write for eight hours a day like a normal job, and sustain only half that pace, I could write a full book (granted, with no editing) in a month. That's incredible. Basically, I just need to sit down and write.
It's funny how many other things are like that, too. Like, homework. Some homework, of course, does take a lot of time, but a lot of other homework doesn't. We just don't start it because we keep putting it off. Procrastination really kills creative productivity. Or, if you expand out of simply talking about time, but just looking at things that are hard to do, it's amazing how many things we fail to do simply because they're hard, even if we actually have the ability to do them. It reminds me of something G. K. Chesterton said: "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried." What's true of Christianity is true of so many other things as well. We look at a task ahead of us, and rather than setting ourselves up in God's strength to overcome that task, we decide it's too hard and pick something else instead. Let's not do that. Let's actually do the hard things, because they're better for us.
Of course, that takes a lot of work. It's really hard to train our wills to go with the things that are hard because we tend to want comfort. We want to feel good, and not actually be good. But in the end, if we take the time to work hard and do the hard things, if we train ourselves to WANT to do those things, it's SO much better than otherwise. I have to keep telling myself this over and over again. I don't do a very good job of it yet, but oh, I WANT to. I want to have the strength of will to choose the hard things and stick with them, because that will make me a better person and will make me more like Christ for the day when I can finally see him face to face.
"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." - 1 Cor. 13:12
"Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is." - 1 John 3:2
So I've been writing this book recently. It's interesting. I keep not wanting to write, but once I sit down and start reading, I make a lot of progress in not very much time. Honestly, the hardest part is just making myself sit down to write because I keep telling myself that I want to do something more interesting with my time. Between Sunday and Monday, I wrote over 3,000 words because I just sat down and wrote for a total of maybe 3 hours (probably a bit less, actually). That's a lot of words, considering a full-length novel is usually around 80,000 words. That means that, if I could sit down and write for eight hours a day like a normal job, and sustain only half that pace, I could write a full book (granted, with no editing) in a month. That's incredible. Basically, I just need to sit down and write.
It's funny how many other things are like that, too. Like, homework. Some homework, of course, does take a lot of time, but a lot of other homework doesn't. We just don't start it because we keep putting it off. Procrastination really kills creative productivity. Or, if you expand out of simply talking about time, but just looking at things that are hard to do, it's amazing how many things we fail to do simply because they're hard, even if we actually have the ability to do them. It reminds me of something G. K. Chesterton said: "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried." What's true of Christianity is true of so many other things as well. We look at a task ahead of us, and rather than setting ourselves up in God's strength to overcome that task, we decide it's too hard and pick something else instead. Let's not do that. Let's actually do the hard things, because they're better for us.
Of course, that takes a lot of work. It's really hard to train our wills to go with the things that are hard because we tend to want comfort. We want to feel good, and not actually be good. But in the end, if we take the time to work hard and do the hard things, if we train ourselves to WANT to do those things, it's SO much better than otherwise. I have to keep telling myself this over and over again. I don't do a very good job of it yet, but oh, I WANT to. I want to have the strength of will to choose the hard things and stick with them, because that will make me a better person and will make me more like Christ for the day when I can finally see him face to face.
"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." - 1 Cor. 13:12
"Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is." - 1 John 3:2
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