Meditation One --- Edward Taylor

What love is this of Thine, that cannot be

In Thee confined infinity, O Lord, confined,

Unless it in Thy very Person see

Infinity and Finity conjoined?

What! hath Thy Godhead as not satisfied,

Married our manhood, making it its bride?

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Oh, matchless love! filling heaven to the brim!

O' errunning it, all running o'er beside

This world! Nay, overflowing hell, wherein

For Thine elect there rose a mighty tide!

That there our veins might through Thy Person bleed

To quench those flames that else would on us feed.

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Oh! that Thy love might overflow my heart

To fire the same with love! For love I would,

But oh! my straitened breast! my lifeless spark!

My fireless flame! What chilly love and cold!

In measure small! in manner chilly! See!

Lord, blow the coal, Thy love enflame in me.

-Edward Taylor

Come Away

And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God.

As God has said:

"I will dwell among them

And walk among them.

I will be their God,

And they shall be My people."

Therefore

"Come out from among them

And be separate, says the Lord.

Do not touch what is unclean,

And I will receive you."

"I will be a Father to you,

And you will be My sons and daughters,

Says the LORD Almighty."

-2 Cor. 6:16-18

Come Away

How long, oh sons of men

Will you turn My glory to shame?

How long will you love falsehood,

And every worthless thing?

Don't you know that I am calling your name?

Come Away, Come Away

Come away with Me, My love.

Come Away, Come Away

Come away, My fair one.

I have set you apart

All for My glory

Let Me capture your heart

And make you holy.

Beloved, you are Mine.

I have loved you.

Yet you say, "How have You loved us?"

Oh, how you are blind.

Don't you know that I want all of your life?

Come Away, Come Away

Come away with Me, My love.

Come Away, Come Away

Come Away, My fair one.

I have set you apart

All for My glory

Let Me capture you heart

And make you holy.

(Scriptures: Psalm 4, Song of Solomon 2:10, Malachi)

The Very Breath

Recently I started taking voice lessons, and over the past weeks have had four lessons. If I thought I could sing before, I was mistaken, because there is so much more to it than I ever imagined! (I actually found out while I was writing this that my lessons have to end for a while, but it was worth it to get a few.)

The reason that I am telling you this is because, aside from learning to sing, I am learning something of much greater value, and that is what I want to share with you.

First of all, there are some things which appear to be completely essential to singing, because over and over my teacher stresses them. He states that there are 3 basic elements to singing, and never ceases to repeat them to me. So here they are:

(1) Relaxation---There must occur a complete relaxation of not only the throat and the mouth, but of the whole body.

(2) Placement---There must occur such a complete openness in the throat and mouth so as nothing is in the way. This openness could be illustrated as when one is joyfully surprised or struck with awe. The quick intake of breath and widening of the eyes produces the perfect example of this unhindered openness. When the correct open placement is achieved, you have found your "sweet spot", as my teacher would say.

Okay, I'm already leading into the 3rd (and most important) essential:

(3) Breath. For breath to enter in it's full strength and power, the complete relaxation and openness must not only be obtained, but must remain that way. To confuse you all the more, the only way they can be "complete" and "remain" is by the breath. When the breath is thus obtained and allowed to move through the body at its fullest, it is then spilled forth unhindered and strong. In this manner it must be continually drawn; and the only natural response is for it to continually pour out. And what does this produce?

The sweetest, most beautiful sounds imaginable, the pouring forth of pure, clear tones on the ears of all within range....the amazing sound of singing.

As my teacher exhorted me in these things and they were ingrained in my head, [please note that when one knows these things, it does not mean it has been achieved. Notice I said "head". That is where any knowledge will remain unless we stand up and act upon it.] I began to see the parallel, and it is so beautiful.

(1) The relaxation is REST. The Lord states it simply: "Be still, and know that I am GOD" (Psalm 46:10b) and "Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him" (Psalm 37:7b). Also, we have been told where we can find that rest! Jesus says: "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Mt. 11:28)

We are to rest in the fact that Jesus is God, and that He is all which He proclaims Himself to be.

"Hear O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!" (Deut. 6:4)

Jesus says: "I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6)

"As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love." (John 15:9)

(2) The placement of openness is the state of our hearts. If we are surprised by His love, joyful in His mercies, and struck with awe at His greatness, then we open wide our hearts to Him and ask Him to come in and take the throne, to consume us with Himself, and thus allow to enter:

(3) The Breath. And what is the breath but the very Spirit of God? "The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life." (Job 33:4)

Do you see!? If we rest in the knowledge that He is truly all-powerful, Almighty God, and place our hearts in such a way as to allow His Spirit access to move freely as He wills, (I would also note that the only way we can be "complete" is by Him) then the only natural response is for His Spirit to pour out of us! When nothing is preventing Him, God's Spirit can both fill and pour out of us unhindered and awesome.

And what is the result? The very breath of God is poured out in the sweetest of songs through the surrendered life of the vessel. Our life is emptied so that the Spirit of God can fill us and spill out on all nearby.

"...but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God." (Eph. 5:18-21)

Can God sing through your life? I think that He can; all it takes is surrender. Then let us ask Him! Truly, one of my favorite verses is 1 Thess. 5:23-24: "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it."

I love that! He is the one who does the work, He is the one who is faithful, even when we are not.

The surrender is really part of the rest. There must be a silence before a song can begin, or it would not be a beginning. There must be surrender before God can use our life, or it will not be His song.

"For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father'." (Rom. 8:13-15)

As one final note, let me again bring to attention that the only way the very breath of God can enter and rule a human life is by the blood of Jesus Christ. He is the Lamb who was slain, He is the blood over the door of our hearts, He tore the veil of our hearts so that we could be one with Him, casting out the spirit of bondage and death to bring us the Spirit of freedom and Life.

"But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Cor. 3:15-18)

Let's sing!

It Must Have Seemed So Strange

It must have seemed so strange to Him
To lay His glory down;
For long before the worlds were made
His head had worn a crown.

The morning stars had sung for Him,
Till all the heavenly space
Was filled with ringing praises of
His majesty and grace.

His throne. the throne of the Most High,
With gold and gems was bright;
There thronging angels worshiped Him
And served Him day and night.

And now upon this earth, whose first
Foundations He had laid,
His weary feet were cut and bruised
By stones which He had made.

The sun which He had hung on high
Beat down upon His head.
He must have watched the stars at night,
The sunsets glowing red,

Where He had walked once on a time
In glory never dreamed,
And then, remembering, how strange,
How strange earth must have seemed!

And it will seem as strange to us,
Yet sweet beyond compare,
To quit earth's dusty roads and walk
With Him in glory there!

-by Martha Snell Nicholson

For Whom I Pray

They seem a seperate company,
Special and set apart,
And each one bears, all unaware,
The imprint of my heart.

For these are they for whom I pray;
The ones whose names I speak
Before God's throne, the ones for whom
His favor I would seek.

Some are my nearest, dearest. Some
But strangers in the street,
And some are those of whom I read,
But each name has a sweet

Significance, as though my Lord
And I a secret shared
About them, which will come to light
The day when hearts are bared

And all the hidden things made known.
Dear ones for whom I pray,
How sweet to meet you face to face
On Heaven's streets some day!

-by Martha Snell Nicholson

The Cross Of Christ

It makes a shadow on the grass,
That cross on which Christ died;
Oh, there my helpless soul has fled,
And there it will abide.

Though pomp and circumstance parade
And bannered horsemen ride,
They cannot lure me from the cross
Oh which my Savior died.

For all the wealth of all earth's kings
I would not turn aside;
I want no other riches save
That crimson cleansing tide.

No other hope I find, no joy,
No peace for me, aside
From that dear secret place of grace,
The cross on which Christ died!

-poem by Martha Snell Nicholson

Granny To The Rescue Once Again!!! (This time to protect us against frowns)

Okay, I thought y'all might like a video of Granny Reccu!! After all, at least a few of you are her grandchildren! I have quite a few pictures and videos of her, and I thought this was a good one, and not that embarassing for her. In this video we are playing a board game called Quelf, and our happy Granny is playing her card. (We weren't allowed to know what she was doing.)

Once again she keeps us all entertained! You can't help but smile right along with her. :D

(sorry it's sideways again.)

Attack Of The Giant Zucchini

Everyone needs a two foot zucchini, right?! Somehow we always end up with one of these monsters, but this one is the biggest yet. Can anyone guess what we were eating for days?

Actually, what we make when we get one of these is.............Pumpkin Pie! Only we eliminate the pumpin and replace it with zucchini. The result? A pie that tastes just like pumpkin pie and looks only slightly paler. Crazy, but it is actually quite good.

Humphrey

Okay, you finally get to see a picture of little Humphrey. I never remembered to take a picture of him, so this is a little late. He is still a handsome little furball, even though he is getting big now. The first picture was actually taken when I was away from home, as I would never let the cat in my room. But my family apparently thought it would be funny to surprise me with this picture in the camera. If I had been home, little humph would have been learning how to fly (out the window.) Anyway, the picure ended up being the best one we had of him, so here it is.

Songs

Hey guys, I just put some new songs on the ipod, so make sure that you scroll through there and listen to them. One of them is a song we sang at CC Florence (Church On The Rock) last Sunday. It is called "Give Us Clean Hands", written by Charlie Hall. I love it; we should sing it at our church.

Three of them are Watermark songs that I had not heard before: Still and Holy Roar (I love those two), and Easter (which is Fairest Lord Jesus).

There are a couple more also, Sometimes by Step, Holy is the Lord, Walk Down this Mountain, and Great Light of the World.

So listen to them!