Things Heard... Monday morning...

Sooner or later I do trust that your best loved ones will understand and be in sympathy. It must have seemed strange to the angels when our Lord Jesus emptied Himself and came to earth, to live a poor man's life and die a felon's death. It must have hurt them too. I know this must have been a holy pain, but even so I think it could not have been easy for our Lord to let them suffer at all. And what of the Father's suffering? The only beloved Son could not lightly see His Father suffer as He gave Him up for us all. So He, Jesus your Lord, can enter into even this with you, and He does. And if He calls you into a new fellowship with Him in His suffering I know that you will not draw back.

'Across the will of nature
Leads on the path of God;
Not where the flesh delighteth
The feet of Jesus trod.'


'Oh Jesus, Thy care is not to make
The desert a waste no more,
But to keep our feet lest we miss the track
Where Thy feet went before.'
(Candles in the Dark, Amy Carmichael)

One morning I woke with these words on my lips: "We follow a stripped and crucified Saviour." Those words go very deep. They touch everything, one's outer life as well as one's inner; motives, purposes, decisions, everything. Let them be with you as you prepare for the new life. It is sure to have tests, unexpected tests as well as many an unexpected joy. But if you follow a stripped and crucified Saviour, and by the power of His resurrection seek to enter into the fellowship of His sufferings, you will go on in peace and be one of those blessed ones who spread peace all round.

Deep in me, Lord, mark Thou Thy holy cross,
On motives, choices, private dear desires;
Let all that self in any form inspires
Be unto me as dross.

And when Thy touch of death is here and there
Laid on a thing most precious in my eyes,
Let me not wonder, let me recognize
The answer to my prayer.
(Candles in the Dark, Amy Carmichael)

Isaiah 17:6-8a, 9b-11
"Only a few of it's people will be left,
like stray olives left on a tree after the harvest.
Only two or three remain in the highest branches,
four or five scattered here and there on the limbs,"
declares the Lord, the God of Israel.
Then at last the people will look to their Creator
and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel
They will no longer look to their idols for help
or worship what their own hands have made.
It will be utterly desolate.
Why? Because you have turned from the God who can save you.
You have forgotten the Rock who can hide you.
So you may plant the finest grapevines
and import the most expensive seedlings.
They may sprout on the day you set them out;
yes, they may blossom on the very morning you plant them,
but you will never pick any grapes from them.
Your only harvest will be a load of grief and unrelieved pain.

I find myself spending large chunks of this long weekend sitting, reading, praying, thinking. Slowly wading through things that have circled around inside of me for months. I hope to write a post containing my own words later today, or perhaps tomorrow, but in the meantime, I pray that these words that are speaking (though not always clearly) to my heart will rouse things in yours as well. (And I'd love to hear those things if you'd care to share them.)