He Is Risen–He Is Risen Indeed!

Up From The Grave He Arose

Text And Music: Robert Lowry, 1826-1899

Low in the grave he lay, Jesus my Savior, waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!

Up from the grave he arose; with a mighty triumph o’er his foes; he arose a victor from the dark domain, and he lives forever, with his saints to reign.

He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Vainly they watch his bed, Jesus my Savior, vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord!

Up from the grave he arose; with a mighty triumph o’er his foes; he arose a victor from the dark domain, and he lives forever, with his saints to reign.

He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Death cannot keep its prey, Jesus my Savior; he tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!

Up from the grave he arose; with a mighty triumph o’er his foes; he arose a victor from the dark domain, and he lives forever, with his saints to reign.

He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Happy New Year!

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)

Merry Christmas

Whether the following is true or not is up for debate. However, I found it intriguing as the explanation and meaning for a Christmas carol that never made any sense to me. Merry Christmas to all as you celebrate the birth of our Savior.

The Twelve Days Of Christmas

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning, plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

♦The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.

♦Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.

♦Three French hens stood for faith, hope, and love.

♦The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

♦The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old    Testament.

♦The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.

♦Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit–Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.

♦The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.

♦Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit–Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.

♦The ten lords a-leaping were the Ten Commandments.

♦The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.

♦The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles’ Creed.

So there is your history lesson for today. This knowledge was shared with me and I found it interesting and enlightening and now I know how that strange song became a Christmas Carol.

Author Unknown

Speechless Joy

The Christmas Night

Wrapped was the world in slumber deep,
By seaward valley and cedarn steep,
And bright and blest were the dreams of its sleep;
All the hours of that wonderful night-tide through
The stars outblossomed in fields of blue,
A heavenly chaplet, to diadem
The King in the manger of Bethlehem.

Out on the hills the shepherds lay,
Wakeful, that never a lamb might stray,
Humble and clean of heart were they;
Thus it was given them to hear
Marvellous harpings strange and clear,
Thus it was given them to see
The heralds of the nativity.

In the dim-lit stable the mother mild
Looked with holy eyes on her child,
Cradled him close to her heart and smiled;
Kingly purple nor crown had he,
Never a trapping of royalty;
But Mary saw that the baby’s head
With a slender nimbus was garlanded.

Speechless her joy as she watched him there,
Forgetful of pain and grief and care,
And every thought in her soul was a prayer;
While under the dome of the desert sky
The Kings of the East from afar drew nigh,
And the great white star that was guide to them
Kept ward o’er the manger of Bethlehem.

Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942)

Lead Us Home To God Again

Music On Christmas Morning

by Emily Bronte (1820-1849)

Music I love -­ but never strain
Could kindle raptures so divine,
So grief assuage, so conquer pain,
And rouse this pensive heart of mine-­
As that we hear on Christmas morn,
Upon the wintry breezes borne.
Though Darkness still her empire keep,
And hours must pass, ere morning break;
From troubled dreams, or slumbers deep,
That music kindly bids us wake:
It calls us, with an angel’s voice,
To wake, and worship, and rejoice;

To greet with joy the glorious morn,
Which angels welcomed long ago,
When our redeeming Lord was born,
To bring the light of Heaven below;
The Powers of Darkness to dispel,
And rescue Earth from Death and Hell.

While listening to that sacred strain,
My raptured spirit soars on high;
I seem to hear those songs again
Resounding through the open sky,
That kindled such divine delight,
In those who watched their flocks by night.

With them, I celebrate His birth -­
Glory to God, in highest Heaven,
Good-will to men, and peace on Earth,
To us a Saviour-king is given;
Our God is come to claim His own,
And Satan’s power is overthrown!

A sinless God, for sinful men,
Descends to suffer and to bleed;
Hell must renounce its empire then;
The price is paid, the world is freed,
And Satan’s self must now confess,
That Christ has earned a Right to bless:

Now holy Peace may smile from heaven,
And heavenly Truth from earth shall spring:
The captive’s galling bonds are riven,
For our Redeemer is our king;
And He that gave his blood for men
Will lead us home to God again.

Give Thanks

Psalm 100 (NKJV)

Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.

For Godly Fathers

For godly men everywhere who honor their families with their faithfulness, love, steadfastness, and work. You bless us daily.

Only A Dad

Only a dad with a tired face,
Coming home from the daily race,
Bringing little of gold or fame
To show how well he has played the game;
But glad in his heart that his own rejoice
To see him come and to hear his voice.

Only a dad with a brood of four,
One of ten million men or more
Plodding along in the daily strife,
Bearing the whips and the scorns of life,
With never a whimper of pain or hate,
For the sake of those who at home await.

Only a dad, neither rich nor proud,
Merely one of the surging crowd,
Toiling, striving from day to day,
Facing whatever may come his way,
Silent whenever the harsh condemn,
And bearing it all for the love of them.

Only a dad but he gives his all,
To smooth the way for his children small,
Doing with courage stern and grim
The deeds that his father did for him.
This is the line that for him I pen:
Only a dad, but the best of men.

by Edgar A. Guest

Original Content: Copyright © 2012 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

Nearer To You

I had fully intended to do something more traditional for Valentine’s Day, but God interrupted my “regularly scheduled program.” He seems to be quite good at that.

We celebrate love today: more specifically the love a man has for a woman and the love a woman has for a man. Certainly there is nothing wrong with that. The love that binds a man and woman together in marriage is very powerful, not to mention profoundly wonderful. Unfortunately, we have seen constant erosion in the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman. Divorce is more common than not, both in the church and outside of it. Satan has broken down our relationships, our families, and ultimately our nation with this destructive act; we have been complicit with our sin and our pride. We are left with broken lives and broken hearts. Our children are set adrift with this fracture in the foundation of their world.

We have trivialized love with our sentimentality. We have reduced love to a matter of “chemistry.” We have marginalized love with our fantasies. We have made love into the ultimate, “What have you done for me lately?”

For those who are waiting for your hopes to be fulfilled with the “love of your life,” for those who are struggling with the pain of a broken relationship, for those who can see no way out of the valley of testing they are in: our only hope lies in the love of God as manifested through the gift of His son, Jesus Christ on Calvary. It is only through the power of His love that we can have hope, we can have faith, and we can have true love. Without this as our anchor, everything else will be unstable. Our boats violently rock in the rough seas of our lives, take on water, and threaten to throw us into the great abyss of hopelessness and despair.

We have a choice to chase after the love which the world portrays with hearts, flowers, and chocolates, or we can choose to “build our house upon a Rock.” The love which God offers us is surety in an unsure world. His love is strength when we no longer have the strength to hold on. His love is hope when all we can see is despair. His love is joy when all we see is pain.

And when God blesses us with a love that leads to marriage, He sees to completion that which He has determined in His sovereign grace. His love remains the underpinning for a love that endures within marriage. When we draw near to Him, He draws nearer to us, changing us into His likeness.

For those who are celebrating the glorious wonders of love in your life, your hearts should be overflowing with gratitude to the God who gave you this tremendous blessing.

His love makes all that is imperfect, perfect in Him.

And for those who are struggling today with what they don’t have, God is the restorer of broken lives, broken hearts, and broken dreams.

His love makes all that has been shattered, new again.

Jesus, Draw Me Nearer

May this journey bring a blessing
May I rise on wings of faith
And at the end of my heart’s testing
With Your likeness let me wake.

Jesus draw me ever nearer
As I labor through the storm
You have called me to this passage
And I’ll follow though I’m worn.

Jesus guide me through the tempest
Keep my spirit staid and sure
When the midnight meets the morning
Let me love You even more.

May this journey be a blessing
May I rise on wings of faith
And at the end of my heart’s testing
With Your likeness let me wake.

Let the treasures of the trial
Form within me as I go
And at the end of this long passage
Let me leave them at Your throne.

Jesus draw me ever nearer
Jesus draw me ever nearer
Jesus draw me ever nearer to You.

Music and Lyrics by Keith and Kristyn Getty (You Tube rendition embedded in the comment section.)

“Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;  persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.  For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you.

And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 

2 Corinthians 4 (NKJV)

Original Content: Copyright © 2012 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

God Bless You All This Christmas Day

A Christmas Carol

God bless you all this Christmas Day
And drive the cares and griefs away.
Oh, may the shining Bethlehem star
Which led the wise men from afar
Upon your heads, good sirs, still glow
To light the path that ye should go.

As God once blessed the stable grim
And made it radiant for Him;
As it was fit to shield His Son,
May thy roof be a holy one;
May all who come this house to share
Rest sweetly in His gracious care.

Within thy walls may peace abide,
The peace for which the Savior died.
Though humble be the rafters here,
Above them may the stars shine clear,
And in this home thou lovest well
May excellence of spirit dwell.

God bless you all this Christmas Day;
May Bethlehem’s star still light thy way
And guide thee to the perfect peace
When every fear and doubt shall cease.
And may thy home such glory know
As did the stable long ago.

Edgar Albert Guest

Going Home for Christmas

He little knew the sorrow that was in his vacant chair;
He never guessed they’d miss him, or he’d surely have been there;
He couldn’t see his mother or the lump that filled her throat,
Or the tears that started falling as she read his hasty note;
And he couldn’t see his father, sitting sorrowful and dumb,
Or he never would have written that he thought he couldn’t come.

He little knew the gladness that his presence would have made,
And the joy it would have given, or he never would have stayed.
He didn’t know how hungry had the little mother grown
Once again to see her baby and to claim him for her own.
He didn’t guess the meaning of his visit Christmas Day
Or he never would have written that he couldn’t get away.

He couldn’t see the fading of the cheeks that once were pink,
And the silver in the tresses; and he didn’t stop to think
How the years are passing swiftly, and next Christmas it might be
There would be no home to visit and no mother dear to see.
He didn’t think about it – I’ll not say he didn’t care.
He was heedless and forgetful or he’d surely have been there.

Are you going home for Christmas? Have you written you’ll be there?
Going home to kiss the mother and to show her that you care?
Going home to greet the father in a way to make him glad?
If you’re not I hope there’ll never come a time you’ll wish you had.
Just sit down and write a letter – it will make their heart strings hum
With a tune of perfect gladness – if you’ll tell them that you’ll come.

Edgar Albert Guest

At Christmas

A man is at his finest towards the finish of the year;
He is almost what he should be when the Christmas season is here;
Then he’s thinking more of others than he’s thought the months before,
And the laughter of his children is a joy worth toiling for.
He is less a selfish creature than at any other time;
When the Christmas spirit rules him he comes close to the sublime.

When it’s Christmas man is bigger and is better in his part;
He is keener for the service that is prompted by the heart.
All the petty thoughts and narrow seem to vanish for awhile
And the true reward he’s seeking is the glory of a smile.
Then for others he is toiling and somehow it seems to me
That at Christmas he is almost what God wanted him to be.

If I had to paint a picture of a man I think I’d wait
Till he’d fought his selfish battles and had put aside his hate.
I’d not catch him at his labors when his thoughts are all of pelf,
On the long days and the dreary when he’s striving for himself.
I’d not take him when he’s sneering, when he’s scornful or depressed,
But I’d look for him at Christmas when he’s shining at his best.

Man is ever in a struggle and he’s oft misunderstood;
There are days the worst that’s in him is the master of the good,
But at Christmas kindness rules him and he puts himself aside
And his petty hates are vanquished and his heart is opened wide.
Oh, I don’t know how to say it, but somehow it seems to me
That at Christmas man is almost what God sent him here to be.

Edgar Albert Guest (1881-1959)

Good source if you like Edgar Albert Guest: http://sofinesjoyfulmoments.com/quotes/edguest.htm

Copyright © 2011 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

The Christmas Night

The Christmas Night

Wrapped was the world in slumber deep,
By seaward valley and cedarn steep,
And bright and blest were the dreams of its sleep;
All the hours of that wonderful night-tide through
The stars outblossomed in fields of blue,
A heavenly chaplet, to diadem
The King in the manger of Bethlehem.

Out on the hills the shepherds lay,
Wakeful, that never a lamb might stray,
Humble and clean of heart were they;
Thus it was given them to hear
Marvellous harpings strange and clear,
Thus it was given them to see
The heralds of the nativity.

In the dim-lit stable the mother mild
Looked with holy eyes on her child,
Cradled him close to her heart and smiled;
Kingly purple nor crown had he,
Never a trapping of royalty;
But Mary saw that the baby’s head
With a slender nimbus was garlanded.

Speechless her joy as she watched him there,
Forgetful of pain and grief and care,
And every thought in her soul was a prayer;
While under the dome of the desert sky
The Kings of the East from afar drew nigh,
And the great white star that was guide to them
Kept ward o’er the manger of Bethlehem.

Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942)