Season to Sanctify

“Jesus… lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come... Now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to Thee… Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy Word is truth.  As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world” (John 17:1-18). 

There is a moment we call NOW,

A little season we call TIME,  

In which the Lord will show us how

To live for purposes sublime. 

The season we may sanctify

Is surely not for very long,

For life is short before we die,

And days are few that we are strong.

Our Savior lifted up His eyes:

“The hour is come,” He said at last.  

The hour that we have now flies;

Our life on earth shall soon be passed.

Another year has come and gone;

We now assess how time was spent. 

The new year very soon will dawn

Upon this world in which we’re sent.

O Lord, we come to You with haste

To sanctify this life we live,

For otherwise we only waste

This precious season that You give.

Lord, sanctify us by Your Word

And give us ears to humbly hear

And do the things that we have heard

Today and in the coming year.

Comprehension Comparisons

“Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man.  I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the Holy.  Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended?  Who hath gathered the wind in his fists?  Who hath bound the waters in a garment?  Who hath established all the ends of the earth?  What is His name, and what is His Son's name, if thou canst tell?  Every word of God is pure: He is a Shield unto them that put their trust in Him” (Proverbs 30:2-5). 

There is a simple exercise

To test how wise we really are:

Now look up to the starry skies,

And try to add a single star.

Consider yet another test

Comparing wisdom that exists:

Can you bind waters as they crest

Or gather wind within your fists?

Now try this test to weigh the worth

Of what your wisdom comprehends:

Can you establish in the earth

The full extension of its ends?  

There are more tests of comprehension

That yet require greater depth: 

Can you command your own ascension,

And break the prison bars of death?

We see these questions on creation

Where human comprehension fails

And those pertaining to salvation,

Where Jesus Christ alone prevails.

The Lord has manifestly shown

How pure the words are of His grace  

Which bid us trust in Him alone,

And find in Him our Hiding Place.

O Lord, we thank You for Your Word

By which we learn to trust in You!

To trust ourselves would be absurd

With these comparisons in view!

Now Clearly No Cloak

“Arise, O God, plead Thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth Thee daily” (Psalm 74:22).   “If a wise man contendeth with a foolish man, whether he rage or laugh, there is no rest” (Proverbs 29:9).  “If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin… If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both Me and My Father” (John 15:22,24). 

How clearly Christ our Savior spoke

With heaven’s wisdom when He came,

And thereby took away the cloak

Of sinners who would hide their shame.

How clearly also Jesus did

The works that no one else has done.

His miracles were never hid

That proved that He was God the Son.

Our God has come to plead His cause;

The evidence is manifest!

Yet somehow this does not give pause

To fools contending without rest.

They do not know their cloak is gone 

As they are led by sin’s seduction.

The way is broad they’re marching on

Which leads at last to their destruction.

The emperor which had no clothes

Is thus a fitting illustration

For those ignoring that Christ rose

And thus reject His great salvation.

O Lord, we have observed Your proof

That takes away the cloak of fools.

How strangely now they stand aloof!    

Against all logic, blindness rules!

We thank You, Lord, for evidence

That gives us boldness in our day,

That gives our faith a clear defense,

And takes the cloak of fools away.

Savior in the Sanctuary

(Celebrating my Born Again Birthday!  December 28, 1973)

“I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I… Thou hast holden me by my right hand.  Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.  Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee... It is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD” (Psalm 73:17-28). “They that seek the LORD understand all things” (Proverbs 28:5).  “Jesus saith unto him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6). 

There was time when I was lost,  

And all my friends were lost as well!

Yet no one cared to count the cost

Of an eternity in hell.

It was my burden thus to carry

With no one else to lend a hand

Until within the sanctuary

The Savior made me understand.

There was no other place to go,

There was no one who cared to hear,

And no one then who sought to know

The truth eternity brought near.

How gracious was my Savior then 

Who patiently had drawn me thus

Into His sanctuary when

There was no other I could trust!

He lifted me with saving love,

And held me by my hand that day.

He heard my prayer to Him above,

And all my sins were washed away!

He is the Way, the Truth, the Life;

There is no other one but Christ

Who for us fought the mortal strife

And for our souls was sacrificed!

O Lord, I do indeed recall

The day You gave me Your salvation.

From which I know I cannot fall,

For in You there’s no separation!

Lord, thank for Your love and light

Which led me to this happy place

Wherein I have received my sight:

The sanctuary of Your grace.

Favored with Foresight

“His name shall endure forever… and men shall be blessed in Him: all nations shall call Him blessed” (Psalm 72:17).  “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth… My son, be wise… A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished” (Proverbs 27:1,11,12).  “Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am He” (John 13:19). 

We cannot declare what tomorrow yet brings,

But God sees it all in detail,

And though He will wisely withhold certain things,

There’s some things our Lord will unveil.

The Lord moved His prophets to speak of the days  

When He’d humbly come by His birth,

Yet also when nations shall utter His praise,

When He comes to reign on this earth.

We know there are things that are hid from our eyes

Regarding events of tomorrow,

But God gives us foresight that we may be wise

To hide from the sin that brings sorrow.

How great are the things that our Lord has foretold

That He may disclose who He is!

The glorious future is ours to behold,

Unveiled to all who are His!

As time marches on like the beating of drums,

Our Savior has thus made it clear,

He’s told us beforehand of what surely comes,

And thus we may know He draws near.

We thank You for showing the future, dear Savior,

Revealing that You’re in control.

How great is the foresight bestowed by Your favor

That comforts and strengthens our soul!