OUR GOD REIGNS

In the solitude of the dawn I ponder the great questions. They all have the same answer: Our God reigns.

POST TENEBRAS LUX

This has been a great summer for majestic dawns, the daily processional of light and life in the Lord. I have been entranced by the beauty of the dawn since my earliest days on the farm. Sunset is a close second on my list of favorite scenic drama, but it doesn’t stimulate the sense of hope and promise of sunrise at a well-rested hour, when my  mind has not yet been burdened by the cares and uncontrollables of the day. This sense of the divine, present in all mankind whether they acknowledge it or not, is greatly magnified in a regenerated heart that has been given eyes to see and glory in the majestic works of our Creator God. He speaks through his natural revelation, of which dawn’s divine grandeur is his opening liturgy–his daily call to worship. 

The rising sun is also an awesome metaphor–post tenebras lux (after darkness, light)–for the way our Sovereign God has made himself known to me. It overwhelms me with gratitude. Thirdly, it’s a daily prophecy of when that glorious final “day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,” and the sun will not be needed and the night will be no more.

This I know: God is there and he is not silent. In him life has meaning, reality and beauty, and it’s new every morning, for his glory and my great joy.

“On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.” — Psalm 145:5

See you in church.

THIS THING CALLED SIN

https://www.jdwetterling.com/_b_poetry_corner__b__97084.htm

COMING SOON

A threefold promise, the Bible’s highest affirmation of truth, from the Son of God’s own lips in the last chapter of his Word:

“And behold, I am coming soon.” –Revelation 22:7
“Behold, I am coming soon … ” –Revelation 22:12
“Surely I am coming soon.” — Revelation 22:20

How much different would your worship be this morning if you knew Jesus was returning right after the benediction?

“… and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:30–31)

See you in church.

MORE TRANSITORY BLESSINGS

Last Sunday I posted about the transitory blessings of all things beautiful in this world … and this week this picture showed up on social media. Three of these ravishing beauties (#1,2,5) comprised some of the most wondrously beautiful things in my sojourn–Mach 1+ transitory blessings, though not in these way cool USAF Thunderbird paint schemes. (The paint matters not when you’re in the saddle.) In due time, if they don’t crash and burn, all of them end up in the “Boneyard” in the desert near Tucson and I’ll be flying with the angels.

Try as I might I have never found words that better convey the blessings of those airborne moments than WW II Canadian fighter pilot John Gillespie McGee Jr., who wrote this poem shortly before he was killed.

HIGH FLIGHT

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds,—and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air ….
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark nor ever eagle flew—
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

In these latter days this unworthy, a dream chaser all my life, still dreams– grateful dreams of dreams come true, of God’s amazing grace. I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good … in all circumstances, from the windswept heights to sandy sea level, from the idyllic tranquility of a heartland farm to the chaos and carnage of Southeast Asia, from supersonic youth to sedentary codgerhood. And I delight in anticipatory dreams of an infinitely better life, a level of happiness this wonderful life has only hinted at, promised by our Sovereign God. What a day, glorious day that will be!

“… there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8).

See you in church.

GRACE THAT IS AMAZING

I doubt that I shall ever see
Artwork pretty as a tree.
But the tree will die and then a man
Creates wood art with tools in hand.
Although the art outlasts the man,
Likewise dust is its sure end.
All the beauty in this old world
Is transitory blessing.
It makes my sojourn glory-filled.
It’s Grace that is Amazing.

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” — Isaiah 6:3

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” — Psalm 23:6

See you in church.

A LAKESIDE PRAYER

Lakeside at the break of day,
A tall grey skeleton blesses blue sky.
On a bench nearby,
Hunched gnarly and grey,
An old man bows his head to pray:
Thank you Lord for another day
And new eyes to see such beauty.
The Earth is full of your glory. (Isa. 6:3)